Devotional, Devotion, Prophecy, Bible Study, Bible discussion, End of Days, End Times, Enter Ministry, Underground Church, Church, Fellowship, Tribulation, Salvation, Ordained, Love, Heaven, Miracles
Author: Michael Young, Sr.
I am a practicing Christian, a disciple of Jesus, a husband of over 50 years, a father and a grandfather, a business man, a veteran and a friend to all who will have me.
I have served or am serving, at various times, as an Evangelist, a Pulpit fill pastor, an Associate Pastor of Evangelism and as Senior Pastor of a church plant. My passion is for practicing and teaching the Bible, building small groups, reaching the lost with the message of the Gospel of Jesus, recovering the straying Sheep of God and the gathering together the Called of God, in neighborhoods, business settings and in churches by equipping other Christians.
I have authored a few small books and I have a background in professional business management, finance and investments.
I am glad to meet you, even if it is virtually. Write me at any time and let's become friends.
“Again, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Matthew 4:7.
This is a continuing series on “THE WORDS OF JESUS – What Am I To Do With Them?” We have discussed and discovered that the Word of Jesus is the Word of God. (“Jesus and the Father are One”) . I have extracted the words of Jesus from scriptures in an effort to evaluate, study, discuss and understand
What Jesus really said,
What Jesus meant by what He said,
What is the nature of what Jesus has said,
What He said and what it means to me,
How I should respond to what He said,
What I should do with what He said,
If what He said is literal and if it is really true.
We began this study with the questions, “Do you read the Bible? If so, how do you read and understand the Bible?”
What I am asking is, do you read the Bible as ‘stories’ about people, places and ‘about God’? Do you read the Bible for prophecies? For promises? For power?
Do you read the Bible to learn? And if you read to learn, what have you learned? And most importantly, what do you DO with what you learn?
We have looked at several examples of what the Bible says about The Word of God, and finally, we are asking, “What if the Word of God is true? I mean, what if His Words are literally true in ways we fail to recognize?”
People who personally encountered Jesus testified and reported on the Works He did, and this caused throngs to follow Him, stirred great controversies, created deadly conflicts and gave untold millions a greater hope for a new, vibrant, changed life, full of promise now and eternal hope of a home in heaven with God. The Words Jesus spoke, and the Works Jesus did, changed the world.
I ask again, ‘What if we have been reading and misunderstanding what Jesus meant by and the intentions of His Words? What if we have been misapplying what He taught? (Jesus was always concerned about His disciple’s lack of understanding and ‘lack of faith’.) In Part 2, we considered Jesus’ meaning of ”Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God”, and that we need both physical food and spiritual food, ’every word that comes from the mouth of God’, in order to survive and to thrive, both now in this world and in the age to come.
“Again, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
These words of Jesus, are also found from Deuteronomy 6:16, when God cautioned the Israelites, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah”. Massah is a reference to the place where circumstances gave the Israelites cause for complaining to Moses, and to doubt whether God was present in their need (testing God); and, it was a sign of unbelief and of challenging the ability, dependability, the provision and sovereignty of God.
The consequences of putting the Lord God to the test can be severe. In this case, God was merciful. But in a similar and subsequent event years later, Moses and Aaron were denied entrance into the Promised Land because of their disobedience to God at Kadesh Barnea. God had instructed Moses to speak to the rock to bring forth water for the grumbling Israelites, but he disobeyed by striking the rock twice (Numbers 20:12). Because the Israelites had failed to believe and obey the Lord, their arrival into the land “flowing with milk and honey” was postponed until Joshua led the younger generation out of the wilderness by the command of the Lord.
There are volumes being said in this short, terse statement by Jesus, “Again, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test’”.
“ON ONE SIDE OF THIS COIN”
Do not challenge the Lord your God, for it is a sign of a rebellious and ungrateful heart.
Do not question the sovereignty of the Lord your God, for it is a sign of pride and arrogance.
Do not doubt the Lord your God, for it is a sign of unbelief.
The Psalmist warns, Do not be a “stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose spirit was not faithful to God.
“The Ephraimites, armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle.
“They did not keep God’s covenant, but refused to walk according to his law.
They forgot his works and the wonders that he had shown them. In the sight of their fathers, he performed wonders in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan”.(Psalm 78:8-12)
“He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap. In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light.
“He split rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. He made streams come out of the rock and caused waters to flow down like rivers.
“Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert. They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved.
They spoke against God, saying, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
“He struck the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed.
Can he also give bread or provide meat for his people?”
“Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath; a fire was kindled against Jacob; his anger rose against Israel, because they did not believe in God and did not trust his saving power.
“Yet he commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven, and he rained down on them manna to eat and gave them the grain of heaven. Man ate of the bread of the angels; he sent them food in abundance. He caused the east wind to blow in the heavens, and by his power he led out the south wind; he rained meat on them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas; he let them fall in the midst of their camp, all around their dwellings. And they ate and were well filled, for he gave them what they craved.
“But before they had satisfied their craving, while the food was still in their mouths, the anger of God rose against them, and he killed the strongest of them and laid low the young men of Israel.
“In spite of all this, they still sinned; despite his wonders, they did not believe. So he made their days vanish like a breath, and their years in terror.” (Psalms 78:13-33)
Again, James instructs and warns, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, withno doubting, forthe one who doubtsis like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”James 1:5-8
“ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN”
These few words spoken by Jesus are prophetic and instructional. They have been spoken to you, and are meant to be active and will come alive, through you!
Jesus’ words are causative and creative. “They shall accomplish the very thing which He purposes, and they shall succeed in the things for which He sent them”. (Isaiah 55:11).
When beset with trials and temptations, when faced with lack, need or want, speak the Word of God and repel the devil, negate his attacks and temptations. Be steadfast and completely dependent on God, in faith. He will not fail you. He will deliver you!
This is what Jesus really said,
This is what Jesus meant by what He said,
This is the nature of what Jesus has said,
This is what He is saying and what it means to you and me,
This is how you should respond to what He said,
This is what you should do with what He said,
What He has said is literally true. Depend on it!
Your Brother and Friend,
Mike Young
NEXT: A PROPHETIC WORD FROM JESUS – Begone Satan – Part 4
This is the promise to all of God’s children – First to the Jew, then to the Gentile. This is THE WORD OF GOD for you:
“And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.
“If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers.
“And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live.” Deuteronomy 30:1-6
Let’s say you encounter a group of people – a large group of people – who are loving and who show unselfish concern for other; people who are joyful and show an inner peace; people who are patient, and show not only the ability to wait, they wait with kindness, people who are good, faithful, and gentle, showing great self-control. WHAT WOULD YOU CALL THAT?
What if these people show a loving attitude and behavior that allows them to endure with patience and serenity; a people showing a love that is kind and thoughtful, that is not jealous or envious; a people showing a kind of love does not brag and is not proud or arrogant. People who are not rude; not self-seeking, not provoked nor are overly sensitive and not easily angered; People with a loving attitude that does not take into account a wrong endured. They do not rejoice at injustice, but rejoice with the truth when right and truth prevail. WHAT WOULD YOU CALL THAT?
People with a love toward others that bears all things regardless of what comes upon them, believes all things, that is looking for the best in each person, hopes all things, remaining steadfast during difficult times, and endures all things without weakening. People with a love never fails, never fades and never ends. What would you think? What would you do? AND, YES, WHAT WOULD YOU CALL THAT?
THE CHURCH: INHERITING THE EDIFICE COMPLEX
“The idea, that the Christians in the apostolic age, erected special houses of worship is out of the question.
The Savior of the world was born in a stable, ascended to heaven from a mountain. His apostles and their successors down to the third century, preached in the streets, the markets, on mountains, in ships, sepulchers, eaves,and deserts, and in the homes of their converts.
“Thousands of costly churches and chapels have since been built and are constantly being built in all parts of the world to the honor of the crucified Redeemer – who in the days of his humiliation had no place of his own to rest his head!” — PHILIP SCHAFF, NINETEENTH-CENTURY AMERICAN CHURCH HISTORIAN AND THEOLOGIAN
“MANY CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIANS have a love affair with brick and mortar. The edifice complex is so ingrained in our thinking that if a group of believers begins to meet together, their first thoughts are toward securing a building. For how can a group of Christians rightfully claim to be a church without a building? (So the thinking goes.)
The “church” building is so connected with the idea of church that we unconsciously equate the two and it has caused Christians to disconnect the original meaning of “The Church” (Ekklesia) from the people of God, the disciples of Jesus, to the edifice or buildings which occasionally house the Body of Christ – His People.
Just listen to the vocabulary of the average Christian today:
“Wow, honey, did you see that beautiful church we just passed?”
“My goodness! That is the largest church I have ever seen! I wonder what the electric costs to keep it going?”
“Our church is too small. I’m developing claustrophobia. We need to extend the balcony.”
“The church is chilly today; I am freezing my buns off in here!”
“We have gone to church every Sunday this past year except for the Sunday when Aunt Mildred dropped the microwave oven on her toe.”
Or how about the vocabulary of the average pastor:
“Isn’t it wonderful to be in the house of God today?”
“We must show reverence when we come into the sanctuary of the Lord.”
“Or how about the mother who tells her happy child (in subdued tones), “Wipe that smile off your face; you’re in church now! We behave ourselves in the house of God!”
“To put it bluntly, none of these thoughts have anything to do with New Testament Christianity. Rather, they reflect the thinking of other religions—primarily Judaism and paganism.
FROM HOUSE CHURCHES TO HOLY CATHEDRALS
“The early Christians believed that Jesus is the very presence of God. They believed that the body of Christ, the church, constitutes a temple. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He made some radically negative statements about the Jewish Temple.’
