With thanksgiving and praise to God in my heart for the privilege as I begin to write this 400th blog post, at the same time I am concerned for all among the unsaved and any professed Christians that have made “the holidays” their bridge of deliverance over the troubled waters of this world. Some started working the sales, decorating and playing the music of the holidays well in advance seeking relief from what has truly been some very difficult months living through God’s Coronavirus judgment. Many have been spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically spent during the course of this amazing and extended global display of divine displeasure not yet over!
If all you have left as your chief coping mechanism and source of future hope is the largely secular sentimental, warm and fuzzy experience of the holiday season with memories of times past, food, family, friends, parties, trees, obligatory church attendance, helping others, cheery store music (missing from online shopping), gift buying and receiving etc., these (as many no doubt, have already discovered) are not sufficient! Neither are the largely manufactured and forced love, joy and peace of the season produced with teeth gritting effort. As a gracious word of encouragement from the Lord, the surpassingly greater means to cope with hope during the times is found in relationship with Him!
For those who do truly intimately know the Lord, Christmas in particular of the holidays is only the focused high point of daily celebration of the real history making event that has changed our lives forever! That is, the foretold first coming of “the Son of God,” “Immanuel” and “Jesus,” into this world as that virgin born “Child” to save us from our sins (Isaiah 7:10-14, 49:1-6; Micah 5:2; Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38, 2:1-20, NKJV). This He did after He had grown up when as foretold, He died on the cross for our sins as our Substitute, was buried and on the third day rose again (Isaiah 53; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11). Then, He ascended back to Heaven to await His return (Luke 24:44-53).
In the meantime, as He promised, all who repent of their sins and believe God’s message of grace in the Gospel of His Son, are forgiven, “born again” and receive eternal life (John 3:1-8, NKJV). This eternal life is nothing short of the very life of God! Core to His life is love which is fully displayed in sending His Son into this world to save us from our sins (John 3:16-17; Romans 5:6-8; 1 John 3:4-11). The Lord Jesus also loves us redeemed out of this world by His sacrifice and wills that we experience it with His joy (John 15:9-11, 16:16-24, 17:13). Peace is another core attribute of the divine nature and eternal life of Christ He wills for us to possess too (John 14:27, 16:33).
God’s born again children do not have to wait until any quickly passing holiday to experience His love, joy and peace nor do we have to work them up in ourselves. We bask in His love, joy and peace displayed at and after His Son’s birth we celebrate at Christmas as well as in and through us daily by the Holy Spirit! These are of the “fruit” of His presence in us (Romans 5:5; Galatians 5:22-23; Ephesians 5:8-10, NKJV). What goes on in the world does not undermine the Lord’s love, joy and peace in us unless we permit this through unbelief or other sin. Bible prophecy makes it clear things are not going to get better before the glorious Second Coming of Jesus Christ, but worse (Daniel 9:26c; Luke 21:25-28). Now, is the time to enter relationship with Him (2 Corinthians 5:17-6:2)!
(Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year as you walk by faith in Immanuel! He willing, my next post will appear Sunday evening, January 9, 2022.)
Since I can remember from my youth marchers protesting injustice of some kind have loudly chanted, “No justice, no peace!” No doubt they are serious about what they chant. Also sincerely stated is what I have heard from the Lord and must declare in accord with my calling (Ezekiel 33:1-9) concerning the guilty among my fellow countrymen that are not Christians and those professing to be who obstinately refuse to repent from their iniquity driven rebellion against Him: “No repentance, no peace!” This word from the Lord is easily and powerfully verifiable in His written Word for those wanting proof God would say such a thing. Otherwise, open your eyes and look around you!
The standing judgment of God Almighty has been upon this world since the excruciating death on the cross, burial and resurrection of His Son on behalf of all sinful mankind in 33 A.D. just outside of Jerusalem, Israel as the Lord Jesus announced (John 12:27-33). But for God’s plans from eternity to punish Israel for her greatest sin of all in being the driving force behind His suffering and have the Gospel of His Son preached in every nation, the fullness of His judgment in wrath would have come upon this world long before now (Luke 19:41-44, 21:20-24, 24:46-49; Acts 2:1-40). Truly, the rebellion against God is not just from among the Gentiles, nor did it start recently (Acts 4:1-31).
