Archive for the 'Religion' Category



Putin’s Christian Vision

BY PGF
2 years, 2 months ago

This has been my point for years. America is antichrist, and communists are taking over for the very reason cited in the article about Russia. It’s what happened in Russia which led to the Bolshevik Communist Revolution. I know next to nothing about Eastern Orthodoxy; we’re not endorsing it. We’re merely pointing out what should be evident to anyone truly converted to Christ: the rejection of His Law-word means judgment.

The key message of these philosophers is of Russia’s messianic role in world history and of its need to preserve itself through Orthodoxy and restoration of its historic borders.

Studying the causes of Russia’s 20th century tragedy, Ilyin wrote [at the time]:

The Russian revolution is a reflection of the religious crisis we are living through now, an attempt to establish an anti-Christian public and state system thought up by Friedrich Nietzsche and economically and politically realized by Karl Marx. This anti-Christian virus was exported to Russia from the West…..

Losing our bond with God and the Christian tradition, mankind has become morally blind and gripped by materialism, irrationalism and nihilism.

In Ilyin’s view, the way to overcome this global moral crisis is for people to return to “eternal moral values”, which he defined as “faith, love, freedom, conscience, family, motherland and nation” but above all “faith and love”.

Christians have nobody to blame but themselves for what’s happening to America. Communism is a bloodthirsty antichrist religion. They will kill us all if we let them.

The Lion Of The Tribe Of Judah – Revelation 4 and 5

BY PGF
2 years, 2 months ago

Dr. Baldwin offers an exegesis of Revelation Chapters 4 and 5. It’s very good; watch the whole thing. We agree with much. His explanation of the seven Spirits of God is excellent.

We don’t entirely agree with the depiction of the four beasts as given by Dr. Baldwin (Revelation 4:6-9). He states they represent the Gospel. I’ll not argue against that, but we think the four beasts have a different representation.

He says the four beasts represent the Gospel, i.e., the four Gospels. He explains that Matthew depicts Christ as the Lion of Juda. Mark shows Jesus the servant, represented by the calf among the four beasts. Luke, the face of a man or Christ as the son of Man. And the Gospel of John, with an eagle representing Christ as the Son of God. That the four Gospels do indeed depict Jesus Christ, each one in that unique type and ministry of Christ, those three and a half years as described by Dr. Baldwin, we don’t argue against. We’re less sure that the four beasts align with or represent the specific Gospel accounts.

What we think of the four beasts is that they represent all creatures, the perfect creation, fully restored by the Gospel, which is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This would be the restoration to the pre-fall state in the Garden, where all things knew God and worshipped God because no sin existed; all was at peace. The conclusion to this part of the vision of John is Revelation 5:13-14, which shows every living thing (which the four beasts in chapter four represent before the throne) worshiping the glorified Christ. This is why we think the four beasts represent all creation, not the four Gospels.

It’s a minor point, and there may be something to both views. That Christ rules and reigns in heaven and earth, therefore each man must be prepared for His return is what truly matters. Jesus, by the Gospel, is restoring all things and bringing in a new heaven and new earth. The Kingdom of God now is only a type of the final domain to come when all sin shall be entirely eradicated.

Dr. Baldwin notes that the cherubim are the same as those that Ezekiel saw but does not mention the vision of Isaiah about these same living creatures in Isaiah 6:1-4.

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Biden Speech

BY PGF
2 years, 2 months ago

Fear is the currency of evil. Faith is the currency of God Almighty.

Of course, I didn’t waste time watching the thing, so there I was this morning, long weekend ahead, not planning to write. Then, turning on the internet, it’s “The Antichrist” with raised fists proclaiming the coming genocide of 70 million Americans.

Communists are like rust on a weapon, and America is becoming pitted.

I dislike being taught about the devil, and I hate being preached to about the devil. And I hate even more having to teach and preach to others about the devil, but sometimes it’s necessary. Those “churches” that only preach heaven will join those planning the coming atrocities; they’re too ignorant to see evil. The soon attempt at genocide is being broadcast loud and clear on all channels. The day is coming when they will be full of pride, thinking they do the god of progressivism service by killing you.

There’s no reason to watch it; all of the stagecraft is in that single shot. Having read the pertinent quotes, two things are clear; Joe “touch & sniff” Biden got his name recognition back, and his team threw red raw meat to the hard-core Leftist Communist base.

