Fleeing an Ancient Darkness

Here's a bit of how the poorest live; it may spark your giving internationally as well as domestically:

Sitting in a home that doubles as a church building in rural Sierra Leone (one of the poorest countries in Africa, income $500/year average), 24- year-old Miracle Conteh was about to share secrets from her childhood that she knew could get her killed. But then, those who would kill her—members of a secret society to which she once belonged—were already pursuing her for leaving their ranks to follow Christ. For two years, Miracle, known as Sassa until coming to faith in Christ at age 14, performed ancient rituals that involved interacting with demons, casting spells, and performing bodily mutilations. She learned the rituals from her grandmother, who leads the secret society.

During those two years, Miracle said, she felt no fear of the evil spirits with which she interacted. In fact, she felt comfortable in their presence. ”Wherever I went, I sensed the presence of evil spirits all around me” Miracle said. “There was nothing in me that made me feel that I must come out of it, because I never sensed anything like God in me. I was just going forward more deeply into it.”

More than half of Sierra Leoneans are Muslims, and nearly 13% are Christians.  Most of the remaining population practice ethnic religions.

Despite this public adherence to religion, an estimated 90% are additionally aligned with secret societies that dominate all aspects of life in Sierra Leone. At about the age of puberty, boys are often initiated into the Poro society.

Leaders of these societies hold considerable local power, and national politicians even seek their endorsement, and promise to protect their rituals and customs. Most politicians approve of the rituals, with some supporting Poro and Bondo (for young women) houses financially to ensure that the rituals continue throughout Sierra Leone. They believe that the societies help create social order, and preserve cultural values.

Families that refuse to join or participate in the societies, including Christians, are treated as outcasts.  They are denied any decision-making roles in their village.

During the Poro initiation ceremonies, boys receive ritualistic cuts on their backs, signifying the teeth marks of a demonic spirit. Likewise, girls who enter Bondo suffer ritual genital mutilation as an initiation to womanhood. Nine of ten girls undergo this ritual in Sierra Leone, which has the highest rate of female genital mutilation in Africa. The women who administer these rites are revered, and are believed to hold supernatural powers.

Miracle was born into a Muslim family, and raised by her grandmother from a young age.  Her grandmother is a zowie, a Bondo leader for her village. When Miracle turned 12, her grandmother began preparing her to become a zowie as well. At the end of a school year, when the Bondo initiation rituals often take place, Miracle’s grandmother would send her into the forest to collect leaves for secret rituals. “Before she could send me to the forest to pick specific leaves, she would consult an evil demon spirit,” Miracle recalled. “Then I would be able to find the leaves that she needed.” The leaves are used to make a potion thought to prevent the girls from feeling pain during the ceremony. 

As the Bondo initiation starts, the girls have their faces painted with white clay, and are led deep into the forest by a demon.  The zowie, who embodies the devil, wears a wooden mask and a costume generally made of palm leaves. The devil typically uses an unsterilized razor or knife to mutilate the girls, who receive no form of anesthesia other than the leaf potion. The girls are often tied down, and their mouths are covered.

 

Following the ritual, the girls take an oath of secrecy, and are told that if they disclose the society’s secrets, they will be killed. Just discussing the ritual with a nonmember, including a doctor, could be considered breaking the oath.

As Miracle grew in her understanding the rituals, her grandmother allowed her to wear the devil costume and conduct the mutilations herself.  She was 13 at the time. “I was the one actually doing almost everything,” she recalled.  “At my young age, I initiated 35 girls into the secret society.”

Looking back on those two years of her childhood, Miracle said she felt as if she had lost control of her soul, invoking demons and seeking their guidance.  “In the secret society, you are assisted by an evil spirit to carry it out,” she said. “In most of my work, I operated alongside the evil spirits, and they directed me what to do.

In addition to teaching her the initiation rituals, Miracle’s grandmother taught her how to enter a spiritual realm through incantations, and by invoking demonic spirits. Then, Miracle said, she could interact with the demons to further learn the ways of the secret society, and to control people. Miracle ceremonially entered a witch’s coven. And in their presence, she said, she could physically control and harm people in ways similar to voodoo, which originated in the nearby West African country of Benin. “That attracted many young people to me because I gained power in the spirits,” Miracle said. When I am inside that witch’s coven, those in the physical realm, whatever I tell you, no matter how big you are, you listen to me and you do what I tell you to do.”

Miracle said that she and her grandmother even killed children by ritually kidnapping their souls.  The disturbing tales of these “killings” included figuratively “eating” their flesh and “drinking” their blood—all from the spiritual realm. Miracle said that later, in the physical world, parents would find their children’s bodies and have no idea what happened to them.

