Archive for the 'Religion' Category

Surprisingly, PJM has a piece on J. Gresham Machen’s “Christianity and Liberalism.”  It’s a quick read but a good piece to start the day.  Thie gem appears.

Place the lives of children in their formative years, despite the convictions of their parents, under the intimate control of experts appointed by the state, force them to attend schools where the higher aspirations of humanity are crushed out, and where the mind is filled with the materialism of the day, and it is difficult to see how even the remnants of liberty can subsist.

A public-school system, if it means the providing of free education for those who desire it, is a noteworthy and beneficent achievement of modern times; but when once it becomes monopolistic it is the most perfect instrument for tyranny which has yet been devised. Freedom of thought in the middle ages was combated by the Inquisition, but the modern method is far more effective.

True, all of that.  I’m proud and pleased to say that I own a copy of Machen’s “The Origin of Paul’s Religion.”  At the time Machen taught, the liberal school of theology was promulgating the idiotic notion that Paul’s theology was at odds with, or an addition to, Christ’s theology.  Red Letter Christians, they are called.  You get to accept the words of Christ, but ignore everything else, especially all of Paul’s difficult teachings.

It makes a mockery of the unity of the Holy Writ, and Machen addresses the issue in the book.

By the way, Machen’s Christianity and Liberalism can be found in PDF version without even having to purchase it, if you don’t happen to have the small bit of money to get a hard back copy.  Nearing the conclusion of this brief book, he observes the following.

“The present is a time not for ease or pleasure, but for earnest and prayerful work. A terrible crisis unquestionably has arisen in the Church. In the ministry of evangelical churches are to be found hosts of those who reject the gospel of Christ. By the equivocal use of traditional phrases, by the representation of differences of opinion as though they were only differences about the interpretation of the Bible, entrance into the Church was secured for those who are hostile to the very foundations of the faith. And now there are some indications that the fiction of conformity to the past is to be thrown off, and the real meaning of what has been taking place is to be allowed to appear. The Church, it is now apparently supposed, has almost been educated up to the point where the shackles of the Bible can openly be cast away and the doctrine of the Cross of Christ can be relegated to the limbo of discarded subtleties.”

“16 Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. 17 Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.” – Jeremiah 6:16-17

When you have strayed and sought out many inventions, taking new gods by worshiping the works of our hands (Jeremiah 1:16), the everlasting Father, in His word, commands God’s people to return to the old paths. He calls us to produce what is tried and true in classical society as set forth in His word to rebuild the reverence and adherence to God’s ordained structure for Church, Family, and State in the manner that it was intended from the very beginning of creation. And God demands Christ’s Church follow His commands, a righteous leader as the head of the family, and a just government with just ordinances that will implement the same law of God that blesses all the earth.

God is not a mean old man; His law is a beacon of warning that righteous men shall live in peace, finding rest for their souls, but the wicked will have no peace at all; foreigners will rule over them with a hard whip. Holy God will set stumbling blocks in the way, fathers and sons will fall, and neighbors with their friends will perish for lack of Jesus Christ. God will bring evil upon you; even the fruit of your wicked thoughts will be meted out to you who have forsaken Him.

So primarily, God warns us to return to Him, to worship and trust in Him, forsaking the new gods that have led only to societal rot through greed and lusts of the flesh. Return to the Gospel of Christ, and preach the whole counsel of God, teach the generations to be like Jesus Christ.

“Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.” – Ecclesiastes 7:29

The many inventions spoken of are applicable and scalable to any that man’s mind can set above our Lord, be they religions, technology, idols, or ways to rule ourselves apart from His perfect law and word. God made us to seek the good, giving us an innate desire for faith in Him, to know Him, and pursue Him. Still, we create all manner of things that extinguish the mind and soul in time spent unfruitfully, separating us from God. Some of these things have become a religion of sorts, replete with idolization, worship, and sacraments.

The many inventions themselves become the false god of our adoration.

The call is not for a return to the days of pre-mechanical implements. This is critical to understand; lifestyle comes from a foundation in Christ. A change of lifestyle while on your way to hell is not what God is asking. The new things, the technological advancements, have blessed us in many ways but have, at a terrible cost, separated us from family, hearth and home, lands, and the labor of the heart working with our hands and having settled community structures of neighbors we know and count upon. Rootlessness coupled with unknown and untrusted people is causing great despair.

And America continues to tell God that we will not walk in the good way or seek His face and those old paths from the Father of our founding. But there is encouragement as many thousands are coming to realize the importance of family, local stability, and tradition while seeking the Lord. As dismayed as we may be regarding national issues, realizing that you can only fix yourself and your family is driving a mini-revival in America toward the old paths. Many are settling on a small patch, raising a few animals, homeschooling, and working toward traditional self-sufficiency. Pray it catches fire, and those not only return to sound families, food sources, culture, and localities but repent toward God and serve Him.

The watchmen are lame and do not warn (Ezekiel 33), teaching hyper-personalized comfort when every alarm bell rings with warnings of trouble on the horizon. They covet much when the charity of God is needed, and they say peace when war looms, and there is little shame of abomination in the sight of the Lord.

But a few men, known of God, are sounding the trumpet, telling any that will hear to hearken unto holy Father God, return to His law, return to His design in creation for your family and the just rule of law. Remove yourselves from the unclean things, and call on Christ. Many of us are too old now to return to the old ways, but we can pray, we can encourage, and we can teach.

There are men that love their wives first, before their children, which prioritizes showing their children what a godly husband does. This ends divorce if it’s done correctly and consistently. And it ends the multi-generational broken families, all because one man did what God commands and the sons were taught well by example. God will bless these efforts as it’s His law that puts the man’s wife above his children. And there are men who’ve known only one woman. This is a beautiful and amazing thing, and those I know are blessed beyond measure for their loyalty to God’s designed purposes.

