“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” – Ephesians 4:32

The last phrase of that final verse of Ephesians four is astounding and so very plain. It truly can only be arrived at through childlike faith. If reading along in your bible, it’s easy to miss as you finish the chapter and close the book, but this truth is at the centrality of the doctrine of soul salvation. Of course, the context of the later part of Ephesians four, from verse 20 onward to 32, is critical instruction for the Christian believer, discussing personal effort, putting off your former self, and allowing the Lord to continue His sanctification of you. A man born afresh by the Spirit of God ought to recompense to the brethren all these duties mentioned and more. Give no place to evil speaking or doing. Grieve not the Holy Spirit, verse 30 says.

But found so simple and proper are those few words toward initial faith in Christ at the end of verse 32. Don’t miss it; God did not save you because of you, or because of anything about you, or because of anything you’ve done, said, promised, confessed, nor anyplace you’ve joined in whichever ceremonies or rites you may partake; God, for Christ’s sake alone, because He loves His son, is the sole reason the Father has granted you reprieve and given you to His only begotten.

Salvation is not about you; it’s not for you, and it’s not because of you; it’s all for Jesus Christ.

Oh, the unmerited favor of God who, by grace in salvation, calls men to Christ. God forgave you for Christ’s sake, giving you to Jesus as His Church, the body, for He loves His Christ. Not because of you; what is a man such as you to God and Christ? But God gave you to be the bride of His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. You are the inheritance of Jesus Christ, for His own good pleasure; not for your sake, but entirely by miracle has your faith arrived unto conversion that Christ be magnified among men, hallowed in the highest to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. The degree to which you are blessed by God to be converted for His purposes, chosen in Him, is immeasurable.

On the verge of tears, there’s no way to adequately describe the depths of God’s mercy to be numbered among those forgiven. The complete degree is unknowable; who can reconcile such an act, that God would glorify His Son, and you being what, a hapless stranger alienated from the commonwealth of God, struggling in the toil of daily grind full of labor when God out of heaven called you to His Son. Who are we to complain or object or refuse anything He asks, now living in the freedom of Christ as the gift of His Father? To sound the depths of this blessing is impossible; it’s much too far for a man to understand what it is to be pardoned because he is given to Christ.

God made man in the first place for His own great purposes; male and female created He them; and blessed them. And He formed you, and breathed into your nostrils the breath of life; and you became a living soul, sentient, aware of Him. But the world is filled with liars telling men to be their own gods, the center of it all; humanism is a contagious viral cancer consuming the West and profoundly damaging the Church. Is He the holy Creator, owner of all that is, sovereign in the purposes of His actions and will, knowing and ordering the beginning from the end of all things, or is He less than a man?

The feast is polluted, soiled, and having spots; a plague of leprosy is among us. Most Christians are trained to think of God as their cosmic butler. Manpleasers, false teachers have beguiled us, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Biblical Christianity requires a logically consistent world-life view and a conformable understanding of who God is. The fact is that you are a slave to Christ and not your own, but bought with a price in blood to bring glory to Him, and for no other purpose at all do you now draw breath.

The Lord would tuck you under His wings, cover you with His feathers, be your shield and buckler; “how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!” The river runs its course, yet the ocean is not overflowing; the wind on her circuit returns all things, bringing a whirlwind, yet you still have not. When will God’s people stop asking for worldly gain and stuff but again cry unto God; quicken me for thy name’s sake, for thy righteousness, here am I God; send me.

When the twoedged sword of conviction by the Spirit arrives, it convinces us of our unrighteousness and the totality of the perfect righteousness that is Christ our Lord. Righteousness is the quality or state of being morally correct and justifiable – without guilt or sin. Born in sin, you were not and are not righteous, but Christ was, is, and will forever be the sinless Holy One. In Christ is the only place of uprightness for the sinner.

Not because of your righteousness: “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one” – Romans 3:10. And again: “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” – Isaiah 64:6.

Not by any measure of your own works: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost” – Titus 3:5

Not by the keeping of any religious rules or law, which only condemn for sin: “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” – Romans 3:20.

Not by your religion, for a million blood sacrifices to God over millennia were still not enough: “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.” – Hebrews 10:4

But the only hope of men is the offering of the Lamb of God to die on the cross that He might receive those who, by faith, Father God has given. And Jesus rose from the grave, ascending to the Father, preparing His bride over generations for His return to claim what is rightfully His. Holy Father, God gave those whom Christ would convert through faith at His will, not for your sake, but for Christ’s. By no deserving acts of your own, the full measure of the miracle of soul salvation is unknowable to the mind of man. It truly is a grant that you, not of your power, but that God would use you to bless His faithful Son, Jesus Christ.

No man shall boast; salvation is a gift of God. Only Jesus Christ is righteous: love God and have mercy on the brethren, even as God, for Christ’s sake, hath forgiven you.

Ezekiel 22:23-31

In chapter 22 of Ezekiel, he is commissioned as a judge to show Jerusalem her abominations, to pronounce the determinations of God against Jerusalem (Verses 1-2), calling it the bloody city (Verse 2) defiled by idols (Verse 4).

Verses 5-12 are a catalog of sins from which the charges against them are cited. Making a complete list of America’s sins would be impossible; time and space are limited, but some instances will be applied.

Verses 13-22 are the pronouncement of judgment, but within those verses, note that verses 17 through 22 discuss the necessity of the refining process they must undergo. Many types of metal and alloys are mentioned denoting that the purification of this refining will affect everyone; none shall escape the ire of God. Being purified and having the dross of sin skimmed can be painful for a man. But praise the Lord, put through the fire with sin purged, the end is sweet as honey, for we come out as a son of God after chastisement which yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness (Hebrews 12:11).

Then, in our text, holy God calls out a roster to Ezekiel of the specific groups and their sinful actions; the prophets, priests, princes, and the people. The chapter concludes with verses 30 and 31; God could find no just man, a leader among the people that would give Him reason to forestall His wrath.