These shocking claims were corroborated by a Christian front-line worker who had escaped the Poro secret society as a young boy, and now helps former secret-society members like Miracle. He said stories like hers of demonic-influenced killings are common throughout the region. “A doctor can’t find any blood,” the worker said. “The child is plain white, and when you take them to the hospital, the doctor will tell you, ‘There is no blood in this child.’”

Reflecting on her time in the secret society, Miracle recalled limitations to the dark power she gained by invoking the support of demons and witches. Each time her power was limited, a Christian was involved. “There is something in the Christian that prevents you from taking that soul.” I want to tell you that it is not only because my grandmother said it, but I myself tried it and saw it with my naked eyes. I saw it in the children who became Christians; when we wanted to take them, it was difficult. Those children you cannot take. There is a force that fights you.”

One evening when Miracle’s grandmother was visiting another village, a Christian pastor arrived with a projector and a small screen.  He had come to the village to share the JESUS films. As she watched the life of Jesus projected on a portable screen that lit up the night, Miracle said she felt moved by Christ’s teachings and miracles. She also realized that she had encountered Jesus in the spiritual realm. He was the force that protected the Christians she and her grandmother had tried to control. “My heart was fixed to the Lord Jesus Christ,” she said. “I started yearning to give my life to Christ.”

At the conclusion of the film, the pastor asked if anyone wanted to place his or her faith in Jesus Christ. Miracle decided to walk forward.  “I made an attempt,” she said, “but it was like something held me back.” Although she didn’t walk forward at that moment, Miracle later joined the pastor and others at a church in a nearby village, where they prayed together. Miracle still hadn’t come to faith in Christ, but she said she felt at peace during the all-night prayer meeting.

When Miracle returned home the next morning, her grandmother, who was back from her visit, asked her where she had been. “The people who came, they had a church,” she answered. That was all her grandmother needed to hear.  “I have made you a leader in our society,” she shouted, “what are you doing with these…church people?”

Her grandmother gathered the elder Bondo women, and told them that Miracle had attended a church service. “Immediately, a decision was reached that for treading my foot in the church, I should be killed,” Miracle said.  “I had violated the law.” About 30 women took Miracle into the forest, made her take off her clothes and tied her down.

“They flogged me very seriously that night,” Miracle said, crying. “They said, ‘If you ever try to follow that pastor, the next time we will kill you.’”

Miracle headed for the pastor’s house as soon as she was untied, but the women realized where she was going and recaptured her. They beat her again, and one of the women rubbed a crushed hot pepper in her eyes and elsewhere on her body. Screaming, Miracle broke free from the women and continued running, eventually reaching the pastor’s home.

Realizing Miracle’s life was in danger, the pastor and his wife immediately let her in their home. When the women arrived at the house a short time later, they ceremonially cursed the area where the pastor showed the JESUS film and led worship services. Throughout the night and into the morning, they threw stones at the house and ordered the pastor to release Miracle so they could kill her. Eventually, the pastor was able to take Miracle to a church, where she stayed with another pastor for about a month.

While staying at the church, Miracle placed her faith in Christ. After her baptism, she took on the name “Miracle” to honor the way God had brought her out of darkness and into light.

Ten years after coming to faith in Christ, Miracle is part of a vibrant church and continues to grow in faith.

In December 2022, Miracle graduated from a three-year sewing program. She said she is grateful for her sewing machine and the training she received from the school; they are helping her provide for herself and have given her a place in society that doesn’t require keeping secrets. “I want whoever reads my story to be praying for me to stay in the Lord,” she said. “That is the most important thing, staying in Christ.”

Miracle’s grandmother is unable to attack her through the spiritual realm, but Miracle has heard that she is still pursuing her. Still, she doesn’t fear her grandmother or the others who wish her harm. She keeps her eye solely on Christ. “Until I go to glory,” she said, “I will be with the family of Jesus. My grandmother, I don’t think about her.”

Instead of the demons and witches she interacted with as a young girl, Miracle is now filled with the Holy Spirit and protected by the blood of Christ. She trusts God to continue lighting the path before her in a spiritually dark region of Africa. “What happened to me in the spirit realm, I didn’t understand,” Miracle said. “Today I can call on the name of Jesus and I am able to understand that dark realm and the Light of the world. I praise God that I am now in the light.”

