Newsom announced the launch of his new ad campaign on Twitter.

“Just launched billboards in 7 of the most restrictive anti-abortion states that explain how women can access care–no matter where they live,” Newsom tweeted. “To any woman seeking an abortion in these anti-freedom states: CA will defend your right to make decisions about your own health.”

As sick as it already is that he’s trying to boost his state with abortion tourism, the ads he’s running in Texas, Oklahoma, and Mississippi quote scripture. Those ads feature this quote from Mark 12:31: “Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no greater commandment than these.”

He clearly has no fear of God and operates in the reality of the shroud of blindness by the devil.

All things will be reckoned unto God, and the times of full restitution will come.

Before going any further, we must note that the Ten Commandments never saved a soul, and following them can’t save yours. All of the ceremonial rules and rituals in the Old Testament are abolished in Christ, the final sacrifice, once for all. There’s no bond or free, no Jew or Gentile, there’s no temple – but the body of Christ which are His Church, the throne of Holy God is in heaven, Jesus is the great High Preist, and the only altar before which to bow is at the feet of the Almighty.

Here’s the full quote from Mark:

“And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” – Mark 12:29-31

And the rendering in Matthew:

“Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, 36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” – Matthew 22-35-40

One cannot love his neighbor properly except & unless one loves the Lord God first, above all things. There’s a reason Jesus cites loving God above loving our neighbors. In our own fallen capacity, we cannot properly love our neighbor without first having the love of God.

Jesus is summarizing the Ten Commandments. The first five or so govern our relationship with the Holy One. The second set governs our interactions with each other. “Thou shalt no kill.” falls under the second heading from our Lord, for surely murdering your neighbor, such as a little defenseless baby, falls under the purview of not loving thy neighbor as thy self. All the commands of God are enjoined; with all purposefulness, we are also to defend life from unjust killing! We are not only to tell folks to love thy neighbor, but we are to tell them that God, the supreme ruler of the universe, shall have no equal and must be loved and honored above all things. Newsom has invited the full wrath of the Almighty.

For certain, the ten commandments are a covenant with the Hebrews handed down to Moses. Still, it is clear from the Bible that what would become known and set in tablets as the ten commandments were governing principles for all men before the commandments were given.

There are many good examples within Genesis and Exodus of the Law of God being in force and enforced prior to Exodus 20 at mount Sanai, not the least of which is the murder of Able (Genesis 4:8) in violation of what would be later written as the sixth commandment, “thou shalt not kill.” Murder was always wrong and still is. The sixth commandment preexisted even the very first murder and remains with us today, as do they all. The basis for the Law of Commandments, the Law of God, existed before being written and handed down to Moses.

Within the Law of God, each separate commandment is tightly connected and interwoven with the others. There is no practical way to trace out a violation of Law and not run into an immutable truth of more than one commandment within the Law of God. The murder of Able is but one example. It could be said that Cain violated the First Commandment when he took a life, as God is the creator and sole arbiter of the times, seasons, and number of the days of a man on Earth, and not Gavin Newsom.

So you see, killing a baby in the womb also violates the first commandment. And it’s the theft of God’s authority over life and death, violating God’s commands against stealing. So you see, it’s impossible to violate just one commandment. Now you know why no man can keep the Law; it’s perfect, and we are sinners.

God is the Law Giver. His Law-word is eternal and has real meaning in context. This Bible is not a collection of vaguely knowable spiritual sayings to misapply for our own convenience. Twisting the meaning of Scripture doesn’t change its actual sense.

These commandments are the immutable truth of God. The Law of God still exists for all men on this side of the Cross, restated by Christ in a simple two-part explanation from Mark 12, so that it would go well with us.

Exodus 20:1-17 follows:

1 And God spake all these words, saying,

2 I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

[ One ] 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

[ Two ] 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

[ Three ] 7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

[ Four ] 8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

[ Five ] 12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

[ Six ] 13 Thou shalt not kill.

[ Seven ] 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

[ Eight ] 15 Thou shalt not steal.

[ Nine ] 16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

[ Ten ] 17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

Last week we talked about transgender evil here at TCJ. At Post Millennial Worldview, Dr. Gentry discusses this further in part two of his short notes on the subject. Dr. Gentry shows how these laws are brought forward into the New Covenant. Here are a couple of verses from the Law of God forbidding this wicked sin.

“Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.” – Leviticus 18:22

“The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.” – Deuteronomy 22:5

What you must understand is that anarchy starts with rebellion, not against the State, but against Holy God.

There is a battle in Montana between a government department and a judge.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Just hours after a Montana judge blocked health officials from enforcing a state rule that would prevent transgender people from changing the gender on their birth certificate, the Republican-run state on Thursday said it would defy the order.

District Court Judge Michael Moses chided attorneys for the state during a hearing in Billings for circumventing his April order that temporarily blocked a 2021 Montana law that made it harder to change birth certificates.

Moses said there was no question that state officials violated his earlier order by creating the new rule. Moses said his order reinstates a 2017 Department of Public Health and Human Services rule that allowed people to update the gender on their birth certificate by filing an affidavit with the department.

However, the state said it would disregard the ruling.

“The Department thoroughly evaluated the judge’s vague April 2022 decision and crafted our final rule to be consistent with the decision. It’s unfortunate that the judge’s ruling today does not square with his vague April decision,” said Charlie Brereton, director of the Department of Public Health and Human Services.

Brereton said the agency was keeping the rule it issued last week in place and an agency spokesperson said the department is waiting to see the judge’s written order before considering its next steps.

ACLU attorney Malita Picasso expressed dismay with the agency’s stance and said officials should immediately start processing requests for birth certificate changes.