And young women, too, are asking where the men of the old way are, where are our roots and structure that we may have hope in the future God wants for us; this is inspiring. Joyfully, many women don’t want to give their best years to a faceless corporate bureaucracy while standing on a mountain of debt for a Godless lifestyle while somebody else raises their children. They see a false choice in that and instead give their best years to one man, raising their family together, making a home in loving and nurturing as the helpmeet, which is their duty to the Almighty. Satisfying the commitment that Holy God demands will always fulfill one’s soul more so than any other thing.

Without the old paths and the good way, no rest for the soul comes; troubles appear at every arc with increasing rapidity while warnings of war, financial destitution, and famine are in the air. But still, waiting with open arms for you with forgiveness in His clemency, the only faithful and true God is offering the blessings of means to set yourself aright within the covenant of our fathers, to save your civilization, for a more promising glory than heretofore. Will you return to Him?

Stand in the ways of God and see if His blessings come upon you, your family, and your country. “It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.” See how faithful He is; God’s mercies are new every morning.

First, admit your sin and failure to God. Determining to change your behavior is good, but without Christ, it’s not restorative to the soul or nation. There’s a generational work for you; ask the Almighty for the old paths, in which is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. Pray for the traditional pathways and set about the business of restoration. Throughout Scripture, we are admonished to pray and then act. Many want to pray, yet others want to act, but God teaches in these verses what must come first and then second.

We know that His mercies are from everlasting to everlasting to those who do His will, keeping His law and ordering their life, family, and society according to the sure foundations of this ever-present truth: Christ is King and will have no other name above Him.

Source:

The number of shootings, gun murders and suicides using firearms is rising across the country.

Mass shootings are commonplace in the U.S. and although they get most of the attention, they don’t happen nearly as often as a shooting on the street or in a home. Philadelphia and other large cities are setting records for gun deaths but here in Central Pennsylvania, not a week goes by that we don’t hear of a shooting nearby.

No one has been able to identify any one reason why gun violence is increasing – other than the availability of guns.

The “one reason” for “gun violence” is the gun. Apparently, they’ve never heard of sin but ascribe voodoo-like powers to inanimate objects. The New Religion truly is an irrational scattershot of bazaar beliefs and dogmas disconnected from reality.

So when you deny sin and the reality of the state of man’s soul before God, naturally, you find a fake religionist who ascribes to the same worldview of blaming objects for the actions of men.

A new group — the Saving Lives: Ending Gun Violence Committee — is led by the religious community, in particular Pennsylvania’s Episcopal Diocese,  is calling for tougher gun laws.

On The Spark Tuesday, The Rev. Jennifer Mattson, Rector of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Lancaster and Chair of the committee outlined the laws the group is advocating for,”Limiting purchases to one handgun a month to make it harder for illegal handgun trafficking to occur, an extreme risk protection order, which would be a temporary judicial removal of (guns)... Prohibition on the sales of assault weapons and large capacity ammunition style magazines, which, by the way, are the weapons most typically used for mass shootings, and then a prohibition on the sale and the possession of ghost guns. So these are the parts of guns that are kits that can be available that people can then put together their own gun that wouldn’t have identifying markers or information, which can make it more difficult actually, for law enforcement to solve crimes.”

The article goes on to explain that a piece of parchment grants rights to us, again, devoid of the knowledge and understanding of God’s existence, let alone a rational and healthy fear of the Almighty as Creator and Lawgiver. Read the rest of the drivel if you want to.

Part 1

Was 70AD the final coming of Christ?

There is a new branch of Christianity popping up. They deny the physical bodily second coming of Christ, claiming the entire Holy Bible was completed in 70AD. Don’t scoff, be forewarned; it’s gathering a following.

Jesus is coming back. God will not always suffer man to live in sin. He will not forever leave His creation broken. If Christ returns not, and no final judgment is due, this leaves dramatic misunderstandings in Scripture and history that only the imaginations of men can fill.

We found this exposition of Acts 1:9-11 by Keith A. Mathison,

“In recent years a challenge to traditional orthodox eschatology has arisen in the form of a doctrine that may be termed “hyper-preterism.” According to proponents of this doctrine, the Christian church has been mistaken in its expectation of a future Second Advent. According to proponents of this doctrine, all New Testament prophecy was fulfilled in the first century. This means that, according to hyper-preterism, the Second Advent, the general resurrection, and the final judgment, among other things, are past events.”

Being familiar with Acts 1:8 and the following several verses, I read some of that post. It was helpful. If that Scripture section is somewhat obscure to you, perhaps read the entire PDF.

Dr. Gentry wrote elsewhere,

“A serious problem with the hyperpreterist’s theological system of an unending (i.e., un-renewed) world and continuing our current as-is history is that their worldview cannot explain God’s purpose for the world as a whole. Sad. In fact, effectively they do not have a “world” view.”

I have the same problem with the notion that Christ will not return. Gentry has been covering this subject in several posts with explanations from the Holy Bible. His analysis is based on what is expected in the second coming. To understand more, peruse his page for the many recent posts on this topic. I found that quote having almost completed writing the below.

To grasp the depth of the concern, we must understand that, if valid, it would affect our understanding of Scripture starting at the beginning with the creation event. All of history and the Scripture would be called into question.

If there is no yet future complete restoration coming, then Genesis 3 would be allegorical. I’ve thought about this a lot for months, and it brings me to tears. It would mean the world was always broken and dying, and Moses told a fairy tale to explain sin and death. There is some obvious symbolism in Genesis 3, it’s a revelation of God, but the Lord does not set forth the primary thesis of the fall to explain away His inability to speak a perfect creation into existence. If sin, and death thereby, existed from day six and always will with no final restoration but only personal soul reprieve, that would make Genesis 3 a mere allegory. This is what grieves me and brings tears: for what, then, did Christ die? My Saviour did not die for an allegory! He died for my many severe and very destructive sins. When God made me aware of my sin, I knew I needed Christ. He saved me out of this world until the day of complete redemption.