Some fourteen hundred years before Christ came at first, during and since the days of Moses and the Exodus, God has had to deal with even foretold rebellion from among those He called to be His chosen people (Exodus 19:1-6; Deuteronomy 4:25-40). Now, the Lord spoke repeatedly to them through His prophets calling the guilty to repentance and carrying out increasingly severe remedial judgments among them warning there would be no peace unless they did repent (2 Chronicles 15:1-7; Isaiah 57:14-21, 59:1-8; Amos 4:6-11). Why is this so? Why doesn’t the Lord just let rebel humanity have its way, go away and leave them alone since they don’t want to do His will?
Surely, beginning in 70 A.D. Israel with the destruction of Jerusalem, the Temple, the dispersion of the people to the nations and desolation of the land, the Lord within measured restraint left them and the world to their own devices and no peace in judgment until now, as the prophets and He Himself foretold (Hosea 3, 5:8-15; Matthew 10:34-39, 24:3-8; Luke 13:34-35; Revelation 6:1-8). He restrained lawlessness until recently for the preservation of the Jews many of whom are back in the land since 1948 and sake of the spread of the Gospel.1 But seen at this hour in our nation and around the earth, His restraint is easing as the demonically instigated lawlessness of mankind upticks as a precursor to the coming of “the lawless one” again, as foretold (2 Thessalonians 2:6-8, NKJV).2
Too, is it not because the universe, the earth and man are of the creative handiwork of God? He created all to be in harmony with Him in holiness and righteousness. But man’s sin corrupted and brought the whole creation down into a state of ruin. God has never renounced ownership over His creation even as He has allowed fallen man and angels to temporarily hold sway in it until He would save willing men and restore it! This world ultimately belongs to the sovereign God who created it and retains His right of say so in it. Thus, the wicked kingdoms of fallen man and angels are about to give way to His Kingdom and Anointed King (Psalms 2:6-12, 97, 98; Revelation 11:15, 19:11-20:3)!
The foregoing is the ominous lesson of His wrath in the day of Noah’s flood and fiery destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Though in these mortal days of man we do not typically behold Him in His awesome glory, God reigns enthroned from Heaven and judges the affairs of men in the earth (Psalms 29:10, 33:10-11; Jeremiah 50:35-40). Concerning God’s wrath upon and destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, He did not do it without prior longsuffering and even grace toward the wicked men (Genesis 13:13, 14:1-24) as well as careful consideration of the gravity of their sin and persons. Indeed, the Lord disclosed His deliberations and negotiated with Abraham about what He would do.
Having appeared with two angels as men, the Lord’s first stop on a Personal visit to earth in Human form was to His “friend,” Abraham, to deliver a word of prophetic assurance to him concerning the son He had promised him (Genesis 18:1-15; 2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23, NKJV). Then, the Lord’s attention turns to the other matter for which He was making a Personal appearance on earth in Human form and determines to disclose to Abraham (Genesis 18:16-19). Speaking to him He says, ‘“Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to Me; and if not, I will know,’” (Genesis 18:20-21, NKJV). From where was the outcry coming?
1 Read the four-part post beginning February 26, 2017, God Of Restoration And Judgment, under multiple categories starting with Bible Prophecy. In the face of calamities
natural and brought by God during this period until now, unbelievers always demand “where is God” as though He only exists to prevent these, not realizing that humanity
lives on borrowed time graciously provided by Him to repent and be saved from His far worse wrath and Hell if they will (Luke 13:1-9).
2 Besides wanting Him to produce for them a calamity free world, God’s doubters, scoffers, critics and angry haters also want Him to deliver one without the kind of grow-
ing lawlessness we now, see. Ah, but what they fail to appreciate is that they can only perceive the uptick in lawlessness because in former days it was not this bad due
to His gracious restraint of it! Now that the Holy Spirit sent to restrain lawlessness fomented by demons is stepping back out of the way to allow its rise with warning
judgments, the godless world the rebels against God clamor for is unfolding leading to the coming of a lawless global ruler. Speaking from former experience, rebels
never think through the ultimate end of their rebellion!
The great outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah’s grave sin came from at least four sources: God’s holiness, the holy angels, the physical creation and Abraham’s nephew, Lot, caring for his own soul, his family, unsuspecting strangers and those injured by the iniquity of the cities. All sin offends the holiness of God and demands His righteous and just action upon it. He, however, has very often borne with His holy offense and graciously suffered long with the sinner(s) as He did in Noah’s day and with Israel until there is “no remedy,” (Genesis 6:5-8; 2 Chronicles 36:15-16, NKJV). As earlier noted, God had already been gracious to the wicked cities, but there was no repentance!