As background, Deuteronomy 19 is the Law of Innocent Blood. And in Proverbs chapter 6, cataloged among the things God hates are hands that shed innocent blood. “A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood” – Proverbs 6:17. Also, see Matthew 27:3-4, carefully considering the ends of men and the demise of empires that shed the innocent blood.

Some application for today is needed from the section starting in verse 23 to the end of the chapter. We’ll look at their situation and similarities today to understand why judgment is arriving in the West and what repentance should be if only we would.

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“23 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 24 Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.”

Verse 24 is not a pronouncement of drought but an indication that the land and people were not being cleansed, having no refreshing of God’s mercies due to their wickedness. Water is often a picture of the Spirit of God or, particularly, the person of the Holy Spirit. Jesus offered the woman at the well living water (John 4:14). Christ places the Spirit of God in a man’s soul, born again by the Spirit, making all who would believe “a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” Also, see Revelation 22:1.

In Ezekiel chapter 22, the Spirit of God was being withdrawn, a horrifying thought indeed, for in the absence of God, darkness prevails, sin abounds, wickedness multiplies throughout the land, and the people suffer. What is outer darkness, but the absence of inner Light? It’s reasonably apparent that an exit from faith in God has been crossed for America and the West.

There is an Old Testament distinction between priests and prophets; verses 25 and 26 list them separately. Some thoroughly understand the Old Testament structure of roles and modes of worship, days of observance, purposes of the offices, and various sacrifices, but this writer has a weakness. Firmly planted in the New Covenant, the history is of interest but the application rules.

The prophets are most noted when God calls them and declares judgment on the people by them. The prophets had a separate school; in 2 Kings 6, they needed a more extensive training and living facility. We think today of a prophet as a man of old who foretold the future at the word of the Lord and did great miracles. But most often in the Bible, a prophet is a teacher (John 3:2) or a messenger of God. Though He was a prophet, but not only a prophet, billions of people today do err, thinking that Jesus was just another visionary. But Jesus rose from the grave. Everything Jesus said is coming true, and we serve in hope while awaiting His return to finish our course. Be sure Christ dwells in your heart by faith, making you rooted and grounded in love.

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“25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.”

Deuteronomy 18:15-22 details the creation of the office of the prophet; note carefully in verses 21 and 22 how to identify a false prophet. The modern prophecy movement today is run by the devil himself. Only God knows the future, but it’s plain to read what becomes of a people when their state is such as ours.

The prophets then, as today, were divining lies for personal gains, like a roaring lion ravening the prey, which sounds remarkably like the description of the devil in 1 Peter 5:8. The making of many widows refers to the false declaration to the king(s) about the authority of God to go to war, which is detailed further in verses 27 and 28 below.

Today false prophets further devour souls by selling the self-righteousness of works salvation, declaring rites, rituals, and ceremonies as equal to the grace of God that comes only through faith in the sacrifice of His own Son. They steal the foundation of the Gospel truth (1 Corinthians 15:3-4) and simplicity that is in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:3), filling men with the pride of their own achievements, which are wood, hay, and stubble (1 Corinthians 3:10-13), the filthy rags of men’s own righteousnesses (Isaiah 64:6), all of which, every last thing, will burn up in the final conflagration at the judgment of Christ (2 Peter 3:10-12).

How many false health and wealth movement prophets today have taken treasure and precious things?

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“26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.”

As background, the book of Leviticus outlines the Old Covenant law of the priesthood. We worship today, or we should, under the New Covenant in Christ.

First, profane can mean anything not ordained of God, not necessarily wicked, but even the ordinary. God is holy; nothing about Him or the worship He demands is common. There certainly are very profane things, wickedness and evil of all types, but taking the things not ordained of God and including them in worship, claiming them to be godly or holy, is a problem that leads to idolatry.

Unrepentant sinners abound among Christians, some even teaching in the churches, women “priests,” and many other examples come to mind today. But none of those churches started by having, for instance, sodomite preachers. Somewhere in the history of those churches, they allowed the profane. Perhaps the problem started before the current membership was alive: the leadership let some things slide, and just a few “little sins” began to creep in. Righteousness begets righteousness, and evil is forced to flee. So too, sin produces even more corruption by eroding the holy, just, wholesome, and clean, making God see all that worship as profane.

The application of verse 26 to today is rather apparent, or it should be. The priests are allowing all manner of sins, which is a violation of God’s holy law. The churches have put no difference between the holy and the mundane, let alone rejecting sin among them.

In Acts, the body of Christ met and worshipped daily and from house to house (Acts 2:46-47, 5:42), and God grew it mightily for their faith. I attend church on Sunday: it’s the right day under the New Covenant. I’m not telling you when to gather together, but you must do it; it’s a commandment (Hebrews 10:25). I know the churches are messed up. Even the good ones are messed up, for they’re full of sinners.

America’s churches are full of professional liars, teaching you to obey the god-government and how to get along by successfully integrating your family into a secular evil society while pretending it’s not all sin, debauchery, and unclean.

But you have to go to church. Go to every church within miles until you find one that obeys Christ’s command in Matthew 22:37-40. And John 13:35 is how you know who are His disciples. Most folks who won’t attend church today don’t go because they see how bad they are. Without you in some assembly, how can they stay right with God? Christianity isn’t a consumer activity in which you choose your favorite; it’s sometimes very formidable work to be obedient and please the Lord personally and as a group.

You can do this even in the face of what church leaders are doing. Show yourself to Holy God, one repentant sinner, desiring to be consecrated in the Lord, a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1) worthy to be reckoned as belonging to the Most Holy. Then take charge of your family, purge all sin from among you, seeking God’s favor that you might be bathed in the blood of Christ, sanctified by the Holy Spirit of God. Next, your local church body; cleanse it of all sin, remove the unrepentant, and present it to God in like manner. “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” This isn’t somebody else’s job; it’s yours.

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“27 Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.”

It’s just too many sins today to list; frankly, I don’t even care what our leaders do anymore. We deserve them. The issue in the text is the shedding of blood for gain.

