One of the many advantages we mocked “born again” Christians (John 1:12-13, 3:1-8, NKJV) enjoy comes into clear focus during the fifth trumpet warning judgment of God presented in the second installment of last week’s two-part post.1 Born again Christians and remnant Jews marked out by the Holy Spirit as belonging to God will not suffer being repeatedly stung by creatures He permits to do this to those without Him! So painful are the stings and the torment from them, “men will seek death and will not find it…desire to die, and death will flee from them,” (Revelation 9:1-12, NKJV). The tormented will not forget how those with God’s mark escaped the experience.2
God’s elect remnant Jews are specially marked out for protection during all of His judgments and wrath (Ezekiel 9:1-11; Joel 2:28-32; Revelation 7:1-8)! While as the Lord Jesus taught, “the world cannot receive” the Holy Spirit “because it neither sees Him nor knows Him,” by virtue of having received Him upon their repentance and faith in the Gospel, believers come to “know Him” through experiencing new spiritual birth and His abiding presence “with” and “in” us (John 14:16-17, NKJV)! Though since He is Spirit we do not see Him with our natural eyes, His glorious presence with and in us marks us out as belonging to God and is seen by all in the spiritual realm (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)!
For this cause, the angel king over and controlling the stinging locusts is able to distinguish those with God’s living seal upon them from those without Him and by His command, restricts the creatures from touching them (Revelation 9:4). For the record, rather than bitter resentment in the aftermath of their unimaginable agony, those that suffer the five months of painful torment had the prior opportunity as every born again Christian to believe the Gospel and receive the Holy Spirit and should now, be filled with repentance!3 However, their choice to be embittered leaves them open to more intense satanic influence and the evil decision to embrace violent persecution as revenge.
Extremely greater than at this hour widely filled with suffering and martyrdom throughout many nations,4 as the Lord foretold, hatred of born again Christians at that time reaches the point where they are “hated by all nations for” His “name’s sake,” (Matthew 24:9, NKJV). In their reprobate thinking, hurting and killing Christians (whose numbers had swelled during the revival the Holy Spirit freshly sparks when marking out the Jewish remnant--Acts 2:1-21) will be striking back at God for the stinging creatures and every plague of His warning judgments through the time of His “two witnesses,” (Revelation 11:3-6, NKJV). But the sovereign God is in control (Revelation 6:9-11)!
As the Lord led me to write in a previous post this year,5 toward the end of the witnessing of His two witnesses by prophesy and plagues, God’s holy angels led by Michael war against Satan and his angels in Heaven and prevail. They are cast out and down to the earth that have been and are behind the persecution of Jews (the elect is protected) and faithful Christians who overcome through their faith in and love for Christ!6 To be sure, “the devil” comes down “having great wrath because he knows that he has a short time,” (Revelation 12, NKJV). At this precise moment the Holy Spirit ceases His restraint preventing the coming of Satan’s “lawless one,” (2 Thessalonians 2:6-12, NKJV).
He rises up “out of the bottomless pit” to “war against” God’s two witnesses, “overcome” and kill them;” leaving “their dead bodies…in the street” and allowing the whole unsaved world to celebrate their deaths “three-and-a-half days” until God resurrects and calls them up to Heaven. After the “great earthquake” that follows, Satan and his “beast” go forth to rally the world to their quest for exaltation, worship, destructive dominion and warfare against God through killing Jews and Christians--the beast taking up the revenge cause of those without God’s mark who were tormented (Romans 8:31-39; Revelation 11:7-13, 13:1-10, NKJV). This ushers in what the Lord Jesus first describes as “great tribulation,” (Daniel 7:1-8, 19-25, 9:27, 11:31-45; Matthew 24:15-22, NKJV).
During the three-and-a-half year great tribulation that is in fact the beginning of the “third woe” culminating in the outpour of God’s wrath and Second Coming of Christ (Revelation 11:14, NKJV), Satan’s beast will be aided in his ability to kill all, but especially faithful Christians who do not worship him by another resurrected deceitfully lowly, but malevolent figure. He causes an image of the beast to live and kill any that will not worship it. He also requires everyone to receive the beast’s “mark” on themselves showing that they belong to him in imitation of what God has done with His elect Jewish remnant and faithful born again Christians who refuse to take it (Revelation 13:11-18, 14:9-13, NKJV). Consequently, they are shown victorious in glory thereafter (Revelation 7:9-17, 15:1-4)!
1 Read part two of Unbelief In God Near Dramatic End, posted October 16, 2022 under the category, Bible Prophecy.
2 See footnote seven in the post cited above as well as the two-part post that begins June 7, 2020, Days Of Separation, under the category, Bible Prophecy, for deeper spiritual insight into how God making a distinction between His elects and the unsaved fits into His larger separating activity already in progress.
3 Since nowhere in Revelation 9:1-12 is there even a mention of repentance from among those tormented by the stinging creatures, we have no reason to believe there is in light of none in the far worse next plague in verses 13-21!