God did not create a cursed world. See Romans 5:12. In the fall with Adam and Eve, they saw they were naked (Genesis 3:7) before a holy and just God. God killed an animal and dressed Adam and Eve in skins. The shedding of blood for the covering of sins was required from that time until Christ, the perfect and final sacrifice, shed perfect, sinless blood to cover us all. But, all the earth is cursed, and the curse remains; complete restoration is pending.

My heavenly Father is not limited in His power of creation or recreation; he is not a man, nor can we personify Him! We love the poetry, songs, parables, and hyperbolic symbolism of judgments. Still, neither is the Holy Bible a series of fanciful tales from the depths of men’s imagination as he struggles to understand his place in the universe. That’s philosophy, not theology!

My Redeemer lives. God did not allow His own Son to be crucified for an allegory while supposing sin always existed and always will; this seems impossible to accept. Sin is real; every believer knows it and feels the weight of the stain, even struggling some after salvation. If Christ returns not and no resurrection with final restoration is coming, then God must have created an imperfect world. “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” – Genesis 1:31. How could God see His creation in Genesis one, call it very good, and rest on the seventh day if it remained unperfected at inception and already full of sin on a course toward eternal death? Is sin “very good” in the sight of the Lord high and holy?

There are fancy words for it that I can’t fully define, but in plain language, if Christ returns not, our complete understanding of the Bible, with its many redemptive instances and interwoven threads from Genesis onward, is called into doubt. Since holy men of God (2 Peter 1:21) first started to pen down the various writings, particularly prophecy, as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, some truths are evident in the text and history; a better estate awaits those that cling to Christ; with Jacob, we say, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.”

If no return of Christ and complete restoration comes, then thousands of years of unnecessary suffering and death is what God gave us. It would leave God little better than the devil himself, would it not? I often get these questions and concerns from unbelievers; why is there so much evil and suffering, and how could God do this to us? I have no answer for them if Jesus isn’t returning because that means the world was always wicked and always will be. In which case, indeed, the lost man’s question is fair, why would God cause it? The correct answer is (Genesis 3), of course, that we, mankind, beguiled by the devil, Adam and his wife with him, did that. God didn’t create a sinful state; the devil, the woman, and the man broke His creation! It’s cursed (Genesis 3:12-21) under the covenant Adam broke, which only God can lift. If He saved your soul, that curse is lifted for you today, but restoration with no more death, no more tears or sorrow is coming. In the interim, we strive against the evils of this day, often and sometimes entirely consumed in looking for the times of deliverance to be with our God.

We know that the evil man will be judged, and the man with the faith of God will be accepted. That happens, according to Scripture, at Christ’s return. If not, then that judgment was discrete only to Israel in the first century. When I sin, it’s not long until the Lord lets me know what’s acceptable and what’s not, and if I persist, there are consequences. It’s an axiom of Scripture revealed in many verses that sin has effects. Is the evil man never to face God because Christ has already returned and judged? It’s plain throughout Scripture that God not only chastens His sons but also doesn’t allow sin to abound forever among His enemies.

We’ve mentioned it, but now, the most dangerous is the teaching that there will not be a final judgment. And if no determination and last estate are coming, why not live in sin, filling ourselves with the crudest of bodily pleasures as a gnostic would? If the world was without hope from day five, then God created men wicked and not in His image or likeness at all on day 6. But we know better: We are made in God’s image but sinned against His law; Christ died for our sin: the actual corruption of the soul, materially evident (not figurative) in how men toil and the evil that they produce. God is the Creator and Redeemer. The genuine deliverance of the soul into eternal life starts at salvation which is the promise of the final estate. He remakes us in His image again over time, which, like our Master, Jesus Christ, will include death, burial, and resurrection.

We contend in these related posts that we are made in the image and likeness of God so that when we see Christ, we will be like him as we enter into the glory of the Father in eternity. These posts are about the ongoing redemption of man in history and yet future full restoration: Made In the Image and Likeness of God, Part One, Part Two, and Part Three. Also recently written is this call to pious living while we await His soon coming; a personal call to be the Image of Christ to those around us.

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Part 2

These two sections of Scripture are a tremendous encouragement to the believer. 2 Corinthians 5 is clear even to unlearned observations such as this writing. Also, see Ephesians 1:13-14; “13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

God is serious about coming back to get us! For example, Earnest Money shows the degree of intent when purchasing a house. Praise Holy Father God, though we have soul salvation now, He has also shown His earnestness in redeeming us into the final inheritance. If you have the earnest of the guarantee (of redemption), being sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, you then have yet to be judged for works after salvation.

Whether we are absent from the Lord or departed from our human body (2 Corinthians 5:8-10), we labor and serve to be accepted by Christ because (2 Corinthians 5:10) we have yet to be judged. If the resurrection already happened, how (why) do we have the Holy Spirit showing that Christ is solemn about coming to bring us into the new creation, fully redeemed with Him? The judgment comes after Christ receives His entire inheritance, by which we mean after the last soul still in the body is saved. The Holy Spirit in the believer is evidence of salvation now and proof of ownership by Christ, including assurity that He will claim, at the last trump, all who are His.

The notions that Christ is not returning – resurrection is not forthcoming, and God will not recreate His designed purpose without sin and death – would call into question the authenticity of the entire Bible. And if the authenticity of the Bible is in question, then what naturally follows is to question the author’s authority! This puts the reliability and even the very existence of God in question. The Authenticity, Integrity, and Authority of God are at stake.