“It’s shocking that after this morning’s hearing the department would allege there was any lack of clarity in the court’s ruling from the bench,” Picasso said. “It was very clear that Judge Moses expressly required a reversion to the 2017 policy, and anything short of that is a continued flagrant violation of the court’s order.”

It’s ‘shocking’ when the Right defies a judge’s order, but when the Left ignores Heller or makes burdensome with onerous requirements, lawful carry in light of Bruen, well, that’s just fine. We hold out little faith that, in the end, the government will defy the judge’s direct order. If they submit, all parties will be in open insurrection, fomenting rebellion among the citizenry against Holy God. When the government supports or defends that which is against the Law-word of God, it sides with the prince of this world and promotes spiritual warfare against the throne of the holy Creator. America’s days are numbered if it continues to choose evil over God.

Such open defiance of judge’s order is very unusual from a government agency, said Carl Tobias, a former University of Montana Law School professor now at the University of Richmond. When officials disagree with a ruling, the typical response is to appeal to a higher court, he said.

“Appeal is what you contemplate — not that you can nullify a judge’s orders. Otherwise, people just wouldn’t obey the law,” Tobias said. “The system can’t work that way.”

America is already in anarchy; it’s lawlessness. Christians are hopelessly removed from the reality of the spiritual warfare that rages for the soul of their children and grandchildren. It’s disconcerting, to say the least.

“1 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, 2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: 3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, 4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; 6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel” – Ephesians 3:1-6

The so-called “Dispensation of Grace” is widely misunderstood. It’s not a new way that God saves souls from eternal torment. By the indwelling Holy Spirit, it is how God uses His disciples to dispense the ministration of works He has foreordained for them to walk in.

God gave Paul a dispensation (a thing to dispense) which was the Gospel that he shared (distributed) toward others, notably: the mystery that in the fullness of time, the Gentiles (Ephesians 3:2, 6, and see Colossians 1:25-29) would be offered to come into the Kingdom of God. It’s not some new thing, or Hebrews 11 wouldn’t exist. Hebrews eleven is the so-called Hall of Faith. It’s where notable Old Testament elders are confirmed to have been saved by grace through faith, then turning to follow God in the works He had preordained for them to walk in. It’s the same today, simply extended to the Gentiles.

Redemption has always been by grace! Men have always operated within the covenant God gave them, or having rejected God; they were functioning outside the covenant. Still, even to many of them, God gave His grace, forgiving them as they sought reconciliation with the Almighty.

The Dispensation of Grace is that God will use you to glorify His holy name as you serve in His will bringing in the Kingdom of God in the New Covenant. Old Covenant, the same grace and same service in His will. New Covenant, the same grace, same service in His will. The difference is the New Covenant is with all men in the blood of Christ; animal sacrifices have ceased, and ceremonial laws are completed in the person of Christ, once for all (men). Don’t confuse the operation of a new covenant with some change in God or His nature. The ongoing revelation of God started with one man Adam and, by God’s mercy and grace, has grown despite our wickedness to include the offer of eternal life to all men, for as many who would call upon the name of the Lord.

Adam and Eve operated within the grace of God. God created Adam and breathed life into him, making him a living soul. Without fault and blameless, Adam had eternal life from the start. Adam was presented with one rule, a Law of God, but operated within the grace of God until he broke that Law.

Noah, the eighth person (2 Peter 2:5), was saved before the flood, not by the flood! “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” Genesis 6:8 Noah got saved by grace through faith to become a preacher of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5). Noah was dispensing righteous preaching to a doomed generation; that was his dispensation. And God favored him so highly for faithful service that He warned Noah of the end of the old world that then was. Noah became both a type of Adam and of Christ by the grace of God.

Some say the dispensation of grace is a new operation of God. We disagree that the “Dispensation of Grace” is the “Church Age.” It’s not; salvation was always by grace. Every breath we take is by grace. What’s new is the indwelling Holy Spirit of God that operates through us to dispense works in His holy name; if you would only do them.

The Church of Jesus Christ is under blood covenant, not a dispensation. Noah was under the covenant that God made with every living thing, for example. God changes not; he makes covenants, each building upon the prior ones, either by abolishment or addition, until Christ rose from the grave, ascending back to the throne, the Lamb which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Having defeated sin and the grave, Christ was worthy to open the seals (Revelation 6), ending the Old Covenant and fully instituting the New Covenant.

God always has a people bringing them to the revelatory knowledge of His will in or through the person with whom His covenants are made. This makes those men types of Christ, for Jesus did all the work necessary to bring in the New Covenant. This is why the so-called dispensations, or eras in history, that Dispensationalists claim are unsound teaching. Every so-called dispensation has, at its root, a covenant Holy God made with a person and, through that person, with His people in that timeframe. Christ is the final and great high priest.

The Dispensationalists can’t agree on the instances, conditions, or number of dispensations because they refuse to acknowledge, by ignorance perhaps, but we think by agenda with most, that God is a covenant-making God. Any so-called dispensation in history is a period under which God has entered into a covenant with His people. Any “Dispensation” that does not have a covenant of God at its root is merely something somebody made up. Starting with Adam, under the first covenant, to dress the Garden refraining from the fruit of the one tree, Father God has since had a people and continuously satisfied each covenant with His people. Some covenants have been fulfilled, some remain, and others are eternal operating principles of heaven and earth so that men might know that God holds all things together, understanding creation by seeing God in the design of His handiwork.

The Apostle Paul persecuted the Church being a Pharisee of the Pharisees, and considered all the Gentiles unclean dogs. God took one type of sinner and wholly transformed him through the dispensation of grace. Paul was recreated into a new man in Christ Jesus, having the dispensation of grace (sharing the Gospel) toward those same Gentiles he previously hunted to have imprisoned, and killed.