It’s difficult to understand why anybody of sound mind would join the armed forces of America or NATO countries. Without going on a tirade against the evil rulers of America, the West, and the global Oligarchy, I’ll point out that America has been at war my entire lifetime and doing it for fun, profit, and one world order. Waring for a few men’s pleasure and gain establishing a global central banking cartel is not a righteous endeavor; have no part in it. The bloody city, Washington D.C., has its due coming, along with all those who shed innocent blood to our ruin.

And what about abortion? America has princes in many states ravenous for the innocent blood of babies. Horrors undertaken too difficult to bear for a man not owned spirit of antichrist occur daily. Healthcare and healing have been turned into sickcare and a death mill. What else could come of a people who don’t value the next generations of their people?

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“28 And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.”

“untempered morter” seems to be a metaphor for patching up the rulers with lies, making feel and look good.

In verses 27 and 28, the prophets have sanctioned unjust wars. What was happening in Ezekiel’s day is happing here. The mainline Christians love war, and presidents take to themselves false prophets who divine “peace peace” lying through their teeth. See Jeremiah (a contemporary of Ezekiel) 6:14, 23:16-17.

As a young voter, politicians would promise a continuation of the “largest peacetime expansion” of the economy in history (but by flagrant usury debt to our children, a part they would omit) and, in the next breath, tell us who they were going to bomb back to the stone age. Take heart; I fell for it, too, even offering myself for military service. God has seen these lies! Presidents have had wicked men and women “spiritual advisors” and many famous professional fake Christian “men of God.” God has seen these lies, too, and the dual citizens they really serve.

“Even those who profess themselves to be my prophets, have been unfaithful in the discharge of their office; have soothed the people in their sins, and pretended to have oracles of peace and safety when I had not spoken to them.” – Adam Clarke on verses 27 and 28.

Separate yourself from the evil of Babylon as much as possible. Escape from her any way you can but run to the Lord God!

“My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD.” – Jeremiah 51:45

“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” – Revelation 18:4

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“29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.”

It’s so bad in America that just about everybody has decided to “get mine” while the gettin’ is good. Dishonesty in business, whether with customers or employees, repressive wages, and much more, is now standard, while government mandates acceptance of the New Religion in all affairs of life. Welfare and insurance/disability fraud are rampant. People just accept sin as a way of life and that everybody does it. God also sees these lies. Christians are supposed to be different; be ye separate (2 Corinthians 6:17).

And don’t let liars and false Christians abuse this verse where it mentions oppressing the stranger. God required Israel to apply the entire law to the strangers and sojourners among them (Exodus 12:49) and requires the same of us today (Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11). Verse 29 is not Christ’s license to import a billion heathens and destroy your civilization through 501c3, Soros funded “refugee resettlement!” Notwithstanding, do good to whom God has said in the New Testament.

But not every one of us has turned to evil. There are those among you, come what may; we’ll try as God allows us to endeavor for what is right. Lord, have mercy on us.

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“30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. 31 Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD.”

And finally, we arrive at the fury of God Almighty in the indignation of His wrath, having determined fiery vengeance to recompense those men for their evil. This same God is the only one that can save our civilization now, and it starts with you. It’s not justice you need; it’s the mercy of God’s forgiveness.

This is where every man stands, born into sin, helpless before the power of God’s holy throne, condemned already to hell’s eternal depths for your sin. The law can’t save you; no amount of religion or good deeds can appease God, for there is only one just atonement.

“For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.” – Ezekiel 18:32

Though you deserve it, God takes no pleasure in your soul’s eternal demise. He offers life if you would turn unto Him and live. Without Him, judgment is at the door.

Look back at verse 30; regrettably, there is none righteous, no, not one. It’s horrifying to hear in the day of Ezekiel that God searched out among all men one who could stand before Him, a hedge, a man to fill the gap between sin and the peace that lies at heaven’s gate, and there was none to be found.

But God, in His mercy, has given a man, His only begotten Son, a righteous hedge, a Mediator, a daysman betwixt you and God’s anger. Jesus fulfilled the Scripture according to the prophets and the law when He was crucified for your sins to pay the debt in total that you never could. He was buried and rose again the third day, triumphant over sin, death, hell, and the grave, now seated at the right hand of God the Father. Christ lives to make intercession for you.

“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” – Hebrews 7:25

Saved to the uttermost, it sounds like a perfect offer; go ahead and take it. He’s making intercession to God for you; call upon Christ Jesus, understanding you are a sinner, and whatever evils come our way, without Christ, you will surely perish in the fire of God’s wrath. But God loves you, and hell doesn’t have to be your home. Believe in your heart that the resurrected Christ, Jesus, is the way to life eternal and a life of service to the good of God that He would bless you now and into eternity. It will get worse here in the coming days; show yourself to God as belonging to Jesus Christ, ask for forgiveness for your sins, and offer yourself before the mercies of God’s courts.

John 17

What a divinely beautiful prayer from our Lord in this chapter. None of us will ever pray with such a lovely heart toward Holy Father God, but we must try to attain the same purposes.

John 17 is a righteous prayer in the will of God, evidence of a life dedicated to the mission that Christ Jesus completed in service of the Father to bring glory to Him as His Son. There’s no better example than Jesus of obedience for a young man today toward his father or for a disciple toward his heavenly Father; the latter will be addressed.

Some of the things Jesus speaks to the Father about in this chapter are unique to Him and their specific relationship. But we’re also heirs, left with this prayer that we might know Christ, His purposes, and His mind toward us; we can draw many direct applications for us today and should.

Jesus, in verses one and two, knows His purpose, so He starts in prayer to the Father, seeking to fulfill that purpose in the will of the Father, asking above all for Father to be glorified, that He would receive glory in the Son. Through Christ’s example, we ought to pray both in the will of the Father and to fulfill the will of the Father. You can pray for your own choices and be perpetually unhappy for your lack of worldly goods. Or, you can pray for the Father’s will above all and be blessed with the measure of fullness just by knowing Him.

“As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.” – John 17:2

Jesus came to give eternal life to as many as the Father has given Him, but for an express purpose; to bring glory to the Almighty. This is an unspeakable gift. We oughtn’t to be puffed up as though any deserve it; selfish-mindedness about this purpose of Christ is misplaced. Jesus came to make for Himself the inheritance that Holy Father God promised Him before eternity began. “…ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” – 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Jesus did all things well so that His heavenly Father might be sufficiently pleased with Him, receiving glory and honor and blessings.