“The one that angered many Jews most was His announcement that if the Temple was destroyed, He would build a new one in three days! (See John 2:19-21.)
“Though Jesus was referring to the Temple that existed in the architectural sense, He was really speaking of His body. Jesus said that after this temple was destroyed, He would raise it up in three days.
“He was referring to the real temple—the Ekklesia—which He raised up in Himself on the third day (Ephesians 2:6).
“Since Christ has risen, we Christians have become the temple of God.
“At His resurrection, Christ became a “life-giving spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45). Therefore, He could take up residence in the believers, thus making them His Temple, His house. It is for this reason that the New Testament always reserves the word church (ekklesia) for the people of God. It never uses this word to refer to a building of any sort.” (Excerpts from Frank Viola & George Barna’s book, “Pagan Christianity”, Tyndale Publishing, 2002, 2008)
“When Christianity was born, it was the only religion on the planet that had no sacred objects, no sacred persons, and no sacred spaces.
“Although surrounded by Jewish synagogues and pagan temples, the early Christians were the only religious people on earth who did not erect sacred buildings for their worship. The Christian faith was born in homes, out in courtyards, and along roadsides. For the first three centuries, the Christians did not have any special buildings!
“As one scholar put it, “The Christianity that conquered the Roman Empire was essentially a home-centered movement.”
“Meeting in homes was a conscious choice of the early Christians.” It was a coming together in a more intimate setting, a ones’ home. Very little could be hidden in such an environment.
“Then, in the late second and third centuries a shift occurred”
Christians not only had adopted sacred spaces, they also had created sacred objects. (They would soon develop a sacred priesthood.) It might seem they had forgotten Moses and the golden calf.
“In all of this, the second and third century Christians began to assimilate the magical mind-set that characterized existent pagan thinking.
“These factors made the Christian terrain ready for the man who would be responsible for creating church buildings. In AD 327, Constantine began erecting the first church buildings throughout the Roman Empire, some at public expense.’ In so doing, he followed the path of the pagans in constructing temples to honor God.
“Interestingly, he named his church buildings after saints — just as the pagans named their temples after gods. Constantine built his first church buildings upon the cemeteries where the Christians held meals for the dead saints. WHAT WOULD YOU CALL THAT?
“Constantine brought peace for all Christians.'” Under his reign, the Christian faith had become legitimate. In fact, it had risen to a status greater than Judaism and paganism.
“For these reasons, the Christians saw Constantine’s rise to emperor as an act of God. Here was God’s instrument who had come to their rescue.
“Christianity and Roman culture were now melded together.” WHAT WOULD YOU CALL THAT?
“The Christian building demonstrates that the church, whether she wanted it or not, had entered into a close alliance with pagan culture.’ As Will Durant, author of The Story of Civilization (a sweeping, eleven-volume work on world history that earned him a Pulitzer Prize), put it, “Pagan isles remained in the spreading Christian sea.”
“As one historian put it, “Church buildings took the place of temples; church endowments replaced temple lands and funds.”
“Under Constantine, tax-exempt status was granted for all church property.
“Consequently, the story of the church building is the sad saga of Christianity borrowing from heathen culture and radically transforming the face of our faith.
“To put it bluntly, the church buildings of the Constantinian and post-Constantinian era essentially became holy shrines. The Christians embraced the concept of the physical temple. They imbibed the pagan idea that there exists a special place where God dwells in a special way. And that place is made “with hands.”‘ WHAT WOULD YOU CALL THAT?
“As with other pagan customs that were absorbed into the Christian faith (such as the liturgy, the sermon, clerical vestments, and hierarchical leadership structure), third- and fourth-century Christians incorrectly attributed the origin of the church building to the Old Testament. But this was misguided thinking.”
“Most Americans are struggling to clarify their identity. They tend to see themselves as unique individuals, Americans, members of their family, occupational professionals, consumers, and then as followers of Christ — in that order of priority.
“In the minds and hearts of most Americans — even those whose beliefs classify them as “born-again Christians”— their identity as a follower of Christ pales in importance in comparison to the other roles they embrace. WHAT WOULD YOU CALL THAT?
“Oddly, most of the born again Christians consider themselves to be servants of God and to have been transformed by their faith in Christ.
“Clearly, there are some missing connections in this self-evaluation. Perhaps the confusion is due to the enormous number of inter-actions and responsibilities that people take on each day.
“Maybe it has to do with the disjointed, topical teaching that most of us receive from our churches. It may even be attributable to the lure of competing perspectives and images bombarding us from the ever-present media.
“The bottom line is really quite simple: You are a priest of God, a minister of the Lord Jesus Christ, and a member of His glorious body. Through your declaration of allegiance to Jesus and your stated desire to live with Him forever, you have a responsibility to be a functioning priest, minister, and member of the Body .
“The organized church has moved down a winding path over the past two thousand years. The only way to get it back on track is for each of us to begin prayerfully exploring the original plan that God had for His people, and then to be willing to respond faithfully to that plan.
“In this way, the Revolution that has begun to take root in our day will spread far and wide. And God will get what He has always been after.” (Excerpts from Frank Viola & George Barna’s book, “Pagan Christianity”, Tyndale Publishing, 2002, 2008)
So, where can I go from here? Click the following link to another page, read it, and begin to pray for God’s Wisdom and discernment. An invitation
I humbly offer this after eleven years of prayer, study, seeking God, asking for His Wisdom to know and follow His Call. I sincerely and prayerfully urge you to do the same.
And they will prophesy. (Acts 2:17-18 and Joel 2:28-29))
There are testimonies, warnings and plain statements regarding at time in the Bible known as the Last Days or the End of the Age. For example, Jesus gives us an account of the Last Days and The End of the Age from two distinct perspectives. We need to look at a Biblical comparison and correlation of The Seals of the Tribulation as seen in the book of Matthew and correlated with the book of The Revelation (1). So we can know the sequence of these events that may be prepared and ready at all times. (2). It is also important so that we will not be taken by surprise or frightened and lose focus and composure; (3). It is also a reminder that we are to inform and warn others of the present and coming judgements. To Wit:
Matthew 24:1-5 tells us, “As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
Revelation 1:1-3, which was written around A.D. 95 says, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place ; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, everything that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads, and those who hear the words of the prophecy and keep the things which are written in it; for the time is near.”
Verse 4. John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is, and who was, and who [c]is to come, and from the [d]seven spirits who are before His throne, verse 5, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood— verse 6, and He made us into a kingdom, priests to [e]His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Verse 7. BEHOLD, HE IS COMING
Jesus and these same disciples testified that these present and coming prophetic judgments and events may have already begun. in or around the birth of Christ or as late as A.D. 95, calling them “events of These Last Days”:
Hebrews 1:2,“but in these last daysHe (God) has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”
(This was written by the Apostle Paul, is written in the present tense, in or around the year A.D. 70 and is referred to as these last days ).
Hebrews 9:26,“For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, He (Christ) has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”
(These events were occuring in or around A.D. 30. The book of Hebrews is written by the Apostle Paul, and is written in the past and present tense, in or around A.D. 70 and is referred to as the end of the ages.)
Acts 2:14-17, “But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:
“‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.”
(This occurred in or around A.D. 60 and as written in the past and present tense, by Peter the Apostle, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and is referred to as being ‘in the last days’).
2 Timothy 3:1,“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.’
(This was written by the Apostle Timothy, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in or around the year A.D. 67, was written in the present tense and is referred to as being ‘in the last days‘.)
1 Peter 1:20-21,” He (Jesus) was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”
(This is written in the past tense was recorded in or around A.D. 90, and is referred to, by the Apostle Peter, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit as being ‘in the last times ‘.)
1 Peter 4:7,“The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.
(This is written in the past tense was recorded in or around A.D. 90, and is referred to, by the Apostle Peter, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit as being ‘the end of all things‘.)
2 Peter 3:3,“Knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.
(This is written in the future tense as a testimony about. things that were already beginning to occur, and was recorded in or around A.D. 90. This is referred to, by the Apostle Peter, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit as being ‘in the last days‘.)
1 John 2:18, “Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, sonow many antichrists have (already) come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.“
(This is written in the present tense was recorded in or around A.D. 90, and is referred to, by the Apostle John, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit as referred to as being in ‘the last hour‘.)
Matthew 24:29-31, ““But immediately afterthe tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet blast, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”
This is written in the future tense was recorded in or around A.D. 70, and is referred to, by the Apostle Matthew, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit as referred to as being in ‘afterthe tribulation of those days’ , speaking of the tribulation of those days already referred to (above here.)
RECAP:
Seals ONE through FIVE have been broken, progressively, up until this day.
(CONCLUSION: These events (the breaking of Tribulation Seals 1 through 5) began in or around the birth of Christ or as late as A.D. 95, and have been overlapping and intensifying. We are still waiting for the breaking of the 6th Tribulation Seal as described in Matthew 24:29-31 and Revelation 6:12-16)
Considering the ‘seasons’ which we have entered, and considering the Seal which is upon us, this prophecy from Isaiah 61 is being fulfilled. This is the calling of the Shofar to gather around and begin the final assault!
NOW, HEAR THE VOICE OF THE LORD:
The Spirit of the Lord GOD has come upon us, because the LORD is anointing and commissioning us to bring good news to the humble and afflicted;
He is sending us to bind up the wounds of the brokenhearted, to proclaim release from confinement and condemnation to the physical and spiritual captives, and freedom to prisoners, to proclaim the favorable year of the LORD, that is a day of salvation (49:8), and the year of His redeemed (63:4), and the day of vengeance and retribution of our God, so that we will no longer be prey to the nations, and the predators of the earth will not devour us; but we will live safely, and no one will make us afraid in this day of the Messiah’s reign.