The Spirit of God in the new man desires, draws, and calls, compelling us to do what we in our old nature would not do. This is why many won’t serve God. God calls them and drives them to that which is entirely contrary to all they knew before salvation, and they think; how can this be?

Here’s an example: a young couple is becoming serious; one, however, is lost; the couple are not equally yoked together with Christ. By dispensing His grace, God can use an adulterer to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, leading that lost soul into an equal yoke before their marriage. In the adulterer’s old nature, he would have attempted to destroy the budding relationship to satisfy sinful lusts. But in Christ Jesus, full of God’s love, the adulterer now only desires that the couple be fellow yoke servants of Christ, faithful until death one to the other. Don’t fear your old nature but embrace the new to be as bold in your service of Christ as you were in the lusts of your sinfulness!

The dispensation of grace is why a lowly shepherd boy would slay Goliath and become king. It’s how a nobody descended from unremarkable lineage, such as Amos, dispensed God’s prophetic warnings to the ruling elite, then set out returning to his simple life. It’s why you, whatever you were, are to take up the sword given by the grace of Jesus Christ and do the works, however unqualified, however crazy sounding, or contrary to what you were before salvation, and dispense the grace Christ has foreordained for you to carry out.

“25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.” – 1 Corinthians 1:25-29

The dispensation of grace is why 1 Corinthians 1:25-29 make sense to you intellectually, but you are not to only marvel at the verses. Walk in those works He has for you; however disparate they may be from what you once were! When you walk in those works, doing those things the Almighty has called you to accomplish, then you will genuinely marvel at God’s power to bring to fruition the life He has offered you, in Christ, since before the foundation of the world.

Dr. Gentry:

Our culture is now in such a state of rebellion against God that it cannot even tell the difference between male and female, such is the blindness of unbelief. The postmillennial hope involves a deep and abiding commitment to God’s word and his law to shine a light on our path forward. Unfortunately, so many Christian churches have become so invested in fun and entertainment instead of worship and study that Christians are confused in how to respond to our collapsing culture.

It’s God that draws a man to Jesus, and Christ that shines the light of the glorious Gospel in the heart of a man opening their eyes. John 12:40 speaks specifically of the first-century generation, referring to Isaiah 53:1, 6:9-10. As in the time of Isaiah, the first-century rulers were blinded. We can make an application today.

Some are blinded to the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ even now.

“3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” – 2 Corinthians 4:3-4

But some have been handed over to vile affections. This was a problem at the beginning of the fall of Rome. And it’s a problem today as the American Empire begins to disintegrate. You can read Romans 1:18-32; it would seem that within every phrase of each verse is our current trajectory. In verse 21, their foolish heart is darkened, and in verse 28, God gave them over to a reprobate mind. You see, God did not create them this way.

They were not born wrong, only born sinners.

Gender Identity is the latest rage among postmodernists. Especially since the June 2015 transformation of Bruce Jenner from a male to the female Caitlyn Jenner, transgender discussions have exploded on the scene. And many Christian leaders and laymen have gotten on the politically-correct bandwagon. But what does the Bible have to say about this phenomenon? Much, in every way.

[…]

The word “gender” is derived from the Latin genus, which means “kind, type.” Thus, God established two kinds of people: male and female. And then he declared this (and all else that came from his creative activity): “very good” (Gen. 1:31).

The King James Version is correctly translated from the Hebraic texts using the word kind in the creation account. On the fifth day, God created every living thing that moves and has life in the water “after their kind” and winged foul of the air “after his kind.”

“And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.” – Genesis 1:21

All of creation, God’s created order, is set upon each creature being its own kind, reproducing with (after – KJV) its own kind. And even the plants bring forth seed “after his kind” on the third day in Genesis 1:11-12.

This post may seem like an unnecessary review, but Christians must learn to argue from the Bible perspective if we are ever to see the fulfillment of the hope of the Kingdom of God while we await His return. Too often, in a classic debating technique, the secularists control the frame of the argument. Christians have got to stop allowing this to happen. The Holy Bible defines everything about our world and life view; it is the only viable frame of reference for a believer. Holy God already framed the heavens and earth and all the worlds along with every creature in them, and any attempt at reframing God’s created and ordained order is a sin in violation of God’s Law-word and all that is holy, right, good, and true.

The Word of God brings faith. We are to argue within the Scriptures and use the Scripture citing verses. Arguing from your own logic alone against sin has little effect on the lost sinner.

The article goes on to cite Jesus: “But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.” – Mark 10:6

Jesus is speaking of divorce. Read that section of Scripture in Mark 10:2-12; clearly, divorce (and abortion) is a slippery slope that has led to the destruction of the family. Marriage is a covenant with Holy God, not a contract with the State! Sin begets more sin until God’s order means nothing within civilization as God removes those tremendous blessings to which we have become accustomed.

And on the sixth day, God created everything that goes upon the land, including man and woman, “after his kind.” If only those of firm understanding about this, yet being not Christians, would seek to understand how God has ordained one man to one woman, male and female created He them (Genesis 5:2).

Creation is not a random accident. Prove to us anything, anything at all, in the whole universe; that ‘just happens.’ No, all have a cause and effect, God being the first cause of all things. Denying cause is not science but religion and one that has no basis in nature, let alone in the Almighty. Nature did not create itself from nothing, for this violates its own laws. All is within the Law of God, and He is the Creator.

In verse 28 of Genesis 1, God told them to be fruitful and multiply; that happens by procreation, not by attempting to undo, or redo, what God has created in the body of a man or woman. Read Genesis 1:24-28 for a wider context of this first iteration of the sixth day.