Every time I think we’re finally done with the ridiculous MAGA thing, as if Trump would, even if he could, make America great, some career government flunky, like PedoJoe, comes along and makes us rejoin the MAGA. If that’s how they want to label the Traditional American 2.0 patriots, then it’s a moniker we might as well take upon ourselves with gusto. But, MAGA is just a dog whistle; our covenant is with Father God through Christ Jesus. I pray yours is too.

There is no person in the Bible “The AntiChrist,” but there is a spirit of antichrist, and it’s descending upon the carcass of the former Christian West, probing on every front, searching for weaknesses. That’s what evil does; it looks for deficiency, frailty, or division as a point of attack. The devil isn’t stupid, evil yes, stupid no. And his workers of inequity are not stupid either, evil undoubtedly, some knowingly and some unwittingly yet wicked all the same.

This imagery is so overwhelmingly antichrist that even a wife-beating whiskey drunk can immediately see it. But perhaps that’s a lousy analogy; the devil knows his own. How about a normie nine to fiver, a decent guy who doesn’t think much about politics, just trying to raise his family in suburbia? We have zero doubt he can see it too. You don’t have to be Christian for it to catch your eye and prick your conscience.

It’s a spiritual war waged in the heavens and played out among nations and men. The imagery may very well be a call to boldness by evil without the specific knowledge of those that choreographed the event. Anybody can see the image. Still, the event planners didn’t intend for the mouthpiece of the “free world” to appear as Satan. Let that sink in, dear friends. The devil’s greatest deceit is convincing you that he doesn’t exist. All was carefully planned, and their eyes were blinded.

The subtlety of the setting is extraordinary; “The Antichrist” standing at the place of the founding of Christian America. The scene is straight out of Mark 13:14. If you don’t read your Holy Bible, you can’t even understand what is being done to America and Western Civilization. It’s being shoved in your face, dear Christians!

There are those that saw the imagery exactly as you do, but they liked it and were spurred on in hatred by it. Those types will have to be dealt with.

Don’t let these things scare you, for that is the point of this bit of propaganda; both the men and spirit behind them intended it. Fear is the currency of evil, but faith is the currency of God Almighty. It’s a real war. The war rages and those immersed in the Holy Bible daily have that discernment necessary to see the war (Hebrews 5:14). We say it just about every week here at TCJ; your life depends upon you knowing the Holy Bible!

It’s not a popular message, but the truth rarely is; America is arriving at the reaping of the fruit of her doings.

“9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” – Jerimiah 17:9-10

Openly evil, how could America become anything other? From the heart comes corruption, immorality, and depravity.

“18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:” – Jesus Christ, in Matthew 15:18-19

Keep the faith and take strength in the knowledge that as the first-century saints overcame, the righteous in Christ are the victors at the last reckoning.

“He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” – Revelation 13:10

Note: none of the cited or quoted verses are about America or our current situation. Yet we are wise to apply the teachings of Holy Father God to the evil of our day so that we might resist the devil and serve Christ without fear. Though Christ has bound the devil for the salvation of His saints so they might hear the preaching of the Gospel of the cross unto life everlasting, the same evil works in our day.

Comparing Ourselves

BY PGF
2 years, 2 months ago

2 Corinthians 10:12-18

Having heard an antidote, we’ll see whether it translates to written form. If you take a group of, say, 20, 5-year-old children and tell them to run to the other end of a football field, you’ll see varying results, few good. Some will look at their feet; those almost always fall. Some see something off to one sideline or the other and veer off in the wrong direction. Some simply stand there, not sure what to actually do.

Now, if you take a group of 20 14-year-olds and run the same drill, only the willful sluggard or those looking back to see whose catching up do err in the task.

It takes training and a depth of Christian maturity to run the race Christ has set before you, pressing toward the mark (Philippians 3:14).

“For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” – 2 Corinthians 10:12

There is a problem among those less mature in Christ; they compare themselves with themselves or against others. Some compare themselves to others negatively, but some boast of themselves too highly, either openly or by internal dialog. Many also get distracted by bible sounding things that are not Scripture, and some sadly never run the race.

We are called; ordained to works individually. Some bring fruit an hundredfold, some thirtyfold (Matthew 13:8). The body of Christ, if rightly fitted together (Ephesians 4:16), is to serve each man in his own works that our Lord Jesus Christ has pressed upon him.