To comfort all who mourn, To grant to those who mourn in Zion the following: To give them a turban instead of dust [on their heads, a sign of mourning, the oil of joy instead of mourning, The garment expressive of praise instead of a disheartened spirit. So, we will be called the trees of righteousness strong and magnificent, distinguished for integrity, justice, and right standing with God,
The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
We then will rebuild the ancient ruins, and we will raise up and restore the former desolations; And they will renew the legacy of the ruined cities, the spiritual desolations, deserted spiritual settlements, of many generations.
Strangers will stand and feed our flocks, and foreigners will be our farmers and our vinedressers.
And we shall be called the priests of the LORD; People will speak of us as the ministers of our God. We will eat the wealth of nations, And we will boast of their riches.
Instead of our former shame we will have a double portion; And instead of humiliation we will shout for joy over our portion.
Therefore, in this our land, we will possess double what we have forfeited; everlasting joy will be ours. (personalized from Isaiah 61)
(Then, at The Breaking of The Sixth Tribulation Seal (See Matthew 24:29-31))
‘I, (GOD), WILL DISPLAY WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE
AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW,
BLOOD, FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE.
‘THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS
AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD,
BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD COMES.
‘AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.’ (Acts 2:18-20 and Joel 2:30-32, Matthew 24:29-31)
The Lord is calling and. I am inviting you into the ranks of His earthly army. I am inviting you to join together as an earthly contingent of God’s heavenly armies to join in this final assault.
What does this mean?
First know, that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, contending only with physical opponents, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly and supernatural places.
Secondly know that we will encounter physical opponents who are of the spiritual forces of wickedness, but it is not ours to destroy them physically, but We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the true knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ, being ready to punish every act of disobedience, when our own obedience as a church is complete.
The time has come that the Church is no longer to be an idle building, a gathering place for pleasure and entertainment.
“The Apostle Paul says the foundation of this building called the church is made up of the prophets and the Apostles, that is, the Old Testament prophets and New Testament Apostles. Why? It’s because the prophets and Apostles are the agents of revelation by whom God speaks to His people. They delivered the Word of God. Another way of saying this is that the foundation of the church is the Word of God.
“That’s why we must pay close attention to our doctrine of Scripture. The attacks launched against the integrity, authority, sufficiency, and trustworthiness of Scripture are attacks not upon a side alcove of this building. They don’t put a dent in the roof of the church. They’re attacks on the church’s very foundation. To have a church without Apostolic authority, without the Word of God as its foundation, is to build a church on sand rather than on rock. The foundation of the prophets and the Apostles is necessary for the entire edifice of the church to stand securely.
“Paul continues the building metaphor in Ephesians 2:20b: “Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone.” Christ is the cornerstone, the point that holds the foundation together. Take out the cornerstone, and everything falls apart. “In [Christ] the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Eph. 2:21–22). The church is a new temple built in Christ, by Christ, and for Christ. Obviously, Paul isn’t saying the church is a building made out of mortar and brick, but that we are the stones, the living stones, as 1 Peter 2:5 tells us. Each believer is part of this church just as each stone is part of a building. The church, the new temple, is still under construction. Every day, new stones are added. This new temple will not be finished until Jesus returns to consummate His kingdom. Christ is still building His church, not by adding cement but by adding people who are the stones that hold together in Him.
“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
“The Apostle Paul explains the doctrine of the church so that we might understand what God has done and so that we may understand who we are. And in calling us to understand who we are and what we’re called to do, Paul says that we’re the church. We’re the church that God ordained from the foundation of the world. We’re His people; we‘re His household, so let the church be the church.
“Christ is the cornerstone, the point that holds the foundation together.
“We’re living in a time of crisis. Many Christians are decrying the decadence of American culture and complaining about the government and its value system. I understand that, but if we want to be concerned for our nation and culture, our priority must be the renewal of the church. We are the light of the world.
“Government merely reflects and echoes the customs embraced by the people in a given generation. In a real sense, our government is exactly what we want it to be, or it wouldn’t be there. Change in culture doesn’t always come from the top down. It often comes from the bottom up. The change we need to work for, chiefly, is renewal within the church. As the church becomes the fellowship of citizens of heaven who manifest what it means to be the household of Christ, and when the church walks according to the power of the Holy Spirit—then the people of God will shine as the light of the world. When people see that light, they will give glory to God (Matt. 5:16). This will change the world. But Paul says, first of all, let the church be the church. We must remember who we are, who the foundation is, who the cornerstone is, who the head of our building is, who the Lord of the church is.
“Do we love the church? I doubt if there have been many times in our history when there has been as much anger, hostility, disappointment, and disillusionment with the institutional church as there is today. It’s hard not to be critical of the church because in many ways the church has failed us. But if the church has failed, that means we have failed. We are called to serve the church in the power of God the Holy Spirit.
“We, the church, have been made for this task by the indwelling presence and power of God’s Spirit. Yet, we are called not so much to rise up but to bow down. And if we bow down to our Lord, as Paul says in Ephesians 3:14, the church will be the church, and our light will pierce the darkness.” (the foregoing in quotes is from Ligonier.com, by R.C. Sproul)
PUTTING OUT THE CALL
This is an all-volunteer force. I you need financial support, you will eventually have to raise that funding as you go.
This is not a call to build buildings, to establish religious corporations nor to leash ourselves to any 501-c-3 contract. This is not a hierarchy of priests. You are like living stones, being built up into a spiritual house for a holy and dedicated priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable and pleasing to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in Scripture:
You are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A CONSECRATED NATION, A special PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies, the wonderful deeds and virtues and perfections of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once you were NOT A PEOPLE at all, but now you are GOD’S PEOPLE; once you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.
We will consider others as more important that ourselves. We will continually and faithfully devote ourselves to the instruction of the apostles, and to fellowship, to eating meals together and to prayers. Day after day we will meet, continuing with one mind, and breaking bread in various private homes. We will eat their meals together with joy and generous hearts.
I am putting out the call, first for:
Apostles: The title apostle comes from the Greek word apostolos which means “a messenger, one sent forth with orders”. It refers to one who has been delegated authority by another in a foreign land. Apostles were the first leaders of the Church; they were commissioned by Jesus to initiate and direct the preaching of the gospel. (There is no passage in the Bible saying this gift was temporary nor that is has ceased)
Prophets: In the New Testament, the office of prophet is to equip the saints for the work of service through exhortation, edification, and consolation (1 Corinthians 12:28; 1 Corinthians 14:3 Ephesians 4:11). The prophet’s corresponding gift is prophecy. Prophecy is “reporting something from God’s Word that God brings to your mind”.
Prophecy is addressed to the human understanding “he who prophesies speaks to men,” Corinthians 14:1-25. The prophet “edifies the church” (14:4).
Evangelists: An evangelist is one who devotes himself to preaching the gospel. In the New Testament, evangelists preached from city to city, church to church.
Pastors: This term derives from a Greek word for “shepherd”. Pastoral Gifts include integrity and compassion.
(The tasks of a Near Eastern shepherd were to watch for enemies trying to attack the sheep to defend the sheep from attackers to heal the wounded and sick sheep to find and save lost or trapped sheep to love them, sharing their lives and so earning their trust.
During World War II, a shepherd was a pilot who guided another pilot whose plane was partially disabled back to the base or carrier by flying alongside him to maintain visual contact.)
Teachers: Someone who devotes his or her life to preaching and teaching the Christian faith. When teaching is provided for the Church by God, two gifts are actually given—to the Church is given a teacher and along with the teacher comes a divine capacity to teach.
Also, Those with the spiritual gift of Service: The word translated as “ministry” is diakonia, which can also be translated “service”. Since there are many types of ministries and service to the Church, this then describes a broad array of gifts rather than a single gift.
Those with the spiritual gift of Exhortation: The ability to motivate Christians “to patient endurance, brotherly love, and good works”.
Those with the spiritual gift of Giving: Those with this gift share their own possessions with others with extraordinary generosity. While all Christians should be givers, those possessing this gift will go beyond this normal giving.
Those with the spiritual gift of Overseeing: This gift speaks to the various roles found in the Church. While many think of roles such as administration, management of funds, strategy planning, etc. as functions outside of the supernatural realm, in reality individuals in these positions are just as in need of supernatural empowerment as are ministers of the gospel. This is sometimes inappropriately called ‘leadership’.
Those with the spiritual gift of Mercy: Possibly identical to the gift of helps, the mercy-shower possesses a ministry of visitation, prayer, and compassion to the poor and sick.
Those with the spiritual gift of a Word of wisdom: An utterance or message of wisdom supernaturally granted to an individual. For Paul, wisdom refers to “the knowledge of the great Christian mysteries: the Incarnation, Passion, and Resurrection of Christ, and the indwelling in the believer of the Spirit of God (1 Corinthians 2; Ephesians 1:17)”.
Those with the spiritual gift of a Word of knowledge: The knowledge referred to is often said to relate to understanding Christian doctrine or scriptural truth. It is sometimes said to be connected with the ministry of teachers.
Those with the spiritual gift of Faith: This refers to that strong or special faith “which removes mountains, casts out devils (Matthew 17:19–20), and faces the most cruel martyrdom without flinching”. It is distinguished from the “saving” and “normal” Christian faith.
Those with the spiritual gift of Gifts of healing: The ability to supernaturally minister healing to others. The plural indicates the variety of sickness healed and the many forms the gift takes, such as healing by anointing with oil, by the laying on of hands, by saying the name of Jesus or by the sign of the cross.