The objection is that the entire Bible has already been fulfilled. Is 2 Peter 3 about 70AD? We doubt that. Our Lord in Matthew 24 lays out many indicators of the coming judgment against first-century Israel and specific warnings to flee Jerusalem and Judea. But 2 Peter 3 speaks of no such signs. Indeed, in this chapter, though God is longsuffering, waiting for your belief by faith and encouraging our holy living until then, suddenly and without warning, the end will come.

We further consider 2 Peter 3. Did the world already burn with fervent heat? What is 2 Peter 3 about? Is it also only an allegory? There is no record or evidence of destruction by fire. A type of final destruction and restoration came in the flood to which Peter refers. If the great fire already happened as an allegory, then the flood Peter references must not have occurred either. Or vis versa, if the deluge isn’t factual, neither is the last day by the fire.

Is the whole Bible a fiction? Is Christ real? Did God walk among men in the flesh, yet sinless? Yea, or nay? Though scientism denies the flood, we know it happened both as evidenced in the world and revealed by His word. Every early race of man has a tail of the flood for a reason. It was a warning of God to all men. But we moderns, in our conceit and pursuit of new knowledge, have forsaken the forewarnings of God. And 2 Peter 3 indicates this indeed would be the case. We believe there will be an end of this world by fire and new creation.

The reuniting of the soul with the body is critical to Christian theology. Christ commended His spirit to the Father (Luke 23:46), as we pray you already have in salvation to be in heaven. And Christ rose from the grave, bodily showing the Christian (each of us a little christ and types of Christ) the hope of the resurrection. “For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.” – Romans 14:9

God breathed life into Adam and made him a living soul. When God saves a soul, the Spirit comes into them restoring their proper condition with God, but not yet fully, but as down payment, as we’ve said. Jesus didn’t simply die and rise; He was revived, the perfect being in bodily existence. His body and spirit were reunited. There’s nothing to misunderstand from Romans 14:9; Jesus was restored (resurrected) to life. Like our King, we will accomplish things before the resurrection, not the least of which is going to heaven to sing glory, glory, glory, hallelujah to our God and unto the Lamb who lives forevermore. He is worthy. Amen.

And if we are types of Christ, we too will be reunited with our bodies to be like Christ, the firstfruits of the resurrection! We’re not claiming to be perfectly sure what that will look like, but we expect it will be physical, bodily, in some manner.

How is Christ the first fruit (1 Corinthians 15:20, 23), but none of His seed leads to the bodily likeness of those chosen by faith at His will? (Gentry covers 1 Corinthians 15 well.) Does Holy God not have the power to remake us in the image of Christ? Will we not see Him as He is and be like Him? (1 John 3:2, 1 Corinthians 15:52) Were the hundreds of thousands of believers both buried and alive in the body in 70AD changed and have left with Christ? Surely somebody would have noticed and reported it!

In the prophecy of Job 19:24-26 he says that in his own flesh, he will see God also stand upon the earth. This seems so significant that we find it hard to fathom being fulfilled with no record. And what of the rest? If the resurrection had already happened, Noah, Able, Ezekiel, Isaiah, David the king, Solomon who was made wise, Rahab the harlot turned bloodline to Christ, Daniel the profit, Abram the father of many nations, and the first-century disciples; if all these were raised, then wouldn’t we know? If the New Testament ends in 70AD, then all the saints of the Old Testament and first century, too many to number, of the well-known and never mentioned in Scripture, were already resurrected; God would have, we have to believe, told us in Scripture. Was there a secret first-century “rapture?” If true, it would mean that believers today have their final state as a spirit before the throne, which, if that were God’s plan, we wouldn’t object, but whole sections of Scripture must be ripped from the pages of canon if we are to believe this.

If Christ has already returned and there will be no judgment, why do we bear the burden of our soul to be like Christ, fearing the day we will be reminded of our failures to serve and mistakes we’ve made bringing in His kingdom? And we grieve in the heart because we continue in sin against our own desires of holy living, knowing we must face a Holy God, the Master of all.

I’ve heard many fanciful tails to explain Scripture, and there is a common theme among them; some are second-class citizens in the Kingdom of God after others more worthy. This I reject, not because I’m worthy too, but because there are none acceptable, no not one, but Christ Jesus stands righteous for all who believe by faith. Salvation is in Christ and nowhere else.

Nobody can, nor does anybody deserve to avoid that great and terrible day. There’s one driving message in all of prophecy: you will see God; therefore, live according to this knowledge; prepare to meet thy God.

Conclusion.

I’ve warned groups when speaking, individuals, and similarly over these pages. The Pharisees were the most knowledgeable people about the Bible ever to live. They were the keepers of the law of God and perhaps the most religious people in all history. Yet, they missed the Messiah partly because He didn’t fit their preconceived notions of what He would be and how He would proceed to fulfill Old Testament prophecies at His coming. So our warning is this to you today, do not expect perfect knowledge of how Christ will proceed at His appearance. His second coming will not go precisely according to the dictates of any one camp among the modern keepers of New Testament prophecy. You can take issue with that statement and pull out your favorite theologian’s commentary but know this: you must belong to Him! Peter, an eyewitness and an apostle of Christ, says of Paul that his writings on the subject are challenging to understand. As when that first raindrop fell from heaven, and God shut the door to the ark, He comes again with fire. As interesting as the topic of prophecy may be, the very practical appeal of the working man, Peter, is to be personally ready for the appearance of our Lord, which is what 2 Peter 3 encourages God’s people to do.

It’s very difficult to miss the truth of His second coming throughout Scripture. He is returning for those that are His; it’s a promise of God. Christ’s coming is not supposed to be disturbing, discouraging, or confusing, “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” – 1 Thessalonians 4:18. It should be comforting to know God loves us, will judge His enemies who, though we long for their repentance, also have made themselves our enemies, and He will not always leave us in this condition.

