The Scourge Of Racism
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Many today falsely claim to be followers of Jesus Christ, the Man from Heaven I wrote about in the August 11, 2019 post under the category, Glory To God! This is nothing new, of course, since those that are false or apostates have been present in all of the history of the Church on earth from the first century (Galatians 2:1-5; Philippians 3:17-19; Titus 1:10-16). But just as the Lord and His apostles foretold, these latter days overflowing with deception, falsehood and apostasy are especially filled with those that deceive themselves and anybody gullible enough to believe or worse, imitate them in their folly as professed Christians (Matthew 24:4-5, 11; 2 Timothy 3:1-9, 13; 2 Peter 2).
Exactly what does it mean to follow and be a follower of Jesus Christ?1 First, a basic understanding of each word to help get to what the Lord means by them. Webster’s Dictionary defines “follow” with several layers of meaning to include: “To come or go after; to chase, pursue; to attend, accompany…to comply with, obey and to come after in time, order or position.” It defines a “follower” as “One that follows--especially a pursuer; an attendant; a subordinate; an adherent of the methods or teachings of another.” In or about AD 30, Jesus of Nazareth began calling Israelites to repent, believe in and follow Him as the sign God’s promised Kingdom was near (Matthew 4:12-17).
He also directly and authoritatively called specific men to follow Him to do as He was doing (Matthew 4:18-22, 9:9). With the specific men, multitudes responded to His preaching and miraculous works of healing power to become His followers or disciples (Matthew 4:23-25) and gathered together to Him to hear Him teach (Matthew 5:1-7:27). It was not unusual for a Teacher or Rabbi to have a following and be popular in Israel in those days (Acts 5:34-39). However, none performed the miracles of Jesus or taught with His commanding authority (Matthew 7:28-29)! He taught those that gathered to Him what He required to be His disciple as He did on one occasion.
The Lord first told the twelve men He was equipping to be apostles He must suffer death and be resurrected (Luke 9:18-22). “Then He said to them all, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me,’” (Luke 9:23, NKJV). A faithful and true follower of Jesus Christ is to disown his life for the sake of chasing after, pursuing, being with, obeying and lining up behind Him to suffer death if necessary; filled with faith that just as God raised Christ from the dead, He will raise him too (Luke 9:24-26). Thus, the Lord plainly and firmly teaches there is a cost one must be willing to pay to be His disciple which He has never walked back!
This cost involves a giving over of self to following Christ so completely, He becomes the uppermost love of a man’s life. Too, there is a willingness to carry an assigned cross to the death and to “forsake all that he has” or he, says the Lord, “cannot be My disciple,” (Luke 14:25-33, NKJV). Nothing of Christ’s requirements to be His disciple is missing from His own life and example as the Disciple of God the Father (Isaiah 50:4; John 5:16-20, 6:38, 8:29). As a result, love for His Father above all others was Christ’s deepest motive for following Him and doing every single thing He had been shown and commanded to do without deviation (Mark 3:31-33; John 14:31).
Love for God the Father led to Christ’s resolve to bear and endure His cross as intensely difficult as it was to get there (Mark14:32-42; Hebrews 5:7-8). Nevertheless, He went to the cross forsaking any yearning for or claim to mortal pursuits; suffering its agony to please His Father and save fallen mankind (Isaiah 53:1-6; John 3:14-17, 19:17-18). He loudly cried out to His Father from the cross before yielding His spirit into His care at the finish of the mission (Matthew 27:45-46; Luke 23:46; John 19:30). He was buried with no one really understanding why He died, but at His resurrection on the third day after it was made plain to His followers (Isaiah 53:7-12; Luke 24:1-49).
At His command, His apostles went forth preaching the Good News about Him. Hearers through repentance and faith were and have been made new disciples of Christ from that time until now in nearly every nation on earth (Matthew 28:18-20)! They were all supposed to be taught the same instruction and requirements of following Christ as those in the first century.2 But even before that century ended satanically inspired deceit and falsehood to include religion invented by men began to arise and threaten the faith “once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3-4, NKJV). Following Jesus as He taught became the experience of but a remnant that God preserved in every generation.
1 Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is one of the important eternal roles of Christians I write about in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics. Get a print copy or
digital download of the book at major internet booksellers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBooks.com and Apple (digital only). You can also get a print copy
of the book in the Strong Man Store.
2 This is one of the common sense reasons God had the requisite teaching and commandments of Christ written down so they could be perpetually and accurately pre-
sented (Luke 1:1-4; 2 Peter 1:1-15). Oh, how clever the deceiver and evil the guilty human hearts that have twisted and corrupted even the straightforward teaching and
commandments of Christ over the centuries to this very hour! And you do not think you will have to give an account to God for that?
Having conducted the work of Open Door Communication Ministries, Inc. faithfully with the leadership, grace and power of Christ since 1985, I painfully know well the worldly size and majority rule that has caused many to dismiss it. I confess coming to the end of a bit of wound licking when I originally wrote this edited 2010 Commentary as a wrap up of three that came before in consecutive order wherein I also lamented some other worldly tenets held and practiced as well by many professed Christians throughout all facets of American Christianity.1 Indeed, worship of the idol of success is fully displayed in the nearly unanimous deference given to big over small and the many over a few among most professed American Christians practicing the size and majority rule. This Commentary presents a sobering warning to the guilty.