“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 8:17

“Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.” – Isaiah 43:7

Having been formed by God from the dust of the earth, raised to an age of understanding, and if you would by faith in Christ, reformed by a new birth through the Holy Spirit, in Christ, called by His name, God has made you for His own glory.

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” – John 17:3

There is no more a submissive act than to hand your life and will to God and ask that He do with you what He desires. For He made you from the start and remade you anew, and His Son bought you with a terrible price in blood to be His own; you are not your own, therefore bring glory to God through faithful doing of the word.

If the thought scares you some, good, you know there is a will of God for you and that you have already accepted His station far above you, but coming to grips with our place in the Kingdom of God is a lofty height of thin air indeed. It’s an unknown, unpredictable, and that’s why it’s called walking by faith.

And the greatest of unknowns could be your end, for you could be martyred, or destitute, or lead a congregation to which you’re wholly unfit (hint: none are), or called before the courts of magistrates to account for your faith having been charged as a criminal. God could bring you into dangerous and remote territory, the name of which you can’t pronounce. You might have to push yourself forward, Bible in hand, to confront your enemies with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Or, although entirely within your rights not to, reconcile your broken family.

It’s a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God; being Christian, and living in the Kingdom of God, serving our King to bring Him all honor and glory isn’t for the weak of faith. Jesus said, concluding a short parable of a servant and his master: “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.” – Luke 17:10

Pitiful are the churches today that don’t lay out the mission of a disciple plainly by showing Christ’s commands, pointing to no other purpose but the duty to our Master, and declaring, go ye now and do it! Jesus, in John 17, shows singleness of mind to fulfill His mission to the Master, and He prays that His disciples meet their duty likewise.

Today there is one problem in the Kingdom, and it is just one fundamental problem at the root of all; the modern American church simply will not do what the Bible says. There are many reasons for this, some of which we’ve lamented over these pages, but they are all excuses at the individual level in the sight of God. To say nobody else was serving will not pass muster on the great and notable day of the Lord. To say nobody told you will not fly, for He left us His holy word with thorough instructions.

One cannot be Christian and a herd follower; it’s, as plainly as we can say, not possible. You must turn and confront the King on your knees and be anointed for the fight in righteousness, equipped also with a sword, helmet, shoes, and shield, and sent into battle against impossible odds. Christians, genuine converts, are outnumbered what, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty to one on this planet? Yet, there is no service that is not reasonable to accomplish for our Lord.

God will put you out there, hanging by one thin thread to test your faith, and regardless of the results, He’ll get the glory; look to Christ. But you see, if you won’t serve in faith, there’s nothing to test. And I’ll tell you, brethren, a little secret of those who seek the will of God, He’ll find your point where you turn back, He’ll see your limit, and you will know, in that day, He is God, and you are but sinful man, weak in the flesh. But, perhaps this is wrong; just maybe, you would go all the way to an actual cross.

A wise man once related something so simple yet profound God often brings it to mind. A worker of wickedness was testing college students at gunpoint, letting those go who denied Christ. I was discussing the faith of those young men and women who wouldn’t deny Christ and died for Him, taking a bullet to the head in front of their classmates. But this gentleman asked me, sure, you may be prepared to die for Christ in the moment, but are you willing to live your life for Him now?

Selected Notes.

“3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. 4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.”

What better thing in all of history for any man than that you might have occasion to eternal life and to know the one true God through Jesus Christ? There is no rational explanation that God would speak out of eternity, His Spirit moving upon the face of darkness surrounding your sin-stained mortal soul, pointing you to His Son. There is no answer but the love of God that He shined the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ into your heart, for no man ever deserved anything but the torment of hell. And sadly, if you do nothing of usefulness, you perpetuate the dead condition in which God found you, visiting a profound injustice upon Jesus; having received the truth, accepted it, and called upon Christ unto life and life eternal, not man ought to remain idle. Bring glory, therefore, to God.

What did Christ do? He did the will of the Father always, finishing the work that God gave Him to accomplish (John 6:38). No disciple is like his master except He does as his Master instructs (Luke 6:40). Finish the work ever keeping your eye on the One who is prized above all (Philippians 3:14). And if you haven’t started, well, begin today or begin anew, as Christ our Saviour has shown, in prayer, laying up before the throne your hunger to do as the Father would have, forsaking your life and the desires of the flesh for no other reason than to bring to Him the glory that is His. It’s His glory; why do you withhold it, robbing God through sloth or disobedience?

“10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.”

Christ did that which satisfied God’s purposes. We see men who took the ministry given to them and followed after Christ to the glory of God the Father (2 Timothy 4:7, 2 Peter 1:14-15); faithful servants to the end, knowing their time had come, they did not boast, but knew they had done what their Master had asked. In faith, steadfast, by the will of the Father, they, belonging to no man, didn’t follow the herd. All belonging to Christ are the Fathers, and we are one in Christ Jesus to the glory of God.

Eternal life is a gift. Men ought not to shrink from the war for His Kingdom. If you knew the half of some men’s story, tried seven times, purified through fire, made a suitable vessel, sanctified by the Spirit; spiritual tests and earthly battles and battles against the lust-filled flesh, contesting with evil spirits, constantly warring that they might fulfill the call. Having endured many a hardship of every nature, for the express purpose of pleasing our Lord and in humility still, offering no other explanation but that they remain unprofitable servants. You can be humble or uselessly unprofitable, but you can’t be both.

What need has the Captain of our salvation for soldiers who will not fight? The more challenging the battle, the more we need His command, lending yet more glory to Him from us through our dependence upon Him alone; the more satisfying will be the final day of approaching union in Him.

“17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. 18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.”

All those in Christ are His. God has sanctified you in the faith by His word; read it, study it, learn the truth, and do it. You ought to approach this with fear and sound purpose of heart, for you were made for God and are given to Christ for carrying out the will of God, having been rebirthed and sent into the world to bring glory to the Father as did Christ.