4 Visit https://www.opendoorsusa.org/christian-persecution/ for an overview presentation of what Christian persecution is, its growing scope and severity. This Ministry is pleased to prayerfully and financially support our persecuted brethren around the earth through Open Doors USA and invites you to do so as well!
5 Read the two-part post beginning February 13, 2022, War Of The Ages End, under the category, Bible Prophecy.
6 Such faith in and love for Christ (Revelation 12:11) fills the heart of every aspiring strong man and great woman of God in His image I write about in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics. Get it along with the companion Strong Man Of God Men’s Group Study and Great Woman Of God Women’s Group Study for the equipping of the saints in the home and churches in the Strong Man Store, at your favorite internet bookseller or brick and mortar bookstore.
A Christian without the indwelling Holy Spirit is an absurd impossibility as Scripture affirms (John 3:3-5, 14:15-18, 15:5; Acts 1:4-5, 8; Romans 8:8-9). Yet, in the ignorance but mostly arrogant pride of sinful men since the first century, many have tried to do Christianity without the Holy Spirit. Christianity the religion of men in all of its many forms to this hour and doomed to destruction is the wicked and tragic result. In this edited 2013 blog repost, the Spirit of the Lord leads me to examine the sobering encounter of the apostle Paul with would be Christians devoid of Him, His life, fruit or empowering gifts as instruction, rebuke and a call to repentance in the churches that need it.
Originally Posted January 27, 2013
What made the apostle Paul begin to question the band of men described as “disciples” he met at Ephesus about whether they had received the Holy Spirit when they believed (Acts 19:1-2a)? We do not know for sure which is why, no doubt, there are many opinions. However, one certain thing we know about the apostle Paul is that He took his calling seriously and was not given to spiritual sensationalism or adding anything to the divine requirements for salvation in Christ (Galatians 1:1-10). Surely it was something deficient in the conversation or walk of these men that triggered the apostle’s query.
Contrary to the arrogance of many impostors and willfully sinning weak believers, it does not take maturing, Spirit-filled Christians very long at all to discern their spiritual condition (Matthew 7:15-20). If there were no other fruit lacking in a professing Christian but divine love that would be enough information to send off spiritual alarm bells. However, there is more; much more of the fruit of the Spirit that maturing, discerning Christians are able to see is present or not in one claiming to be a fellow born again believer. After all, truly born again Christians partake together of the same Holy Spirit and divine nature.
On the apostle Paul’s “fruit of the Spirit” list after love in Galatians 5:22 is joy followed by peace. Let us be clear that any of the great apostle’s lists of divine fruit are not intended to present any sort of hierarchy. God is who God is in nature and fullness all at the same time! Nevertheless, in complete contrast to the inabilities of our fallen, sinful flesh to deliver anything like what man most inwardly yearns for by God’s design (Galatians 5:19-21), the apostle immediately lays out the three attributes of God’s nature that satisfy the yearning of our hearts and are experienced exclusively by born again believers as fruit of the Holy Spirit. This is the life of God He offers freely and brings to every soul that will seek Him through faith in Jesus Christ (Isaiah 55:1-3; John 7:37-39, 10:10)!
The joy of the Lord through the agency of the Holy Spirit has consistently attended the lives of God’s faithful from ancient times as recorded in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. Unlike human happiness that depends on the right circumstances to cause it, the joy of the Lord is His eternal nature. God is joy! As a result, everlasting joy naturally radiates out of the Holy Spirit as well as into and back out of the lives of the faithful like light and heat from the physical sun that will someday expend all of its energy (Psalm 16:11; John 15:9-11). This is also true concerning peace. God is peace! The peace of God is not like the world’s peace which depends on external factors (John 14:27). God’s peace is of His eternal nature and beyond human understanding (Philippians 4:6-7).
As should also be true for the faithful today, the lives of faithful 1st century Christians were characterized by the joy and peace of the Holy Spirit in fulfillment of the promises of Christ and as taught by the apostles (Acts 2:46-47, 8:36-39, 9:31, 13:52, Romans 5:1-2). So, was it the lack of the Spirit’s fruit that the apostle Paul noticed in those disciples he met at Ephesus? Was it the lack of the Spirit’s mighty power pictured at work in the faithful as “fire” leading to the out breaking of spiritual gifts (Jeremiah 20:7-9; Acts 2:1-4, 10:44-48, 11:16-18)? Whatever the exact case may be, when those men said that they had not even heard of the Holy Spirit, Paul pressed them to discover what they had been immersed in.
Finding out it was the baptism of John the Baptist, he immediately instructed about and water baptized them in the name of Christ. Then, after Paul laid hands on the men, the Holy Spirit came upon them and “they spoke with tongues and prophesied,” (Acts 19:2b-7, NKJV). If the apostle Paul could ask supposed disciples had they received the Holy Spirit when they believed as a means to ascertain whether they were truly Christians, we can do no less today. Rather than spiritual gifts which the Holy Spirit in sovereignty may or may not immediately display in a new believer, as a first priority let us look for evidence of His work beginning with repentance from sin to a heart of faith and obedience toward God.