Verse 12 is as though a proverb of wisdom, and it’s a gem of Christian knowledge about service unto the Lord. If your eyes are on the wrong person, others, or yourself, you serve amiss. We are to labor always about the business of pleasing our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Sadly, because of a lack of maturity or incorrect focus, many hinder themselves or their brothers and sisters from the good works God has set before them. Why that is, is somewhat of a mystery, but it must start with a lack of eyes upon the prize of heaven, forsaking convicted prayer and personal bible study. Ask almost any brother in Christ who’s served God for some time, and they’ll tell how at the start, some who claimed to be their fellows told them it couldn’t be done or shouldn’t be done or that it would amount to nothing. Jesus took 12 men, made them disciples, and turned the world upside down; it can be done, and those still faithful are getting it done even today.

If the works comport with the sound understanding of New Testament service to Christ, then never hinder the work or belittle the man newly called to the field, whatever service that may be. There is nothing wrong, and often preferably so, with serving quietly, laboring in anonymity, knowing that treasures are being laid up in heaven with our Lord. It is said that one measure of a man is what he does when nobody is watching. Sadly today, many things are called Christian service, which is only religious exercises by those who have taken a single verse, often out of context, labeling it following Christ.

Old-fashioned humility is sorely lacking inside the body of Christ. Christians, serving to be seen serving, have their reward in this life (Matthew 6:2). It’s braggadocious to seek the approval of men. If you always strive to please the Lord firstly, as a practical matter, this allows the Holy Spirit of God to guide you, course correcting while teaching you a depth of maturity in service that your fruit will be much, and be that fruit which remains after the test of fire (John 15:16).

This section of Scripture in 2 Corinthians discusses boasting (Verse 15) in the labors of others. Christ, having set the firm foundation in a man’s soul and those laboring before us, have made a path desired for any that pursue Christ. At least, that’s what our brothers before should have done, and you should be doing now. We ought always to brag on the Lord, acknowledging those others whose labor laid foundations without which we would surely fail. Some plant, some water, but God brings the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6).

Good leadership provides the tools, training, and resources necessary to ensure the mission’s success. It’s no different in the body of Christ because it’s what Jesus did with His disciples.

An example on the negative side: those who busy themselves, creating a vast cloud of dust in their wake while doing none of what Christ commands by His word. Or serving amiss to glory among themselves about how excellent they are, or most sinfully, they do it for money. These are secular, absent Christ, for what lost sinner and busy body do-gooder hasn’t done these very things? Glory not but in the Lord.

Cast a leery eye toward those building a foundation upon their self-lauding words. If someone is getting the accolades of men, fear not, for the Lord knows their heart and yours. You need not measure yourself against others but against faithfulness to complete the mission Christ has given you. Jesus wants faith, your faith in following Him, not seeking to ride the coattails of other men’s labors as though they were ours, or worrying about your status among men. Heaven is our home; all will be revealed (Luke 12:2).

An example about seeking the lost is apt; God saves who He will through their faith in the finished work of Christ while under conviction from the Holy Spirit. And almost always, many seeds have been planted in the lost man’s heart before the harvest is ripe and the fruit falls into the final witness’s basket of harvest.

Desiring the approval of men is a fault of pride in the Christian heart. This section of Scripture concludes with 2 Corinthians 10:18: “For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.”

The Ministry of Reconciliation

BY PGF
2 years, 2 months ago

“18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” – 2 Corinthians 5:18-21

In verse 18 above, we learn that all things are of God; He has made everything, and all things were made for Him (Colossians 1:16-17). He is the Creator, but this very same God has sought reconciliation through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Under this ministry of reconciliation, one would naturally ask; why is reconciliation necessary? What was the schism? That word schism holds a connotation, but understand that the very first religious breach, the very first split, was sin against Holy God by the first man. The covenant had been broken; a parting must have been accomplished. The Creator is holy and righteous, and man had taken on the nature of sin and became an enemy against his Maker. Man, having become a sinner and losing his disposition of grace, God could not have allowed perfect sinlessness to continue. Indeed, the corruption of sin had ended the holy communion between God and man.