Two Proofs About the Timing of the Rapture (Part 2 of 2)

Joel Richardson’s sermon on the 10 virgins, is my second proof in this parable that the time of the tribulation vs the rapture is not what people think (the first proof was last week).  His sermon on this second proof is short, as well as the rest of this paper. He disavows the pretribulation rapture. He explains how the Jewish marriage supper is an allegory of us Christians (the Bride of Christ) having a wedding supper with the Groom (Jesus). And how it proves a post-tribulation rapture; a rapture after most of the tribulation; not a pretribulation one, as we will summarize.  It’s in The Parable of the Ten Virgins, told in Matthew 25:1-13:

…the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. ³ Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, ⁴ but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. ⁵ But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ ⁷ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. ¹¹ “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ ¹² But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ ¹³ “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

First, the groom is not marrying 5 women at once.  The word ‘virgin,’ in this case, is simply a young woman, unmarried.  The 5 who got in to the wedding supper might just be bridesmaids, or the bride’s entourage. The important lesson is that another 5 of the 10 young women were not preparing for the groom’s arrival, so they were not allowed in the wedding feast.  Applying that to us, if we are not loving our Lord enough to be anxiously looking for His arrival, and eagerly awaiting the opportunity to escape the sins of earth, we are not true Christians.  Do not get lost in the world, people, and learn to focus to the necessity of your abiding in Christ instead (John 15:1-6). Otherwise, you may miss heaven, Jesus is saying in those sections of verses. If your priorities did not get radically changed (into a new person) when you got “saved,” you may not end up saved. 

You may ask, “if that’s the main purpose of this parable in Matthew 25, why are we looking at it for End Times discussion?” Well, Matthew 25 may not appear so, but is still part of His Olivet Discourse on the End Times. Also, it does speak of the Coming of the Bridegroom for His bride, so it has relevance to our subject. It answers the question, “Do Jewish wedding rituals in the first century prove a pretribulational rapture—or a post-tribulation one?”

(Besides this discussion, I suggest reading Revelation 19:2, 7-9; here are the salient portions:

“For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.” …the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. ⁸ And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

Notice in context of nearby verses in revelation that the marriage (and supper) is after the coming of the Lord, since He has already performed  Judgment. These Revelation verses, and the Ten Virgins verses, are the only two sections of verses that explain the timing of the rapture vs. the marriage supper.)

Why is the timing of the wedding supper an issue? Pretribulationists believe Christians, previously dead or alive at rapture, go straight to heaven. But there is a problem. Somehow they have to try to enjoy the marriage supper, while the new Christians and Jews and their unsaved families are getting murdered by the millions during the tribulation back on earth.  Kind of a downer idea, isn’t it? Uh, I’m not ready for dessert.

On the side, I just want to throw in another important idea:  the Bible takes the view that Israel is the Bride.  Is there any room for us Gentiles?  Not a problem; in Romans 11:17, Paul exposits that we saved Gentiles were grafted into the Israel’s olive tree, and become part of God’s Israel. Saved Jews and Christians are all called “Israel.”  To express the unity of the Church.  Galatians 3:28 says “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” 

Pretribulationists, usually also followers of dispensational ideology, really need to learn that God doesn’t treat the Jews and Christians as separate groups under the New Testament.

Now let’s get back to the Ten Virgins. We’ll start by saying, first century Jewish wedding customs placed the marriage supper at the home of the bride, NOT at the home of the groom or his parents.  For the Last Days, that means we do NOT have the marriage supper in heaven (Father’s house), but on earth, at the New Jerusalem (Bride’s house). After that supper, according to custom, the groom would take the bride to his house--heaven.  (J. Snodgrass, Stories of Intent.  He is basing this on Tobit 7 and 8, in the Apocrypha).

So the order of events is, the Groom (Jesus) leaves His house (leaves heaven), and makes His way towards earth, then pauses in the clouds, waiting for His angels to act. His angels ride with him (not us riding with him).  When the groom is visible from earth (that’s where the cosmic disturbances bring that about), the shout and trumpet blast are given, and, if we are ready (ie, having been born again and love Him, and are looking for His arrival), we (the bride) come up to greet Him (in the clouds) and escort Him back to her house on earth.  Like coming to greet a visiting dignitary and escorting him back.  A big meal is served, and the father gives his daughter to her groom, with his blessing, and then they go back to his house to consummate the marriage. That’s when we go to heaven. (I have another blog on when we go to heaven).

To prove the point Scripturally, notice my underline in v. 10 of Matthew 25 above.  Note that the bridegroom came, the prepared young women went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut. That’s it—clearly those were done in one place.  No mention of flying off to the groom’s place.  The supper, clearly, was there—at the bride’s dwelling. 

I hope this gives the proper meaning of this allegory, and helps you believe how pretribulation rapture is a figment of an 1830 imagination (I have another blog on that). This is one of many proofs of the opposite—it is post-tribulation.

If we live in that time, we will have a target on our backs. Temptation to abandon Christ will be great. (Or, believing in a false doctrine will be great).  The Scripture says we must endure to the end to reach heaven.  May God show us how to endure the tests of the man of sin, if we are alive in those last days, and may God show us how to prepare for His coming.  We don’t want to miss heaven.  No. Nyet.