After this, our Lord taught we can know the true from the false by their fruit. Since the fruit of God; the very life of God in nature and character is brought to every soul that has believed on Christ and been baptized into and born again of the Holy Spirit, this is the next positive affirmation of their genuineness. Finally, after evidence of the Spirit’s fruit starting with divine love, look for His fire displayed in spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 13:8-13). The foregoing will mean having mature believers spend some time as Paul did talking to those that present themselves as disciples seeking not only for their right understanding of the Gospel but evidence of new birth before extending church membership to them.
Many pastors and churches fear to do this, of course, because Satan has deceived them into believing everyone’s experience with the Lord is so personal, no matter how unbiblical or outlandish it is not to be questioned. However, if assemblies of genuine believers are to minimize their infiltration by impostors as wolves in sheep’s clothing, they must be spiritually proactive in looking for the mark of a genuine Christian in those seeking formal membership. Also, a weak believer willfully sinning against the Lord must not be invited to serve in any capacity much less leadership in the churches and should be subject to discipline (another New Testament teaching being rejected today) until their repentance is forthcoming.
This is the conclusion of an edited three-part 2013 blog repost that exhorts professing Christians and churches that are guilty to stop resisting and persecuting God’s gifted, called and sent prophets so that our ministries for good might be fulfilled among them. Even so, how glad I am that while sinful men may not honor His prophets, the Lord Jesus does now inwardly and will in days to come, provide sweet vindication to us before the entire world near and at His glorious return to earth!
Originally Posted November 24, 2013
As foretold by His eye witness apostles and confirmed by the Lord, many of the leaders of the churches planted in the first century corrupted themselves and launched a trend that has never been reversed, but only enlarged to this hour (Acts 20:28-31; 2 Timothy 3:13; 2 Peter 2:1-3; Revelation 2:12-29). Indeed, as l have already written about many times, after the passing of the Lord’s eye witness apostles, corrupt shepherds along with false prophets and teachers introduced many heresies and brought forth manmade Christianity the religion which has a form of biblical Christianity (1 Corinthians 4:18-20; 2 Corinthians 3:1-6), but is powerlessly far from it (2 Timothy 3:1-5).
It is in the satanically fostered context of human ordained religiosity in churches and related organized ecclesiastical bodies that faithful saints and prophets have been martyred for the faith as by divine unction they cried out against the corruptions they saw standing faithful and true to the Word and causes of Christ--a truth recorded in many reliable sources including Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. These are churches and ecclesiastical entities that have called, sanctioned and sent out their own workers to spread their corrupt, religious doctrines while they willfully murdered those standing in their way falsely claiming divine approval (John 16:1-4).
With that history, what is it today--hundreds of years after the Protestant Reformation that also spawned its own round of violent persecution and martyrdom of godly opposition--if the churches of manmade Christianity the religion purposely persecute perceived opponents and prophets with oppression, mistreatment, ostracism, loveless abandonment to hardship and murder by words? This is done without hesitation by men controlled by the sinful flesh while outwardly decked out in deceitful religious piety as I can testify (Matthew 5:21-22, 27:46-49; Galatians 5:13-15; James 2:14-26; 1 John 3:16-17).
As if to plug up their ears to God’s outcry against their sins by His prophets, some of the scholarly especially have gone so far as to assert prophesying and preaching are synonymous so that to preach is to prophesy and all preachers are prophets. Others of that group in attempting to expose false prophets declare that prophecy and prophets ceased after the first century and surely by the completion of the entire Bible in the 4th century. Both of these views are corrupt since one does not have to necessarily preach to prophesy (2 Samuel 12:1-15; Luke 2:25-35) and may be used by God to prophesy to an individual or many through preaching (Luke 1:67-80, 3:1-20)!
While the completed Bible is our written, living foundation and landmark (Hebrews 4:11-13), it does not mean the living God has muted Himself with no further communication to be made to us at all (John 14:15-26; Acts 22:17-21, 23:10-11, 27:21-26). There has not been a time since the passing of the eye witness apostles to this hour when the Body has been without contemporary need for the eyes, ears and messages of her prophets sent from Christ the risen, living Head even with many false prophets who have existed simultaneously from ancient times (Jeremiah 23:9-32, 27:12-18, 29:1-9; Matthew 28:20b). The Lord’s foretelling of false prophets did not mean there would not be any that were true (Matthew 24:11).
On the contrary, it certifies their existence since Satan raises up the false to subvert the words of the true. The Lord’s prophets are faithful to His Word as it is written; they do not rely on or cite for final authority the opinions of sinful, mortal flesh--no matter how credentialed. And who better suited to accurately interpret God’s already written prophetic Word when He is ready (Daniel 8:15-27; 1 Corinthians 13:2a)? As the evangelist burns to win lost souls, so the prophets of Christ burn for the purity, holiness, righteousness, obedience, fidelity and fruitfulness of His bride (2 Corinthians 11:1-4)!