Those with the spiritual gift of Working of miracles: The performance of deeds beyond ordinary human ability by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Visions. An outpouring of this gift is prophesied in Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17 and is expected to increase and be of great value in the “last days”.
Those with the spiritual gift of Discerning of spirits: The capacity to discern, distinguish, or to discriminate the source of a spiritual manifestation—whether it emanates from a good or evil spirit. It seemed to have been particularly associated with prophecy as it would be necessary to know whether a prophetic utterance was truly inspired by God.
Those with the spiritual gift of Helps: This gift has to do with service to the sick and the poor. Possessor of this gift has a “spiritual burden and a God-given love for the needy and afflicted”.
Those with the spiritual gift of Administration: Also called the gift of governing, the Greek word translated “governments” is “kubernesis”, the verb form of which means “to steer” or “to be a helmsman”. This gift then refers to the God-given capacity to oversee or guide the Church through storms and difficult seas.
CONCLUSION
This is not meant to be and is not a ‘new movement’. It is a continuation of the Church that Jesus built, as the Bible describes it. There are to no assumptions to be made about anything that is not written in the Bible (such as special or new revelations, unwritten words of knowledge, new prophetic words, cessation, reformation, replacement). If the Bible is silent, we are silent. Where the Bible speaks, we speak.
We must become (recreate in our own lives) what Jesus created as His Church. The fruit of the Spirit, the result of His presence within us, is love and unselfish concern for others, joy, inner peace, patience, not the ability to wait, but how we act while waiting, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Remembering that those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified and are crucifying the sinful nature together with its passions and appetites.
We must strive to remember that as we claim to live by the Holy Spirit, we will also walk by the Spirit with personal integrity, godly character, and moral courage—our conduct empowered by the Holy Spirit. We must not become conceited, challenging or provoking one another, envying one another.
Pray that, following the lead and example of Jesus, as our numbers grow, God’s influence will become an irresistible force as the day of His return draws ever-so-near.
Your Brother and Friend,
Mike Young
(Please reply in confidence, below. I will reply and we will begin the Assembly.)
Yesterday’s sermon was excellent. Well-thought-out, delivered well, informational, instructional and convicting. But I don’t know exactly how to do it! I mean, I don’t understand how to accomplish what I was told to do.
The message comes from the book of James 5:1-6. The summary is “the unrighteous rich hoard and accumulate”.
The unrighteous rich use and abuse power. (They pay too little and withhold wages).
The unrighteous rich love in luxury and self-indulgence.
How then should we live?
We should not be haughty.
We should not set our hope on riches.
We should set our hope on God.
We should be rich in good works and ready to share.
But I am not rich. Are you?
I ran a business, and I was known for ‘overpaying’ and paying promptly.
I lived beneath my means.
“Luxury and self-indulgence” seems subjective. ‘I have an idea of what being haughty means. But isn’t that also a bit subjective’. It is hard to define. Who knows?
I have always tried to live as instructed by scriptures and according to this message. I had successes and failures. But I tried.
I guess this message was meant for those who have significant means so they can compare and contrast what the Bible (James) is saying to their own life.
Then, during the message, this struck me:
Use proper hermeneutics → Exegete scriptures → read → study → interpret → contextualize → understand → explain → apply → then, do it!
So often – or rather, the great majority of the time – sermons are given as a narrative of scriptures. Do you see what I am saying? They are a ‘story’ about a subject in the Bible, most often presented as ‘a story about a story’.
That is not what Jesus does. Jesus’ ‘sermons’ always tell Truth as being
Instructional. (instructional in the sense that it tells you why, how, when and where),
Creative. (in the sense that it creates, within the recipient, what is spoken),
Causative. (and it causes what is spoken to happen, and it causes change in the life of the recipient), and it is,
Prophetic. (prophetic in the sense it tells what is coming to pass, and it comes to pass – and continues to be manifest – in the lives of the recipients).
When you hear the Truth, take it into your mind, your soul and spirit and it ‘will tell the Truth, first, to you and then through you’ – that is, through your life.
This is more than just important. It is life changing and life-saving!
The Ten Commandments are also direct, instructional, creative, causative and prophetic in their nature. For example: “Do not murder”. Take that into your mind and let it dwell there. It will affect your soul (your mind, will and emotions) and seep down into your spirit. You will hear, see, feel and know that murder is wrong, and you will not do it. You will preserve life whenever possible.
This is most evident in Jesus’ teachings. One great example is found at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry. His first complete sermon is, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
No more need be said. “Repent”. An instructional command. A causative command. A creative and prophetic command.
Any man, woman, boy or girl who hears these Words and takes them into their mind, soul and heart, through faith in Jesus, will be changed, and they will never be the same again!
Therefore, when James says, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, ” Come now, you rich people, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted, and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have corroded, and their corrosion will serve as< a testimony against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of armies. You have lived for pleasure on the earth and lived luxuriously; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and put to death the righteous person; he offers you no resistance”, it is finished. It shall be done. And if you are behaving this way, miseries are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted, and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have corroded, and their corrosion will serve as a testimony against you and will consume your flesh like fire.”
(The Prophets were usually disdained by just about everyone. They told the Truth and people liked to live by their own rules according to their own pleasures – so they hated and killed the prophets. Much like today.)
So, what is the point and what is to be gained? The Bible, the Word of God, and Jesus’ Words is the longest love letter of instruction, causation, creation and prophecy ever breathed out and written.
It is written to you and should be read as such: A love letter from God to you and for you to do.
No matter what the natural world throws at you, by the grace of God and through faith in Jesus, if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.(Romans 10:9-10, NASB)
Please, do not be a hearer of the Word only, deceiving yourself. It is for you to do.
Your Brother and Friend,
Mike Young
As I confess with my mouth Jesus as Lord, and I believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead, I am being saved; for with my heart I believe, resulting in my righteousness, and with my mouth I confess, resulting in my salvation. (Romans 10:9-10, personalized)
Do you read the Bible? If so, why do you read the Bible? What I am asking is,
Do you read the Bible as a narrative (stories) about people, places and ‘about God’?
Do you read the Bible for prophecies? For promises? For power?
Do you read the Bible to learn? And if you read to learn, what have you learned?
And most importantly, what do you DO with what you learn?
Reading the Bible and knowing about God can be a good thing – or it can be just an exercise to gain information or to make us feel better about ourselves.
But that is NOT necessarily knowing God, and He wants us to know Him and His ways and to walk with Him, daily, then He becomes our sanctuary.
Please consider these Bible facts:
Did you know that the Bible is alive? Alive, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword? That it penetrates as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and that it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart? (Hebrews 4:12).
Did you know that all Scripture is actually the Breath of God? And that The Scriptures, (The Bible), is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work? (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Did you know that the Word is God? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God? (John 1:1).
Did you know that The Word became flesh and dwelt among us? Did you also know that many have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth, and that Word is Jesus? (John 1:14).
Did you know that the Word of God that goes out from His mouth shall not return to Him empty, but it shall accomplish that which He purposes, and shall succeed in the thing for which He sent it? (Isaiah 55:11).
Did you know that you are made clean because of the Word He has spoken to you? (John 15:3).
Did you know that whoever believes in Jesus, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water?’” (John 7:38).
Did you know that the Gospel, the Good News found in The Word, is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek? (Romans 1:16).
Did you know that God’s Word like fireand like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? (Jeremiah 23:29).
Did you know that the Word of God is eternal and will not pass away? (Matthew 24:35).
The Bible says that Jesus’ Words are creative, causative, prophetic and instructional. Can this really be true?
Please ask yourself – “WHAT IF WHAT THE BIBLE IS SAYING IS REALLY TRUE?” I mean, not only without error, but literally true and factually accurate in ways we fail to recognize? What if the Bible is truly a gateway to an unseen (Spiritual) realm from which all things originate? A place where you can have peace in the midst of the tribulations of this physical world, knowing for certain that He who dwells in you has overcome this world?
Regardless whether this Truth is spoken through plain language, as metaphors, similes or as an idiom? Let me give you an example before you answer.
The Bible says, “For the Word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” These words were written about 2,000 years ago, and there was no such thing as a discipline of psychology. So, can these words really be true? And, how could the Bible look 2,000 years into the future to make such a statement?
These Words would seem to have been written as a metaphor, containing a simile. But, are they true? Can the Word of God this actually make these things happen? Or are the Words of Jesus just metaphors and similes, an invention of a poetic mind?
Sadly, a friend of mine who is also a pastor, has said that Jesus’ words are largely, if not completely, metaphorical, communicating an idea but not facts, especially when it comes to His miracles. This pastor would say that when the Bible says Jesus raised the dead, it was a metaphor, actually meaning that people who are ‘dead’ are only emotionally or spiritually dead. So, by Jesus’ words of encouragement, they would come alive with new purpose in life, but no one actually came back from being dead.
This preacher would say the same of Jesus healing the blind and lame. The blind and the lame did not actually see or walk again, (and perhaps were never really physically blind or lame), but this preacher was asserting that Jesus could motivate the infirm to a ‘see life in a new way’ and would find a new way of ‘walking through life’.
But the Bible says Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and the savior of the world. Jesus says, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life”. Jesus and the Word of God is not an invention of a perverse and unbelieving person and generation. (John 14:6)
I say, ‘how sad and absurd’ of this pastor to say such things. I ask if, therefore, if what he says is true, if you believe the things Jesus and the Bible say are hyperbole at best and a lie at worst then why bother studying scriptures! And, what gives you the insight a temerity to change what is plainly written in this ancient document (The Bible) paid for by the blood of thousands, to satisfy your own limited opinion and lack of understanding?