The holy angels fully loyal to God are as advertised, holy; having no fellowship with or delight in sin! Myriads of them surround His throne to declare and guard God’s holiness (Isaiah 6:1-7). They watch the activity of fallen angels opposing God and engage with them in accord with His purposes and at His directive (Daniel 10:4-14). They also watch sinful men and carry out judgments upon them in line with God’s will as took place with the king of Babylon (Daniel 4:13-17). God’s holy angels most assuredly cried out to Him continually concerning the grave sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. As such, it is no surprise two angels accompanied the Lord to “see” their grave sin for Himself.
We know on a basic level that the earth is filled with life and living things. However, God’s Word would have us to understand that not only the earth, but “the whole creation” is alive to Him and now, even “groans” waiting for its promised restoration after that of His sons at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:18-23, NKJV). Operating with His firm laws of physics such as gravity, the physical creation retains the original moral order God created it with though, for now, it is under His temporary curse for man’s sin (Genesis 3:17-19). The physical creation is repulsed by the iniquity of mankind who are supposed to be its holy and righteous rulers (Genesis 1:26; Hebrews 2:5-8).3
Finally, the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah came as it turns out from the only righteous man that lived in Sodom, Lot. He was so morally offended by the wicked deeds of his fellow citizens, he sat in the city gate as one of the judges to intercept and if possible protect unaware travelers while his own righteous soul Scripture says was “oppressed” and daily “tormented” “by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds,” (Genesis 19:1-3; 2 Peter 2:7-8, NKJV).4 But even though His own holiness, the holy angels, the physical creation and righteous Lot truthfully, vehemently cried out to the Lord who is Omniscient and Omnipresent about the grave sin of the cities, He still came down for a Personal look.
This tells us how reluctant God in love, grace, mercy and longsuffering is to destroy even the most wicked of human beings. This becomes clear in His exchange with Abraham. From where the Lord stood before Abraham He saw as close as His holiness would allow that all that had been reported to Him in the great outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah was so (John 1:43-51) because the destroying angels started out on their mission while Abraham questioned Him as though the matter was settled. Concerned for his family (Lot) and the people he once went to war to rescue, Abraham wanted to know if God would “destroy the righteous with the wicked,” (Genesis 18:22-23, NKJV)?
The character of God and Abraham shines in their exchange (Genesis 18:24-33). The Lord displays His eternal mercy by being willing to spare Sodom if just ten righteous persons were found in it; Abraham, great humility and reverence for God referring to himself as “dust and ashes,” (Genesis 18:27, NKJV).5 The far gone wickedness of the men of Sodom was shortly confirmed (Genesis 19:4-11). Lot and his family would be delivered from God’s wrath if they were willing to heed and follow him (here again is shown the weight of male headship as God designed). Some were not willing and perished as did Lot’s wife after setting her affections on the city while fleeing it (Genesis 19:12-26).
Saints, take note Lot was moved out of the way of God’s wrath immediately before it fell (Genesis 19:27-29). We are still here now, and remain during all of His warning judgments (Joel 2:30; Revelation 8-11:14) that include allowing Satan to bring his “great wrath” upon our number in such persecution and tribulation by the hands of his emissaries that relatively few saints--a mortal remnant--are left on earth (Isaiah 57:1-2; Daniel 7:15-25; Matthew 24:15-22; Revelation 6:9-11, 7:9-17, 12:7-13:18, 14:9-13, NKJV). Persecutors should know that reducing our number hastens the one and only coming visible, audible Day of the Lord and evacuation of His righteous remnant just before He pours out His full wrath (Psalm 50:1-6; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11; Revelation 6:12-17, 15-16).6
Therefore, let all the guilty especially among professed Christians repent before the Lord now, since He will not grant peace through any means but Himself going forward until after His wrath is fulfilled (Ezekiel 33:10-11; John 14:27, 16:33; Romans 5:1-2). For no one will escape the judgment of disobedience to the call to repent in the Gospel at Christ’s return; judgment that is already underway in the “house of God,” (2 Thessalonians 1:3-12; 1 Peter 4:12-19, NKJV)!7 The wrath of the “Prince of Peace” is perfectly just because as He did at Sodom and Gomorrah, He came in Human form and had not only His Personal look at, but experience with the grave sin of this world when He suffered by our hands for us leading up to and on Calvary’s cross (Isaiah 9:6-7, 11:1-10, 53, 57:3-13, NKJV).