  

Two Proofs About the Timing of the Rapture (Part 1 of 2)

 Let’s talk about End Times.  Despite many people’s wariness, the order of certain important future events can actually be determined. Not the date of rapture, for instance, but placing all Scripture in context, and using verses literally as much as possible, gives a way to figure out the order of some significant future events.  Each event then is a sign that tells you, “x” event comes next.  That helps you endure the trek toward the end. 

John, who wrote Revelation, has certified early in the first chapter that it is profitable to read it.  He wasn’t asserting it was a bag of frustrations, like most people do who avoid it:

Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.

Didn’t he say to “keep those things within it?”  He must’ve expected that it makes sense to us to say,  “keep those things.”  True, the answers are not all in one place, meaning it takes a great acquaintance with Old and New Testaments to pull these things off, but Scripture sprinkled all around will hint and yield results. 

My initial portion of this study is based on these Scriptures:

1.     Daniel 9:27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation

2.    II Thessalonians 2:1-4 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him… for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, ⁴ who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

3.    Matthew 24:15-16, 22, 29-31 So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation… ¹⁶ then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountain …“If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive…“Immediately after the distress of those days ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.  ³¹ And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

4.    Revelation 11:1-2 I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, with its worshipers. ² But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 month

What do we learn from these verses?  In Daniel, we learn that an unnamed man will make a Covenant with “many” for a time period of one ‘seven.’  In that same verse, we learn who the two parties are.  The receiving party for the Covenant were the Jews, because the terms ‘sacrifice and offering,’ and ‘temple’ are Jewish terms in the Bible. The grantor of the Covenant was the man of sin, since after a time he shows that he hates the Jews enough to stop their sacrifices.  Not only that; he also commits blasphemy against God, setting up an ‘abomination’ in the temple, which has to refer to an idol.  The idol is likely him, or a statue of his image, since we learn in II Thessalonians 2 above that he ‘sits as God in the temple of God.’ Truly sticking the middle finger at God. We can easily guess what that does for his future. 

We also can conclude that when he had the Jews agree to make a Covenant with him, he pretended to be their friend. Or else they would not have agreed to Covenant with him. The Covenant is agreed to for a term of time.  That length of time is a neutral word meaning ‘seven.’  It could never be for seven weeks; that would be meaningless.  It’s likely to be seven years, because Scripture makes a reference to a portion of it. In Revelation 11 above, the Gentiles have the run of the temple for 42 months, or 3-1/2 years. Consider further that ‘in the middle’ of the ‘seven,’ is the time that the man of sin breaks the Covenant and shows himself as their enemy by desecrating their treasured temple. He, being a Gentile, will be the guy that will lead the offense over the temple for the 42 months, from the middle of the ‘seven.’  So we see the Covenant has to be 7 years, but broken up into two halves; in the first half he pretends to be friends of Jews, but the second half starts with him desecrating the temple and blaspheming God—which goes on for 3-1/2 years.

Think about him starting out as a “friend” of the Jews. Then, all of a sudden, he desecrates their temple.  Would it not be fair to conclude that when he did that, he ‘revealed’ himself for what he really is, a hater of Jews?  I think so.  Then, looking at II Thessalonians 2 again, it definitely seems to be speaking of the Coming of the Lord for his saints, the one-time event called the rapture. Look again.  It CLEARLY says that that fabulous Day will not come until AFTER the man of sin is revealed. So II Thessalonians 2 says that Christians can’t get raptured until the man of sin is revealed, right?  But did we agree on the idea that that ‘revealing’ would be in the middle of the seven-year Covenant?  Therefore, if the seven years are ‘the Tribulation,’ such as most futurists affirm (look at the disasters Jesus prophesies in Matthew 24), the saints cannot leave the earth, or get raptured, until at least half of the tribulation is past. Thus there is no ‘pre’tribulation rapture, no rapture before the tribulation. 

Jesus helps out in Matthew 24 above. Verse 15 is right at the point where the abomination, or idol, being set up, halfway through the 7 years. He warned that the Jews hearing of that should get away as fast as they can—presumably the man of sin will begin killing them as fast as he can. He is no longer loyal to them.

Jesus broadens who the man of sin will want to kill by saying, “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive.  Since that man is acting on behalf of Satan, and since Satan hates Jews and Christians (actually, he loves killing anybody), both Jews and Christians will be killed by the millions. Plus, there are wars (which given modern weapons will kill millions), as Matthew 24:6 says:

⁶ And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars

Truly, combining those elements would come close to “no one would survive.”

After all that martyring for the Lord, then Jesus mentions a cosmic disturbance, and THEN He details the rapture.  The Greek word ‘parousia,’ a rapture word, is used. As you can see in Matthew 24:31 above, He says angels will blow the trumpet and gather His children from the clouds, favorite rapture events. No one in his right mind can say that Matthew 24:29-31 is not the rapture.  It Is!