This pastor and many others would choose to stand in judgement of the Bible because they just cannot and will not believe? They are, in essence, saying that Jesus is either a liar, a fraud a hypocrite, a lunatic, a motivational speaker or grossly mistaken, and that the Bible is a scam – a book of errors or fantasies.
A STEP FARTHER – What if The Word of God is True?
I mean, what if His Words are literally true in ways we fail to recognize? People who personally encountered Jesus testified and reported on the Works He did, and this caused throngs to follow Him, stirred great controversies, created deadly conflicts and gave untold millions a greater hope for a new, vibrant, changed life, full of promise now and eternal hope of a home in heaven with God.
The Words Jesus spoke, and the Works Jesus did, changed the world.
I ask again, ‘what if we have been reading and misunderstanding what Jesus meant by His Words and the intentions of His Words? What if we have been misapplying what He taught? (Jesus was always concerned about His disciple’s lack of understanding and ‘lack of faith’.)
What if Jesus has been telling us how to actively engage His Word, so we could actually do His Works, and even greaterworks – or more accurately, so He could do His Works through us? (“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will you do, because I am going to the Father.” John 14:12.)
I realize I am wading into a potentially controversial area, but I am not referring to some kind of religious mysticism or extra-Biblical teaching, heresy or religious nonsense. (I believe, practice and teach a reformed view of the Bible. I believe it is God Who does His works through us and not us, in and of ourselves, doing these Works.) And, I do believe a great majority of the church, the teaching and practices of the church and the results produced by the early church have waned if not disappeared completely.
So, I ask one last time: What if the Word of God is
Producing the effect of being Sharper than any two-edged sword,
Capable of literally Penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit,
Dividing both joints and marrow, and
Somehow, literally able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart? (See Hebrews 4:12)
Ask yourself, “Why would the Bible and Jesus say such things if they were not true?”
“Why would Jesus and His disciples be willing to suffer and die for a lie or a scam?”
If The Word of God is absolutely true, and in light of what we have discussed and in light of what you have read, what do you now think about the Word of God? If you believe the Bible can live up to its claims, how would you now approach the Bible?
Would you even dare pick up The Word of God, suspecting or knowing it is somehow “actually alive, and active and able to penetrate your mind, spirit and body, having the ability to ‘cut you to pieces’ and reveal the deepest secrets and thoughts of your heart mind and soul?
What would you now DO with such a strange and exciting potential?
Would you still read the Bible just as ‘stories’ about people, places and ‘about God’?
Would you still read the Bible for just for prophecies? For promises? For power?
Would you still you read the Bible just to learn about it?
And, if so, what would you DO with what you would learn?
If all of this is True, it is truly life changing – it is truly world changing! And It has already changed the world; and since it is True, it will also change your life for the better, if you will just believe and act!
I hope that perhaps these Words now have a clearer meaning, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Philippians 2:12).
Are you stressed? Drifting? Are you distracted by fear, worry and doubt about your future? Are you finding that your life has lost meaning? Every day is just another day without purpose?
Are you sad, depressed, feeling hopeless and seeing no way out of current conditions? Perhaps you are living in poverty, spoil and sickness? Or maybe you have resources but are beaten down emotionally, mentally or physically. Is life failing you? Have people turned away from you or against you?
Do not give up just yet. It does not have to be this way. There is a Way to find relief. It has been tried and proven by hundreds of thousands and even millions of people who have been in a similar situation or worse.
This Way, as I have called it, will literally change your life and will lift you out of your current circumstance and deliver you to a life full of purpose and promise. A life, plentiful, peaceful, full of resources – and all you have to do is decide, then ask, seek and knock at this Door of Hope and Promise. It will be opened to you – and if you are willing to walk through this Door, and keep walking forward, you can enter into all that is being promised.
Even if you are currently a Christian, this will probably be unlike what you have been hearing and thinking lately. This goes deep into what it means not to just ‘believe IN Jesus’, but to literally ‘BELIEVE Him’. It is about not just knowing about God, but to KNOW Him, intimately. It is not just about knowing what Jesus said to do, but to actually HAVE HIM DO HIS WORKS THROUGH YOU!
This Way will bring peace and prosperity to your soul.
But know this: Because you may have traveled a long way down a road filled with trouble, you will have to travel an equal distance back up that road to find your relief. Just remain faithful and be willing to complete your travels to receive your freedom.
Also know that the evils of ignorance, poverty, sickness, disease, habits, addictions, lack and want can exert a powerful grip on your soul, mind and life. But, you can pull away from that, and be set free, If you choose. You can enter a life complete with all you could hope for – and more.
You may be asking, “what kind of “deal is this?” It could be called a pursuit of God. But it is much more.
It is not enough just to ‘believe in God’ or to ‘know about God’. You and I must believe Him. You must pursue Him and come to know Him personally and intimately. You must come to trust Him and follow and obey Him – which is not the way of the world in this 21st century.
This pursuit, this journey, will be counter-intuitive and counter-cultural. It will bring about a radical change in how you think and live. You will ‘die to your old self’ and be recreated, made into a new and wonderful creation – you will\, in a sense of speaking, be reborn. You will crucify – put to death – your old fleshly desires, your old belief system, your old ways of viewing life, your old corrupt appetites and desires, and you will be given a new and exciting way to see and live life.
It will no longer be the ‘old you’ who lives, but Christ Jesus will come to live in you. This new life you can choose to live, by faith, in the Son of God, Jesus, Who loves you and gave himself for you.
Come along and step out of a life of doubt, fear, lack, sickness or poverty and be transformed into a life of peace and joy! It can happen, and it will happen – if you will.
For my part, I will provide, to the best of my ability, a friendship if you accept this offer. I will offer instruction and assistance on how to find and walk in this new Way of life. For your part, you have to provide an enduring willingness to follow. This is a gift. Your only cost is your willingness, and the only thing you have to lose is your misery. Let’s walk up this path together, as friends.
Creative, Causative, Prophetic, Instructional – Part 2
“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone’” – Matthew 4:3.
What does this mean, and can it be true?
The context in which Jesus spoke these words is found in
Matthew 4:1, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
Verse 2. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. Verse 3. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Jesus’ response to temptation and testing by the devil, even in the most extreme of circumstances, was to say, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Please remember, this is not just a study ‘about the Bible’ or ‘about Jesus’, and, this is not just a story.
This is The Word of God being demonstrated in real life situations. These Words are for your learning, your rebuke, your correction and training in righteousness, so that you may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
This Word of God, is creative, causative, prophetic and instructional, to you, for you and ultimately, ‘through you’.
So, again I ask, what do these Words mean, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”And, are they true?
It is true that we need food for nourishment and for life, but natural food will only sustain and strengthen you temporarily.
The Word of God is the true food, the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Jesus is the bread of life, and whoever comes to Him shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Him shall never thirst. (John 6:27-40).
What do these Words mean to you? And are they true?
In this case, when Jesus says, ”Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God”,He uses the word ‘Rhema’ which is the spoken Word of God. Jesus speaks the known, written Word of God to counter and to negate the tests and temptations of the devil.
Can this be true for us? Likewise, you also are to speak the known Word of God, (the ‘Rhema-word)’, that is the known, written Word of God to counter and to negate the tests and temptations of the devil.
Why is this necessary? Because Jesus has told us, ‘this is the way’.
Is it possible for you to do this?
Being a Christian, a disciple of Jesus, is not a casual relationship nor is it a convenient pursuit. It is hard. It takes work, discipline, dedication and commitment. But It is the only way to life and true peace. (Romans 8:6b).
So, if you prefer a life with purpose and meaning, a life full and abundant, then don’t “live by bread alone, but live by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
If you prefer a life with peace in your heart in mind, at peace with people and with God, don’t “live by bread alone, but live by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
If the Word of God is absolutely true, and in light of what we have discussed and in light of what you have read, what do you now think about the Word of God?
How would you now approach the Bible?
Would you now pick up The Word of God, and breathe in it? Suspecting or knowing it somehow leads to life and life worth living?
What would you now DO with such a strange and exciting potential?
Would you still read the Bible just as ‘stories’ about people, places and ‘about God’?
Would you still read the Bible just for prophecies? For promises? For power?
Would you still read the Bible just to learn about it? And, if so, what would you DO with what you would now learn?
“I came that you may have life, and have it abundantly”.(John 10:10 b)
Increasingly, you hear people say, “You can’t tell me what to do. I’ll live my life the way I want!” This kind of remark used to be recited mostly by the young and foolish or the older renegade types who were disobedient to parents and authority or liked living outside the restraints of civil society. But no more.
Today this has become the all-too-frequent battle cry of our youth being trained by the Left’s Marxist-Leninist agenda by the extreme and progressive left – which, incidentally, makes up about 28% of our society. However, when it comes to voting numbers, about 51% of registered voters lean left. What is more troubling is that when voters VOTE for Leftist, progressive and radical extremist issues, they are unwittingly (or wittingly) being played. The LEFT then employs three important strategies to capitalize on the manipulated voter and their support.
#1. A large number of those voting for the Left, are “one issue voters”. They vote for the one thing they want (i.e., “I’ll live my life the way I want – and I want abortion-on-demand, or free healthcare, or more social handouts, etc.), and ignore (or are ignorant) of important issues and ideologies included in the Left’s platform. Another way of saying is that ‘they sell their birthright for a bowl of pottage’.
#2. So, the pols and strategists aggressively promote the in-demand and various ‘one issue’ or hot button topics, and minimize the advertising of more onerous or radical agenda issues. Thereby, the Left gets the vote and then implements their full radical agenda.
It seemed to have started as a defiant, in-your-face challenge to authority and tradition, which incidentally, has been taught by the Leftists in our schools for the last fifty or so years. It is now the prevalent attitude of about forty percent of registered American voters.