3 Those that may feel like the creation seems to be acting against mankind in recent years are on to something and it will get worse before it is all over! Truly, the polluting
physical activity of man such as burning fossil fuels is only an infinitesimally small contributor to the unusual weather patterns, storms, intensifying heat, droughts, sea
rise etc. compared to their flagrant transgression, sin and iniquity that defile the earth (Isaiah 24:4-6). Under His sovereign oversight and as warning judgments, God is
allowing the earth (including its wild animals) and soon the whole cosmos to register their displeasure to man’s defiling sin (Leviticus 18, 20; Jeremiah 23:18-20, 25:32-33,
30:23-24; Luke 21:25-26)! Surely, the proponents of global warning do not believe green house gases on earth directly impact the moon, sun or stars light years away, do
they? Rather than green new deals, let the children cry out for their guilty parents to repent!
4 See my Independence Day 2021 post, under the category, Biblical Worldview, where I liken my reaction to the wickedness of our times to that of Lot. Truly, any professed
Christians supposedly sanctified to God that are not disturbed in some measure by the blatant display of human depravity we see and hear everywhere in our day, plainly
show they are false or apostate!
5 O, that such were the case among the many of us professing to be Christians who supposedly in like faith and character are Abraham’s spiritual descendants! This being
so, there is no way that I continue to cry out for repentance at the Lord’s directive among you who claim to know Him. Humility is one of the common character traits of
the image of Christ the Father builds in genuine Christian men and women as I write in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics and draw out in The Strong
Man Of God Men’s Group Study and Great Woman Of God Women’s Group Study. These resources are available at your favorite internet book seller and in the
Strong Man Store.
6 Conversely, our large number on the earth forestalls the coming Day of the Lord’s wrath as He assured Abraham in their exchange about His destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah. And as the destroying angel instructed Lot, we saints are to know the full outpour of God’s wrath will not occur until we are out of the way (Genesis 19:22-24;
Luke 17:26-37; Revelation 16:17-21)!
7 Attend this Ministry’s 30 minute Strong Man Of God Online Rally at https://thestrongmanofGod.org/Webcast for a fresh, biblically grounded presentation of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ!
The Bible teaches that the mark of a genuine Christian is the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit within shining as light out of darkness from that Christian’s life. This happens quite naturally because the unique, superior nature and character of life embodied in the triune God radiates outward as the sun’s light and heat. Of the foremost display of the divine presence and life in genuine Christians is love. Impostors are not able to love God or others as commanded because they do not have the Holy Spirit and the love of God within them. The Holy Spirit leads me to explore the matter more fully in this re-titled and edited 2013 blog repost to help us discern true Christians.
Originally Posted January 13, 2013
It is not without superior, unimpeachable purpose that the Lord Jesus says to Nicodemus, a religious leader of the Jews that was sympathetic toward Him, ‘“You must be born again,’” (John 3:7, NKJV). Spiritual new birth by the Holy Spirit is an absolute requirement for entry into the Kingdom of and intimate relationship with the triune God. Therefore, any person professing to be a Christian that has not been born again by the Holy Spirit--no matter how educated, credentialed or the length of time in a local church--is an impostor (Romans 8:5-9)!
Such being the case, I exhort every professing Christian reading this in the strongest possible terms to heed the counsel of the apostle Paul and examine yourself to see if you are truly “in the faith,” (2 Corinthians 13:5-6, NKJV). In all humility, check yourself for the vital signs of spiritual life that come through the new birth by the Holy Spirit. In the new birth, authentic believers in Jesus Christ are made “partakers of the divine nature” as He also prayed (John 17:20-23; 2 Peter 1:1-4, NKJV). The nature and life of God are brought into the authentic born again believer’s life through the exclusive agency of the Holy Spirit who is God (Acts 5:3-4)!
There are several attributes of the nature of God the apostle Paul calls “fruit” and that serve as vital spiritual life signs in the authentic born again believer. The fruit of His presence is not created, but is the natural reality and display of His Person dwelling in the authentic born again believer (Galatians 5:22-23). Since they are of the nature and life of God, it can be accurately stated that “God is” before each fruit of the Holy Spirit the apostle lists in the well known Galatians passage cited and elsewhere such as Ephesians 5:9. Indeed, the apostle John writes, “God is love” because God uniquely in nature is love (1 John 4:8, NKJV).