Let me further say that we cannot conclude that the rapture happens right after the man of sin is revealed, as you might argue a mid-tribulation rapture. No, if that were the case, Christians would rapture immediately after he’s revealed, and before the man of sin can kill more than a few of them.  No, the rapture is not immediately after the man of sin is revealed; it is after “the distress of those days,” as you read above.  Sadly, there has to be a period of time after the man of sin is revealed before the rapture, since the man of sin’s bloodletting goes on so long that it appears “no one would survive.” Further about the day of rapture is that the tribulation, designed as 7 years, is ‘cut short’ so as to have some Christians (and some saved Jews) still around lest he kills everyone.  So, probably short of 7 years a bit, comes a cosmic event (our rapture sign), and then the glorious Return of Our Lord.  This is His second coming, the rapture.

One more time, to summarize:  There are wars among nations. The man of sin makes a deceptive covenant to protect the Jews for 7 years. In the middle, or after 3-1/2 years of the 7, he reveals how he really feels by desecrating the temple and setting up an abomination to God. Some Jews flee.  But he kills Jews, and Christians, in massive numbers and in great violence, for over 3 years more.  When it seems loss of life among God’s beloved would be total, Christ comes to pick up His Bride, His real church, both dead and alive—the rapture. His Second Coming.

Those of you who argue in favor of pretribulation rapture, have to assume all sorts of weird things.  A big problem of yours: Jesus’ first coming (Advent) was at His birth, right?  You tell us that Jesus, in the future, comes from heaven to earth in a rapture before the tribulation, so I feel it’s safe to assume you’re saying that that would be His second coming.  Then, strangely, you have Him coming to earth yet again (you assert Matthew 24:15-31 is this event, which you call “Not a rapture,” despite how v. 31 looks). Supposedly He will take up just the Christians and Jews who got saved in the 7 years, and to perform Judgment.  I think it’s fair to assume you mean that’s His 3^rd coming?  What, you say?  No? He doesn’t come 3 times? Well, it sure looks like you’re doing 3 times.  So your biggest problem, to me at least, is to explain how that middle coming is not a coming.  Because we both know that the Bible clearly says He comes twice, not 3 times. It’s in the Apostles’ Creed as well:

…on the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty; from there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

That’s twice, right? 

Hopefully this introduction will help you to read next week, my summary of Joel Richardson’s sermon, the second goal of this blog. Please visit us to capture another proof, in the 10 virgins, of why the rapture is post-tribulation

The Thankfulness of Jesus

 

From John Henry Jowett

“And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened…” —Luke 24:30-31

I want to lead the meditation of my readers to one of the private habits of our Lord–His habit of thanksgiving. Everyone who knows the New Testament knows how the apostolic life abounded in praise. It runs like some singing river through all their changing days. And where did they learn the habit? They had got it from their Lord. The Master’s habit must have made a profound impression upon them. There must have been something very distinct and distinctive about it. We are told that the two disciples, journeying to Emmaus after the awful happenings in Jerusalem, recognized their risen Lord when He began to give thanks. “He was made known to them in the breaking of bread.” They knew Him by His gratitude and by the manner in which He expressed it. He was recognized by His praise. Let us recall two or three examples of this shining habit of our Lord.

“And Jesus took the loaves and gave thanks.” That is to say, He took commonplace, common bread, and associated it with God, and it was no longer a commonplace. He gave thanks, and in the recognition the common was revealed as the Divine. The ordinary meal became a sacrament with the Unseen Presence as real as we apprehend Him at the table of the Lord.

Now, a man who feels the divine relationships of bread will have a very transfigured road. The man whose praise is elicited by loaves will also be thankful for the cornfield, the sunshine, the dew, and the rain, for the reapers who gather the corn, for the touch of God in the labourer, and for the millstones which grind the corn that makes the bread. He who took the loaves and gave thanks would also give thanks for the common lily of the field, the daisy of His native land. Indeed, I think we may truly say that the Master’s habit of praise made every common thing radiant, and every wayside bush became aflame with God. He breathed His music of gratitude through the commonest reeds.

Now unless His disciples can do the same, unless we can touch and feel God in the commonplaces, He is going to be a very infrequent and unfamiliar Guest. For life is made up of very ordinary experiences. Now and again a novelty leaps into the way, but the customary tenor is rarely broken. It is the ordinary stars that shine upon us night after night; it is only occasionally that a comet comes our way. Look at some of the daily commonplaces–health, sleep, bread and butter, work, friendship, a few flowers by the wayside, the laughter of children, the ministry of song, the bright day, the cool night–if I do not perceive God in these things I have a very unhallowed and insignificant road. On the other hand, the man who discovers the Divine in a loaf of bread, and lifts his song of praise, has a wonderful world, for divinity will call to him on every side.