This break brought guilt, shame, sorrow, and fear, all brand new to man who had dwelled in the love of God uncorrupted. It was man that broke the relationship, devastated by his error, filled with the horror of seeing himself in light of his sin, and knowing, better than any man, just how holy and perfect God was to him, he fled from the face of God. And here you are today, attempting to escape from the countenance of God lest the punishment you deserve come upon you. Nonetheless, God knows us and our sin, the wrath of God is inescapable.

Verse 18 continues, “who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ” It’s not that God has met you halfway; in fact, He owes no such thing as the extension of His hand anew. God didn’t even meet us three-quarters or four-fifths of the way. He didn’t have to offer the consideration of friendship again, but God did it all. He accomplished everything necessary for you to be brought back, reconciled into love and fellowship, holy communion again, and peace. Ah, blessed peace; to have it again under the guiding wing of God that destruction would befall us no more: just as the bird of prey gathers eaglets in the nest, oh how God longs to summon you to Himself under the protection of His holy love.

God was in Christ (verse 19). Jesus said, “I and my Father are one.” – John 10:30. God was reconciling the world to Himself by Jesus Christ, not seeking to impute His wrath for our sin but seeking for His own, looking for His lost sheep gone astray, forgiving our trespasses for breaking the covenant and leaving Him, oh that man would cease to flee from the great God of creation and turn to face His Son! We still today, witnesses for Jesus Christ, messengers of the Gospel, ambassadors of peace by God, cry to all those who would hear Him: be ye reconciled to God, by Jesus Christ!

Christ did it all; the wrath of the Father was poured out upon Jesus on the cross: Jesus was sinless, yet under torture for you, dying for your sin. The Son of God went all the way to the depths of making Himself one of His creatures, becoming man yet without sin; He came to get you and bring you back home into the grace of Father God.

“For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.” – Ezekiel 34:11

That’s the love He has for you. That He came looking for you, though you deserve it not, though you had trespassed His holy name, He desires you as a son that deeply. God was in Christ looking for His own to make them a people. He’s looking for you today. It’s no casual mention. And it’s no idle offer; God did call you and seek for you and search, sending His own Son so that you might see how serious He is about bringing you back into the household of God.

God is showing you how He made Christ to be sin, that you might be made straight with Him. That’s the exchange, your sin, for the righteousness of God; what an offer. And Jesus rose again on the third day, fulfilling the Scriptures and proving that the most fantastic dawn of history had arrived; the reconciliation of God by Christ, to all who would hear, to you. All you have to do, for Christ did it all, is accept the righteousness of God as His gift. Flee from Him no more, prevailing in Christ, made right in His sight: be ye reconciled to God.

The Decline and Fall of the Western Empire

BY PGF
2 years, 2 months ago

This article was first seen at WRSA. Admittedly it’s a little lengthy, but it is peppered with truths, so it’s worth sharing. Dr. Baldwin of Liberty Fellowship has an article published at Lew Rockwell in which he elaborates his take on the article’s spiritual death portion(s). Pastor Baldwin blames the pastors of America’s churches. Indeed, they are at fault in many cases, but no believer gets off that easy; it’s your fault, dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

Kneissel [the author of a book on this topic], who is from Central Europe, makes it sound as if Europe is living in the past, before 1914, when it was politically central to the world, instead of being a more or less irrelevant political backwater as it is in 2022. What is certain is that the physical fall of an empire is always preceded by its spiritual fall. What did this spiritual fall consist of?

[…]

The extraordinary thing is the self-justification of the Western world for its own suicide and its refusal to admit that anything is wrong with it. On the contrary, only its ‘values’ of ‘freedom, democracy and human rights’ are correct and must therefore be spread throughout the ‘free world’. All who do not accept its ‘values’, which in fact are anti-values because they are destructive, not constructive like real values, must be mocked, slandered and, if necessary, bombed into submission. Today’s Western world is visibly coming to resemble medieval frescoes showing the torments of hell, which are what spiritual death is. The Western world has been demonised, the demons have been called up from the bowels of hell to occupy it and visibly and mockingly inflict its ‘Western values’.

Unless God is well pleased, He withdraws His blessings. YES, devils are very real and actually exist (I know, I’m repeating myself but do you understand?) and inhabit the workers of inequity at all levels and types within a society as the Lord allows. When the Lord allows, many more devils may begin to overwhelm a people. This is scriptural; the point is that evil abounds unto destruction.