Off-topic but essential instruction: the creation apocalypse is an unfolding account, as most are including Revelation. It’s a separate post, but while we’re here, by example, Genesis 2:7 and Genesis 5:2 add to our understanding of how God created man, building upon what we’ve already learned in Genesis chapter 1. That’s one example. If Christians would study the Holy Bible, understanding that God uses iterations (or reiterates) building upon the original and other prior points about that topic. So, Jesus Speaking in Mark 10 of divorce is further instruction built upon the creation account God gave Moses.

Sin complicates matters; life is not simple with sin present Sin disrupts all of life’s activities, causing broken marriages, crime, war, and more. And today sin is even complicating the most basic identity of man as male and female.

Until fairly recently, all agreed there were two genders. And if you check any obstetrics ward you will find two genders represented there. But sin elevates the subjective over the objective, desire over reality. And the Bible calls this elevation: lust.

So you see, it’s not confusion nor subjective; it’s sin. Read the rest at Postmillennial Worldview.

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.

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.”

Romans 8

“16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” – Romans 8:16-17

The Holy Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit. This is a stumbling block, a significant hurdle for American Christians. They have allowed the carnal mind, which cannot be subject (Romans 8:7), to rule them, making their spirit of no effect in the Kingdom of God. If you are a blood-bought, redeemed son in Christ, and joint heir together with Him, then your spirit should agree with the Almighty.

Romans 8 is one of those cherry-picking chapters where people load up on the blessings and see none of the duty. There’s the discussion of pre-destination sometimes misused by all sides. There’s verse 15 in which the New Religion cries Abba Father but are paralyzed by fear, glued to the news cycle, readily adapting to the decrees of antichrist governments against that which is holy. And there’s verse 37, we are conquerors through Christ, but conquerors of what, they cannot say other than worldly carnal musings.

Likewise, Christians, if that’s what they are, love 1 John 4:19, but without boldness living in fear, what of verse 18 before it and verse 17? Who among us, having the early century martyrs as our example, stood boldly when the world was told to cower in fear over flu? There is no fear in the love of God, and if our spirit bears witness with the Holy Spirit, we do not walk contrary to God but abide in power and love without fear. And verses 38 and 39 in Romans 8 are often cited by those living in comfort and ease, untested, never serving, denying Christ in deed, having gushing words about God, and not a drop of the service wherewith we are called to bear fruit. And verse 36, are they who won’t live for the King ready to die for Him?

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” – Romans 8:35

Fear of not fitting in, fear of not being liked, fear of appearing to be different; these are nothing. Massive problems loomed during the first century, and today American Christians are being tested at the hand of God’s supreme and sovereign power; do they know it? This is not a prophetic statement; it’s Scripture. If you are Christ’s, He will never stop loving you, but you can exit the love of God coming under chastisement instead for failure to follow Him in tribulation. The American Church failed massively, and with so few exceptions, it must be called a complete failure for the past three years. And given that Roe has been overturned, where are the large Church organizations galvanizing in each state?

When they teach verse 35, they apply it personally to Paul and his situation without instructing the brethren on how to prepare for these things. Do they consider these afflictions possible today? American Christians must realize that our spirit is to bear witness together with the Holy Spirit.

No man knows the degree of pain and suffering while we await His return. These things need to be settled in your mind now. They must be discussed with family, among the trusted and faithful brethren at Church, purposing in your heart to prepare. All things that proceed out of a man come from the heart. The body is weak, and the mind makes war on the Spirit; if you prepare only in your mind and with stuff, you can talk the talk, but it’s in your spirit where God will find you, and unless your heart agrees with God, you will falter, perhaps even denying Christ. If your soul is not right with God, you will fail the coming temporal, carnal, and earthly tests. Every true and faithful Christian is tested, regardless of a current global or national situation. Without the purpose of heart, no physical preparation can sustain a man; the Holy Spirit of God leading the believer is where iron is sharpened against a day of judgment.

“13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” – Romans 8:13-15

There are levels of application to be made in verse 13. First and foremost, without salvation from death and hell by the forgiveness of sin in Christ Jesus, being dammed already, your eternal death awaits. And in the spirit of the believer, living after the desires of your body, you will have no heart for the trials that appear to be lining up. Without a true purpose in the love of Christ, the Christian cannot function within the Kingdom of God, reverting to the kings of this world and our present time and pursuits of vanity, forgetting the hope of Christ that lives in us (Romans 8:24-25).

No man can lose his eternal salvation, but to be clear as a bell with any who read this, if you only have a form of godliness, mere religion, a hearer of the word and self-deceived about your eternal soul’s condition, you will die. Life eternal is to those that are His, not by sacraments, not by earthly priests, nor denominations, not by works of righteousness that we have done, but by Christ.

Because verse 14 shows the only way, our spirit must agree with the Spirit of Holy God, “For as many as are led.” Who is your master, your king, what spirit do you fear? What spirit is in you; those that are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God, and none other! The spirit of bondage to any other is not of God, for we are bound in the Spirit of God, Christ the heir of all things, we being a joint heir with Him, there is no spirit of fear, no spirit of bondage, but as many that have the Spirit of God, they have a Father which art in Heaven.

“25 The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe. 26 Many seek the ruler’s favour; but every man’s judgment cometh from the LORD.” – Proverbs 29:25-26

And if bound in the Spirit of God, our spirit bearing witness to the same, you are loosed from a heart of fear and bondage toward the kings and tyrants of this world. The closing in of tribulation, distress, persecutions, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword from this world cannot hold you if you are bound to Christ by the Spirit of God in you. There is no fear in the love of God; now we, led by the Spirit, the sons of God being conformed to the image of God’s own Son, mortifying the deeds of the flesh, rejecting any and every spirit of bondage, receiving the adoption from the same Spirit, with Christ, heirs of Heaven, we cry, Abba, Father!