I do not know how we can better begin to cultivate the Master’s habit than by beginning with daily bread. Because if we begin with bread we cannot possibly end there. If we see one commonplace lit up with God, other commonplaces will begin to be illumined, until life will be like some city seen from a height by night, with all the common lamps in the common streets burning and shining with mystic flame. So let us begin with bread. But let us give thanks reverently, not with the sudden tap and the sharp, superficial sentence of a public dinner. Let us do it quietly, apprehendingly, with an effort to realize the presence of the awful, gracious, merciful God. And let us do it without formality, and seeking deliverance from the perilous opiate of words. Let us change our phraseology, let us sometimes bow in silence, and share the significant, worshipful stillness of the Friends.

Let us watch our Master again and listen to His praise. “I thank Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.” Our Master thanks the Father that spiritual secrets are not the perquisites of culture, that it is not by cleverness that we gain access into the Kingdom of Grace. He gives thanks that “these things” have not been made dependent upon academic knowledge, that they are not the prizes of the merely clever and acute, but that they are “revealed unto babes.”

Now, mark this: Out of six men only one may be clever, only one may have the advantage of knowledge, but all six may have the elementary simplicities of a child. All cannot be “knowing,” but all can be docile. All cannot be “cute,” but all can be humble. All cannot be “learned,” but all can be trustful. All cannot attain to mental sovereignty, but all may sit on thrones of sovereign love. And it is upon what all may have that our Lord fixes His eye; it is the common denominator for which He offers His praise. He takes bread, the commonplace of life, and gives thanks; He takes the child, the commonalty among men, and gives thanks. He offers praise for the commonplaces and the commonalties. He gives thanks for the things that are common to Erasmus and Billy Bray, to Spurgeon and John Jaspar, to Onesimus and St. Paul. To give thanks for commonplaces makes a transfigured world; to give thanks for commonalties makes a transfigured race. The one unveils the world as our Father’s house; the other unveils the race as our Father’s family.

Now, would it not be good to exercise ourselves in that form of praise? Would it not be wise to allow our minds to rove over the race of men irrespective of class and condition, and search out the commonalties and sing our song of praise? One thing such praise would do for us. It would preserve in our minds a vivid sense of the relative values of things. We should recognize that academic learning is not to be mentioned in comparison with loneliness, that carnal power has not the holy standing of meekness, and that mere eminence is not to be counted in the same world with love. What we may have in common with the poorest and most ignorant is our most precious possession.

Look at the Master once more. “Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me.” The Master gave thanks before the miracle was wrought, while the dead was still lying stiff and stark in the tomb. He offered praise not for the victory attained but for victory about to be won. His song was not for what He had received, but for what He was about to receive. He gave thanks before the dead marched forth, and before the mourners’ tears were dried. The doxology was sung at the beginning and not at the end.

“Father, I thank Thee . . .” “And when He had thus spoken He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth, and he that was dead came forth.” The sound of praise thrilled through the call that awaked the dead.

Have we learned the habit? Is that the gracious order of our thought and labour? Sometimes we thank God for food we are about to receive. Do we thank God for power we are about to receive? Do we thank God for victory we are about to receive? Do I go forth in the morning to the warfare of the day with thanks for coming victory filling me with exhilaration and powerful hope? Did I rear my altar of praise before I took my sword? Is that how I go to the pulpit, thanking God for victories about to be won? Is that how I go to my class, quietly confident in the coming of my Lord? Is that how I take up the work of social reform? Is the song of victory in the air before I enter the field? Can I begin to sing the song of harvest home as I go forth to sow the seed? Am I sure of God, so sure that I can sing as soon as the struggle begins? That was the Master’s way. It was first the thanks and then the miracle.

And so Jesus assumed that His prayer was answered before He addressed the dead. And the significance of the act is this. To gratefully assume that prayers for power are answered opens the entire being to the full and gracious influence of the answer. Gratitude opens the channels of the whole life to the incoming of the Divine. There is no mood so receptive as praise; it fills the soul with the fulness of God, and the indwelling God works wonders, even to the raising of the dead.

I have given these three examples of the Master’s habit of thanksgiving. It is our great wisdom to follow in His train. All manner of things are promised to the grateful heart. Thanksgiving is to be a minister of vigilant sight; “watch in the same with thanksgiving.” Thanksgiving is to be a stimulant to a jaded and weary soul: “Be not drunken with wine, . . . but be ye thankful.” Thanksgiving is to be a beautifier of the regenerate soul. Ten lepers were purified, only one was beautified; “he returned to give thanks.” And, lastly, thanksgiving glorifies God. It is by the brightness of our praise that we offer the best witness to the goodness and power of our God.