#3. We now live in a ‘Wikipedia society’ — where anyone can change the meaning of a word to satisfy some misguided or politically correct social engineering goal.
Leftists, Progressive radicals have become masters of vocabulary manipulation and are constantly changing the traditional meaning of words to fit their political agenda.
Socio-political Left has co-opted the meaning of words to deceive the uninformed, uneducated and apathetic public. This is not a new concept and it has been in practice for decades. It has, however, become a more prominent tactic of the political Left in recent years.
In the 1990s, President Clinton famously defended his conduct with Monica Lewinsky by stating, “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is”. I think most people who completed high school English commonly understood the definition of the word to be the third-person singular present tense of the English language verb “to be.” Its meaning was clear to everyone except Democrats.
Liberals have hijacked many words. For example, the word gay originally meant feelings of being “carefree,” “happy” or “bright and showy.” Now, the most commonly accepted use of the word gay primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual.
The term illegal immigration is no longer politically acceptable because it might reflect negatively upon some poor, misunderstood “migrant” who entered the United States illegally seeking a better life. The liberal left now identifies them as undocumented immigrants, and sometimes called unregistered Democrats.
Recently, Congresswoman Lois Capps, D-Calif., along with more than two dozen Democrats have come together and proposed legislation to remove the words “husband” and “wife” from federal law. The leftists want to replace them with more “gender-neutral” terms like married couple, spouse, or some other non-offensive term. The current social engineering requires leftists to continually change public perception of reality. Same-sex marriages are relatively rare, so they need new terminology to make it seem not-so-rare and socially unnoticeable.
A common language, with commonly accepted and understood words, are a reflection of unity, cooperation and the mores of a society. It creates stability. Commonly understood words not only give definition but carry images of legacies, thoughts and ideas of how things should be.
The lack of stability undermines the very foundation of a stable, moral and civil society. Disrupting the status quo is the aim and goal of progressive Democrats because without conflict or turmoil, they cannot advance their drive to a Paganistic, amoral and socialist society.
If you can cut the people off from their history, then they can be easily persuaded.” (Revision and redefinition of language, revision of text books, historical data, historical sites.)
The Globalists and Marxists cry “Freedom” from God. Freedom from capitalism, Freedom from social restrictions. Freedom from the slavery and drudgery of hard work. But the alternative is a dungeon of poverty, sickness and want.
History has shown us that Godless Marxism, and all of its variant forms, has always exacted its toll in death and destruction of life and means. It inexorably leads to captivity, slavery of the masses under an elitist, brutal and murderous task master. Always!
FROM A HIGHER PERSPECTIVE
Difficult Times Will Come. (2 Timothy 3:1-9, Amplified version.)
“But understand this, that in the last days dangerous times [of great stress and trouble] will come, [difficult days that will be hard to bear]. For people will be lovers of self [narcissistic, self-focused], lovers of money [impelled by greed], boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane, [and they will be] unloving [devoid of natural human affection, calloused and inhumane], irreconcilable, malicious gossips, devoid of self-control [intemperate, immoral], brutal, haters of good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of [sensual] pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of [outward] godliness (religion), although they have denied its power [for their conduct nullifies their claim of faith]. (This is a narcissistic society of evildoing, lawlessness, chaos and anarchy.)
(NOTE: Many so-called ‘pastors’ love the moniker but avoid and neglect the work and calling of a Biblical pastor. They are not called of God. You know them by their fruit. The above remarks in 2 Timothy aptly describe the new-age of pastor-CEO, pastor-visionary, pastor-leader, pastor-etc., etc., etc.)
“Avoid such people and keep far away from them. For among them are those who worm their way into homes and captivate morally weak and spiritually-dwarfed women weighed down by [the burden of their] sins, easily swayed by various impulses, always learning and listening to anybody who will teach them, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
(NOTE: The term “morally weak and spiritually-dwarfed women” as it is used here, may seem to be specifically aimed at women and to the exclusion of men. That is incorrect. This description is anachronistic. It must be understood in the social context of that day. Women, in general were considered to be second class members of society when these verses were written. Women’s lives and value were defined almost solely in relation to men: their fathers and husbands. This description is being used contemptuously to define anyone, and specifically a man who would be considered to behave in such a way. (It could be said, in a contemporary and derogatory way, “he acts just like a silly old woman” or “he is such a Nancy”.)
“Just as Jannes and Jambres [the court magicians of Egypt] opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, unqualified and worthless [as teachers] in regard to the faith. But they will not get very far, for their meaningless nonsense and ignorance will become obvious to everyone, as was that of Jannes and Jambres.”
Dear Friends, as for us, let’s continue in the things that we have learned and of which we are convinced [holding tightly to the truths], knowing from whom you learned them, that being God, the Bible and the Holy Spirit, and how we know the sacred writings (Scriptures) which are able to give us the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus [surrendering your entire self to Him and having absolute confidence in His wisdom, power and goodness].
Let’s remember that all Scripture is God-breathed [given by divine inspiration] and is profitable for instruction, for conviction [of sin], for correction [of error and restoration to obedience], for training in righteousness [learning to live in conformity to God’s will, both publicly and privately–behaving honorably with personal integrity and moral courage]; so that the man, woman, boy or girl of God may be complete and proficient, outfitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
Let’s stand firm in these (last) days! His return is near.
Your Brother and Friend,
Mike Young
It was for this freedom that Christ set us free [completely liberating us]; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery [which you once removed]. Galatians 5:1.
Matthew 7:7, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Verse 8. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Verse 9. “Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Verse 10. “Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? Verse 11. “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!
Verse 12. “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
Jesus is speaking in the “present, imperative”. This is not a request, it is a command, and He is telling us, when making our requests, we are to ask, seek and knock with persistence. It is akin to begging; a calling for, a craving, and a desire that rises above the level of a need, it is a requirement.
Here are some examples from scriptures of effective Asking, Seeking and Knocking
ASK INTENTIONALLY
Luke 18:1 “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. Verse 2. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. Verse 3. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
Verse 4. “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, verse 5, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me.”
SEEK DELIBERATELY
Luke 15:8 “Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? Verse 9. “When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’ Verse 10. “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
KNOCK PERSISTENTLY
Luke 11:5 “Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; Verse 6, for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; Verse 7, and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ Verse 8. “I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
But, once again, the “Key of the Keys” is that you must, first, “treat people the same way you want them to treat you”. This is The Key which Opens the Door.
ACTION POINT
In order to have the request you have made, to see God move in the ‘natural’ you must,
Ask intentionally – know your purpose
Seek deliberately – don’t be distracted
Knock persistently,
Treat people the same way you want them to treat you
“How much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”
John 14:12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Verse 13. “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Verse 14. “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”
John 14:10, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you, I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.
Verse 11. “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.
Verse 12. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.
Verse 13. “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.
Verse 15. “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”
Jesus begins this Key Statement to “Believe Me” which communicates the idea of “a conviction or belief respecting your relationship to God and divine things, with the idea of trust and holy fervor born of faith and joined with it.”
Jesus next teaches us that we are in Holy Union with Him and God the Father. The process is now complete. We are one.
Jesus started with “Believe in Me” and now closes the circle of His teaching with “Believe Me”. It is one thing to believe IN God, but completely another thing to BELIEVE HIM. The former, even the demon, believe and shudder. But only a true Follower of Jesus can Believe Him because that requires complete submission and obedience to Him. It determines the course and outcome of your life.
Now it can be said, “the one who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.” We are one with Jesus and God the Father, and it is HE who is doing the Works.
Likewise, now it can be said, “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”
Finally, Jesus utters a Great Prophetic Truth, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments”, and this time it is not a request or a command, IT IS THE RESULT.
ACTION POINT
Believe that Jesus is in the Father, and the Father is in Him, and that He is in you. You are one.
Believe IN Jesus
Believe Jesus
Ask in His Name
Keep His commandments
AND, WHAT ARE THESE WORKS?
“Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the Work of God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent.”
John 14:12“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Verse 13. “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”
Your Brother and Friend,
Mike Young
NEXT: A QUICK GUIDE TO MIRACLES – The Key Of Asking, Seeking, Knocking – Chapter 7.
Besides the normal tensions that exist between different cultures and governments and discounting petty national jealousies, what causes long-running international hatred for Israel and Jews?
One can read current headlines and see what reasons are being given for the current day or even for this 21st century. But this problem of Jew-hating goes back for centuries.
Rabbi Benjamin Blech, professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University in New York, says, “It is the Jews’ acceptance of a higher law of morality and ethics that is responsible for the world’s enmity.
“Jews were the first to preach the message of the Ten Commandments, that worship of God includes the second tablet of respect for fellow mankind. As the mother religion of both Christianity and Islam, Judaism pioneered the ideal of the holy and the human need for acting in accord with divine law. But anti-Semitism stands in opposition to the very idea of civilization. It detests Jews because it acknowledges that Jews are the conscience of humanity and the lawgivers of ethical and moral behavior.
“Amazingly enough, Adolf Hitler dared to verbalize it as justification for his plan for genocide of the Jewish people: “Conscience is a Jewish invention like circumcision. My task is to free men from the dirty and degrading ideas of conscience and morality.
“As Jews prepare to celebrate the reception of the Ten Commandments, anti-Semitism ought to be viewed as a badge of honor. Jews are hated not because they are bad, but because they persist in reminding the world of what it means to be good. Anti-Semitism is nothing less than a visceral reaction to the cry of a guilty conscience.”
I believe there are two other and deeper reason for this type of genocidal pathology that infects so many minds around the world.