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” – Romans 8:26

The Kingdom of God is built for tribulations. Don’t breeze past that sentence. The Kingdom of God is designed for the hardcore, ugly days of evil upon the land, afflictions, and sufferings all around. The believer can compromise away his rights in the Kingdom if led by the spirit of fear; that’s the only way you can lose. We, those born again of the Spirit of God, have a Kingdom with a multi-failsafe power in our heart’s needs. But not only that, the Kingdom of God is built to withstand time. God didn’t create a pretty good Kingdom struggling to get by for those that dwell in Him. It’s constructed to withstand anything, for it’s the forerunner of God’s eternal Kingdom, His Son coming again to take full possession; it shall not pass, nor shall the believer. But so too, here now, the Kingdom of God has no equal. It can’t be torn down; it can’t lose a war; it can’t be destroyed; none shall overthrow it.

The Holy Spirit of God in us helps with our infirmities. Well, sure, often misapplied to verse 26, but a Bible truth nonetheless, He is our comforter, but the infirmity spoken of in verse 26 is our lack to pray as we ought. God knows what you have need of; what God wants is you, all of you, your very spirit. Pray, pray past the desires of your body, the needs of your flesh, pray until you can think of nothing to pray; knowing not what you ought, heart naked, alone with the Almighty, soul bared open, every fear and care evaporated, left where you ought; alone only in the fear of God. That’s where your spirit comes into bond with the Spirit of God, making intercession on our behalf, for what could you say to God? There’s nothing left to say, He is God, you are the clay, but dust, life a vapor; He gave you your conscience spirit, breathed it into being, the might and glory and majesty of Power at the throne that spoke the worlds into being, and you come unto that which is Holy. The scariest prayer you’ll ever make has a life-changing effect to follow; Lord, I’ll do whatever you want. Now you agree with God our King, ruler of Heaven and earth.

“Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” – Romans 8:34

Outside of the will of God, that is where we lose and the only place we can—justified by God, who can make any accusation of merit against His soldiers? It’s Jesus Christ that died on the cross, tortured to death for your sins. But the Kingdom of God, being made to withstand even death itself, Christ rose from the grave again on the third day proving the Scriptures true. The power of the Creator of life eternal is absolute and confirms the earnest of the promise beforehand that the Holy Spirit of God would dwell within us. It’s Christ that died for His inheritance, those that are His. Yea rather, that is risen again from the tomb and ever liveth to make intercession by faith; seated at the right hand of God, Christ continues to make mediation. The accuser of the brethren is defeated; Christ the daysman makes our case in the power of the resurrection unto eternal life. The Kingdom of God by the Holy Spirit in you has redundant intercessors and continual advocates with the Almighty; although God will remind you that it’s He who works through you, though you falter, you cannot fail in the will of the Father.

What place have the kings of this world with us? If you believe these things, if so be that we suffer whatever they may bring, we suffer it with Him. What is that to a child of the LORD most high, knowing that we may also be glorified together with Christ Jesus.

We have not the spirit of fear but of the power of God, and His love, and soundness of mind. At the moment of faith, you received all this, but be sure, it’s those that are led by the Spirit, whithersoever He listeth, that see the Kingdom of God, so is everyone that is born of the Spirit.

It’s why the would-be rulers of this world hate Christ and fear the Kingdom of God. If, as at times in church history, we had no fear of the tribulations, carrying on as though the petty powers of hell have no control, then brothers and sisters, fearless by the Spirit of God in us, what kingdom of men can stand; for we have a King that cannot fail and a kingdom that cannot be ended if you do not wane in the calling of Christ to remain in the will of God; walking after the Spirit.

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” – Romans 8:1

“Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”- James 2:17

It’s not a point of pride to be called by the Father; it’s somewhat terrifying. Many ask, after the initial glow or during a time of testing, why me? But the answer is clear, to serve through Christ, bringing glory to the Father. Those that are Christs have no idea what they are doing. That’s because there is no reason by human understanding and most certainly not logic that those known of God are those He has drawn to Himself. Sons of God of varying callings and ordinations to bear fruit and genuine men of God try to exude confidence to those around them in a plan or works that God has for them, but they can do nothing except that Christ wills it. They don’t instruct you in righteousness to elevate themselves as sadly some perceive; usually, it breaks their heart to have to do it. Pray for your leadership that they would be faithful servants of God to feed the flock with truth, even facts from a friend.

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” – Romans 12:2

Not knowing where to start serving God, Christians should try everything; prove His will by searching out the many ministries and callings to find which one(s) God has chosen for you. The object is not to find the one you like—this is a significant problem with the New Religion. The idea is to call upon the Father as you seek and knock on the many doors to find His will; it won’t be long before instruction arrives from the throne room of the Almighty as to what direction you are to take. We implore you, regardless of how crazy the thing sounds or ill-equipped and fearful you are of that first effort; do it, do that something! You won’t regret it.

Five years later, you’ll find yourself in the perfect will of the Father, building His kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit come alive within you, the favor and blessings of Christ upon you, in the middle of a war you never knew existed, a real spiritual battle, being carried out through people.

Walking by faith is doing the one little thing that God puts in front of you. After months or years of doing the next little thing, it becomes apparent in hindsight by what means and manner God has chosen you to fulfill the works of His desire. This is why many won’t work. They expect to be told the 3-point plan with specific milestones and end goals. That’s not faith; that’s corporatism devoid of God’s ever-present guidance.

