If My kingdom were of this world, *then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews
I have heard many Christian friends say something like, “We have to do something about the Leftists, the Progressives, the Liberals and the Marxists taking over America from within. It’s time we stand up and fight!”
When and if I respond, I might say, “I understand how you feel. I often feel the same. However, Jesus has said we have a different mission and calling.”
No one, without exception, has agreed with my response, and, it usually provokes the person to disagree and disapprove or go silent with a look of anger and dissatisfaction on their face.
I, honestly, get so angry at what I see happening in our once great nation, I have to find a way to calm down and not think thoughts of revenge.
So, why do I believe and say that Jesus would not approve of Christians taking up the defense of America, either politically, socially or militarily?
Jesus repeatedly reminds us that we have a different agenda than the agenda of this world. And, this is not the first (nor the last?) time the world will go after its own ideas and reject God.
One of the earliest attempts by mankind to become like God and to replace God with man’s own efforts, is recorded in Genesis chapter 11. According to the Biblical account, the descendants of Noah had become numerous and a united humanity in the generations following the Great Flood. They were speaking a single language and migrating eastward, they settled in a land named Shinar. There, the Babylonians wanted a tower that would “reach to the heavens” so that they could be like God and that they would not need Him. They began to construct the great ziggurat.
God rejected the pride and arrogance of these people, so, He caused the people to suddenly speak different languages so they could not communicate and work together to build the tower. He confused their language. The tower was named The Tower of Babel because the word Babel means confusion. This caused the people to scatter across the land.
Genesis 11:4 reads, ”They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
Verse 5. “The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. Verse 6. The Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.”
The Tower of Babel was a revealing of the sinful and arrogant nature of mankind and his ongoing rebellion toward God. It was also a foreshadowing of what was happen in THE LAST DAYS. And, it is happening now, in America and around the world. People of the world are uniting into a One World Community, with a One World Goverment, reaching for the heavens. (Read this introduction by the Commission for Global Governance.)
The organization is a United Nations specialized agency named UNESCO, the ‘United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’ claiming to be aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, the sciences, and culture.
The first Director-General of UNESCO, Julian Huxley in 1946, said “The task before UNESCO, is the emergence of a single world culture” by transferring “full sovereignty from separate nations to a world organization.”
The “new world order” will be a socialist, authoritarian global government and court with “global rule of law” and a “one-world economy.”
The stated objectives of this New World Order, which are a cover for the coming socialist, authoritarian global government and court with “global rule of law” and a “one-world economy.” can be found on the United Nations web page Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The recommendations of the Commission on Global Governance, if implemented, 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. (Agenda 21 – Cover for the U.N. and a One World Government)
As of this date, Globalists, have been embedded in our government, in our religious systems, in our churches, in our school, colleges and institutions of higher education. They are using methods to erase and eradicate the culture, history and legacy both in Europe and in America.
In the United States, over 528 American cities are members of “Local Governments for Sustainability” or “ICLEI”, is an international Marxist and Socialist leaning sustainability organization, that helps to implement the Agenda 21 and Local Agenda 21 concepts across the world. The United States has nearly half of the ICLEI’s global membership of 1,200 cities promoting sustainable development at a local level.
The United States also has one of the most comprehensively documented Agenda 21 status reports. In response to the opposition, Don Knapp, U.S. spokesman for the ICLEI, has said “Sustainable development is not a top-down conspiracy from the U.N., but a bottom-up push from local governments”.
The true hidden agenda of this “migration” and Globalism or One World Government is not stuff of just any book. It is stuff of THE BOOK, which is THE BIBLE
TAKING PLACE NOW
The Bible calls this THE LAST DAYS and the Great Tribulation. Jesus tells us how we are to deal with this long prophesied event, which is taking place, now.
First, in order to understand why Jesus’ instructions and commands seem so antithetical or counter-intuitive to our natural minds, let’s look at His perspective:
Jesus says to the scribes and Pharisees,, in John 8:23, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.