The Church in its infancy may not have had need for many messages of rebuke and warning--although, what is the apostle Paul with the gift of prophecy doing in most of his New Testament letters to churches? Beyond question, however, the Lord Himself continued that aspect of the work of New Testament prophets with His Revelation to the apostle John given and written down for all professing believers and their churches near the end of the apostolic period (Revelation 1:9-3:22). He has also continued to gift, call and send His prophets to faithfully fulfill every aspect of their ministries in the churches including crying out against sin and warning of divine retribution upon the unrepentant.
As the Lord foretold, His prophets have been so much without honor they are singled out among the martyred faithful saints as recipients of God’s vindication (Revelation 11:15-18, 16:1-7, 17:1-6, 18:1-8, 20, 24-19:3). This is because of their suffering to the end at the hands of unbelievers and those professing to be Christians they were sent to serve especially in the churches of manmade Christianity the religion whose leaders in the West today generally and America in particular through their proud, independent spirit, resent being told they are in sin and resist rebuke as well as warning preferring instead, to cut off the messengers to their own hurt (Jeremiah 2:29-30, 5:1-3, 7:28; Amos 7:10-17; Matthew 23:33-24:2).
Therefore, in this month of praying for persecuted believers, among them I pray for and honor my brethren, the Lord’s prophets without honor in the churches who are held in contempt and persecuted in various ways by those claiming to be Christians. As for me, I do not seek or require the honor of mortal flesh though I desire for their sakes that God’s people would give proper heed to the words of warning He has put in my mouth in perfect alignment with what is plainly written in His Word (Ezekiel 33:1-9)--woe to the teachers of falsehood who teach believers in Christ face no eternal peril for sinning in willful disobedience without repentance (Jeremiah 28; Galatians 5:19-21, 6:7-8; Hebrews 3:7-19, 10:26-31, 35-39; Jude 1-11)!
I repeat in part what I wrote in my April 17, 2016 blog repost, Disembodied, Pt. 2 under the category, The Faith: “I am deeply honored in the Lord and pleased to the highest degree to serve you as a watchman/prophet and teacher in the footsteps of those faithful servants of Christ from the first century until now...” Glory to His Name!
The Lord and necessity stirring my heart, I write today celebrating the thirty-second year since this Ministry began operations October 1, 1985 and to follow up a post I made back on July 9, 2017 entitled, Laboring To Restore Men under the category, The Cause. In both instances I hope that you will allow the Holy Spirit to stir your own heart to come along side of and financially support the Ministry that has made possible this biblically sound, instructional, thought provoking, challenging and edifying weekly Strong Man Of God Blog as well as all of the resources including my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics that are available at this critical hour in world history.
If I could sum up the history of Open Door Communication Ministries, Inc. as the organizational parent of Strong Man Ministries and source of all our other activities in a phrase, it would be “faithful and fruitful.” How glad I am that this phrase finds great favor with the God of the Bible and indeed, He gets the glory that the Ministry can be described in this way since He made it possible (Deuteronomy 7:9; Psalm 31:23, 124; John 15:1-8)! Through so much adversity mostly from carnal, religious professed and compromised Christians, God has enabled us to persevere to do His will in faithfully proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost while also teaching and warning those in opposition face to face and using many media tools which today incorporates the internet.
Tens of thousands of human souls here in America and many parts of the earth have been reached by this Ministry in thirty-two years. We will not know the full extent of the fruitfulness our God has caused us to have until standing before Him to receive the rewards of service in the Day of Judgment (Romans 14:10-12; 2 Corinthians 5:9-11). All of what has been done to date has been done with very limited human and financial resources--again, to God’s glory! When I look back over the years, I am amazed at all of the expensive media stuff from billboards to national radio broadcasts God has made a way for us to do with little or no money declaring His uncompromised Word.
Following the conventional market driven wisdom of doing non-profit and Christian ministry, we certainly would not be proclaiming God’s uncompromised Word as it is written. Doing so, of course, is the primary reason relative few Christians have stepped up to support us. Market driven non-profit and Christian ministry sees needs or surveys what people’s felt needs are and seeks to create products and services to address them. Having Marketing in my educational and work experience, I initially saw the unmet need in 1985 for Christian media programming targeting black Americans. I set out to meet it through founding this Ministry and raising funds from Christians to make it happen.
However, after six months, it was clear I was running into the same religious brick wall I had been introduced to as a baby Christian that lacked with other things, Kingdom vision among many black American Christians and churches; toleration of the sin of racism among my white brothers that could not fathom helping me help anyone.1 Thirty-two years later, this state of affairs largely remains intact--though I thank God for the exceptions to it that have supported us. Also, in market driven wisdom I have had my share of closed doors among major publishing entities that equally reject authors that they do not believe have content people--Christian women in particular--will buy.