The young must be instructed daily, and the young in Christ must be trained with the express intent to grow them all in the confidence, fear, and admonition of the Lord Jesus Christ to trust and obey Him. His word, as a sword, is the tool for this self-same purpose to bring all men to trust Christ, setting them apart for God, training and encouraging them to be sent by God also into the field, some near and some far, some unto significant burdens lifted, some unto splendid duties added, but all to bring honor publicly to our Father God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

“20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.”

Jesus prayed to do that which He was commanded. That’s plain to say, sometimes tough for us to do, but what of Christ? He gave Himself to the cross with the express purpose of doing the will of the Father. Where has any Christian man found an excuse that doesn’t point directly to Calvary’s hill, leaving him bereft of options but to follow Christ?

Jesus saw His seed on the cross (Isaiah 53:10), those who would be born again, and having endured unto the end, He glimpsed His faithful bride-to-be, knowing He alone could pay the redemption price upon your head. He prayed for you, knowing you would be His own into eternity. Through the ages, disciples have shared the Gospel, doing as Christ did, to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10) so you might believe through the word and be saved. And you owe them also, your forebearers in the faith.

We should never leave Jesus as a type of widower by our faithlessness to follow after. Thousands of years ago, Jesus prayed for you that you would receive and accept the report given by the word of his disciples. Read John 17, understand it, pray, believe, and follow after Christ in faith.

Part One

Romans 9 and 1 Corinthians 1 as references.

There is the offense of the cross and the scandal of the cross. But they, at the center, have much overlapping commonality. It could be the scandal that offends, but both are scandalous and appalling to men.

The New Religion and mock-Christian liberalism are both inclusive, but neither is actual Christianity. At the center of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the exclusive nature of Christ and by Him Christianity.

The Roman Empire had many gods in the first century. So too, the continual influence of the last Greek empire and its philosophies in Christ’s day permeated much of European and Mediterranean basin civilization; the seeking of “new knowledge” and the presence of many gods was in every town and hamlet.

What struck the first century’s polytheistic (and pantheistic) senses as the Gospel went west was that Christians proclaimed one God, a living God, and an undivided title by Him to be made a son of God. To the exclusion of all religions, Christ stands as the only way to have a personal relationship with God. He alone is the door and salvation for entrance into the legitimate flock (John 10:9), which is His Church – the body of Christ; everlasting life in heaven is through Jesus. This is deeply objectionable, still today, and even among some professing Christians.

The world nods in acceptance and approval when you find a new way to have temporary comfort in your own skin. Whether that path is proper or even wholesome doesn’t matter. Everyone is allowed to have his unique god, which does not matter as long as everyone finds the thing that helps him justify his evil while conforming to the modern sense of ethics and morality.

It’s claimed that you can have any savior you like and be secure in your feelings; this is the least objectionable thing in which there is no scandal. Can’t we all get along? But to the mind of the man in Christ, he knows Holy God is deeply offended at making yourself accepted among men in the rejection of Him; Christ said, “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

All those professing to be wise by knowledge and “science” and well-doing, comfortable in their own deception, are brought to ruin in the simplicity, exclusivity, power, and authority of Christ’s cross.

The abject sinfulness and grotesquely open wicked flaunting of sin as pride all started with well-doing. Where else could the works of men, trying to do good, lead but to proclaiming themselves to be free from consequence? These works of faith have led directly to the place warned of by the prophet in Isaiah 5:20, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

All this evil of the New Religion in the West started as well-doing; the works of being a good person but outside of God’s holy law through faith in Jesus Christ is ruinous. They still think they are correct; the claim is that good people are being tolerant. They genuinely believe. You might say, well, I’m not that bad, I would never land in the bed of someone of my own sex, but the works of your own righteousness, whatever they may be, will no less land you in the same hell with them.

Also, today, self-centered humanists are significantly at odds with the message of the cross. As it was from the start, the preaching of the cross two thousand years later is somewhere on the scale of foolishness for them (1 Corinthians 1:18) to causing seething murderous rage (Acts 7:45). Without Christ, you are numbered as an enemy of God.

There’s a movement that’s gained little traction, but we must be on guard. There are those saying that Talmudism (modern Judaism), Mohamedism, and Christianity are all Abrahamic faiths and are, therefore, equally valid. The Talmudists are promoting this but don’t actually believe it and still hate Jesus Christ. This is the subtlety of the devil, a broad way, an easy non-offensive path, but Christ has defeated sin, death, and the grave; Jesus says, “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

Few find it because it must be sought by faith in Jesus and only by faith in Him. Talmudism and Mohamedism are founded in hatred, not in the love of God, who gave His only begotten Son to reconcile sinful man to Himself. It is not holy God that must negotiate with all the faiths; it is men that must be reconciled to God by surrendering to Him through faith in Christ Jesus.

All men are helpless before the God that created them. The evolving god that changes as a man ages and learns, built by the world’s wisdom, is foolishness to holy God (1 Corinthians 1:23-29). But men, in their vanity, assert a god: regardless of the form, the mastery claimed by man is to conceive his god and make that god the symbol of his many illusions so that he may placate his fears of the unknown universe. But it’s not the man that can conceive God but God that creates the man.

“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

Jesus Christ is Lord of all. We must convey that you can, in accordance with the power and authority of Jesus Christ, enter into His kingdom and eternal life in heaven by placing your faith in Him. He died for your sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day. Jesus lived a sinless life, defeating sin on the cross, and He rose again on the third day conquering death and is now seated at the right hand of power in heaven, crowned Ruler and King of all that is. The power and authority of God to make life eternal can be realized by you, in faith, and the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord imparted unto you by the forgiveness of your sin and imputation of Christ’s righteousness.

“Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.” – Romans 9:18

The acceptance of Jesus Christ’s payment for your sins on the cross and sole reliance on Him for eternal life, by faith in His resurrection, is for those that belong to Him mercy, but to those that are not, it lends to a hardened heart. God’s authority over all His creatures and, therefore, the offense of the cross is well shown in this verse. God does what He wants with whom He will, and nobody can tell Him to do otherwise; He is sovereign. But we know that entrance may be gained by much prayer in seeking not to rule God that He changes His mind but by calling upon the mercies of Christ Jesus the Mediator. Nonetheless, God does as it pleases Him with His creatures.

