The Scourge Of Racism
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(As the Lord has led, I am going to take some time off from my joyful labor in the Word this upcoming Sunday for Labor Day. May your Labor Day be pleasant and restful! My next new post--Lord willing--will appear on Tuesday, September 2nd). In the midst of the steadily increasing rebellion of the world and many professing Christians in their churches where loyalty to Christ is wickedly equivocated with and measured by the mandated deeds of manmade Christianity the religion, I rejoice to write to the Church. These are the faithful saints, aspiring strong men and great women of God that in obedience to Scripture conduct themselves righteously before and make up the "church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth," (1 Timothy 3:15, NKJV). Hallelujah! As there has always been since men came to be on the earth, so, there is now a remnant standing faithful and remaining true to God. To this remnant scattered across the globe in churches large and small, seen and unseen; some for now serving in lives of abundance, others persecuted, on the run, in hiding, hungry, thirsty and enduring unjust incarceration, I write as God has given unction to encourage us. He, who foretold the character and major trends of these latter days through Israel's prophets, Christ and His apostles and prophets for our benefit among His reasons, has not forgotten us who cling to Him in earnest, persevering faith. Think on it deeply: we are "the church of the living God" that has been brought together through faith in Christ to be of God's household and family (Ephesians 2:11-22, 3:14-21). On the earth now and forever we stand as the singular pillar and foundational ground of the truth--Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord who declared without apology: "I am the way, the truth (emphasis mine), and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me," (John 14:6, NKJV). We have been tasked to proclaim the Gospel and witness about Him until He returns (Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 1:8). He warned us that His coming would be preceded by great upheaval among men (to include hatred and persecution of us) and in the creation. These are intensifying birth pains leading to the unprecedented paradigm shift of the arriving Kingdom of God in Christ (Luke 21:7-28)! We must not grow weary at this moment since the travails foretold for the Church in these latter days has really only just begun. God has permitted that the violent hatred and persecution experienced by our brothers and sisters in only certain parts of the world today, shall become the experience of all before the Lord's return (Matthew 24:9; Mark 13:13; Luke 21:17). Why? Because we are identified and one with Christ. Since the world hates the Lord, they hate us too (John 15:18-25, 17:20-23). The Father has also ordained that as Christ suffered for us, so, we are privileged to suffer for His cause in the Gospel (Acts 14:21-22; Philippians 1:27-30; 2 Thessalonians 1:3-12). Such biblical talk is folly to those now participating in the escalating, foretold "falling away" from the faith seen in the rebellion against God's Word and order among many professing Christians in their churches (2 Thessalonians 2:3, NKJV). For this reason, we call for soul deep repentance among these rebels and petition our God for the fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit so urgently needed to revive even those hearts growing weary and discouraged within the ranks of the faithful. The Spirit's reviving fire will renew the persevering resolve of the faithful to endure and also re-energize our efforts to fulfill our part in the Gospel's global proclamation (Matthew 24:13-14). A Christian music group called Rend Collective captured in a catchy, upbeat 2012 song entitled, Build Your Kingdom Here, what should be the yearning heart of every professing Christian that understands our need for revival at this hour. The words of the first verse are: Come set Your rule and reign in our hearts again. Increase in us we pray; unveil why we're made. Come set our hearts ablaze with hope like wild fire in our very souls. Holy Spirit invade us now. The first chorus is: We are Your church; we need your power in us. The second and third choruses respectively are: We are Your church; we pray revive and We are Your church; we are the hope on earth. We are "the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth!" Revived in the Spirit's fire, the Church armed with the Holy Scripture is the world's last mortal human source of hope to hear of the grace and mercy of God proclaimed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Matthew 5:14-16; Philippians 2:13-16; Revelation 14:6-7). Though impostor, religionist, rebel and apostate Christians betray us to the death; though the whole world hate and seek to destroy our numbers from the earth, a blessed faithful remnant will yet stand strong to the very end testifying to the awesome greatness of our God (Matthew 5:10-12; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Revelation 14:8-13, 16:12-16)! The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, "Who is on the Lord's side?"