The full text of John 8:12-23 says, “Then Jesus again spoke to them (the The scribes and the Pharisees), saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not true.” Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone. But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me. Even in your law it has been written that the testimony of two men is true. I am He who testifies about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.” So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.” These words He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come.
“ Then He said again to them, “I go away, and you will seek Me, and will die in your sin; where I am going, you cannot come.” So the Jews were saying, “Surely He will not kill Himself, will He, since He says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” Verse 23. And He was saying to them, “You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world.
We cannot follow Jesus nor can we navigate these Last Days and the Tribulation to come, unless we obtain and understand Jesus’ is living and operating in His Kingdom of Heaven which is “above”. He is not of this world!
Next, in John 15:19, Jesus says to His disciples, “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.”
We, too, as disciples of Jesus, are not of this world. In fact, Ephesians 2:4-7 tells us that we are seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And, Colossians 3:2 tell us that we are to “Set our minds on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.” The matters of this world are not our primary concern.
Read and hear what the Apostle Peter says about this matter of Christians ‘not being of this world’ in 1 Peter 1:16:
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
“To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
“who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
“who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
“In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.
“As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.
“Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
RECAP:
- We reside in this world as aliens,
- We are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood:
- We are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time
- We have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
- Obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.
- Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
- Do not be conformed to the former lusts
- “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
John 18:36 says that Jesus answered the scribes and the Pharisees, saying, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, *then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”
When Peter took a sword and struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear, Jesus said to Peter, “Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?” Jesus rebuked Peter and reminded the others that things of this world was not their fight. Their total attention was to be on the mission The Father had given Jesus. This is also true for us, today.
Jesus emphasized that our time on this earth is to be spent doing the Will of The Father, just like Jesus has always done. Our concern is not fighting with this world. Our concern, our calling and our mission is to follow Jesus and to “Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that Jesus has commanded us.”
Our time is short and the harvest fields are white for the harvest.
Your Brother and Friend,
Mike Young
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2
Click this link to go to “NOT OF THIS WORLD, PART 1”
When does the 7 years begin?
The 5th Tribulation Seal
NOTE: Here is one response to this article. Please read.
WR
Satan would love if we would just give up and accept “pacifism. “Or how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man?”
This isn’t pacifism, Wayne. We must not entangle ourselves in the conflicts of this world. If God cannot or does not – of if we cannot or will not trust Him with dominion over evil by the Word of our Testimony and by the Blood of the Lamb, then it’s on us. We cannot live and operate as if we are in the world and as if we are in The Kingdom of God. The two just don’t mix.
I know this is hard. It is hard for me, too. But, it is what the word says. “Live the sword, die by the sword”.
Pacifism is opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes, specifically the refusal to bear arms on moral or religious grounds.
First, the WORD of God is written to and for Christians. (It is foolishness to those who don’t believe. They cannot understand it).
We, as Christians, are told we prove we are followers of Christ by our love for one another.
Secondly, there is a mindset (attitude) we are to hold, even for non-believers. We are not to pick fights with them, and we are to avoid conflict with them whenever possible. Romans 12:18 tells us, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.” We are to model the life and attitude of Christ.
The Bible never says we should not defend ourselves, although the Apostles did not defend with violence, they went to great lengths to avoid violent conflict. This is our model.
What I believe, the Bible is teaching is the law of non-resistance – not pacifism. Matthew 5:29 says, “But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.” The word RESIST is a comes from a Greek military term for violent conflict.
James 4:7-8 says we are to, “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. “
We are to speak the Word of God to evil and the evil one. Our enemies are the rulers, the powers, and the world forces of darkness, and spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. If we engage the enemy there, he is defeated. If we engage him with natural means, it can be a long and bloody war with no end in sight.
This is applicable in “REAL LIFE”. And, it is hard to do because of our flesh and unbelief.
I can give examples of the mighty power of God in and around my life during stressful conflict. It would appear I would suffer great loss. And, at times, I did suffer some loss. But, then came the victory and God has restored what the enemy has stolen; and He has restored what the locust has eaten. But, it has taken faith, patience and endurance. (And, I still doubt, at times).