But this exclusive title offered by Christ to become a son of God comes not by the workings of man, for what difference would Jesus Christ make if He were just one more religious figure added to the pantheon of global gods? That notion is no offense to the world or the New Religion. Jesus, the “good guy” and guru of kind living, is easily assimilated into the many false world belief systems, and thereby, Christ, in the mind of the unconverted, becomes just another inoffensive idol among the rest.

A man is not saved by following the moral life of Christ or the ethics of His teaching but by faith; except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God: ye must be born again. Nonetheless, if they would be called friend, those that are His keep His commandments. In fear of the Lord, when He reveals Himself and His divine authority to judge your wicked crimes against him, a man can receive Christ as having taken his substitutionary punishment. As applicable as Christ’s teachings may be, and indeed, obeying Christ’s commands is a fact of life after conversion, the rest is simply religion.

——-

Part Two

No man genuinely converted by Christ chose to become Christian; neither did any man who did not receive Christ get converted.

This statement about the undivided authority of the Almighty to work His will for His unknowable purposes will offend not just unbelievers but 95 percent of professing Christians. Salvation is an exclusive moment. You can join a denomination, church, cult, or movement and perform rituals, rites, recitations, and ceremonies, but that’s not conversion. All other associations exist for the sake of Christianity and not Christianity for the sake of performances; the object of our faith is not ceremony; it’s Christ.

God, in His grace, may reveal to a lost sinner his sin, allow him to see that he’s headed to hell, or leave him fearful without excuse knowing he will stand before the God of creation. All these things are true.

The scandal is this; there’s nothing any man can do but surrender his whole being to the One who made him, accepting that God does that which He will. There’s no way but the cross, and unless God, in His mercy, shows you your need, you’ve been condemned already, a helpless soul headed to an unknown death and an eternity of darkness and separation from God. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost; until the soul of a man knows it’s lost, in need of Jesus, he is unlikely to be found. Here’s the offense, those dead in their sin, except God quicken them through faith in Christ, are damned; all men have sinned against God, and only Jesus can save them.

Except God calls you, there is no heaven for you. You deserve the eternal torture of God for your sin, and until you face this fact, under the power of conviction from the Holy Spirit, the Christ of the Bible is just an imaginary being. Every man’s salvation testimony is unique, but every man who’s been converted has one. A testimony of Christian ceremony is not a conversion covenant with the holy Creator. If your testimony relies upon a ceremony of any kind for eternal life and not upon Christ, why are you waiting? We suppose a man could reject the call of God, but having shown Himself to them, it’s unclear how or why he would. Reading this, God is offering you the way by faith in Christ alone; if you’re feeling helpless right now, you are being called; Jesus is the way!

God doesn’t force Himself on a man; that would not bring love and mutual fellowship but resentment in the man. But in His lovingkindness, our merciful God shows the man his need for Christ. By a thought, God could make all men little robotic automatons of obedience, but that’s not love; that’s tyranny leaving God little better than a petty despot, which He is not. Faith in God’s love and trust in Him through His Son brings salvation!

Starting a discourse about preparing a home in heaven for His followers, Jesus said, “ye believe in God, believe also in me.” Elsewhere, a forewarned seeker, whose child was possessed, cried out in faith with tears unto Christ and said, “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” You must receive the Christ of God.

And so we begin to see a more complete picture of the offense of universal damnation for sin and the scandal of the exclusivity that is the cross of Christ.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” – John 14:6

With God, there is no doubt allowed as to who is the Saviour and who is the way to heaven. Contained therein is the very right of Christ set forth before all men: He claims to be the sole path to heaven for meeting the Maker (Romans 9:21), the Father of us all by faith; if you would be forgiven and made His son being condemned no more and welcomed into eternity.

But you must face some facts; no man comes to God but by Christ. That is the most offensive claim ever made, and they killed Him for it. For we are designed to seek a god, as religious beings, to have a god, and Jesus, being the only way, destroys all the imaginations of the hearts of men, leaving them helpless at the mercy of He who says, “I Am.” Salvation isn’t merely through Christ, but only through Christ. Other means are hereby resolutely rejected, leaving a man helpless and thus deeply offended in his pride.

If Jesus weren’t the only way, but just another way, He would have been gladly added everywhere to the list of fine men who’ve benefited history with excellent teaching on lofty living, and there would be no persecution of His followers. But being the only Saviour, exclaimed by those in Christ who must abide by their new nature never to deny Him, brings hatred from all corners to the Christian man. The name of Jesus is hated the world over by those that remain in their sin, but unto us that are saved by His grace, we know, neither is there salvation in any other. The religious despise Jesus most of all, even today, and two thousand years ago if He had been just another teacher of good things, they would not have tortured Him to death.

If the offense of the cross is done away with by inclusiveness, so too is the glory in Christ’s power by the resurrection gone. The simple question remains, do you believe in the power and authority of Jesus Christ to save your eternal soul; will you be converted through faith in Jesus Christ? Christ has bound all men’s hope of peace, faith in God, love, redemption, forgiveness, grace, new birth, soul salvation, and eternity in heaven to His person. Jesus isn’t only a good life, He didn’t teach merely another truth, and He isn’t only a way; He is the way, the truth, and the life.

The offense of exclusivity and the scandal of the cross is the beauty of Christ to those who belong to Him by faith.

“24 And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. 25 This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. 26 And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. 27 And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace: 28 For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publickly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ.” – Acts 18:24-28

This section of Acts is a tightly-knit example of discipleship to us today. View it in this context and not merely as a historical aside.

Introduction.

Not necessarily enjoying character studies from the Bible; nonetheless, we find several important markers in Apollos of a man willing to mature in his faith and serve Jesus Christ. Some folks suspect Apollos wrote the New Testament book of Hebrews. But in any case, he received instruction, verified what he was shown by searching the Scripture, grew thereby, and preached Jesus Christ whithersoever the Lord sent him. That, brethren, is Christianity in a nutshell, as God would lead and have us serve; yield yourself unto God as one who has been made alive from the dead, making yourself an instrument of Christ.