“For we walk by faith, not by sight” – 1 Corinthians 5:7

You don’t know what God will do until after you do the first thing to which He is compelling you, drawing you, calling, and willing you to attempt. But, He’s God, so you know that it will be good if you trust in Him above your own understanding. Then you must do the following little something the next day and the next, ever learning to hear and obey the voice of the Shepard. God equips the called; He doesn’t call the equipped. He derives maximum glory through raising the unequipped into a mature soldier of Jesus Christ.

“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” – 1 Corinthians 2:9

Those marked by the Father are under continuous gentle and loving pressure, but its pressure nonetheless to do more and more in service of Him. You will be rewarded by degrees as you serve, and far better is the reward in Heaven. Having heard His voice, walking in trust by faith alone, workers in the Kingdom of God most often only know in hindsight where God has been leading them.

Luke 12:41-48 relates the growth of the calling(s) that the Father has put upon you, and those that returned fivefold interest over the charge given while the Master is in the far country are rewarded five kingdoms to rule (Matthew 25:14-30). Yes, that’s a reward and manifold more responsibility with the attendant work, all while trying to bring even more glory to the Father that the name of Jesus Christ may go throughout all the earth. Behold, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!

After you start, God will provide; if you serve, God will give you time to act, not before but after. If you do, then God will teach you and raise you in the ability to perform. Next, God will provide you with the resources to operate if, first, you step out in faith to serve. You must start all endeavors by faith, and God will bring the increase. God doesn’t call disciples to wait for the rapture! The more you serve, the more you learn of God. Having faith unto salvation is not the end; it’s not only salvation; we are saved unto good works; those made His don’t get saved and do nothing. “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”- James 2:17. I fear for those souls and their eternal state.

The fullness of service to the Almighty is unknown until we are in the midst, and even then, we continue to grow, and our service may change. And the fullness of the fruit is not known in this life. It’s by faith that a man is saved and continues in faith to follow after in service. God first draws unto salvation, then saves, then draws anew unto works, but only after you step into the breech by faith does God qualify you to the avocation.

So too, as a son serves his Father by doing as He commands while seeking His will, the son learns more and more about the Father, who He is, and what pleases Him. And as the son grows through walking by faith into the mercies and instruction in righteousness that the Father brings all His sons, thereby does the son glory that he knows God. Take that first small and tentative step of faith to do the works of God, ever drawing nigh to the Father that made you and gave you the heart of love to serve Him.

Daniel saw the vision of the Ancient of days commissioning the church, handing it to the Son of man with His army of witnesses, His Christian Soldiers, to conquer the world that all people should serve Him.

“13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” – Daniel 7:13-14

From the moment the church was birthed, Jesus declares that through His death, burial, and resurrection, He has been given the keys to bind hell and death.

“I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” – Revelation 1:18

Satan is a defeated foe; Christ binds evil that the world will be overflooded with the knowledge of the glory of God (Habakkuk 2:14) by the spreading of the Gospel (Acts 1:8) that all people should serve Him (Daniel 7:14).

All people are subject to Christ, but some, a precious too few, are citizens of the Kingdom of God, building His domain that all enemies be made His footstool. When you got saved, you were to have abandoned your pagan kings and kingdoms; EVERYTHING about you should have changed; do you not hear Him calling His sheep, feeling the gentle pressure of the drawing and calling to serve your new High King? This is hard for folks saved in their youth, with so many years of cultural Churchianity ingrained in them. You must fight to overcome the world for Jesus Christ that you might be a son of God (Revelation 21:7).

There is nothing defensive about the Great Commission. Its offense, all the time, taking the field in the name of our High King and attacking the gates of hell relentlessly (Matthew 16:18), submitting yourself to the will of God (James 4:7).

Jesus has provided the practical instruction for His followers to carry out this deputation.

“14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” – Mark 16:14-16

“18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” – Matthew 28:18-20

The Great Commission is relatively simple.

1. You tell lost people about Jesus.
2. You teach converts all that He commands (the Word of God).

Both distinct missions seek the growth of the body of Christ. Soul-winning aims to grow the number of true converts, while discipleship seeks the development of individual believers in their depth and breadth of maturity in Christ. You are supposed to be on the battlefield taking the world one new convert at a time, teaching the nations all that Christ commands.

Standing Orders are those given to soldiers in the absence of their commander. They are what you are supposed to do until you receive new orders. The Great Commission is our standing order; it’s the church’s mission. It’s what you are commanded to accomplish by the Captain of your salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ, until His return. With Acts 1:8, these are the last words of our Lord Jesus, and these are His standing orders.

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” – Acts 1:8

We assure you that if you set about to accomplish this, the Lord will immediately and miraculously bless, prepare, and anoint your efforts! All of you who are saved were saved through the hearing of the Gospel under this commission. If any of you claim salvation and don’t continue in the work of carrying out this commission, you fail your brothers, and you fail Christ.

Acts 1:8 does not directly cross-reference the Great Commission verses in the Gospels, but it’s Jesus telling His disciples that the start of the mission is nigh, and the Holy Spirit’s arrival is imminent. They were to start witnessing right away after Pentecost, and they did. God added to the groups of believers popping up in and around Jerusalem as they spread the good news. And then the Gentile (Roman Soldier) Cornelius and his house got saved (acts 10), and the Gospel took off. After that, the disciples began to teach the converts and start communities of believers while seeking to expand the reach of the Gospel to the entire Roman Empire. God created new groups of believers who were instructed to change everything about their lives away from their pagan historical past, following after Christ being salt and light and righteousness. They turned the world upside down, and that’s what we’re supposed to be doing, changing whole civilizations by making them Christian.

