One year ago.

Those known of God should be serious, cataloging what they’ve learned about how the spirit of antichrist moves among the Godless, affecting their minds and every action. Although that lab-created virus was unpleasant and killed like a tough flu strain, even most of those who knew the whole thing was bunk succumbed to the spirit of fear, in one form or another, through adapting to the new normal as evil attempted to impose its will. Make note of it all.

We tend to focus on the people who brought the new normal, but we, born again by the Spirit of God, know they are merely agents. You got to witness firsthand something westerners have not seen since perhaps the Middle Ages; God allowing a grave evil to sweep through the land. You should pray to the Almighty and consider what you’ve seen; moreover, consider your ways in light of what you now know.

Secularists will use the term mass psychosis, but what we saw was that spirit of fear by the devil as the blessings of God are being withdrawn. You witnessed the power of evil through men to affect whole masses to do their bidding. You should now know what it is and how to recognize it.

Sin, and evil thereby, are very real, tangible. These are not philosophical conceptualizations to be pondered in a mountaintop monastery, nor are they ancient lore to be dismissed as the superstitions of our ancestors. You’ve now witnessed it, don’t deny it again.

You, too, should thank God, for that was quite a treat. The enemy gave away battle plans, means, motives, personnel positions and movements, tools, and sources and methods. Yes, it’s a war, and you should understand it as such. The enemy revealed many battlefield tactics. It would be wise to understand what you saw over the last two years in the context of war. God is merciful even in His judgments.

The “supply chain disruptions” should have made you serious about doing things yourself, the local way, among the trusted, moving closer to self-sufficiency. Again, thank God for the warnings, repent and act upon your new knowledge of the enemy.

And it isn’t over. If we read our Bible correctly, the last two years were just a remote storm cloud on the horizon of what’s likely coming. The explosion in depravity is not a sign of God’s judgment; it is God’s judgment. The horrendous and even audaciously flagrant wickedness of governments is not a sign of the judicial determination of God; it’s the result.

Christians Soldiers must know the Word of God. Your life depends upon it, or you will be led astray. If you got taken up in fear or have submitted to evil the last two years, that’s a good thing. Praise the Lord for this also; it’s why God sends warnings to His people in the mercy of His grace by longsuffering. Don’t lament but repent and make ready.

You should know by now where you are supposed to be, with what group of people in common you are to serve God while seeking to make yourself both versed and experienced in hard skills and hands-on doing. Pray for God to raise up a just leader, but you train the next generation, teaching them to be just men and women, righteous in Christ, forsaking all evil. Virtuous women and skilled men will matter most. It’s a separate post perhaps but we’ll mention that men will fight for a civilization populated by virtuous women.

Contact with the enemy has arrived. Please, I beseech you by the blood of Jesus Christ to hear and heed the warnings. Fear not for these two reasons: God is in control, and you were born for this very moment. God is sovereign, all is ordained, and you are here now for a reason. Be the light of Christ to those around you. Shed truth with all those you know. Spread the hope of coming victory for those that are righteous. And train for the other side of the coming conflagration(s). Dear Christian Brothers and Sisters, welcome to the war; it’s a pleasure to serve with you, repent toward God and prepare for the next battle. Pray that you not be deceived again.

It’s a spiritual conflict waged in the heavens played out among nations and men. Seek ye the Lord.

“Evil men understand not judgment: but they that seek the LORD understand all things.” – Proverbs 28:5

If your church leadership tries to shutdown services again, they must be fired immediately. Period. And any other leaders in support should be run off with a cane against their back! Otherwise, you must find a suitable congregation, which you should have already done.

In Chapter 13 of John, our Lord begins discussing how He will depart without mentioning the specifics. This discourse spans John 14, 15, and into chapter 16, with several asides and one possible change of location. It’s instruction to His disciples before His soon passion, resurrection, and ascension.

The notable side points of instruction help illustrate to the disciples Christ’s purposes for this instruction: His departure and the coming of the Holy Spirit. These asides include the Vine and Branch parable (John 15:1-10), an explanation of the unity of the Father and the Son (John 14:10-11), and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16-17). This instruction to His men continues into chapter 16 with the specific functions of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8-11) as we witness for Christ with Him.

Reading this section attentively, one understands what it means to be “in Christ.” We see only partially what the day of restitution of all things will be. When this sinful flesh is entirely and finally put off, we shall fully join this holy communion without that static interference.

There’s more, but those are topics for another day.

Repeatedly, Christ mentions the coming of the Comforter in these chapters; why Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Comforter is critical instruction. At the outset, plainly, the Holy Spirit is not for your comfort and ease, health and wealth, or to provide emotionally driven fits of excitement and unintelligible babbling. God may bless you, but those blessings serve His purposes; He does not serve you. The Comforter equips men for God’s specific purposes in support of service to glorify Him alone.

Read John 14:16-18, 26, 15:26-27, and 16:13 about the Comforter who is the Spirit of truth. The disciples are troubled by Christ’s leaving. Understandable, for the absence of God is darkness only. These are, generally, the purposes of the Holy Spirit as given here by Christ: to abide with us and in us, to teach and remind us of all things, to testify of Christ as we witness for Christ together with Him, remind us of all things, and guide us into all truth (anything untrue is not of God, but from the father of lies, John 8:44) and for showing things to come.

Read John 13:31 through John 16:16, paying particular attention to the complete sentences that include the cited verses about the Holy Spirit. It’s an extensive study; several key points will draw out the text to guide our understanding. But, we should view it as Christ delivered it, a single focused discussion with several supporting points of instruction that we must act upon. God is the ultimate instructor; the repetition with some variation is masterful indeed.