The failure of the churches in the West is the root cause; doing nothing about abortion and supporting endless wars are two of the glaring sins. The article makes this point well. And without a very learned understanding of what God requires in His Law-word, separating the causes (sins) and results (evil abounding) is challenging. We’ll neither parse the article nor establish the Law here. But we know for certain that abortion and war without just cause are both murdering the innocent, of which particular sin is listed sixth in the top ten. And we’ll state that murder, by default, means that you have set other gods before you, for the one true and living God is the God of life and life eternal, the first commandment.

We’ll say plainly, only in Christ does salvation live for the individual, the marriage, the family, a church body, your town, county, state, and country. Nobody, and surely not a politician, is coming to save you.

The Veil Taken Away

BY PGF
2 years, 3 months ago

“13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished: 14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. 15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. 17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” – 2 Corinthians 3:13-18

He who delivered the law was veiled that the end of the law could not be looked upon, which veil remains over the heart of all that have yet to believe, and also those who have heard but disbelieve the Gospel of Christ Jesus. For if the Gospel is hidden, it is hidden from them that are lost: the wrath of God abides on them all. But the Gospel is the end of the law for them that accept the Lord.

Look to verse 16; “Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord” What is it that must turn to the Lord? It’s the heart in verse 15. But to all them that accept, their heart has turned to behold not a man veiled with punitive measures of law, but beholding Jesus plainly as though in the mirror, we who have faith see Him that delivered us not into the bondage of law but to freedom. For the Lord is He who offers liberty by the Holy Spirit, that by faith, with open face, the veil of ignorance, which is a blinded mind, stands taken away and we, being made sighted, eyes filled with confidence are now fixed on our Saviour.

And today, the god of this world has blinded the minds of all who believe not the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4). Salvation in Christ is not only liberty from the law, but from the law of the sin and death that in Christ Jesus you might overcome the world and the devil; for Jesus defeated all these in the resurrection.

Being changed over time in obedience to the calling of Christ, we serve our Master, recreated a little more each day into the image of Christ, transformed into a son of God. Therefore, we ought to attend to God with purpose, to tell the Gospel to all we encounter, praying with hope toward heaven for the veil of unbelief to be removed from their eyes, that they too would behold Christ plainly.

Eternal salvation is delivered by faith in Jesus. He died for all who turn by repentance of the heart to live forgiven in liberation from sin, and He rose again the third day. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” – John 11:25

Jesus is the life and the resurrection of the soul now, and unto life everlasting in the eternal glory of heaven to come. Turn in your heart toward Him that is able to open your eyes to the truth; Jesus is life.

Religion Tags:

God’s Church, Family, State

BY PGF
2 years, 3 months ago

I have been remiss; promising a post on Church, Family, and State as ruled by men of God, it remained undone. It’s a complex topic firstly, and effort posting about the word of God is not advised; teaching the laws of men as though they were God’s can be the result. Except the Lord allow, this primer will have to suffice that I will not be found a liar; so my yea, may be yea (Matthew 5:33-37, especially 37), while primarily seeking to please the Lord our God. There are pages of scrap; perhaps more posts on this subject will follow.

“25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. 26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: 28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” – Matthew 20:25-28

We could say much about these verses and our current state of affairs. The government no longer serves the people; all get this. Neither do men serve their family well by giving them all they desire, letting the help meet and children rule. And handing the churches to the government by “law” and taking debt from bankers is no service to our King at all. Most churches now are full of unrepentant sinners trying to control each other.

The Church in America is dead, and the people in them don’t know it yet. The problem with the American churches is not one of structure; the crisis from the fall in the garden to this very moment is sin. Sin is broadly defined as disobedience to Holy God. If they are Christians, we can suppose that they will be beaten with few stripes, for they indeed seem ignorant (Luke 12:47-48). The American churches are self-licking ice cream cones. They serve the corporation instead of building the Kingdom of God. They have done what Christ told the Pharisees they should not have done (Mark 7:7-9). They have taken the form and structure of a top-down managerial corporate enterprise by running things like a business (which is what they are) under the laws of men. They sell an experience while turning Christ into little more than a minstrel show. Their leaders are corporate heads, serving the corporation.