Isaiah 53

We’ve already explored why you were made in the Image and Likeness of God in three parts;  One,  Two, and Three. Those regard what we suppose our final estate to be. But the question before us now is, what is the image of Christ in men while God has seen fit to leave us here in anticipation of Christ’s return?

“For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.” – Isaiah 53:2

I’ve seen many “AI” renderings lately, the makers of which have supposed to be of our Lord Jesus Christ. The definition and use of AI is another topic, but the image of Christ is critical for believers to understand. Seeing these images got us thinking, what is the image of Christ?

There was nothing special about His appearance as a man. He was not particularly attractive or fascinating to gaze upon, and He was not especially stunning in outward physique or face. And He, being a working man, unquestionably wasn’t pretty and effeminate as so many Middle Ages paintings would depict. He looked like an average guy.

Isaiah 53 is the prophecy of the trial and crucifixion of Christ. The degree and intensity of humiliation are vividly displayed, for in being debased, smitten, and stricken of God for our sin, the Father hath highly exalted Him and given him a name which is above every name (Philippians 2:9). Isaiah 53 is the Scripture the Ethiopian Eunuch was reading when the Lord’s messenger of the Gospel, Phillip, showed Him the way of salvation (Acts 8:26-40).

Verse 2 shows us that there would be no outward appearance of His person that indicates He is the Lord. But it’s more than that. Why did God ordain, in His wisdom, that Christ should have no external beauty?

Humans are visual creatures. It’s the most prevalent of our five senses. We have 3d depth perception in one of the broadest color spectrums of any creature on earth. Humans become enamored with beauty for a season. Some men appreciate specific facial structures and adornments given by God, while other men may respect different ones.

We’ve seen folks enamored with the appearance of somebody to the point of refusing to acknowledge that soul’s inward condition and ugliness. And conversely, if Christ had been attractive, could any have heard His great word and the offer of the Kingdom? The Father, through Christ, was and is seeking a people to worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:24), not in outward impression.

Lovely, however, is the notion that He grew before God as a tender shoot, indeed, born of a virgin, God in a helpless child nurtured into manhood. So too that He grew from dry ground, an infertile hard pack where no life of the Spirit would grow; all Israel hadn’t heard from God in 400 years and was far astray from the Holy Creator of heaven and earth when John Baptist came preaching repentance toward God making way for the Holy One. Jesus arrived right on time, according to the prophet Daniel. But, praise God, not all were in darkness; some waited for the consolation of Israel and the Kingdom of God at His appearing. Simeon in the temple – Luke 2:25 and Joseph of Arimathea, who buried Christ’s body – Mark 15:43, are two examples.

“Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.” – Isaiah 53:10

Isaiah 53 reveals the lost condition of the human soul and God’s desire for reconciliation. Perhaps you’re not so sure about God’s desire. What more excellent an offer than that His own Son should die for you, standing in your stead as payment for your sin? It pleased the Almighty to bruise Christ and put Him to grief, making His soul an offering for sin. On the cross, Jesus Christ saw you, who would be a son of God. Jesus saw all His seed who would receive the new birth by the Spirit of God to be heirs with Christ in the Kingdom of God.

God made Christ’s soul an offering for the torture of hell that your eternal soul was supposed to suffer. Though every sinner deserves hell, God gave His soul to suffer in agony so that your immortal soul, helpless in its sin-stained condition, might see the Glory of God in eternity. Jesus poured out His soul, receiving an inheritance of the eldest Son, firstborn from the dead, resurrected to new life. He defeated hell and set the captives free.

Yes, God wants to reconcile with you so that you might know Him, even be friends with Him in service of His domain; it would please Him. Imagine that; God being well pleased with saving your soul by a simple faith in the power of Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead.

The challenging part for those who are His is to resemble Christ. You, dear Christian brethren, are supposed to look just like Him, who sacrificed everything so that men could be remade and joined again in fellowship and harmony with God almighty.

You were made in God’s image, but the likeness is broken by sin. Even for those born again, sin remains and is a constant battle. However, the resemblance to God has been recreated (a new man), and your mind and heart should be refreshed, having been given the image of God again in the Spirit who created you. “And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him” – Colossians 3:10. The new man, having been made a new creation indwelled by the Spirit, should look and act like Christ, God in flesh.

What did Jesus do, teach, and prepare His disciples to do? Those are the specific things the followers of Christ are supposed to do even today, “But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” – Romans 8:11.

Don’t limit or reject the quickening of the Spirit, but trust God in all things doing the will of Him that loves you. What does a leader in Christ do? He declares to the believers that we are to emulate Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). What is the similitude of Christ if not His people following His commandments because they love Him (John 14:15). The mirror is pointed right back at me, for none are perfect and all fall short. Still, brethren, “…press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14).

Jesus is the express image of the Father (Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:3). A disciple in any endeavor of human activity is supposed to be the likeness of his teacher; so much more the Christian, we are to be the picture of Christ who is the Master of all. But so many Christians today will need to be taught how to serve. John 14:9 is instructive, “Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?”

Has the word of God been so long time with you, yet you haven’t seen Christ and how you are to serve? Reading the Scripture, filled with awe and wonder at Him, what are you going to do about that? Hide it away in a napkin buried in the ground? What are you afraid of (Matthew 25:25). We’re all naked before God, why care what people think of you, serve Christ! “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” – Luke 6:46

There is no outward beauty that we should desire Him. The truths He taught and commanded in the Holy Bible are where the magnificence of Christ resides because in His word is where a man must always find the revealed will of the Father. Do the people you spend time with, do they see Christ? Do they know Him through you?