As a side note, if you won’t study your Bible, there’s nothing for the Holy Spirit to teach and remind you about. What if, and call me a radical, Christians actually did what the Bible says? These four duties in five short posts are the preparatory essential elements of the Christian faith in service of Christ.

This post is going somewhere, but context matters; instruction is fundamental. Christ spent three years teaching His men. Doing what Christ taught is where we fail today.

John 15:16 is the ordination of the disciples to bear fruit (also John 15:8). In verse 17, He immediately says to love one another; this is the first prominent point of this post. In verses 18 through 20, Christ tells them they will be hated and persecuted. Next, we arrive at the second main point: the Holy Spirit testifies of Christ, but not alone, as we also bear witness (John 15:26-27).

If you read the Bible carefully, you’ll note that when Christ speaks of bearing fruit, it’s in the context of establishing His Church by the spread of the Gospel. Notably, to love one another (John 15:17) is often a subtext of bearing fruit. So, bearing fruit is to love the brethren and make more brethren; this conforms precisely with our interim commission (Matthew 28:18-20) to serve in anticipation of His return.

In John 15:26-27, Christ is driving at the purpose of ordaining the disciples and the coming of the Holy Spirit. We must care for one another and make ourselves better Christian soldiers (Hebrews 10:24) because we need each other, not for nothing, but because we are to evangelize the whole world, converting the nations; this will draw persecution. Jesus, in foresight sublime, tells us to stick together and provides the Comforter to witness for Christ through us, even as we also serve and testify about Christ’s Gospel and the mercy God has shown us to all the nations.

Continuing into chapter 16, in verse 1, Christ, citing the things spoken so far, advises them not to be offended by the world rejecting them. How many Christians receive the offense of the world and modify their behavior to fit into the world? This is a major problem in the American church. There’s no way to pretty this up by slapping lipstick on it; it’s disobedience to God and Christ to please men above serving in the love and knowledge of the God who saved you; it’s sin.

For what else is disobedience to Christ by refusing His commandments (John 14:15)? Christ is the Lord our Righteousness, and we are to be priests and kings, but only by submission to His word; otherwise, the kings of this world rule us and look what fruit that’s wrought.

Then, in John 16, verses 2 and 3, he conveys to the disciples specifics about the persecution they would suffer (verse 2) and why (Verse 3). There’s also an important point here. Many claim the Father but not the Son, even today. God goes so far as to call those who deny the Father and the Son an antichrist (John 15:23, 16:3, 1 John 2:22). Reaching these folks with the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ should be a priority, for they acknowledge there’s a God without which faith can never come.

Finally, arriving at the point here. The churches failed and accepted the shutdowns because they were not doing as Christ commands. In doing what Jesus says, pressing into the brethren in love and fellowship, and seeking the lost regardless of the hurt that may come, the Comforter is with you. We are to build His Church. Not doing as Christ commands allows a spirit of fear, which is not of God (2 Timothy 1:7), to enter among the brethren and even to cause antichristian behavior.

How often have you heard church teaching about the disciples fleeing (Mark 14:50) with only John and the women at the cross, yet the American church withdrew at the mere whiff of persecution? The whole point of Christianity is to convert the Nations, making them Christian. In America, the churches utterly failed the first test, and it’s not over; more trouble is brewing, even now.

It’s unnatural to forsake your own safety, but serving Christ is as normal as can be because you love Him and keep His commandments, regardless of the consequences. Genuine Christian fellowship and support, coupled with the indwelling Comforter in service of our great King, is how you will not falter again. Peace is not an outward state of men; with God, it’s inward. Peace is in Christ Jesus by the indwelling Holy Spirit. Together, read John 14:10-11, and 14:16-17, and John 15:1-10. Here, we have a clear picture of the operation of God in us and through us for the purpose of bearing much fruit. Without Christ, ye can do nothing (John 15:5).

It seems that Christ has so few true friends (John 15:14). The people in American churches don’t genuinely believe in God. At least not how Christ described and the apostles carried it into the world. The people of God are fractured into single units, but according to Christ, it ought not to be this way. Upon being ordered to cease gathering, your church should have rallied around each other, rejected the kings of this world, and served in the hope of a better home with Him.

In American churches, the folks see each other occasionally; they’re not bonded in the unity of service if they benefit Christ at all. The American church looks like any other organization of common interest instead of an army organized for battle to wield the word. Most of church life is centered on the worldly pursuits of men instead of training men to take Christ’s domains. For these reasons, the church is generally failing, and particularly under the recent persecution. The Church in Europe, if it exists at all, is useless.

Americans must stop intellectualizing the Bible and instead put the instruction into action. Imagine if the apostles, after the ascension (Acts 1:8-9), had said, Well, that was an interesting three years; guess I’ll merely personalize it, internalize it, intellectualize it, and go back to my life and do nothing for God. You know what? One of them did, but Christ came and got him (John 21). How often has Jesus tried to tell you to follow Him in service?

The Church of Jesus Christ should have grown during the shutdowns; that’s what persecution does to Christ’s body: makes it more robust and extensive (Acts, entire book). Until His return, there will be tribulation; even as the Kingdom of God has its historical setbacks, it will continue to grow, but the kings of this world will not go quietly.

Complete peace on earth is a distant dream. The Kingdom of God is designed for spiritual warfare. And by the Comforter coupled with mutual support in fellowship and love with the brethren is the peace of God to attack the darkness, even to assault the very gates of hell (Matthew 16:18) with the truth of the Gospel. In Christ, we overcome the world and the devil; without Him, we fall. Fear not; keep His commandments and be of good cheer; Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” – Revelation 12:11