The love of God is exceedingly greater than and distinct from fallen, sinful human love. While human love by divine design is modeled on and intended to be a full expression of God’s love, because of sin in us it is a corrupt, inferior imitation. For example, we that are authentic born again believers know from God’s Word and experience in His company that He loves unconditionally (John 3:16; Romans 5:6-8). We, on the other hand in the natural man of the sinful flesh, love very conditionally based on the other person’s performance and reciprocation. Moreover, the apostle Paul gives a brief description of God’s kind of love in contrast to human love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a.
Paul teaches God’s love is longsuffering, kind, forgives keeping no accounts, rejoices in the truth, bears, believes, hopes and endures all things; does not fail! Human love in contrast, however, is often impatient, unkind, envious, boastful, proud, rude and selfish, easily provoked and offended, keeps records of wrongs in bitterness, revels in perversion and fails miserably. Also, human love is very often confused with sentimentality and lust. Clearly, when it is said the Lord Jesus has commanded Christians to love each other, it is not intended for us to do so with human love. He says in John 13:34, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another,” (NKJV).
The new command of Christ completely fulfills and exceeds the Law which says, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18, NKJV) since He loved by voluntarily laying down His own life in the cause of saving rebel sinners and enemies; the innocent for the guilty (Romans 5:6-11). In our sinful thinking, to love a neighbor as much as we love ourselves is next to impossible since we are born selfish. So, to love even my brother in Christ as He loved me in unconditional, sacrificial self-denial is beyond impossible in human love. Thus, Christ gives His new commandment with the understanding that only His born again followers would be able to carry it out through the exclusive agency and power of the indwelling Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5)!
Impostors in the flesh cannot love either God or a supposed Christian brother with divine love because they are devoid of the Holy Spirit. This is the reason the apostle John is so brutally direct in his Holy Spirit inspired teaching on the subject of Christians loving each other (1 John 2:3-11; 3:10-24, 4:7-21). Divine love for one another actualized by the Holy Spirit is not only a commandment of our Lord, but it is the one and only authenticating sign He gave by which all (believers and the world) would recognize His genuine disciples (John 13:35). The Christian life is a supernatural life!
Hence, the unique calling card of born again believers as witnesses and ambassadors of God in the earth is the divine love filling our hearts by the Holy Spirit and tangibly seen in its display with one another (Acts 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:20; Colossians 3:12-14). Every aspiring strong man and great woman of God in the image of Christ is a genuine Christian marked by the Holy Spirit and displaying the resulting vital life signs of the new birth through Him including the fruit of divine love.1
1 Get my book The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics to learn more about the fruit of the Spirit. It is available at any major internet bookseller and at the Strong Man Store on our Web Site, www.thestrongmanofgod.org.
If Christians by the command of Christ are to be known by our love for one another, then it is plain for all to see that in the main historically, there has been a great failure on the part of the many who have professed to be Christians to obey. This sobering reality check cannot just be shrugged off as being due to the fact that Christians are saved, but remain imperfect. Nor can it be said the commandment to love one another by Christ is so hard He could not have meant it literally (as many say for any number of biblical imperatives they do not want to obey). Our Lord would not give us a command that could not be obeyed consistently if it were not possible.
No, failure to love one another in disobedience to Christ has largely attended the history of Christianity on earth since the first century because its assemblies have filled more and more with impostors devoid of the Holy Spirit and weak believers quenching His fire through willful disobedience (1 Thessalonians 5:19)! In the same way Gentiles came to dominate Christianity before the close of the 1st century making Jewish believers a tiny minority, so impostors and rebels have dominated professing Christian assemblies rendering the faithful from all backgrounds a minority. From these loveless impostors and rebelling weak believers came formal layers of authority foreign to New Testament Christianity including eventually, a religious priesthood and educated elite to support it.
Utterly devastating to the true faith with Christ’s command to love also was the emergence of Christianity the religion; a counterfeit, spiritually dead harlot of corruption and ostentation created by the impostors and rebels that has become a monolith in the earth with many daughters. They have also introduced many heresies and worldly compromises destroying the faith of some and on their hands is the blood of faithful saints and prophets that have cried out against their spiritual adultery and wickedly concocted religion (Acts 20:29-31; 2 Timothy 2:16-18; 2 Peter 2:1-3; Jude 3-19; Revelation 17:1-6).