“Matt. 28:19 – μαθητεύσατε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη (NA28 – Nestle-Aland, 28th Edition Greek New Testament). The first word here, μαθητεύσατε, means “make a disciple of or a follower, which involves instruction or teaching.” The last word is ἔθνος ethnos (from which we derive our English word “ethnic”) and can mean multitude, company, people, but in the broader application, as here, means all nations or peoples. Jesus wanted (and still wants) the gospel to be taken to the entire world and “every creature” (Mark 16:15).” – Roger L. Leonard.

Literal translation: disciple-make all the people/nations

Go and make disciples of all the people of the nations (every creature) that Christ may subjugate every man to His kingdom. The job is to conquer the world in the name and power of Jesus Christ. Nobody is coming to save us. Our Lord commands His disciples to overthrow the world by the power of God, the Holy Spirit in us, wielding His sword, which is the word of God through proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is not hyperbole; it is your God-ordained duty in service of the One who saved you from the wrath and death and hell you deserve and has given you eternal life. Acts 1:8 and Mark 16:15 and Matthew 28:16-20 are clear enough; these are our Standing Orders.

We are all made witnesses for Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit in us. This mission is unto the ends of the earth. This is put forth to instruct us what our job is in the Kingdom of God while we work toward His return. Conquer the world because He’s coming back, not despite His coming back. Every soul on earth must needs hear the Gospel. It is not a limited ministry in any sense. Father God wants us to tell all people the Gospel of the finished work of His Son on the cross, making and training converts.

Once you believe, you become a witness for Jesus Christ, the witness being a legal term for which you will be held to account at the Judgment. If you know that you are supposed to tell people about Jesus, and you are, then failing to do is a sin.

A witness is someone that testifies as to the veracity of the facts. A witness for Jesus Christ testifies of Him. Discuss with every creature the atoning death, the resurrection, how He saved and changed you and has blessed you, how He is the Son of God, the only way to the Father (John 14:6) that sinners may be forgiven entering into eternal life.

Acts 1:8 with Mark 16:15 are the commands of God that make us the tip of the sword of the Gospel we are to wield at every soul on earth, giving them a stark choice under the threat of wrath and death and hell, or salvation unto eternal life in heaven with Christ Jesus. This is their choice, and telling them is the duty of every Christian; showing every soul, whosoever, and howsoever you may meet them, that our King saves.

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15

We are to show by opening the Scriptures that Christ died shedding His blood to cover the sins of the lost sinner, that He was buried, and that he rose again on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Although not called to be a Preacher proper as from the pulpit, every believer is called to share the Gospel and win souls to Christ. The Holy Spirit of God convicts and saves the lost sinner; you are His witnesses, His messengers of the good news of eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Don’t confuse the Gospel of Peace with anything other than peace in Christ Jesus. It’s not a feeling or how to get along with the lost world. The glad tidings are the resurrection of Jesus Christ fulfilling the promise of the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world that salvation by faith in Holy God through the cross and the blessing of eternal life in His Son had come to all who would only believe. That’s the good news.

Simple does not mean easy. Jesus trained His disciples for years and gave them the Holy Spirit. Nobody but God will be on your side if you decide to take this on unless you are blessed to be around a very mature and seasoned (well-salted) group of believers. This is why most Christians shy away. They don’t feel supported; there is no sense of having a team to carry out the mission of Christ with singleness of purpose.

We put some thought into structuring a group of believers for this two-part commission; reaching the lost and building whole communities centered around Christ. Seeing the fruit of the American Churches, they are lost in a sea of endless activity to no avail. They leave a wide wake of a form of godliness, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory while losing ground to the workers of iniquity year after year.

Suppose you have the rare and distinct blessing of being in a mission (not missions) oriented group of believers with regular purposeful soul winning and training that grows the believers. In that case, it’s your duty to replicate this effort. Under this commission, use all resources directly to support this tip of this spear mission ordained by Christ Jesus. All believers must share the Gospel and help the soldiers returning from battle by uplifting them and encouraging them while ministering among the saints. Tell every soul the Gospel; this is a direct order of Holy God, and teach each other how to be Christ-like!

If only the Churches were places to get instructed, uplifted, encouraged, and prepared. Suppose churches were a place to share battlefield tactics, prayer, and partnering for practical strategies; other serious men and women would want to be part of the success. People love to win. We should prepare each other to re-enter the battlefield for another round of wielding the Gospel at the sons of men who are living in the kingdom of death and hell in this world.

It is your duty to make men and women competent Christians. The greatness of the Great Commission is also not to be reduced or watered down. Teaching converts is the natural follow-on conclusion to winning the lost sinner to God, as it was always God’s plan to have fellowship with them. Even if the new converts are not the ones you are teaching, both jobs need to be done. Sometimes you win a soul to Christ and never see them again, but that’s no excuse for not doing this work. Sometimes you teach an infant, and as they grow, they move away to follow God’s plan for them. You’ve done your part. It’s work; although a blessing to fellowship, it’s not a social hour. The great commission is the work in support of making yet more converts to the way, the truth, and the life of Jesus Christ by training up the young, not of age but spirit, in the way that they should go (Proverbs 22:6) so that they too can share the Gospel of Jesus Christ while living and growing in ever-expanding and multiplying Christian communities forsaking sin and rebuking the workers of hell.

The hard part is building the communities of believers. The Covid shutdowns proved that. We can count on very few people, but this is very likely due to the lack of a team approach. Christianity in America is hyper-personalized with no sense of a larger mission or single team. The Great Commission is that mission; to tell every creature of Christ in a way that they may choose to live or die while we build centers of support for new, growing, and seasoned Christian men, women, and families.