If you want to understand the relationship between God the Father, Christ, and the Holy Spirit better, always do the will of the Father, for that is as Christ did. It’s one reason why the Father sent the Holy Spirit in Christ’s name; to teach you all things and remind you what Christ has said. Without studying the Scripture, there is nothing about which to remind you! And without doing what the Holy Bible says a disciple of Christ must do: if you read it and don’t do it, it’s not real to you. You remain a theoretical Christian untrained by the Spirit and untested through the fire, having never walked by faith in the service of our Lord to see the blessings of the Dispensation of Grace. You’re missing the Kingdom into which you were reborn and are meant to be an active citizen.

What is an ambassador for King Jesus but one who represents Him in all things and beseeches the lost sinner to be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:20). A consumer of Christianity who won’t be a bondservant of Christ in the New Covenant is a wicked and rebellious son.

What is the glory of Christ Jesus; the fullness of grace and truth (John 1:14). Be the fullness of grace and truth to bring glory to God.

“Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.” – 2 Corinthians 4:10

In response to the headline: perhaps not, but homeschooling sure enough is.

Photo from the article: attributed, artfulblogger/Flickr/cropped/ CC BY 2.0

From the article:

The only thing more predictable than boys being fascinated with weapons is them eventually sketching one in class. But that’s not allowed anymore. What is it that makes a little boy — practically straight out of the womb — take an interest in weapons and emulate gun-toting, swash-buckling heroes? Even doctors aren’t sure. As one pediatrician told me about my then 16-month-old son who turned every stick into a sword, “We don’t know why. They just do it.”

Doctors don’t know why because they are almost exclusively Godless servants of money, turned agents of the State for profit. But “we” do know. In a post here at TCJ, Ignorance, Feigned or Real, we show that inherent sin is provable, both in nature and from Scripture.

Now, weapons are not evil, sinful, or a sign of sin, but necessary for living in a world overtaken by the results of the fall of man into sin. Sin entered into the world through Adam’s disobedience to God, and all men inherited this sinful nature from him (Romans 5:12). Seemingly, the Holy Bible being its own authority and believing what the Bible says about inherent sin upset some lurkers. Oh well. Jesus loves me; this I know because the Bible tells me so. If the Bible is good enough for God, it’s good enough for me. Where were we?

All men are sinners. As one does not have to teach a child to strike another child and steal his toy, so too, the very need for self-defense is evident, even inherited knowledge in an infant. If the child will commit assault and theft quite without any training in the matter, why should he not, evidently in his nature from Adam, recognize the need, yay, the divine right of self-defense to preserve life and immediately, even as an infant, undertake to train himself in this requirement? We see no discontinuity in the idea.

Even a heathen doctor could have told this mother; we do this because we are men, and we must keep you from harm. It is our duty. Seems simple enough even to somebody who’s never read the word of God. Now, as we know, this duty of men comes from God and is evident in nature. Woe to them who makes the State or women rulers of households and keepers of men as chattel.

You can read the rest of the sad tale of child abuse at the hands of government communists indoctrinating children in the ways of sinful effeminacy if you desire. Get your children out of government-run schools!

This post is somewhat incoherent, being about three different random thoughts, but hopefully, it connects together, and somebody will benefit. Christ is the final authority in matters of the State, family, and Church, but this post is only loosely connected to those three domains.

“Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.” – 2 John 1:9

First, God is the final authority on Himself. Second, the Holy Bible is the final authority on all things about God; it’s God’s word. Third, God is also the final authority on you, the individual, and all that men do and say.

Most people have only minor problems with the first statement. Many have issues with the second, but this third drives men to anger, landing them finally in hell. God made everything, and it’s His.

God is holy. You are a sinner. You are made in God’s image.

These three things cannot be simultaneously true. If God is holy, perfect, sinless, and righteous, but we are sinners, how can we be made in His image? Something must have happened that changed or destroyed the original likeness that God created when He made man.

In Luke 5:1-11 Simon (Peter), James, and John, with him, are shown to be professional fishermen. They are experts in all things pertaining to fishing in those waters. For at least two generations, their families had fished that sea. Peter had fished all night to no effect proving the fish were not in that area. Jesus is a carpenter by trade and asks Peter to launch out into the deep and cast his net. In verse five, Peter answers, “Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless, at thy word I will let down the net.” – Luke 5:5. By faith in the word of God and trusting in His power alone, a great haul is taken up in the net.

Covenants

The word of God are His covenants with men and, indeed, all living things. You should seek to understand these covenants, especially the New Covenant; civilization and your very life hang in the balance of obedience to God by keeping the contract He made with man. Time and again, given as an example to us in the Holy Bible that we might learn to obey Him, men break covenant with Holy God, and a ruinous future proceeds to unfold.

Instruction

To be honest, I would have to say many sections of Scripture bother my conscience deeply, convicting me of God’s righteousness and my helplessness to stop sinning against Him. Sometimes this also happens when I listen to preaching. I don’t like it when that occurs, but it’s true, and I know I need to hear the point being made at that time. It’s my job and yours as adults to adjust to reality or suffer the consequences. It’s a matter of personal integrity before God Almighty.

The situation of Western Civilization, now a godless empire going astray, is not unusual, but adults rejecting reality is historically irregular and deeply problematic to our day. It’s what the judgment of God looks like; everybody is running blindly from the truth. It’s not only an adult’s job but a distinctive marker of human maturity, in general, to adjust to any reality, including the word of God, as set forth in the Holy Bible.

Society is rife with young adults and even middle-aged adults who reject the reality of how life is on earth; they renounce God’s created order and the state of man as violent, wicked, sinful creatures. I fear we’ve been handed over to darkness.