What? Did they not know Christ condemned the corruptions of religious Israel that included their evil press to murder Him, the Son of God (Matthew 23:1-36, 26:1-5, 14-16)? How could they create a Christian religion and expect God to be pleased? Satan, the great deceiver is good at what he does so that smug Christian religionists as impostors and rebels look back on and hold Israel in contempt for their faithless, loveless rejection of Christ, but hypocritically overlook the fact they do the same thing (John 5:39-47)! Because of them biblical Christianity is tarnished and maligned. Our God is blasphemed around the earth; bumper stickers declare “God save us from your people” and they as ancient Israel are proud (Romans 2:17-24)?
Even so, my God has not been thwarted in His purposes. Again in a blog and for eternity I praise the triune God for being able to work to save and keep a faithful remnant of saints in every generation down through the centuries to this hour in spite of the clever opposition of Satan carried out by his legions of carnal impostors and captive rebels in the churches (1 Kings 19:11-18; 2 Timothy 2:20-26)! Truly, God has accomplished much to the divine glory through the faithful remnant who as aspiring strong men and great women have been His witnesses winning souls and servants par excellence shaking kingdoms, bringing down evil schemes and very importantly, putting the Lord on full display in their obedience to His command to love one another.
Every Christian martyr willing to die rather than assent to heresy and corruption is among them. So is every Christian apologist and church reformer that remained true to God’s Word as well as every abolitionist and black preacher from slavery through the Civil Rights Movement who stood to challenge America’s manifestation of Christianity the religion that would not only enslave the black brothers it made in ostensible Gospel evangelism, but also brutally, thoroughly and perpetually oppress them. Towering amid all of these in American history is the 20th century’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., preacher, pastor and prophet felled by an assassin’s bullet and whose life our nation remembers as a national holiday.
As with most everything related to doing right by its black citizens, the King Holiday was a matter of reluctant acquiescence on the part of many white Americans including of course, a number professing to be Christians and their churches. Still, to this day many will not honor their Christian brother that gave his life calling them and their segregationist forefathers of a generation ago to obey the commandment to love by the Lord they claim to love in loving their black brothers. Now, we know why loving as Christ commanded has been so hard for the many professing white Christians and keeping it real, those who are black as bitter victims. It is the failure of human love in both as impostors and weak rebels filling churches of Christianity the religion that are incapable of loving and defiantly refuse to love as Jesus commanded through the Holy Spirit. 1
Therefore, in the divine love and mercies of Christ who desires that none should perish, I am calling every professing Christian who believes you are doing great things for God without the fruit of His love through the Holy Spirit to repent since you are irritating noise, nothing and gain nothing for your efforts in His sight (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). You also face the terrifying reality of His judgment for your treachery as impostors and willful rebels (Matthew 7:21-23; Hebrews 3:7-19; 10:26-31)! Finally, with certainty the religion of confusion you love with all of its pageantry, outward splendor and ornate buildings will be destroyed by the Lord as He did the former houses of corrupt harlotry in Israel (Jeremiah 7:1-15; 52:12-14; Matthew 23:37-24:2; Revelation 14:8, 17:15-18:24).
1 Read Dr. King’s Letter From A Birmingham Jail if you never have and again if you have not done so for a time. His assessment of black and white churchmen in 1963 is tragically still current.
How plainly narcissistic are the many demonically inspired and patently false doctrines flowing from numerous pulpits and media labeled Christian exposed in the illumination of God’s current and escalating judgment in His house! Yet again in history people claiming a connection to God must decide who speaks the truth from Him between the prophets of peace and prosperity that proclaim with zeal, “It’s your season” or those such as me calling for repentance while in real time judgment unfolds among dying churches? Since the Bible shows the immutable God consistently vindicating the prophets of judgment, the decision should be easy, but sin deceives and destroys in all seasons!
Today, megachurches are built on ear itch relief teaching as foretold that falsely has God always graciously blessing and bringing folk into their selfish season of prosperity--who would not want to hear that all of the time if it were so (2 Timothy 4:3-4)? Truly, God is gracious to bless His people sold out to Him and His cause in the Gospel beginning in their souls and despite whatever else they may lack (Philippians 4:10-14; 3 John 1-4); for Christ died on the cross to completely save sinners, impoverished souls with no hope of accessing the riches of spiritual life available in God alone (Matthew 5:3). This truth is true for believers in any nation and economy on earth!