The problem with men is a problem of the heart. Creating a formal structure, or abolishing any legal system of rule, does nothing to address the root cause at the core of all that is wrong with the world. The problem is sin, it’s the problem with everything, and it’s the problem with you. Nobody in government follows the formal government that we have. It’s lawlessness by falsely claimed authority; it’s anarchy. It’s been this way because no structure, type, or outward form of a governing body can solve the problem with a man’s heart. The State, by its law, is only punitive, not preventative, and not restorative. The law can only punish. By the law is the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20). The law makes criminals, and that’s all it can do.

Sin is the start of what’s wrong with families in America. There’s no reason to list all the issues; we know them. Fathers that are known of God teaching their children the word of God, and not as intellectual exercises, but as doers of the word is what’s lacking.

The sin in these three governing bodies of civil society stems from a failure to serve God, seeking Him first, so “all these things” (Matthew 6:33) will be added as blessings from God. “All these things” will be taken away because we have failed to seek His righteousness first in the Kingdom of God, making church, family, and state His. The instruction in Matthew 6:24-34 has specific application as Jesus began to train His men to die for His holy name. Still, we must make an application today of verses 24 and 33.

The New Testament is primarily about the birth of the New Covenant in Christ’s blood. Today we are supposed to be building His kingdom, the Kingdom of God, while our Master is in the far country (Parable starting in Luke 19:12). Undoubtedly, He returns to us.

Anarchy isn’t a lack of formal government; is not your very government the source of anarchy in the West, which is lawlessness? Government is punitive. That’s all it can do is punish. Government cannot create a just State, restore a man, or be a child’s or woman’s family head and leader.

The Church (body of Christ) is restorative. Only God can change a man’s heart, filling him with the fruit of the Spirit to make him a minister and servant of the good. The family, not the State, is preventive in the proper training and raising of the generations.

These three only function to serve, or minister, to bring good when the individuals in them are Christ’s. And no man, in any capacity, can perform the good and minister in these ordained institutions of Holy God except he studies God’s word as though his life and the lives of those under his care depended upon it; because they do. Being converted and made Christian isn’t enough; you must read and first submit to His Law-word (Matthew 6:33).

It is the family ordained by God at the start (Genesis 2:4-5), by the proper raising of children (Proverbs 22:6, and Fifth Commandment – Exodus 20:12) that prevents crime (sin) and civilizational decay (judgment – removal of God’s blessings).

The Church, by salvation in Christ, is restorative, bringing the lost sinner to repentance by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, giving him the saving faith of Christ Jesus, and establishing the knowledge of sin in his conscience. Salvation first, then a desire to be as Christ through studying His word and assembling with other believers. Only the Gospel can save Western Civilization because the men need to be converted first.

The man, having been begotten again in Christ Jesus (1 Peter 1:3), a type and picture of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:3) as the head of the family, is to be priest and king (Revelation 1:6). Christian men are not only the priest (spiritual leader) of the family. The man is to be submitted to Christ and head of the local body of Christ (epistles to Timothy are replete). And yes, we are to take over all government (Exodus 18:19-27, especially 21) for God’s great and abundant purposes in judgment, grace, and mercy, and for instruction in righteousness that it may go well with our people upon the land.

Under the New Covenant, do these: build the Kingdom of God now while preparing every man his heart, his family, his church body, and his governments in anticipation of the great and terrible day of Christ’s return to claim all that are His. “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” – Matthew 6:10

Dominion is not only about the planet. Christian men are the just judge, ministers, servants, teachers, priests, and kings of all Christ gives to them; government, church, and especially in their family; this is dominion in the New Covenant. God adds thereunto when you do well with little (Matthew 25:14-30). It’s a hard job. In fact, without Jesus, it can’t be done.

Christ’s Church, family, and state are all to be submitted to God, but men love to make for themselves false gods erecting governments that usurp His throne and ungodly home authority structures. And other pride-filled men are all too happy to abridge the Law-word, constructing governments to usurp family and religion. And the churches are capital enterprises instead of teachers of the nations as Christ commands (Matthew 28:18-20). The moral law is supposed to emanate from the Church (teach all nations Matthew 28:20).

Family is the primary government with the Christian man as head. Civil authority (Governments) are to support the liberty (keep the peace for He is the Prince of Peace) given by Christ for men to function in community one with another, keeping all that Christ commands. Family is supposed to be presented to God, and so too government and every gathering of believers. All these, in fact, will be handed up; may they be found of Him well and pleasing in His sight.