We are not to be snatching brands from the fire when we make believers; we are supposed to be making a new soldier; all power and authority having been given to Jesus Christ on earth for the discipleship of all nations. The command is that we, faithful followers of the way, take every aspect of society and claim it in the name of our King, including recreation, social, corporate, government, trade, etc. Adding by the will of Holy God; Peoples, Nations, Countries, and Kingdoms, making them all, every last one, disciples of Jesus Christ is what God has intended by this commission.

“Teach all nations – The word rendered “teach,” here, is not the one that is usually so translated in the New Testament. This word properly means “to disciple, or to make disciples of.” This was to be done, however, by teaching, and by administering baptism…Jesus broke down the partition wall, and commissioned his disciples to go everywhere, and bring the “world” to the knowledge of himself.” – Albert Barnes.

“As the numbers of converts increase, this providentially leads to the subsuming under the authority of Christ whole institutions, cultures, societies, and governments.” – Ken Gentry.

“Christianity should be twisted in with national constitutions…the kingdoms of the world should become Christ’s kingdoms, and their kings the church’s nursing fathers…do your utmost to make the nations Christian nations…Christ the Mediator is setting up a kingdom in the world, bring the nations to be His subjects.” – Matthew Henry.

It’s on the test, folks!

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear” – 1 Peter 3:15

“Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.” – Matthew 10:32-33

Who do you love, Jesus or your lost friends? Jesus or your lost social media buddies? Jesus or your lost family? Who do you love, Jesus or your lost Churchianity?

In dependence upon Him, fasting is one thing Christians do to draw closer to Holy Father God. And fasting can help prepare your body as the potential end of the times of plenty approaches.

Fasting with prayer is a marvelous way to seek God, especially with problems far beyond your scope of ability to accomplish alone. Examples include Ezra 8:22-23 and also Nehemiah chapter 1, the prayer Nehemiah made to God while fasting. Fasting shows God that you’re serious (1 Corinthians 7:5, Joel 2:12).

“19 And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days.” – Mark 2:19-20

The Bridegroom, having left to be seated at the right hand of Power, we fast.

It won’t always be this way. The amount of food available today is not even close to normal. These are very clearly the good old days. Fasting can help you prepare for lower caloric intake while improving your overall health. When you get hungry or have sugar withdrawals or toxin dumps (explained briefly below), take this time to pray. Fasting is not simply eating less. Fasting is for seeking the Lord while drawing nigh to God, cleansing your hands from sin, and purifying your heart; that He may draw nigh to you (James 4:8).

Several things happen when we fast. Since the ingestion of nutrients means good health, seldom used immune system functions kick on with a lack of food input. In the long run, this makes you healthier to have these immune responses already up and running before times of stress or shortage. Mankind has been accustomed to short periods without food, and some people continue to in many regions. Our bodies are anthropologically tuned not to eat for short periods, so fasting for a day, say 3 or 4 times a month, can cause natural body weight normalization. Also, if you suffer sugar withdrawal during fasting, the most common symptoms are emotional distress or sadness; this condition can mean that you are sugar dependent. Cut the sugars out.

You don’t want sugar withdrawal, and so-called toxin dumps the first couple of days of a stressful event. That’s when you need to be alert and at your best. Other health benefits include clearing and natural maintenance by our bodies, including the lower GI and colon. Fasting gives much-needed rest and relief to major organs, especially the Kidneys and Liver, while not ingesting preservative-laden foods and other poisons. You may experience toxin dumps or, as some call it, detox or cleanse effects as your organs begin to dump toxins into the bloodstream. These can be hard on you if you don’t recognize what’s happening, but your organs will appreciate it as they get cleaned out. Some symptoms might be awareness problems, dizziness, sadness, and general sluggishness. This is pretty normal the first few times you try it. Your gut needs a rest, and your organs need a break from the chemicals; you’re getting healthy; keep going as your body recovers from years of abuse.

There are a couple of ways to do it. You might try going from supper to supper the next day the first time you do it. You can also go from supper to breakfast two days later, 36 hours or so. A 24 hour fast is more manageable because in the morning and during the day, you see the light at the end of the tunnel, which is supper. But, going a whole waking period without eating, which is the 36 hour fast, is very healthy. For most people, Juice Fasting, intake of fruit and vegetable juices, is not preferred. Water is the way to go as you depend entirely upon God and take in no sugars.

Some things to do include; busying yourself with light physical activities especially walking or low impact aerobics. This will simulate the exertion levels of historically food-gathering people. When you eat again, go slow. Eat something light, and don’t overeat. Eat fruit or some vegetables, something healthy and full of water value and electrolytes. Wait a few hours before eating again. They say your stomach shrinks even in one day, so this is a chance to recalibrate your total food intake levels during meals and in general. Speaking of water value, we get more moisture from our food than we realize. Drink plenty of water while fasting; you should drink much more water than you may be accustomed to having.

Some things to avoid include fasting for the first time on a workday, as your alertness may be lacking. But you do get used to it after a time or two. Don’t use laxatives of any kind; this is counterproductive. Make your body work to get used to it. Also, allow your body to recover naturally if you’ve had a poor diet. Don’t fast if you have challenging exercise or labor planned. This could be dangerous the first time or two, which is another reason you should make yourself used to fasting before you have to by no choice of your own. Watch your attitude and anger as low blood sugar could cause you to say some things to loved ones that you might regret.

Don’t tell anybody you’re fasting, which may be hard to do if you have children. In that case, fast with your wife, as the head of her in Christ, you can declare a fast. Your children won’t bother you about not eating if you get them a pizza or something they like. You can also get them involved and used to skipping a meal or two.

“Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.” – Matthew 6:16-18

Your Father, which sees all things even in secret, will reward you openly. While fasting is an excellent time to go tell people about salvation through Jesus Christ.

We could say that this isn’t medical advice, but we don’t care if you consult your health care provider first or not.