The situation has infected the churches. The young and old alike reject the word of God yet claim salvation. This is a problem of Christian maturity. In every instance, when shown what the Bible says and how they are commanded to serve Christ, they cite feelings, time, cost, or many other excuses to avoid doing the hard work of bringing in the Kingdom of God. A maturing Christian sets his feelings and dislikes aside, mortifying the flesh, and, by faith, follows Jesus through keeping the commanded instruction in the Holy Bible.

“And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.”- 1 Samuel 15:22

Through salvation in Christ, the consequence of eternal damnation for sin is off your shoulders, but if somebody told you that being Christian was easy, I’m sorry, they lied. Crucifying self daily and following Christ to the cross is demanding. In your own strength and spirit, you don’t want to do it.

Maturity in Christ is not a function of physical age; it’s a matter of believing what God says in His word and acting upon that knowledge. A man may not reject His word and claim to be a disciple. God even puts His word above His own name.

And, in reality, we must question the faith of those who won’t pray, read their Bible, serve within the body, and witness to lost sinners; these four duties are the basis and foundation of the New Testament instruction in building the Kingdom of God which brings glory the Father through His Son Jesus Christ.

The maturity problem is so pervasive that the churches have stopped teaching that men are sinners. The people don’t want to hear it because they are whiney little babies with poopy diapers who would rather have a pacifier than coming off the milk onto the meat of the word of God so that they may grow thereby into Christian adulthood. They hate God’s word, and brothers, if you hate God’s word, you hate Him that wrote it! Loving Holy God means trusting His word over your understanding (Proverbs 3:5).

Witnessing

Romans 10:17 explains why we open our Bible and show the lost sinner what the Scriptures say.

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Because Christ has been given all power in heaven and in earth, we have the authority to make the kingdoms of the world His kingdoms, as soldiers of our King. In the operation of God in salvation, the Holy Spirit brings conviction as the lost sinner hears and understands God’s word; this builds their faith. As soul winners, we seek to determine if the lost sinner trusts God. Establishing the honesty of God and the integrity of His word is essential to faith and trust in God.

When witnessing, I ask lost sinners, rather starkly and out of the blue, is God a liar? And also ask them, is the Holy Bible true? (Alternately: is what I’m showing you in the Bible true, or do you believe what the Bible says to be true?)

The lost sinner must confess that what they are being shown in the Holy Bible is accurate and that God does not lie. There are verses of Scripture for both of these questions, but demanding to know what the lost sinner says of his own accord, belief by faith is being tested. If the lost sinner is under conviction, they will confess correctly. (This isn’t the only question we ask, and his salvation is with God alone, we are merely witnesses of the truth.)

If the lost sinner does not verbally confess and admit to the integrity of God, they do not believe in His authority as the judge of men or the authenticity of His word. Salvation is to those chosen in Him before the foundation of the world by faith in the atoning death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, plus and minus nothing.

If a man doesn’t believe the Holy Bible as God’s words, it’s not our job to convince them, and trying to do so may damage the seeds that God is planting and watering in their soul. They are not being saved if they don’t believe, trusting in God by faith. The conversation with the lost man is over if they, sadly, reject the integrity of God.

It may be a wonderfully interesting conversation among believers to discuss the source and authenticity of the Holy Bible, but here’s why I’m not a fan of apologetics as a manner to reach the lost. Weaving specific facts or illustrations into a conversation with a lost man is essential, but it’s not our job to convince people of the genuineness of the Bible. If a man wants to argue the authenticity of the Bible, an important question is whether they have read it.

Those under the influence of the Holy Spirit will seek by faith. A function of the Holy Spirit is to convince men of their sin and that the wrath of hell abides on them and of God’s salvation by grace. A lost man can’t understand the Bible. Convincing him of its historical origins can be a waste of time with a lost sinner when he needs faith.

Most men who argue against the Bible’s authenticity are really saying that they deny God, and if you press them on this, you’ll find it’s true. If somebody, whether they confess belief or not, doesn’t believe the Holy Bible is God’s word, we’re hard-pressed to see how they can be a Son of God. If somebody has read the Bible and doesn’t believe it, share some more Scripture with them, perhaps, or tell them to read the book John praying to God for understanding.

The Problem

God is holy. You are a sinner. You are made in God’s image. As stated at the top, these three things cannot simultaneously exist; how can the likeness of a perfect God be a sinner? Something is logically incorrect, or somehow one of these things became untrue.

“The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.” – Proverbs 20:7

The break happened in the Garden when Adam, given a mind and will of his own by the grace of God, sinned against his Creator. Subsequently, all men became cursed with death and sin for Adam’s disobedience to God’s covenant. Your sin will also affect not just you but your family, church, and nation for generations to come.

That’s what sin does; it destroys our connection in relationship to Holy God. When Adam sinned, he broke the image of God in himself, and when you sin against the Almighty, the person God wanted you to be is also damaged; and it’s too late; you’re a sinner.

Conclusion

God will restore this damage from sin to a far superior condition than Adam in the garden could ever have imagined. The day of the resurrection and judgment is coming. You must belong to Holy God through faith to be entirely remade into the likeness of His dear Son, Jesus Christ. If the Bible troubles your soul, this is an extraordinarily marvelous thing; praise God, for He seeks to speak with you.

“26 In the fear of the LORD is strong confidence: and his children shall have a place of refuge. 27 The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.” – Proverbs 14:26-27

In the fear of the Lord, not with or because of the fear of the Lord. Salvation is likewise in Christ, not with Christ. It’s not our might or our grace; it’s His to those that are in Him.

Though your faithfulness to God is required, and though your service brings glory to the Father through His Son, none of your yields are sufficient to merit forgiveness for sin. So very frustrating to hear is the man that claims His duties in service of God as warrant for the grace presented as freely given only by belief in Jesus Christ. To suppose works could save your eternal soul is to remit payment due to Holy God: what a perilous chasm to hang yourself over; God owes no man.