Originally Published October 2010
The recent global flap caused by the Florida pastor that threatened to burn the Koran2 revealed a telling flaw in the democratic mind set of our nation as a whole and the many professed Christians that put worldly values over those taught by our God in His Word. Let me be very clear before proceeding. I do not believe this pastor was in the will of God nor is any Christian that burns a Koran or any other religious book. The Lord has not called Christians to physically tear down other religions. We are called to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ letting it and every biblical truth in His mighty power pull down spiritual strongholds lifted up against "the knowledge of God," (Acts 17:22-34; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, NKJV)!
All of the foregoing said, I was amazed as official Washington, secular and Christian media personalities ridiculed the Florida pastor’s threatened act not simply on its inappropriateness, but also based on how small his church was. What did the size of his church have to do with anything? Would his threatened act have had more credibility and acceptance if his church were larger? Over and over again this pastor's threatened act was denounced and wonder expressed at all the attention he had received because his church had only fifty members. In short, this man was disqualified from attention because he was too small.
Regular readers will know that I am touchy on this subject of late because our 25 years of service to the Lord has been dismissed by some on the similar basis of being too small to be heard or taken seriously. The revered size and majority rule is not a reliable standard of judgment though it is the way of our post-Christian, secular nation from politics to business. However, those that fear the Lord had better be very careful about living by this rule since He does not bind Himself to it and never has! Examples abound in the Bible of how size did not deter God--remember Gideon's 300 (Judges 6:11-7:22) and a teenaged David that killed the giant, Goliath (1 Samuel 17)?
Consider also of the twelve men sent to spy out the Promised Land for Moses, ten--the majority--returned to give a bad report that the people believed and as a result, wandered in the wilderness for forty years (Numbers 13-14:38). The majority also cried out "Crucify Him" so that the Lord Jesus Christ should be condemned to the cross (Mark 15:6-15, NKJV). Were they right because they were the majority? The majority of this nation's white citizens were once okay with the forced oppression of blacks in the bonds of intended perpetual servitude. Were they right because they were the majority?3
If every truth is established by whether or not somebody with a large following or a huge majority endorses it, then the truth of God's Word will continue to be cast aside by the world and many professed Christians as increasing numbers reject a biblical worldview. But wisdom asks, does the truth "Jesus is Lord" really become true because the pastor of a ten thousand member church says it versus one with just fifty members? Or is the statement true based solely on whether a majority of persons hearing it accept or reject it?4 From Christ's perspective, the answer is a resounding no since He has been exalted as “Lord” by His Father as it is written apart from what sinful men say (Psalm 2; Philippians 2:8-11, NKJV)!
As Open Door Communication Ministries, Inc. launches out into our 25th year of operations with the Lord’s leadership, let me assure our readers this will be the final time in this setting I address the size and majority rule. Aspiring to be a strong man of God in the image of Jesus Christ, I have heeded His counsel not to despise the day of small things as we go forward in the Spirit to finish the assignment He has given (Zechariah 4:6-10)!5 My primary concern has not been all about me anyway. It has also been about spurring professed Christian men that follow (and will follow) the large crowd in rebellion rather than Christ to repentance, lest they be eternally destroyed (Revelation 13, 14:6-13). The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, "Who is on the Lord's side?"
1 Those commentaries in order of original publication were Living The Faith In Real Life (July 2010; posted October 7, 2018), Standing Alone Is Not Failure Or New
(August 2010; posted November 4, 2018) and Justifying The Means By The End (September 2010; posted September 16, 2018).
2 Search “2010 Florida Pastor, Terry Jones” to learn more.
3 Western Europeans or their descendants in size and majority anywhere on the planet are not the final authority or express, singular arbiters of truth, but God
through His Word rightly divided is (John 17:17; 2 Timothy 2:15)! A long history of their religious Christian corruptions include the guilty in the majority that wickedly
reduced the Protestant Bible down from 66 to 14 books to keep slaves that might learn to read from reading about God as a Deliverer from bondage (Exodus 3:7-8)
among other hope building truths. This is one of the most heinous exhibits of Bible corruption ever (learn about the “Slave Bible” on display in the Museum Of The
Bible on loan from Fisk University through September 1, 2019) and why sinful mortal flesh cannot finally be looked to as truth authorities, but only bearers if they will
be faithful to God’s Word. Sadly, Bible corruption continues to this hour as various versions are produced and sold featuring the language translation preferences,
theologies and interpretive slants in notes printed within of large denominations, church pastors and teachers as media stars. Arrogant racism continues too, as still,
at this moment in the 21st century a white preacher’s teaching carries greater weight and is trusted more than one of color no matter how biblically sound. But praise
His name; God who vindicates His faithful servants will have the last Word (Psalm 26; Zechariah 1:1-6)!
4 This is the deceitful trap and bane of relying on the likes and dislikes of those that vote their feelings on social media to determine good or evil, right or wrong. Watch
out, professed Christian: we do not live by what is popular even within professing Christianity, but by God’s “every” Word (Matthew 4:1-4, NKJV)!
5 Learn more about the strong man of God in the image of Jesus Christ in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics available at all major internet booksellers,
by order at your favorite brick and mortar bookstore or in the Strong Man Store.
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