Reason #2. The Jews seem to be gifted with an above average ability to excel. I could cite examples, but you do the work. And, like anyone who lags behind, jealousy, resentment and hatred sets in toward those to seem to ‘scoop up all the good stuff’ and leave the rest of us ‘groveling in the dust’, or so the idea goes. This is the same kind of resentment shown toward America by so many other countries, nations and peoples. We are accused of taking from them and their nations for our benefit and wealth, without sharing that wealth with them, when in fact the generosity of America is legendary. However, American business or government makes a deal with a nation, create the desired profitable results and the other side cries foul! They become jealous and angry when they see fantastic results derived from materials that have been under the feet of a host nation for centuries, but had gone undiscovered or undeveloped. So, when the profits are made, they hate America.
(As a conservative and a Christian, I applaud achievement and success of others. But if I think you have stolen from me to gain your advantage or if I feel your success has unfairly cost me financially, socially or personally, I too could become resentful and jealous. I can understand that reasoning. But, not enough to kill or commit genocide on a national scale!)
Reason #3. Hypocrisy. Interestingly, the Bible tells of gross Jewish religious hypocrisy, which, according to the Bible, stems from sinful rebellion toward God. The Jews present the world with the Ten Commandments and a higher level of law and morality, and it is the Jews who defy, ignore and transgress these very Commandments.
Jewish religious leaders, Rabbis, and priesthood, at various times and epochs, have obediently and strictly followed the laws of their Talmud; only to fall away from that practice and incur the wrath of God on their nation and people. This might seem to be an internal issue. But with the Jew’s extensive influence and profound interactions with surrounding peoples and nations, it was made a public issue.
Combined with the example cited in Reason #2, this has created jealousy, resentment, animosity and even an intense hatred for the Jew, their laws and their practices.
Unfortunately – or should I say, tragically – a percentage of Jews are innocent of these hypocrisies and behaviors. But, like in so many instances, the entire group is painted with the broad brush of a majority.
The perception of this hypocrisy and greediness of the Jew had spread worldwide. And the resentment has become so intense, that many people will ignore (or privately applaud) the butchering of innocent Jewish men, women, children and babies but condemn a Jewish military response to stem the murderous atrocities aimed at Israel and Jews, (and tens of thousands more similar incidents), and call out even more loudly for the complete annihilation and total destruction of Israel.
This issue, this problem of hatred of Jews, is as old as recorded history, and for the same or similar misguided political, economic, religious and social reasons.
Admittedly, there have been, in the past, and are nowadays, some really ‘bad’ influential and powerful Jews in the world; but there are also some really ‘good’ Jews in the world. And, so it is with any race or nation. But this is no justification for the eradication of an entire race of people – to think that way is a pathological madness. A mental disease of uncontrolled hatred.
I would like to add that there is not one person or nation on this earth that haven’t done the things Israel is accused of, and much worse things. Yet, only Israel is perpetually demonized. (Frankly, it is written in scriptures. There is a purpose – a Purpose so grand and unimaginable, it could only be ordained, initiated and complete by God: The giving of a Savior through the Nation and bloodlines of Israel.)
In conclusion, similar resentments and hatreds have been and are being expressed toward Christians, and for some of the same reasons. And these resentments are also growing in numbers and in their intensities. This should serve as a wake-up call and a warning for Christians everywhere to firmly adhere to the teachings of love, peace and justice toward all peoples – and to prepare for what may be coming.
The Jews are bearing the brunt of genocidal racial and religious discrimination and hatred, but it may not stop at that point for people who resent a higher law of morality and ethics, the principles of the Ten Commandments, and the worship of God which includes respect for fellow humankind.
Jesus said,“If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you as well”.They killed Jesus for religious, social and political biases. Prepare yourself.
I am presenting a message by pastor Gary Hamrick of Cornerstone Chapel, Leesburg, Virginia titled “STOP LISTENING TO THE MAJORITY” taken from the book of Acts 27:1-25, which can help us all prepare ourselves.
Many people, in addition to Bible commentators, Bible teachers and theologians are asking, “Is the United States mentioned in Bible prophecy?”, specifically in the End Times, (also known as The Last Days which precede the End of the World).
If you are not acquainted with End Times scenarios or are not familiar with Bible eschatology, it is a time in which the age we live will cease. According to some traditions, the world will not cease to exist, but will be radically altered. According to the general Christian view, it is a time when Jesus Christ will return from heaven, gather His ‘believers’ and take them to heaven, whereupon, God will judge the earth with horrific and cataclysmic cosmic and terrestrial judgments. He will defeat Satan and his armies of demons, wipe away all the evil on earth and sentence Satan, the Beast of Revelation all those who do not follow Christ and have received the “mark” of the Beast, (which is the symbol 666), to be sentenced to hell – a lake of fire and brimstone – for eternity.
The United States of America is never explicitly mentioned in the Bible, and there are no biblical prophecies that point with certainty to the United States. As far as we can tell, the United States of America is not mentioned in biblical prophecy.
The answers given to what happens to the United States of America in the End Times are most universally:
1) Perhaps in the end times, the United States will be weakened to the extent that its influence in the world suffers, and America does not play an important role in end-times events.
2) Perhaps in the end times, the United States has ceased to exist altogether.
3) Perhaps the United States is simply one of the other nations of the world that reject God in the end times and becomes one of the select nations to rule under the one world confederation. (see Revelation 10:11; 11:18; 12:5; 14:8; 15:4; 16:19; 17:15; 18:3,23; 19:15).
If any of these scenarios are true, what does that mean for us, the people who live in the United States? That is unclear and uncertain. But if you extrapolate the current political and social declining trends in the U.S., there is a good chance of a national collapse, or of external forces invading and conquering America; or that America becomes so decadent and weak morally, spiritually, politically, economically and socially, that we descend into an irretrievable internal chaos and become irrelevant. (see Brookings Institute, or The Guardian).
Additionally, there are forces rising across the globe, and they are uniting in an increasingly successful effort to reshape and remake the world into a one-world system. The Commission on Global Governance has publicly stated that when their Agenda-21 plan (which has been renamed in its final stage as Agenda 2030– and the 2030 represents its completion date), is fully implemented, “it will bring all the people of the world into a global neighborhood managed by a world-wide bureaucracy, under the direct authority of a minute handful of appointed individuals, and policed by thousands of individuals, paid by accredited NGOs, certified to support a belief system which contains ideas that are foreign to the American experience, and ignores other values and ideas that are precious to the American experience.”
What are we as Christians to do in response? We are to stand firm. Stand firm in our beliefs and convictions. Which sounds a lot easier than it must be to really do. I say that because very precious few Christians actually live according to what the Bible teaches. Christians are pretty good at parroting scriptures, but not so good and actually living them, according to Pew and Barna research.
The time has come, however, that the Church is being shaken. God is preparing His Bride (The Church) for His return. When this shaking (or judgment) begins, it will begin in the Church before spreading to the rest of the world.
Church members have largely been convinced that God will protect them from any of the coming judgments ‘just because we say we are Christians’ and have prayed some insignificant recitals of acceptance and then gone on to live in some modified version as we have always been.
Salvation is radical. It is a death. It is a rebirth. It is a submission to the teachings and life of Jesus.
It is a transformation of extreme proportions. And don’t be deceived – it can be frightening at times. But it is the only way out of the ‘curse of sin’ which can and will condemn even the nicest and most sincere person to ‘an eternal darkness where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth’.
We are now to stand firm, protected by the Blood of the Lamb and by our testimony!
So, where is America headed? Let’s be clear: DOWN.
Jesus spoke directly to this matter in Matthew 25:31-46. It is time.
Please consider watching this video sermon by pastor Gary Hamrick of Cornerstone Chapel, Leesburg, Virginia titled “STOP LISTENING TO THE MAJORITY” taken from the book of Acts 27:1-25.
Additionally, here is an introduction taken from Pastor Hamrick’s and Cornerstone Chapel’s web page:
“There is a lot of cultural pressure today to conform to the latest majority opinion. Groupthink can be intimidating, and the “majority consensus” often causes people to either go silent in order to avoid ridicule, or to conform in order to fit in.
But Paul said in Galatians 1:10, “If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” In other words, we can’t be a God-pleaser and a man-pleaser at the same time. Godly men and women in the Bible have always been willing to stand alone when necessary. Join today’s Bible study as Pastor Gary encourages us to stop listening to the majority and to start honoring God”.
Dear Friends, if you have been following this website, Whitestone Fellowship 2020 for any time you have seen my pleas and warnings that we must Get Ready and Stay Ready, to be found doing what Jesus has directed us and commanded us upon His return.
Pastor Hamrick emphasizes that this can be costly but is the price of being a Christians and a disciple of Jesus – or as many churches like to say, ‘becoming a fully devoted follower of Jesus’.
The time has come and is upon us when we must pick up our banner and follow Jesus into the spiritual battle.
“In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [draw your strength from Him and be empowered through your union with Him] and in the power of His [boundless] might. Put on the full armor of God [for His precepts are like the splendid armor of a heavily-armed soldier], so that you may be able to [successfully] stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places. Therefore, put on the complete armor of God, so that you will be able to [successfully] resist and stand your ground in the evil day [of danger], and having done everything [that the crisis demands], to stand firm [in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious]. So stand firm and hold your ground, HAVING TIGHTENED THE WIDE BAND OF TRUTH (personal integrity, moral courage) AROUND YOUR WAIST and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS (an upright heart), and having [c]strapped on YOUR FEET THE GOSPEL OF PEACE IN PREPARATION [to face the enemy with firm-footed stability and the readiness produced by the good news]. Above all, lift up the [protective] shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
“With all prayer and petition pray [with specific requests] at all times [on every occasion and in every season] in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition [interceding in prayer] for all [e]God’s people.” (Ephesians 6:10-18, Amplified version).