And even if one paid all they had, shall you try to best the crucifixion of Jesus; can you sacrifice greater than He? No outcomes can get you life with God nor keep you heaven bound to stand with Christ forgiven. Cast off your reliance on self and gaze upon the cross with the faith of a child; the strength and confidence of the saved sinner rest solely in the Lord.

Jesus Christ is the propitiation: the favor and goodwill of the Almighty to sacrifice His own Son as payment rendered in blood to appease His perfect law for your sin-guiltiness. Assurance of eternal life comes with peace of mind knowing the safest assumption you’ll ever make is in the superiority of reliance on Jesus Christ.

When looking to your right hand and finding no man, no help or pity or care from this world, and none cared for your soul, cry out unto the Lord, call upon your portion and your redeemer, the bringer and giver of life, the God of salvation. Sing aloud of His power, sing aloud of His mercy in the morning, for He is a strong defense.

Jesus rose from the tomb on the third day, and by His power over the grave, you can depart from the snare of death and hell that pursues every man. Never to see outer darkness and the torment of hell; in Christ Jesus is life everlasting to those that are given by the Father to be His eternal prize. “I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.” – Psalm 91:2

Buried with Christ through trust in God and raised in a new and Holy Spirit of eternal life, placed in the family of God as His child, having shelter from damnation, nestled snug to His bosom in eternity, kept by the power of God through faith is the sanctuary in the Lord our King.

Though God owes men nothing, yet with one drop of that water, clear as crystal, a fountain of life from the throne of God and of the Lamb, a man may have the gift of salvation so thorough, so complete, that in the fear of the Lord, nothing can pluck you from the Master’s hand. But it’s not one drop; the river of the water of life flows freely to all who seek in confidence the Just One as their new and holy city of refuge.

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” – Romans 5:12

Inherent sin is provable, both in nature and from Scripture.

There was a video recently in which the speaker claimed that there is no inherent sin in man because the young are unaware of their sinful acts. I won’t link the video; we’ll stay attached closely to the truth lest we wander. But in this video, his children were acting up very near the beginning. He told the camera that his two-year-old is always doing bad things, but their behavior is not sin because the child does not know right and wrong.

Brothers and sisters, he disproved his point at the outset. One does not have to teach a child to strike another and take his toy. What made the child like this? To claim they are not sinners is to say that God made them rebellious, which, when you realize all men are sinners, is a claim that the source image of man is also a sinner; this is blasphemous! With no prompting or instruction whatsoever, children are sinners. Nobody had to teach them this. Even upon reprimand, children will continue to bear false witness, disobey a mother, steal, assault without good cause, and worse. They do this because they were born this way!

We are sinners, born of the seed of Adam, wholly wicked and depraved, even without remorse. It takes 12, 14, or 18 years to train a child in the way of Jesus Christ. Even then, much to his own dismay, though he would not, an adult born altogether anew by the Spirit of God sent from Heaven by Christ continues to flout the law of God in his heart, in his mind, and in his actions.

In fact, before salvation, the lost sinner may have some vague and darkened sense of right and wrong, but it’s almost always applied comparatively to other men. Man is born a sinner; unless and until the Lord opens their eyes, they are blinded by the devil to God and Christ; yet, created by God, they are His, without excuse before the throne on high. To acknowledge your sin, you must have knowledge of it, which is the miracle of salvation in Christ; that He is opening your eyes, showing your need for forgiveness and fear of hellfire. But Heaven help you, refusal to acknowledge your sin, even in ignorance feigned or actual, shall not save you at the final trumpet when Christ returns.

As to our verse at the top, the Scripture does not lie. Sin entered into the world through disobedience to God by the first man Adam, causing death. For this was the devil’s claim in the lie to the woman; “Ye shall not surely die.” But dead in sin, naked and afraid before Holy God, became the first man and his wife, and indeed his body expired, returning to the dust from whence he was taken, which was the very curse of God pronounced upon him for his rebelliousness. Disobedience to God is now in every man from his birth, so death passed upon all men, every single one, from Adam down each generation until today. There is no more clear evidence of sin than that every man’s life is but a vapor, appointed by God once to die; depravity of sin and the inevitability of death torments us all, for all that are in the world and the very earth itself are cursed by God for this sin.

But spoken in the word of God by the prophet Hosea, portending the day of Christ: “O grave, I will be thy destruction.” And later in the New Testament: “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” For what need a man of Christ if he is not a sinner bound to death unto the weight of the curse? Jesus himself said He came to save sinners. That you needn’t have to, Jesus tasted death for every man, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. That’s right; payment has already been made; accept it and call on Jesus.

Admit your depravity, abandon your pride, and seek forgiveness from God through faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That’s why Jesus died on the cross, to pay your sin debt to Holy God. And now, Jesus having risen from the grave; by the very mercies of God Almighty, you need not die. Though your body will expire and be eaten by worms, those raised with Christ by the Spirit now will be raised again in the body, and with Job, we can proclaim to all the world: “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth…yet in my flesh shall I see God.”

Poignant and timely, history applied both personally and nationally. Oh, that America would tear down its alters to neopaganism, the worship of Baal, and the sacrifice of Moloch; repent on bended knee, building the altar of sacrifice upon our hearts unto Christ Jesus, the one true living and resurrected Saviour. God is a consuming fire.

The hour is late; evil unleashed is setting in, and on the final day, Christ will return for those that are His and no others. Woe to those He finds standing at the altar of Baal and woe to those worshipping what they know not in pagan darkness, gods that are dead and never living. Jesus Christ is He that liveth, and behold He is alive forevermore. Amen.