Praise God, rejection has not been the whole story! At the end of that first six months He answered my “why” prayer by plainly making known my calling to me modeled after that of the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 2:1-3:11, 16-21, 33:1-9). Then, I understood, though I never dreamed I would be suffering faithfully with God’s help at this despised task so long. For I am treated as an enemy by many of those I have been sent to serve in the love and mercies of God. My messages are not my own; they originate with the Lord who does not do marketing surveys to determine what may be popular or controversial (avoiding controversy because of God’s Word has never been possible for His faithful servants including the Lord--Luke 6:26; John 7). He cares that the lost hear the Gospel to be saved; those professing to know Him obedient to retain what they have (1 Corinthians 15:1-2)!
Not the lost nor even the baby or weak in faith Christian, but the faithful who appreciate faithfulness and fruitfulness as God does are those that we seek to help support this Ministry in its work! Where are you? Or do you also as so many in line with the world today no longer see the proclamation of what is considered the intangible Word as of utmost importance in the human condition, but only what is tangible in ministering to physical needs? The Lord preached the Gospel and met physical needs, but clearly made the need to be restored to God the priority (Matthew 4:1-4, 12-5:6, 6:25-34; John 6)! We will not fraudulently change or add to our God ordained mission as a first priority to tug at your heart over human physical needs just to get your money.
The mission objectives of Open Door Communication Ministries, Inc. through its varied ministries has remained preaching the Gospel, teaching God’s Word uncompromised, helping willing churches do their work and being faithful representatives of Christ in the world to whatever end He has willed. Please support us because of these Kingdom rooted mission objectives and the still Heaven esteemed values of faithfulness and fruitfulness this Ministry exhibits.2 You can give securely now on our Web Site, https://www.thestrongmanofGod.org/Give.3 Otherwise, send your cash, check or money order made out to Open Door Communication Ministries, Inc. to: P.O. BOX 56704, Portland, OR 97238. Your gift is tax-deductible and a letter receipt will be sent. Thank you.
1 See my two part August 21-28, 2016 blog, Christianity The Religion Of Men, under the category, Instruction and the October 2, 2016 post, Gifted With A Prophet’s Heart, under the category, Call To Repent to learn about some of my early experiences with Christianity as manmade religion.
2 To see a summary of our recent faithfulness and fruitfulness click the Learn More link on the Operational Needs Page.
3 This Ministry does not see or handle your debit or credit card information and uses PayPal as its trusted, exclusive online payment processor.
To deny Christianity the religion of men on earth is long overdue severe divine judgment is to be completely out of touch with Bible history and reality. Yes, it is true that God is merciful and patient with us as my willfully weak and sinning brothers like to remind me. Yet, the instruction and events of the Bible show that God’s longsuffering patience and forbearance to judge His people finally does come to an end. That time has come for great Babylon and her daughters! Of the many centuries long sinful practices professing Christians have that you can be sure are lumped into the unfolding judgment of God in His house is racism by all that are guilty.
It is commanded (not suggested) by Jesus Christ that His followers love each other as He has loved us so the on looking world will know that we are His people (John 13:34-35). Clearly, for centuries professing Christians in great numbers have not obeyed the Lord as seen in the many unloving ways we do each other and in no less a manner than the evil practice of racism. As a result, we have failed to give the world the right picture of Christ in us as His followers. Prominent among those historically guilty of practicing racism are those of white, European descent, the dominant ethnicity in Western societies and many others by conquest.
Conquered and enslaved ethnic peoples were introduced to many forms of Christianity, but generally not shown its love driven racial and ethnicity harmonizing biblical reality in most cases as history records. Now, in this 21st century, the world is fragmented along racial and ethnic lines to such an extent, the fulfillment of the Lord’s prophecy about widespread conflict as an important sign of His near return is beginning to occur (Matthew 24:7a). Here in America, so many have in great delusion wanted to believe racism and ethnic strife was behind us, but as I lamented in my November 29, 2015 blog, “When The Glory Comes” under the category, Glory To God, not so!
To my ongoing grief out of loyalty to my Lord Jesus and His Kingdom first, rather than having been part of the solution, professed followers and churches identifying with Him are a major part of the continuing problem of racism in our nation.1 I repost this 2011 blog in part because it is still my hope that with godly sorrow and repentance from the sin of racism (2 Corinthians 7:8-11), Holy Ghost fired national racial and ethnic love driven harmony will finally come forth among all who profess to know Christ and led by those of the white ethnicity as is appropriate (Romans 5:5). Then maybe we can say something to the world about how it is supposed to work in Christ by our example.2
Until then, sadly, I must report that my most recent hopeful effort on mission from the Lord to be part of the solution at the church named in this blog repost failed as the reflexive and entrenched carnal attitudes of racism and religion displayed by the pastor and elders stymied my every attempt to fit in as I am and be accepted on biblical terms which I also shared with them. Though I was blessed to make a few lifelong friends from the experience, my departure for the sake of peace in December 2014 resulted in me returning to “my place” in a predominantly black American congregation.