You say this is challenging. Not if every man believes and studies the Scriptures with purpose. Immediately the minds of men go toward how to structure society; that’s an error of approach. You can’t; the lost must be saved, sealed by the Holy Spirit of God, and sanctified (Galatians 2:21), the law following after. This is not an organization of men in which we set out to subjugate (again) one another. Nor are we to try to change the minds of the world. Jesus Christ saves souls; faith unto salvation (repentance) changes their minds. The job is to preach the Gospel to every creature and teach the nations which must first believe. You can’t do it; government can’t do it. Jesus does it. Only under Christ are all men made one before the majesty of His throne (Revelation 7:9-10).

Religion Tags:

Notes on the Destruction of Jerusalem Part Two

BY PGF
2 years, 3 months ago

Several months ago, we posted a note about the destruction of Jerusalem. Below we find a well-researched and accessible snapshot of the temple system being replaced by Christ. Not only is Jesus the final sacrifice once for all, ending the necessity of the temple system, but the articles contend that Jesus was teaching and preparing His disciples for all aspects of the temple system to be completed in the person of Jesus Christ. That is something I had not considered.

AD 70 & THE TEMPLE’S FAILURE part 1 and part 2

AD 70 is an important date in redemptive-history. In that year the ancient temple of Israel was destroyed, never to be rebuilt.

[…]

In the Gospel record Jesus’ subtle conduct and overt teaching prepare us for the removal of the temple as both theologically unnecessary and as spiritually corrupt. John’s Gospel is especially interesting in this regard: In Jn 1:14 Christ appears as God’s true “tabernacle” (eskēnōsen en ēmin). [1] This theme of Jesus replacing the religious features of Israel recurs repeatedly in his ministry: In 1:51 he, rather than the temple or high priest, is the nexus between heaven and earth because…

These posts provide an excellent example of why the temple was to be destroyed; judgment loomed in the first century. There will be at least one more part of the series on the linked website.

Gospel Witness, Suffer Little Children

BY PGF
2 years, 3 months ago

Note: Tagged Gospel Witness with the other posts in this series.

Matthew 18:1-6, 10, 14

“Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.” – Matthew 18:14

In Matthew 18, we find several parables put forth by our Lord Jesus Christ. And, there is the example to the disciples that they should have the humility of a child, the simple faith demonstrated by those little ones that are Christ’s. Indeed, if only we would have such simple, humble belief as a child’s trust toward God; that He is who and what He says.

There is the parable of removing body parts that offend and the parable of the one and ninety-nine sheep. Those are woven through the text in a beautiful display of the grace of God both for salvation and the earnest approach of the believer toward Christ. But, the instruction on treating children in the kingdom is quite valuable and tangible. Jesus sets a small child in the midst and makes several statements for edification about how God views little ones and His expectations for adults in the Kingdom of God concerning children.

It’s not the will of holy Father God that children should perish. We take the meaning to be spiritual death in eternity, although judgment against that generation loomed. There’s not much more significant in the Kingdom of God than showing a little one how Jesus loves them, dying for them that they need not perish, and rising from the grave in majesty, might, and power to be King of all.

Children so readily take to the story, the mystery of the revelation of Christ hidden throughout the ages and to us, blessed beyond measure with life after the cross, and the historical record of the suffering of Christ that we might go free. It’s elementary to create a word picture of Christ the victorious King that little ones will listen to with rapt attention, fascinated. There is no Disney production, no fairy tale, no story of a gallant prince that compares to the level of Jesus Christ fulfilling the thousands of years of prophecies concerning His coming. It’s the best because it’s all true. And to think, as good as the story is now, just you wait until His return!

And so warning, there are the protectors of children to the detriment of the child’s eternal soul. Here’s the problem, the root of the problem is very disturbing in its scope and results among children of the churches; the lack of trust in the Holy Spirit by adults, especially their parents and relatives. We’ve seen several problems manifest from this distrust.

Intensely bothersome are those parents and other relatives that when their child is confronted with the truth of the Gospel, they seek to shield them, petting them, drawing them close as though the Holy Spirit of God or a verse of Scripture were a monster to pollute their mind and corrupt their body. We’ve seen this on too many occasions; it’s painful to watch the ignorance of the adults. The Holy Spirit of God knows exactly what He’s doing. There is no reason to guard children against the sound of the word of God or the story of Christ. On the contrary, these adults risk losing the child to damnation forever.