 

Doctrines of Demons (Part 2)

 

Please read Part I to get our whole theme.  This is on Ron Matsen’s sermon “Doctrines of Demons.”  We are focusing on Satan’s desire to deceive us from seeing Jesus as God.  Now let’s look at specific antichrist cults, whose gospel was perfected by Satan.

Let’s look at the Gnostics first, since that deviation from orthodoxy happened first. Interestingly, the cult was birthed in a seminary In Alexandria, Egypt, during the days of the apostles. So Satan wasted no time introducing the first heresy.  They believed in another Jesus because their theology taught that material things must have been created by an inferior god, since they believed that no physical thing, no physical body, can be pure and holy.  Those two qualities belong to the spirit realm, which were created by a higher god. (They believed in multiple gods.) Therefore, Jesus, as a higher god, could not have physically visited the earth, because He was holy. So His “appearance” on earth had to be in a ghost form only. He was an aura. This took away the humanity of Jesus, which was important, as we saw in Hebrews in Part I. II John 7 also says:

For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

An antichrist, as the term “anti,” says, is one who believes a false Jesus—and also teaches it. Gnosticism was on Satan’s side, because it was against the real, physical Jesus in His incarnation.

Now let’s bring up the Muslim Jesus.  Keep in mind, if you will, that I am not writing arguments against every one of these “facts” they assert.  I assume that you know enough of the Scripture to know that there is no one named Issa in the Bible, that Jesus’s mother is Mary, etc.  The false stuff that these cults believe is usually because they have an alternative book to the Bible.  It might be the book of Mormon, the Quran, the Watchtower, etc.  Their books they consider higher than the Bible.  In the U.S., there was superb Bible training in the past.  How could anyone in this country believe these books were superior to the Bible?  Total disrespect for God’s Word will not do people well on Judgment Day.  We must read it to our kids, tell them that we love God’s Word, that He gave it to us, and it is the only Truth we can be sure of.  Sunday School doesn’t cut it.

Anyway, here are religious Muslim beliefs surrounding Jesus:  His true name, according to the Quran, is “Issa,” or “Isa.” They did not believe Jesus, or “Issa,” was God.  He was only a prophet, and his main two messages in coming to earth were: Surrender to Allah; and Muhammad is Coming.  His original disciples, they say, were Muslims.  Issa’s mother was Miriam, who was sister to Aaron and Moses. (They have a problem with time scale, since those Biblical characters lived over a thousand years earlier.)  Despite the clarity of Scripture and other writings and events as proof, Issa was not crucified and did not die. Those who say otherwise “lied.”  Instead of dying, he ascended to Allah. This bypasses His death on the cross; thus, it tries to wipe away His redemptive payment for our sin—but that was His main purpose in coming to earth. This idea was a serious heresy in doctrine.  At Resurrection, they say, Allah will be a witness against Jews and Christians, for believing that Issa died. Muhammad was God’s gift to Christians because he corrected their misunderstanding by writing the Quran.

This hyper-distortion guarantees that religious Muslims are unsaved, and almost all bound for hell if they die believing it.  But some Muslims are additionally a danger to Christians and Jews, because the Quran is extremely antisemitic, and their teaching on End Times is apocalyptic destruction.  We do not have the space to deal with it here; just be warned. These people have nothing to tell you.  Turn away from those who preach it.

Next, the Mormon Jesus.  Jesus was conceived, they say, through sexual intercourse between God the Father and Mary—yet they believe Mary was still a virgin at Jesus’ birth. They believe that Jesus was the literal brother of Lucifer (or Satan). How could anybody believe this?  Their leaders must never speak of this ‘brother of Satan’ openly in their weekly meetings, it is so audacious. Yet they have 6.5 million Mormons in the U.S., whose eternal destiny is on the edge of a cliff; if they accept it, and do not think of fighting against this..this chunder, their destiny is hell.  They have a mind; we all have a responsibility to know our church’s doctrine.  If God gives these people the light to see this as insolence against Him, and they are willing to walk away from it, they have a chance for heaven.  Ignorance doesn’t save you from hell’s grasp.  

Even worse, if possible, is their statement that Jesus earned His salvation while on earth—and offers His grace only to those who work hard enough. This is salvation through works, which is against Scripture. Also, it again takes away His sinless divinity (since He “had to earn His salvation”).  But the Bible clearly teaches that through His grace, our trust in Him and why He died on the cross is the key on the way to our salvation. 