This leads to the other important reason I am making this repost. It is to give the following solemn warning to all professing Christians: Jesus Christ means business about all of the commands and instructions of His will stated in His Word (John 15:9-17)! Therefore, realize the historic failure of professing Christians in their churches to love in celebration of God’s racial diversity initiative has brought and is bringing His severe judgment upon the guilty (Matthew 23:8; 1 Peter 3:8-12).
And as the ones who knew the Lord’s will in the Gospel and were given much to fulfill it in carrying it to the races and ethnic groups in the most far flung lands on the earth, those of white, European descent will suffer many more stripes for even defiant disobedience to His command to love in the willful practice of hating in racism what are supposed to be your brothers in Christ (Luke 12:47-48; 1 John 3:10-15, 4:20-21). Those stripes include watching their proudly beloved idol, Western Civilization, crumble to the dust (Isaiah 2:12-22). Intensifying global ethnic strife and persecution of Christians going forward will fully expose all that have no love to their eternal anguish (Matthew 25:31-46).
Originally Posted December 11, 2011
After much prayer with amazing answers from God, regular attendance, visitation with our prospective leaders and fellowship with the people, my wife, Mary and I sought membership and were received into Hinson Baptist Church of Portland. While at this late date in our nation’s existence it should not matter, it does, so, I share that the church is predominantly made up of Christian white Americans. This is one of the reasons my wife and I are convinced our Lord has sent us to Hinson that we may on purpose be vessels of His love in obedience to His command to all Christians found in John 13:34-35.
The historical wall of race that continues to divide churches in America is a great sin and tactical error that Satan has exploited to fullest advantage. Indeed, we Christians are disqualified to speak with authority on why worldly diversity initiatives of tolerance are wrong to include same sex relationships as acceptable when we cannot accept brothers and sisters in Christ that we know are racially different by God’s purposeful design. The picture of Heaven is that of the ethnicities gathered together in Christ before the Father’s throne in joyful assembly (Revelation 5:9-10). It is not perfection that enables that reality in Heaven as much as it is willful sin in us that hinders it on earth.
Growing up in the small community of Seaside, California in the sixties, we were forced by integration requirements to go to public schools where we mixed with persons from a variety of backgrounds. Amazingly, all things considered, we kids got along pretty well though I, among others felt compelled to hold white adults in authority accountable for being fair. Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders--you name it, all were represented. Did I mention we were sinners and not all honoring Christ’s command or empowered by the Holy Spirit to love each other? My wife had a similar experience growing up in San Jose. Our experiences of living in racial diversity no doubt have contributed to our willingness to obey the Lord’s leading to join Hinson.
If sinners of the world can celebrate and enjoy racial diversity, what is up with the people of God? Again, it is willful sin manifested in bigoted, racially intolerant attitudes and flesh driven religiosity that allows it. Those that are guilty must repent and submit in obedience to our Lord’s command to love each other. This can be done without abandoning the ethnicity and cultural heritage God blessed us to be born into. Those that require this are sinning against the Lord. Of their many attributes, the strong man and great woman of God celebrate God’s racial diversity initiative by accepting their own racial identity and honoring others in theirs as from Him! Get my book, The Strong Man Of God to learn more about the character and demeanor of His strong men and great women.
1 Read the May 4, 2014 blog, Moral Pressure Rightly Applied, under the category, Call To Repent.
2 Read the March 8 & 15, 2015, blog reposts Known By Our Love, Pt. 1 & 2, under the category, Instruction.
What the disciples of Jesus Christ saw beginning that dark morning of His arrest and thereafter, so deeply impacted their lives they were never the same again. Though Peter and traditionally the apostle John as “the other disciple” had initially scattered with their companions, they showed up at the home of “Annas,” “the father-in-law of Caiaphas who was high priest that year” “to see the end,” (Matthew 26:57-58; John 18:12-16, NKJV). It was at this point that Peter makes the first of three denials of knowing Him as the Lord prophesied “before the rooster crows” which he afterward “bitterly” regrets (Matthew 26:34, 69-75; Luke 22:54-62; John 18:17-18, 25-27, NKJV).
I cannot begin to connect with the depths of Peter’s personal pain at that hour especially the heart rending occurrence of the Lord looking him straight in the face at his third denial. I can however, relate to having failed the Lord many times over the years. It is here that I can also appreciate doctrinally and personally the Lord’s words of encouragement to Peter in the face of his impending failure saying to him: “...I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren,” (Luke 22:31-32,NKJV). Peter’s personal faith in Christ and who He was would and did not fail that day--Peter did in his natural, fallen state as a man!