Notwithstanding the deceitful preaching by so many of my male and female contemporaries, I declare as the Lord has commanded: repent, judgment is not for some future time far removed, but is now in progress and intensifying (Ezekiel 12:21-28)! In line with the experience of prophets such as Jeremiah who had to also contend with the contrary message of false prophets and the apostle Paul’s charge to Timothy, I stand knowing what is received as negative has never been popular and certainly is not in today’s “be happy” world (Jeremiah 6:10-15, 8:10-12; 2 Timothy 4:1-2). With the world, in fact, the very mention of the word “sin” is considered negative by many professing Christians.
Indeed, professing American Christians and those in other Western nations at this hour are not the first thinly religious people to so enjoy the pleasures of sin that they find the divine call to repentance and warning of judgment repulsive (Jeremiah 5:10-13, 28:1-17). Ancient Israel was repeatedly called to repentance and warned by her faithful prophets, but chose to ignore, persecute and murder them (Jeremiah 25:1-7, 38:1-6; Matthew 23:29-36). As the Lord Jesus points out in contrast to Israel rejecting Him--the greatest of all prophets, mighty pagan Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah (Matthew 12:38-42)! Outwardly religious Israel had the Son of God crucified.
Similarly, Foxe’s Book Of Martyrs details professing Christians and their manmade Christianity the religion have a history on par with Israel on this score. Unregenerate men more devoted to their invented forms and doctrines of Christianity have barbarically and hideously put to death those they considered heretics including the faithful souls God raised up to call them to repentance. Though they presently do not murder physically as a general rule, denominational leaders, pastors, elders and churches that resist God’s call to repentance for whatever motives do so now by maligning, shunning as outcasts and treating with hostile contempt those He sends to them as I am a witness.
Even so, hear now, this summary Word of the Lord from Ezekiel 13 to the sixth century BC “foolish prophets” of Israel that reverberates in application down to the false prophets, prophetesses and teachers of peace and prosperity in this twenty-first century (NKJV). Woe to you! You prophesy out of your own heart; having seen no vision from God, you express what has come from your own spirit in falsehood and futility. He did not send you and you lie on Him that He has spoken to you for the sake of money. The Lord’s hand is against you. Unless you repent, your name will not be written down with the righteous because you have seduced His people with your false messages and teaching of peace and prosperity to enrich yourself.
With your lies you have built a spiritually weak wall for those that follow you. This is a wall that will collapse from the storms of God’s judgment in His house and the world. Being no respecter of persons, the Lord will not spare the women either who have boldly stepped up to claim their right to speak and be heard before and in all authority over the assembly; lying on God to say He called you to do this and making Him a party to confusion and sin (1 Corinthians 14:29-37; 1 Timothy 2:11-14). Together with your male counterparts, it is your season; your season to experience the judgment of the holy God who judges us in accord with our works ostensibly born of faith, love and obedience (Jeremiah 17:9-10; John 14:15; Romans 2:5-11)! Be certain that with dying churches, your foolishness will die also.
There will be no peace in the world during this present, evil milieu except within the faithful Christian (Isaiah 26:3-4; John 14:27, 16:33); the Western economic system that made material prosperity possible, drawing to its inevitable end as well (Isaiah 24:1-13; Matthew 10:34-39, 24:7; Revelation 6:5-6). Not until the Lord, the Prince of Peace returns will there be thorough and lasting global peace and prosperity (Isaiah 9:6-7, 11:1-9)! Greatly blessed are the gray headed that largely fill the relative few faithful Western churches that remain. They now depart home in peace and the prosperity of their souls; removed from the troubles ahead (Psalm 116:15; Isaiah 26:20-21, 57:1-2). Let the younger faithful prepare by coming to the way of the aspiring strong man and great woman of God in the image of our Lord Jesus Christ and the soon coming revival fire of the Holy Spirit!
It is wonderful hearing of what God is doing during His Coronavirus judgment to stir the hearts of those bewildered and seeking for answers made up not just of persons never having made a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but those professed to be Christians living out nominal, spiritually dead lives. These are flocking in large numbers to the online services and instruction of churches and ministries. However, gauging by Christian media chatter and actions, it still does not appear there is a widespread appreciation among Christians, churches and their leaders that they are enduring judgment from the Lord and consequently, needing to give full heed to His call to repent!1
My mother used to always say to us kids growing up, “A hard head makes a soft behind;” a saying passed down to her from her parents and a cultural expression familiar to nearly all black Americans born before the 1970’s. The expression served to warn stubbornly disobedient children of pending corporal punishment if obedience was not immediately forthcoming! Only the hardest of heads did not get the message and pressed on to find out mom was not issuing idle threats (that would have been me on too many occasions, I am ashamed to report). Now, the Lord looks out upon professing Christianity and sees that far too many filled with stubborn pride are being hard headed.