I am reposting a ‘sermon’ by pastor Gary Hamrick of Cornerstone Chapel, Leesburg, Virginia titled “STOP LISTENING TO THE MAJORITY” taken from the book of Acts 27:1-25. (click on the image above or the green text above here to view).
Here is an introduction taken from Pastor Hamrick’s and Cornerstone Chapel’s web page:
“There is a lot of cultural pressure today to conform to the latest majority opinion. Groupthink can be intimidating, and the “majority consensus” often causes people to either go silent in order to avoid ridicule, or to conform in order to fit in.
But Paul said in Galatians 1:10, “If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” In other words, we can’t be a God-pleaser and a man-pleaser at the same time. Godly men and women in the Bible have always been willing to stand alone when necessary. Join today’s Bible study as Pastor Gary encourages us to stop listening to the majority and to start honoring God”.
Dear Friends, if you have been following this website, Whitestone Fellowship 2020 for any time you have seen my pleas and warnings that we must Get Ready and Stay Ready, to be found doing what Jesus has directed us and commanded us upon His return.
Pastor Hamrick emphasizes that this can be costly but is the price of being a Christians and a disciple of Jesus – or as many churches like to say, ‘becoming a fully devoted follower of Jesus’.
The time has come and is upon us when we must pick up our banner and follow Jesus into the spiritual battle.
“In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [draw your strength from Him and be empowered through your union with Him] and in the power of His [boundless] might. Put on the full armor of God [for His precepts are like the splendid armor of a heavily-armed soldier], so that you may be able to [successfully] stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places. Therefore, put on the complete armor of God, so that you will be able to [successfully] resist and stand your ground in the evil day [of danger], and having done everything [that the crisis demands], to stand firm [in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious]. So stand firm and hold your ground, HAVING TIGHTENED THE WIDE BAND OF TRUTH (personal integrity, moral courage) AROUND YOUR WAIST and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS (an upright heart), and having [c]strapped on YOUR FEET THE GOSPEL OF PEACE IN PREPARATION [to face the enemy with firm-footed stability and the readiness produced by the good news]. Above all, lift up the [protective] shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
“With all prayer and petition pray [with specific requests] at all times [on every occasion and in every season] in the Spirit, and with this in view, stay alert with all perseverance and petition [interceding in prayer] for all [e]God’s people.” (Ephesians 6:10-18, Amplified version).
Mark 11:22, “And Jesus answered, saying to them, “Have faith in God. Verse 23. “Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea, ’and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him.
Verse 24. “Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.
Verse 25. “Whenever you stand praying forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. Verse 26. “But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.”
We have just discussed Faith in the previous chapter. And once again, Jesus reminds us that we must have faith! Jesus remarks turn serious with the word “Truly I say…” which literally means “Amen”. It comes from the Hebrew word for “believe”, or faithful. Thus, it came to mean “sure” or “truly,” an expression of absolute trust and confidence.
Now, Jesus tells us that we must speak our faith. When Jesus says “Whoever says” means that our words are to affirm over, to point out with our words and to call by name.
Next, Jesus says we are to speak “And do not doubt” which means we are to make a decision, a distinction, and be at odds with doubt. We are to pronounce our decision and contend as a warrior and combatant of faith!
Jesus continues with this astounding statement, “but believe that what you say is going to happen, it will be granted you”.
Many educated religious people will try to convince you that this is not so. That Jesus did not mean what He just said. They will contend that Jesus was referring to Himself or they will place barriers of “depending on God’s will” to obscure of these plain Words of Jesus.
But, the Truth is out. Jesus said what He meant and meant every Word of what He said.
Jesus concludes with the “Key of Keys”. He says, “Whenever you stand praying, forgive…”
When Jesus said to “stand praying”, He was literally saying to stand firm and to persist; to keep on standing, immovable and firm, being of a steadfast mind, do not hesitate and do not waiver. And, again, I say STAND!
And, finally, “FORGIVE”. This requires that we separate ourselves from the past. It is the ONLY WAY we can move forward with God, in His Kingdom, and see His Miracles occur.
One of my favorite quotes says, “Resentment, the need for revenge, hurt, pride, arrogance and the lot, are the possessions which keep us chained to the rock of suffering, want and of lack, which is our exile from God.”
We must allow God to break these chains, and we must cast them off.
So, how do we utilize the Key of the Mountain?
ACTION POINT
In order to see the Miracle of Moving the Mountain,
Have faith in God – Just GO and DO!
Speak words of victory over the mountain, (literally)
Do not doubt in your heart,
Believe that what you say is going to happen,
Ask and believe that you have received what you have asked for,
Stand praying
Forgive, if you have anything against anyone
John 14:12“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. Verse 13. “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Verse 14. “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.”
Your Brother and Friend,
Mike Young
NEXT: A QUICK GUIDE TO MIRACLES – The Key Of The Works – Chapter 6. (coming soon – please bookmark this page or subscribe for future episodes.)
We, that is, all of us, are just trying to make our way. And most of us know the difficulties we will face every single day. Most of us put on a brave face and try to muster hope as we struggle to get through this life. There are a few of the privileged who don’t deal with or worry about such things, but even they will face the ultimate test – and they know it – as we all know it. The question that remains is HOW? How or what is the best way to move forward? How are we to successfully proceed in life? Which way will give us the most safety, sanctuary and some modicum of peace and success?
We Live In A Jungle
A cursory look at history will tell you about the wild swings between humanity’s proclivity for savagery toward one another and brief attempts at civility, decency and peace. I would suggest that reading a contemporary worldview (anything less than several thousand years old) of how to attain or achieve peace among people would be very shortsighted and myopically flawed.
On the other hand, a credible source of immense value would be a study covering tens of thousands of years with the main stated goal of discovering and finding a way for humanity to live in a truly peaceful coexistence – as impossible as that sounds, that is such a ‘Source’.
This “Source” as I shall call it for now, has gained widespread attention and millions of adherents over the centuries seeking to appropriate the grand promises of peace, safety and health.
Unfortunately, it has been misused and abused by many so-called leaders and teachers for selfish and self-appointed reasons, which ended by largely discrediting this “source” and harming millions of people in the process.
These men and women who would interpret this “Source” by their own standards and frail human worldviews, will do so, sometimes out of sincerity, sometimes out of ignorance and sometimes for personal gain. Whether it is for financial, political or social advantage, some will deliberately twist the teachings of this “Source” in an attempt to appeal to the masses while hiding their selfish, ignorant or dark agenda.
This ‘Source’ has been physically traced back over 2,700 years by ardent and dedicated followers and disciples of the “Source’, and the history recorded in these scribe’s and disciple’s writings has shown that when the principles and teachings of the ‘Source’have been correctly understood, applied and followed, success in terms of peaceful coexistence, material and financial success, social and racial integration, political and geopolitical, religious, educational and health reason have seen remarkable advances.
This “Source”, as you may or may not have guessed, transcends the physical and psychological realms and originates in the unseen spiritual world. This ‘Source’ is not from some ‘spooky, hocus-pocus world’, but is from the realm of what is known as the Kingdom of Heaven – the Kingdom of God.
Let there be no mistake, however. Simply reading, knowing and applying principles is not enough. It takes complete submission and surrender of one’s own attitudes, ways and even one’s own life to gain entrance to this Kingdom – this Realm.
Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God”. (John 3:5)
Again, the Bible in Galatians 5:19-21 says, “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
This is a Realm that benefits every person who believes in “The Source”, which is Jesus Christ and the written version, which is the Bible. It is found by the earnest seeker, by their faith, that He exists and is willing to follow and obey His teachings.
“There is a way that that seems right, but in the end leads to death”, (Proverbs 14:12).
The Bible is clear that a person must not change ‘one dot or iota’ of its teachingsand fully receive the promised results. These teachings are really instructions on a way of thinking, acting and living. They must be followed, by faith, first in Christ Jesus, then in the way they are written and spoken.
It should be said that the results gained may come instantly for a few, but for most the results will manifest over a longer period of time.
You see, the main objective is not in the ‘getting of the promises’ but the primary outcome is to prepare you, the waiting recipient, to be able to receive the promises.
Unless one is properly grounded in faith and in mature spiritual humility, they cannot possibly receive all that God has promised. God is a gracious, loving and forgiving God, but He will not be fooled. Your commitment to Him must be genuine.
(Please note that this is not a ‘system, a procedure or a formula’. There is nothing magic. This is about becoming a child of God, and He will make you a brother, a friend and a joint-heir of Jesus Christ – provided for by a loving Father.)
Again, the getting and receiving from God, Who is The Source of all things, is not the main point in successfully living your life. Receiving the promises and gifts of God are merely a means to aid you as you travel your brief time on this earth.
It is by seeking and following Him that you are being prepared – made suitable and ready – for a home which the Lord has prepared for you ahead of time. A home where you can spend all eternity with Him, in a wonderful and remarkable new heaven and new earth.
Now it is your turn: THINK.
Are you the one who says, “I am not here for a long time. I am only here for a good time!”
Or, are you the one who says, “I will be here for a short time – and the best of time is yet to come!”
So, should you ‘pay now’ and get the greatest of rewards, or squander your time now and lose it all?
Please, please, please dear friend. Choose wisely and join The Rising! You have heard it before: Jesus is The Only Way, The Life and The Source. Run to Him. Collapse in His Arms. Give yourself over to Him. He is eagerly waiting for you.
Jesus said,
This “Source”, as you may or may not have guessed, transcends the physical and psychological realms and originates in the unseen spiritual world. This ‘Source’ is not from some ‘spooky, hocus-pocus world’, but is from the realm of what is known as the Kingdom of Heaven – the Kingdom of God.