How eternally unfathomably fortunate Peter was that day and all of us who have believed in Christ since that for the cause of our natural, fallen condition as sinners, sin guilt and sins He surrendered to those that would press for His death so, we can return to Him; that is, repent and be forgiven--oh, the joy of the Lord’s forgiveness for sin (Psalms 30, 32)! Peter in the fallen natural and spiritual ignorance; as a not yet Spirit-filled, born again man in the spiritual know denied knowing or being a follower of his Lord to save himself from certain harm and obtained forgiveness for this sin because his faith (trust, confidence) in Him as God’s Son, the Messiah did not fail as He had prayed.
The forgiveness Peter and the other disciples received for not believing Scripture or Christ’s words and spiritual ignorance is granted to all the lost who repent and believe the Gospel (John 5:45-47; 1 Timothy 1:12-17)! Judas’ betrayal is a unique case (Matthew 26:14-16, 19-25, 27:3-10; John 17:12; Acts 1:15-26). Clearly, the warnings of the Lord and later New Testament writers including Peter about the eternal consequences of denying and falling away from Him speak most directly to disciples coming after His suffering, the Holy Spirit and the new spiritual birth (Matthew 10:32-33, 12:31-32; Mark 8:34-38; Luke 12:8-12; Hebrews 3, 6:4-8, 10:26-31; 2 Peter 2:1-3; 1 John 2:22-23).2
It is important to note that while Peter witnessed the first round of the Lord’s interrogation at and before his departure from the home of Annas, John apparently stayed and followed the events leading to His crucifixion since he was known to Caiaphas. With Sanhedrin members and disciples Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, he would have been close in to observe the Lord’s foretold trials before this Council, Pilate and Herod. All present would have seen His disfigurement in the aftermath of beatings and scourging; his physical weakness on the walk to crucifixion requiring help and during which He prophesied to grieving women (Luke 22:63-23:31, 50-51; John 3:1, 7:45-52).
When the death processional came to Calvary the Lord was nailed to His cross as were two criminals. He spoke to His Father on behalf of those responsible for His suffering as all that unfolded fulfilled prophecy exactly as it is written. He also brought one of the criminals crucified with Him who had repented into the Kingdom. Meanwhile, possibly to mirror the spiritual darkness that already shrouded what was taking place; it became physically dark from noon until His death three hours later as the light of the sun was kept from shining on the scene. While “all His acquaintances” and women disciples from Galilee had watched from a distance, John and His mother drew near His cross where He addressed them, then, His Father again before dying (Luke 23:32-49; John 19:25-30, NKJV).
At the moment of His death with the darkened land also uncontrollably convulsing, “the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom” providing a monumental sign and clue as to why all of this was permitted by God and had to take place; the Roman centurion and his men on the scene guarding the Lord observing how He died and the events attending to His death in fear crying out in unison: ‘“Truly, this was the Son of God,’” (Exodus 26:31-34; Leviticus 16:2-3; Isaiah 59:1-2; Matthew 27:51-52a, 54, NKJV)! Those who pressed for His death, however, still refused to believe this and sought to ensure His light was put out forever even as fellow Sanhedrin members Joseph and Nicodemus saw to His burial; women followers watching (Matthew 27:57-66; John 19:31-42).
2 Thus, for this cause no professed born again Christian should believe they in unbelief can be forgiven for denying the Lord to save themselves from consequence in per-
secution or apostasy (Romans 14:23b; James 4:17)! Men are free to voluntarily walk away from the Lord in unbelief though, no evil spirit or mortal predator can “snatch”
those clinging to Him by faith out of His or His Father’s protective care (John 6:60-71, 10:22-30, NKJV). Obviously, false professors of the faith that publicly forsake it
and Christ were never saved to begin with (1 John 2:18-19). Salvation then, inures to those professed Christians that stand firm to the end in faith, love and obedience
to God’s written Word (Matthew 10:21-22, 24:13; Mark 13:12-13; Ephesians 5:1-7; Hebrews 10:32-39; Revelation 12:10-11, 14:9-13). Read the two-part post beginning
April 6, 2014, The Faith That Saves, under the category, The Faith.
Is it just me or does anyone else also see the glaring inconsistency of teaching me I am the head of my house by God’s design and purposeful will, but when I come to His house, the God who made me the head changes everything? Like a bizarre, mind bending movie where things are familiar, but out of place and nothing is as it should be, so, the growing number of churches today with women as pastors, worship leaders and authority figures over adult men in what is supposed to be the God of the Bible’s “household,” “family” and “house;” His Father the Lord Jesus taught us in Him to also address as “Father,” (Matthew 6:9; Ephesians 2:19-22, 3:14-15; Hebrews 3:1-6, NKJV)!
There has been a change made in the churches led by pastors that are responsible true enough, but the ever consistent and immutable God has not authorized it as He leads me to make absolutely clear in a very important second Appendix of my book. This change to allow women to speak into the whole church assembly and be deployed into positions of authority over men is exclusively the action of sinful flesh in defiance of Scripture! It has come about from the same demonically deceitful instruction that has also allowed those that pervert God’s sexual design to pastor, lead worship and ministries in what is supposed to be God’s house.