Without a doubt, Peter has Isaiah 53:4-9 in mind as the Holy Spirit inspired his writing of 1 Peter 2:21-25 since he quotes verse 9 and alludes to the rest. In 1 Peter 2:24-25, Peter writes of the spiritual outcomes that Christ’s sacrifice brings to believers in that having died to our sins in coming to Him through faith, we now live for righteousness since our painful separation from God has been healed. Truly, we were as sheep “going astray,” but now through faith “have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer” of our souls (NKJV). Such are the rich and joyful realities the apostle writes of in a context in which he is encouraging us to follow Christ’s example when we suffer. However, in these latter days, apostolic instruction like Peter’s is being ignored and many of those that claim to love the Lord are rebelling against Him as the Shepherd of God’s flock to include men who supposedly have been called by Christ to serve in the ministry of shepherding under Him (John 14:21-24, 31, 15:9-10, 21:15-17). The Lord Jesus is the “great” and “Chief Shepherd” of God’s sheep that purchased them with His own blood and it is His will that is to be implemented in pleasing Him among them (Hebrews 13:20-21; 1 Peter 5:1-4, NKJV)! But the guilty in rebellion are sheep going astray all over again after having already returned to God through Christ our Shepherd. In the meantime, many of the guilty are running around calling for “revival in the land” because our nation is steadily losing its collective mind in approving social policies that God condemns. How can professing Christians call unsaved rebels to repentance and they as rebels need to repent themselves? The Lord had me to write about this sham cry for revival back in 2012 and nothing has happened since then to make a liar out of me. We desperately need heartfelt revival in the land alright, but we need it in God’s house among His sheep first and of the drastic variety seen under Judah’s king Josiah before God’s severe judgment fell (2 Chronicles 34-35:19). Only after will we appreciate as fully as we ought, the divine imperative to restore men. Originally Posted October 28, 2012 It has been nice lately hearing all of the cries for revival in our nation. Unfortunately, as I have previously written and the Lord in righteous indignation impressed heavily upon my heart on Friday, October 19th, without heartfelt repentance on the part of professing Christians, authentic revival is not coming--right at this moment anyway. Why? Many of these folk calling for revival are still standing knee deep in rebellion while they quote 2 Chronicles 7:14. This is not a game and my God is not stupid. You do not think He knows a deeply repentant and broken heart from one that is merely superficially acknowledging a few general acts of common sin? How could it be that women as pastors and those that endorse their clear break with Bible instruction would actually believe God is moved by their ostensible display of humble petition for revival? Hypocrites! God is not pleased and rather than revival, prepare for His remedial judgment as also happened to ancient Israel for trying the same thing (Jeremiah 6; Revelation 2:18-23, 3:19). God’s people from ancient times only ever got in trouble with Him after departing from His Word. In God’s words to Solomon by night after the Temple dedication ceremonies, He is concerned in verse 13 first to have him understand judgment would come upon His people for their sins. Drought, devouring locusts and pestilence are sent by God upon His people not for doing well, but for their wicked ways. It is deeply offensive to God holy, righteous and true that His people not only willfully sin against Him, but corrupt His Word to His face to even justify their wicked ways. Israel would do this and many professing Christians across America are now doing it (Matthew 15:1-9). So many professing Christians treat God as a marshmallow who only cares that they have some level of acknowledgement of Him in their lives. While confessing that all of the bad stuff the sinners in America are doing is the source of our nation’s troubles, I hear nothing about how we, God’s people, have sinned against Him in disobedience not to some obscure passages of Scripture, but very clear instruction. This is instruction from Christ on adultery and divorce for example in Matthew 5:27-32 and 19:1-9. As well, it is anointed apostolic instruction on the headship of men in the home and churches along with greed such as is found in 1 Timothy 2:11-15 and 6:6-11. Christ says “not to resist an evil person,” (Matthew 5:38-42); we say, “Whoever takes from me will pay” and justify keeping deadly weapons for protection. Christ says “love your enemies” (Matthew 5:43-48); we say, “This is impossible” and justify racial prejudice. On and on this goes ad nauseam and we are guiltless? God is telling Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:14 that on the condition His people would earnestly petition Him in repentance from their sinful and wicked ways that has brought judgment upon them, then He would “hear” (which plainly asserts until that point He is not listening), “forgive their sin and heal their land;” that is, restore the land devastated by the judgment represented in drought, devouring locusts and pestilence. Before Holy Ghost fired revival will come to American Christians and churches there must be deep and bitter repentance from the sin, worldly compromises and corruptions of His Word we have made. Apparently, the travails of our nation to date have not yet been severe or painful enough to bring us to this. However, get ready; God who knows how to humble the proud will bring His people, professing Christians and this nation to our knees in a disciplinary judgment that will not be easily dismissed as “natural” in any way. Then, there will be serious repentance and genuine, fresh surrender to Jesus as Lord as well as commitment to obey even the whole Word of God as He requires His people. In that hour very near too, there will be no more clever skating around obedience in the deceitful and convenient dismissal of God’s Word as rules so as to avoid “rule keeping,” (Psalm 119). (ODCM Publishing Division is pleased to invite readers of the Strong Man Of God Blog to visit a new Facebook Page, The Strong Man Of God Resources that debuted today with a post from Robert Kelley and featuring a You Tube link to the Strong Man Of God Book Trailer video.)
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