They further claim that Jesus is finite, not infinite, saying He began His existence when He was born on earth. This denies an essential quality of God, that He is Eternal.  They have made Him immortal, as a higher angel. But Jesus is God; He is infinitely higher than the angels; He created them! And, they say, He had to submit to a moral law that “began before He did.” But Jesus gave a New Covenant, and was not under the Moses law, as they are implying.  He sets the laws; He is sovereign to it.  The purpose of that Law, for us, was to teach us that we, who have the nature of sin, can never be perfect enough to obtain heaven.  We were not created so we could brag that our obedience to law brought us to heaven. Note Hebrews 7:18—19:

For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, ¹⁹ for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

The “better hope” is Jesus, through whom we have a shot at heaven, by true faith. We must admit that we are sinners; trusting that His redemption on the cross initially saves us.  After that, loving and obeying Him, our Savior, is possible with the Holy Spirit helping. If it doesn’t make us a radically different person, we missed what it is to be truly ‘saved.’

To continue Mormon dogma:  They say, beyond death, we will be just like Him. So we will be little gods?  Here is what the sources say: 

Mortals themselves may become gods and goddesses in the afterlife, be rulers of their own heavenly kingdoms, have spirit children, and increase in power and glory forever.

Jesus plainly taught that there will be no marriage in heaven. Matthew 22:30:

At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven

(Final note:  Mr. Matsen questions Christian acceptance of Mormons such as Glenn Beck and Mitt Romney, since they, as Mormons, believe in “another Jesus.” Do you want unsaved people, whose spiritual father (John 8:44) is still Satan (whether they know it or not), directing our thoughts, or our legislation? Take that time instead to read the Scripture. No lies, just the truth.

Next, the Jehovah Witness Jesus.  He was Michael the archangel before He came to earth. After resurrection, He was again Michael, leading angels in fighting with the dragon (Satan).  Again, we have the lack of faith of Jesus being an angel.  See prior paragraph.  They changed John 1:1; their Bible says “the Word (or Jesus) was a god.” The Bible actually reads “the Word was God.”)  By adding that little word, they are vague about Jesus being uniquely God.  That’s because they do not believe in the trinity.  Hard as that concept is to understand, there is no way we can understand everything about an infinite God. Scripture teaches it, so we believe it.  We trust God to tell the truth.  Here’s additional proof that they are lowering Jesus. From my source:   

They affirm that God—Jehovah—is the most high. Jesus Christ is God's agent, 

But an agent is not God. In explaining Jesus as “a god,” they say, “the Word was a powerful godlike one. Clearly Jesus is not Almighty God.” Unfortunately, this quote was another step backward—godlike isn’t God. The term Almighty God may suggest the Father’s unique trait to some people, but there is no question that Jesus has infinite power as well, so He deserves the title Almighty as well. 

Side note:  their fixation on a date for Christ’s return.  Charles Taze Russell, their founder, began this sect in the 1880’s.  He originally taught that Jesus would return to earth invisibly in 1914. They played this up, and got a huge boost in their membership. They shouldn’t have, since the Bible says that when He makes His Second Coming, we will all see Him. The sky will be dark, then suddenly a bright lightning, then He appears on a horse in the sky with His angels (Matthew 24:27ff).  As Judge of all the earth. What is “invisible” about that?  When the anticipated 1914 passed, they were forced to change that doctrine later.  They really, really wanted to set a date for Christ’s return to earth, so they kept setting dates, and when the date passed, they changed the doctrine yet again.  Here again, the Bible teaches that’s wrong. In Matthew 24:36, Jesus says:

But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 

BUT He tells us that there are signs so we will know that we are close, Matthew 24:32-33:

Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³ So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors!

The point being, no matter how bad it gets in those last days, there is comfort for a believer if the signs in the world match up, and we can say the rapture is near.  But we cannot fix a date, and then just exist, making no plans for the future, thinking about that so much.  We should not be so enslaved by the future that we forget to live in the present so we, as Christians, can do some good for the Lord.

When a Mormon or a JW comes to your door, and says “I believe in Jesus, you shouldn’t fall for the deception and ignorantly say, “Well, I do too.” You have nothing in common, knowing their doctrine was fostered by Satan. They believe in another pseudo-Jesus.  Both cults deny some necessary attribute of divinity, so both cripple the story of His Redemption—because He was God and Human while on earth, and He was sinless and His death could redeem us if we have trusting faith.  Those who believe these  are anti-Christ, and are bound for hell until they see the Gospel. They have nothing to teach you.

 I don’t think most of us could successfully teach such visitors to our door the Truth—they almost always have a second person around to keep you from saying much.  Nothing wrong in you learning how to present the Gospel, but I wouldn’t suggest you engage them if you’re a young one in the Lord.

There are other denominations who have “another Jesus,” but I only had room for the main ones.  Millions of people have been deceived, not only in these groups, but Jesus has been distorted by groups even calling themselves “evangelical.”  Many of my other blogs can tell you about that.  I just hope you will study His Truth before looking for a church that betrays what a church is for. God go with you.