After millennia, to now--at the end of this age--fully set aside men and God’s order of mankind in His house is wickedly brazen; showing no fear of God whatsoever in sinning with such a high hand. You surpass even the people and leaders of ancient Israel who also corrupted themselves in spiritual harlotry, disrespected God’s house, profaned His great name and caused His enemies to blaspheme (Ezekiel 16:23-30; Malachi 1:6-2:16; Romans 2:24; James 4:17). For those who question by what authority I have stood to say such things in crying out against this ongoing rebellion in God’s house, I will ask you an even more important and eternally troubling question.
By what authority have you stood to usurp Jesus Christ, God’s appointed Head of the Church, to dishonor men and change the divine order of mankind in His house as antichrists (Daniel 7:25; Matthew 28:18; Ephesians 1:22-23; Colossians 1:15-18)? At the Lord’s command and in the power of the Holy Spirit, I have taken my stand to wage war on and pull down strongholds of deceit in all of the arguments raised up against “the knowledge of God” embodied in the whole counsel of His Word on men and the order of mankind in His house; “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” in His cause to restore men and declaring His judgment on the unrepentant (2 Corinthians 10:3-6, NKJV)!6
For while the world culture may be in rebellion against the will, way and Word of God, such should not be the case among us who have been set apart as His and are His house (1 Peter 2:4-5)! We were saved from out of the world culture not to live to or honor it above God any longer, but as “His own special people” to exalt Him and proclaim His praises with supporting godly deeds (1 Peter 2:9-12, NKJV). So, the world culture may be celebrating with guilty professed Christians in their break with ancient, biblical orthodoxy on men and the divine order of mankind in yet another display of the foretold “falling away,” but the Head of His house is not pleased (2 Thessalonians 2:3, NKJV)!
Let me be very clear from the prophetic Word of God to the professed Christian following after world culture and the unbeliever listening in. The corrupt egalitarian, anything goes world as a tower of Babel you seek to build will not come to fruition without contest from God in severe judgments (Genesis 11:1-9; Revelation 8:1-11:19) or long stand before it is destroyed in wrath by Christ (Isaiah 2:10-22, 13:9-13; Revelation 6:12-17, 16)!7 He now, graciously calls unbelievers to repentance and faith in the Gospel to be saved from His coming wrath; repentance leading to revival among those in sin as professed Christians so they may not be condemned with the world, but rather vigorously preach the Gospel especially to men as the Lord modeled so they might be completely restored.
The faithful pastor should not fret or fear your obedience has been in vain and the wicked in and outside of God’s house are getting away with anything (Malachi 2:17, 3:13-4:3). Those that profess to be Christians and continue to refuse God’s offer of forgiveness through repentance from all disobedience including rebellion against His order of mankind will be caught in the intensifying judgment He has begun in His house and that will be more evident in 2017--beware rebel women in positions of unbiblical authority (Revelation 2:20-23)! It has begun in His house so the world may see God is just and fear; for this assures their destruction without repentance to follow (1 Peter 4:17-18). All who die in their sins also face the judgment seat of Christ in terror (2 Corinthians 5:9-11)!
Now, therefore, woe to the pastors that oppress and marginalize the men you shepherd! You will give an account of every soul harmed by your disobedience. If the Lord commands Israel’s faithful to keep the “Law of Moses” and to look for Him to send Elijah before “the great and dreadful day of the Lord” to restore men and their children, how is it that you have failed to grasp you are to keep His Word and labor to make ready a people prepared for His coming through restoring men and their children also (Malachi 4:4-6, Luke 12:42-48, NKJV)? Does not the judgment of Adam, Aaron, Solomon, Jeroboam, Ahab, Asa and the Pharisees frighten you at all (Genesis 3:17b-19; Exodus 32:25-35; 1 Kings 11:9-13, 13:33-14:11, 21:17-26; 2 Chronicles 16:11-14; Matthew 23:25-24:2)? The risen, living Christ continues His cry among American churches, “Who is on the Lord's side?”
6 I have addressed most of the more popular arguments of the rebellion in all of my May 2015 blogs.
7 The tragedy of inequality among mankind does not originate with God’s creation of men and women for when all was created, He declared His work ‘“very good,’” (Genesis 1:31, NKJV)! After this, the next greatest statement of human equality came from the lips of the first man when he raved about the woman made from him in perfect correspondence to him in every way (Genesis 2:23). Human inequality originates with sin and all of the evil ways it corrupts the human heart (Mark 7: 17-23)! This being true, how can the noble cause to eliminate sin invented human gender and racial inequality, for example, be lumped together with that of over- turning the decree of God that only sex inside of male and female marriage is righteous? Therefore, until my final breath as a Christian black American male. I will be offended by the sexually immoral person’s evil and false claim that rejecting his sin is equivalent to rejecting me as a man of color by the purposeful design of God! Read my May 8-15, 2016 blogs.
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