“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” – Hebrews 10:31

Children are not alone; we all may experience the full range of emotions under the sound of the Gospel, especially the fear that can grip a soul under the pressure of the Holy Spirit about their station in eternal torment.

“But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 19:14

It’s trust, do adults, can they, with their most precious of loves, trust upon unconditional terms that the Holy Spirit knows just the right amount of conviction in each individual child to bring them to Christ? If those children perish in eternity because their parents or loved ones protected them from the fear of God Almighty as the Holy Spirit presses upon them, heaven help them; may their millstone lay lightly (Matthew 18:6).

And we’ve another equally disturbing yet different treatment of children by loved ones. Those convinced beyond the evidence of their child’s salvation, of all ages, but even little ones. As a practical warning, I can coerce a confession and prayer out of just about any child, and so can most adults. Many thousands, perhaps millions of parents, are convinced of the salvation of their loved ones without any basis in fact, prima facie, all evidence to the contrary.

A parent’s hope is Christ indwelling the child. The hope is lovely; hope above measure and never cease to pray, but the reality of the lost child’s soul is what’s paramount if a child remains dead in their trespasses and sin. Please listen to this carefully; children that are saved know they’re saved, and the Holy Spirit in them will confess it, even with reason and evidence, without prompting or help.

Many children, maybe millions, have made a profession of faith, and no man knows their heart; but the Holy Spirit will change them and bear fruit of the Spirit as evidence. The Holy Spirit in the believer continues to convict of sin. This changes the believer’s mind over time; changes their likes, dislikes, and desires of the heart. The believer grows in love and knowledge of Christ, and when it’s genuine, it shows. It’s ridiculous above measure; the proposition that saved children are doing drugs, getting pregnant, watching porn, and going to jail. They’re not saved; they’re just not! People that are in Christ, of all ages, desire the things of God.

How many times have we asked a child how they know they’re going to heaven and gotten blank stares as though they were asked to calculate the proper route of a Mars landing craft? If they are saved, the Holy Spirit in them will testify of Christ, for this is one of His essential functions: He witnesses of Christ through the believer (John 15:26). The Holy Spirit of God knows His own.

Parents, sadly, will begin to prompt their children and coach them to say the right words when the child is obviously lost as a goose. It’s heartbreaking to watch. They’re likely headed to hell. Everybody has a bad day, but consistent ignorance of the knowledge of salvation is – evidence of consistent ignorance of the knowledge of salvation.

Then there is the instance, strange as it may sound, that unless the child gets saved the exact way, under the same verses, circumstances, or prayer as the adult, they are forbidden to come to Christ. It’s weird and hard to understand.

Everybody’s salvation testimony is unique; there are as many stories as saved souls. Why would parents care if the child gets saved at an altar, in Sunday School, at home, in a restaurant parking lot, or hanging upside down from monkey bars at the park? If a verse from Genesis three and not John 3 pricks the child’s heart, why forbid them? The word of God brings faith (Romans 10:17). When the Spirit is hot in pursuit of a lost soul, that is the time to strike at the heart with the extraordinary story of Christ, afresh and anew, while sharing Scripture. It’s God that saves souls under the conviction of the Holy Spirit; it’s not locations, circumstances, a parent’s favorite pet doctrine, or bible story; Christ saves!

The ignorance is astounding in each of these instances. It’s not the will of the Father that these littles should perish, and millions of professing adults are working counter to the will of God for the children in their families. It’s shocking to consider what’s happening in heaven’s throne room while relatives interrupt the sound of the Gospel in favor of their predilections!

“Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.” – Matthew 18:10

If that verse doesn’t bring a tear to your eye, you’re too hard-hearted to reach. What can a preacher, youth pastor, witness, or soul winner do? It makes one want to grab them and scream; your child will burn in hell for eternity, and you’re making it happen! It’s so very frustrating.

“But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” – Matthew 18:6

If you have children, tonight, take them one at a time to bed and tell them of Christ; plainly and with love, share the truth of the Gospel and offer to pray with them.

But, there are great moments in the Kingdom of God; we’ve seen obedient parents wait in prayerful silence while their child hears a thorough explanation of the Gospel. That’s always a blessing. There’s no reason to dumb down the Gospel or try to make it less scary for children. It is scary; hell is horrible. The Holy Spirit does the work, leaving the pure word of truth in their soul.

“Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” – Matthew 18:4


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