To the Lord’s great displeasure rather than brokenness and repentance, many church and ministry leaders have gone into organizational survival mode with no plans to change anything from what they used to do before the Coronavirus except what is needed to keep from spreading it. On top of that, they are not taking any of the prophetic signs this judgment presents serious enough to prepare those following them online or that will assemble in their buildings for what is plainly foretold in the written Word to come next. One reason for this, of course, is psychology 101 in survival mode from ancient times: don’t frighten people with the truth; keep it positive (Jeremiah 38:1-4)!
In the face of God’s judgment, telling the truth to a people having been spoon fed a steady diet of deceitfully crafted ego affirmation using Scripture and “American style home grown,” but not unique to America ancient “false doctrines of perpetual peace and prosperity” as He led me to write in a May 2, 2020 social media post is like biting the human hand that feeds you--not a good thing when men are trying to feed themselves and sustain their organizations!2 But the Lord who hears all that these leaders say and sees all of what they do will judge them as false prophets and teachers without repentance (Jeremiah 14:11-16, 23:16-17; Ezekiel 13:1-16, 34:1-10; 2 Peter 2:1-3).3
Not peace and prosperity fully and perpetually restored now, but more judgment from God is coming upon this world! For as I wrote earlier in that May 2, 2020 social media post, “From His own words Jesus Christ did not come 'to bring peace on earth' prior to His return, 'but a sword' representing divine judgment and conflict in division over Him (Matthew 10:32-39; Luke 12:49-53, NKJV)." The Lord will bring perpetual peace and prosperity to the earth at His Second Coming and after the divine outpour of wrath on sinners that have refused to accept salvation by grace through faith in Him!” If the Lord Himself says there is no peace now, where do you get off contradicting Him?
Nevertheless, I wrote, “Now, His Personal peace; the peace of God is only available to His sheep,” (Isaiah 57:19-21; John 10:27, 16:33). This is His peace in the midst of this world’s troubles and the judgments He brings on it seeking for repentance leading to salvation from “whoever believes in Him” and His fruitless, strayed sheep (John 3:16-21, 36, 15:1-8, NKJV). Christian leaders and teachers deceive those they teach when they only want to present the shine of the Lord’s face in grace and purposely avoid dealing with the fiery glow of judgment in His eyes to keep it positive for people that will not give unless something is in it and “He is for me.” This they say not appreciating Christ is Savior and Judge and for the righteous even in judgment (Revelation 1:12-16, 3:19)!
While “famines, pestilences and earthquakes in various places” will continue and intensify to soon be followed by unmistakable acts of God from the sky as warning judgments for all, next up specifically for Christians is hatred fed persecution already rife in many parts of the earth and coming to “all nations” including America according to the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 24:7-9; Mark 13:8-10, 13; Luke 21:11, 17, NKJV). If you do not or refuse to believe the foregoing you are blasphemously calling Jesus Christ a liar! Too, you are quite deceived and denying reality in arrogance as an American since you must also be falsely believing persecution and suffering is only for those professing Christ in other, unexceptional nations of the earth as God’s throwaways.4
1 See the April 19, 2020 post, Does Anybody Repent Anymore? under the category, Call To Repent.
2 I am not without empathy on this point as this Ministry too, faces all of the same challenges of trying to raise funds to keep me employed full-time in the work. The
The difference for us though, is that we will not sell God out, soft pedal the Gospel, compromise the truth, avoid talking about sin and judgment or invent feel good
messages that tickle hears to raise what we need. We have struggled for nearly the entire organizational life of this Ministry from 1985 because of this conviction,
but have watched God continuously provide what we needed in His will on time, every time!
3 Like the handwriting on the king of Babylon’s wall declaring the end of his kingdom, so, this epoch of corrupt, huckster invented and driven Christianity has been sig-
naled by God through His Coronavirus judgment (Daniel 5)!
4 Read the November 12, 2017 post, God’s Throwaways?, under the category, Bible Prophecy.
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