Many are willing to be taught but never verify, with God, the integrity of the instruction. That’s how they end up in Christian-sounding cults. Many are eager to be instructed and do absolutely nothing with what they’ve been taught except enjoy a good feeling. They also err. Worst of all, some folks claim to know all they need, rejecting a love for God’s holy word when they should take it upon their honor to become a lifelong student of the sacred writ.

These few verses from Acts teach us exactly how to grow and serve. You might object, saying that you’re not called to preach, but we are all witnesses for Jesus Christ (Mark 16:15), and how shall you answer the man seeking God except you know His holy word to expound the truth to them more perfectly, as Aquila and his wife did with Apollos? Your faithful service may be the spark by which Holy God raises another Spurgeon, Whitefield, or Edwards! Look at what mighty work Aquila and Priscilla did by spreading the truth of Jesus Christ.

Points of instruction.

First, learn by personal study and seeking sound preaching for the purposes of growing in the faith. Growth is sometimes uncomfortable; get over it; God desires your service, having saved you to walk in the works He has foreordained for you to accomplish, and the kingdom needs you, for what kingdom can flourish with ignorant and slack citizens?

Second, verify in Scripture the accuracy of all teaching, taking no man’s word it, but praying for understanding from holy God alone, searching the Scriptures for yourself. Apollos did, so should you search the Scriptures daily (Acts 17:11); are these things so? He took seriously the public responsibility of carrying the marker Christian with his name.

Thirdly, be a life-long learner of the word of God. Please don’t allow the understanding that you will never comprehend the entire Bible to discourage you. But apprehending the walk of faith rightly, you are blessed never to stop learning, growing, drawing nigh to the throne of God, bringing glory to Christ, and being sanctified for Father God’s great purposes, which we can only see half darkly now, but knowing all will soon be revealed. Apollos learned (Verse 25), and continued to be instructed (Verse 26).

If we knew all the answers, it wouldn’t be faith! It’s an honor to be born again; look at the gift you’ve received, and pray to the Giver that you will walk worthy of your calling in Christ.

Notes from the text.

In verse 24, we find that Apollos is a student of the word of God, mighty in the scriptures. Believing firmly in the providence of Holy God, it seems to us that Apollos was sent to Ephesus for this very reason; to meet and be further trained by Aquila and his wife. The Christian ought to see life as something other than random chance but readily accept the fortuitous meetings that the Lord appoints. And the Lord may also present a negative contact from which to learn. In all these, give thanks unto the Father because He loves you enough to continue enlightening you in the faith. Also, by the foreordination of God, for whatever practical reason Apollos may have perceived he was traveling, the Lord was already making him an evangelist by practice.

Doing what the Lord says is critical for the life of the believer to continue to walk in faith. The whole object of this life in Christ is to live by faith, from initial salvation to serving Him in love and truth, up to the end, in reliance on Him to take us into heaven. Your faith brings glory to the Father through Christ, our Saviour. And your failures prove His will; we often say the will of God is found in the Holy Bible. If you think you’ve heard from God, yet it doesn’t align with Scripture, then be cautious. For Apollos, he was a man of the book.

In verse 25, Apollos is shown as having been instructed yet willing to be further advised and also to teach. Though, being a student of the Old Testament and a disciple of John, he knew that Christ must come, but he lacked complete knowledge of the New Covenant. Sound encouragement for us on this point is found in the duty Apollos took upon himself, and Acts 17:11 also applies.

He had received some formal training, it appears, but as Mark Twain may have said, don’t let your schooling get in the way of your education. Apollos continued to pursue the truth of God’s word, adding more completely to what he had been taught.

Life for the believer is much different on this side of the cross for us, than for the Old Testament saints. We have the historical record of Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. And for Apollos, a firm foundation in the Old Testament; though he didn’t have the New Testament, it was being written upon his heart as he received the truth of Jesus Christ from the disciples and apostles. What more excellent advantage have we also to have the New Testament record, yet we do less with it?

We are supposed to share the Gospel with the lost and encourage the saints. Hide the word in your heart that you might not sin against God, but then share it with others that in so doing iron would sharpen iron among the brethren, and sow the seeds of faith by His word among lost souls for they must all hear of Christ our King.

In verse 26, we see again that Apollos is willing to be instructed further, and beyond doubt if he hadn’t heard, Aquila told him that one Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ (1 Corinthians 15:3-4), and the New Covenant had arrived. John 14:1 comes to mind.

These few verses are as much about Aquila and Priscilla as Apollos. They found a man of good faith and taught him in the way of a disciple of Jesus Christ. They did it on purpose with a goal in mind; they took him and expounded unto him the way of God by intentionally training him. It may be that nobody sets about to teach you how to grow in the Lord, but in either case, you must, as Apollos and Aquila did, prepare yourself from Scripture, seek faithful saints from which to learn, and also teach. This section of Acts is a tightly-knit example of discipleship to us today.

Aquila didn’t pursue unwilling subjects to conform them into good little cultural Christians. Sent by God, he found a man, able, willing, and seeking.

In verses 27 and 28, having been converted by grace, Apollos taught and preached with all the more boldness. Even if you only teach a man for a brief season, as Aquila did, or in just a few points of doctrine, you may be setting firm foundations in a future preacher or teacher, missionary, or evangelist. This is serious stuff and oughtn’t to be viewed lightly or pursued haphazardly. All of Heaven desires these things from you, and God will prepare and equip you if, and only if, you will walk by faith, learning from failures as much as from successes, relying on the word of God as your preeminent source and guide.

Conclusion.

Apollos showed publicly, from the Scripture to the lost, that Jesus was the Christ. This requires some things; prayer, knowing the Scripture (study/reading) to present, carrying your bible, and expounding on it to lost souls. Also important is being strengthened and encouraged in the religion by assembling together with other believers. None of this is difficult, but it will take time, commitment, and, most of all, faith.

And so we see the confidence of Aquila, his faithful wife by his side, and Apollos to go where God leads, be taught by others, study the word, and then to go make more disciples of all the nations (Matthew 28:18-20).

“Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” – Romans 2:4

Often spoken of is the condition of man in sin against His holy Creator God, but an understanding of the glories of heaven to be had through Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour may also come through a concrete hope in God’s patience.

Those who despise God reject the riches of goodness He sheds upon all men. The basest of creatures receives his sustenance, and the wicked rulers have wealth beyond imagination. The forbearance of God in longsuffering toward man is a measure of His grace, but it’s not eternal.

Required for eternity is repentance by the realization that though you have broken every command, flaunted His holy law, rejected His innumerable mercies of goodness and patience, He remains the God of peace in the loving hope of you forsaking your own understanding and seeking that which is higher than the mere daily sustainment that He provides.

The Almighty provides all good things, and you repay Him how? It’s not that you ever could repay, for all things are His, but you ought to acknowledge and repent of falsely accepting as permanent those things which can be taken in a moment. Hard times make hard men, but they also make soft hearts toward Holy God.

Difficulties will come, but they needn’t make a man bitter; seeing the goodness of God requires a proper perspective. You will know He is God, look at all He gives, and pray ye to accept Him in life and not meet Him in the horror of eternal death when the damned of all the world shall be judged, for every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. In the simplicity of acknowledging the favor He has shown, please don’t harden your heart, considering yourself worthy of your own ends.

“5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; 6 Who will render to every man according to his deeds” – Romans 2:5-6

It’s the callousness of the heart, the pride of life, unrepentant of sin, the assurance of reliance upon only that which may be seen or touched that brings upon a man the wrath of God, who in His mercy, day after day, has fed you and given blessings generations past could only dream. Knowing the goodness of God, you store up barns full of provision, all the while accumulating wrath against the day of judgment that hunts down all men, for one day the stores will empty, even if the Almighty in His patience forbears until the day of your death; the wrath of God abides on all who reject the mercy of God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ.

Riches will not save you. So few accept the revelation of the righteous judgment of God before it’s too late, and the day comes upon them when they are left without excuse, naked and helpless before God who knows your deeds. But to all men is God evident, whether having been reckoned by faith being made dead unto sin but alive in Christ; or you who have not obeyed the truth of God what will become of you? So devilish is the lie, ‘be your own man,’ no man is his own or ever has been. Two permanent events level the field for every living soul: death and the truth of the cross where Christ was nailed, crucified for your sin.

Without Christ, death mocks you and will take all that you are; hell’s calling is so subtle that you pretend it doesn’t hold sway.

There is no question mark in verse 6 above. It’s the Mighty God, who is the Lord most high, that will render to every man according to his deeds: to the man who surrenders to Christ our King everlasting life and to the disobedient man, having rejected the truth you will arrive at the indignation of the wrath of God heaping an eternity of tribulation and anguish upon your head. The Lord God knows if you are in rebellion or in transgression; which will it be, heaven or hell?

Therefore by faith in Jesus Christ, who died to pay the horrible debt you owe, your ledger can be wiped clean of the wrath of hell, having your name changed from among the damned to be numbered with those who reside in the hope of eternal life that abides in Christ. Because He rose again from the grave the third day, the covenant in the blood of God’s only begotten Son is now offered, seeing that the resurrection is the validation of His life-giving power; He will put the seal of God on your soul that the time of death would no longer grip you.

“To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life” – Romans 2:7

So having been added to the body of Christ, if you will, rightly fit for service, just like our God in patient continuance, always going about in well doing, for what would a son of God do but try to be just like his heavenly Father? But not of your own power but altogether, having the Holy Spirit of God and backed by the throne of God who goes before His servants making their way straight, you can see the Kingdom of God, by the grace of God, brought to bear at the workings of your own hand.

Every man wants glory and honor now but also to keep the gift of eternal life in Christ to come. But the glory of treasure we seek is for our King to have, and the only possible honor to bestow must be upon the judge of all the earth, the Lord of lords, Jesus Christ. In salvation comes the service of God, who seeks a different treasure, as His pinnacle creation, the mind-heart-soul of man; your mind, your contrite heart, offer your soul back to the One who created it.

Some reminders, foundational instruction for us, and a few points of core importance to the Christian faith are set forth. Parts of this may appear as a simple Sunday School lesson to some, but we often meet folks who lack these baseline principles of the workings of God. As you read, some meat may be found in opening the Scripture and examining the context surrounding the cited verses.

Where Deuteronomy in the Old Testament is the foremost book of the law doctrine given to Moses, the book of Romans is the primary book on the New Covenant doctrine of grace by faith in Christ. Hebrews has much weight to lend to these foundational principles by showing how the Old Testament law of sacrifice was fulfilled in Christ, but it’s Romans to the mind of the man in the new birth through faith in Christ Jesus, that must be studied and understood to know the full import of faith by grace in Christ’s atoning death, burial, and resurrection.

We’ll look at several sections in Romans bringing three vital truths.

The Reward of Debt or of Grace.

“4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” – Romans 4:4-5

The reward is the consideration in repayment, but Christ is the final and full payment to Holy God for your sin. To those who seek or attempt to maintain soul salvation by works of their own doing, they are not under grace but debt. You could read this burden as debt after faith because you love God for saving your soul by faith, but though we commend the believer’s service, that’s not what is meant in verse 4. Verse five is included for context.

The debt spoken of is sin debt to God, as though a man were worthy to offer up to God anything to repay God for violation of His holy law. (See Romans 11:6.) If you try to work your way into heaven, you make the grace of God through the offering of His own Son of no effect, having rejected Christ’s humiliation in offering Himself on your behalf. I greatly fear the end of these men.

Works salvation is an impossibility in the first place because God already owns you (Ezekiel 18:4), and all things you have or could ever give are His granted to you. A man has nothing to give because all of creation is God’s! That’s why the blood of bulls or goats could never fully satisfy God’s wrath for sin but only put it off temporarily (Hebrews 10:4). Though you kill a thousand fine heifers, the justification for sin was always through faith.

But most importantly, and the doctrinal point of Romans chapter 4, is that no man shall be justified except by faith in Jesus Christ. It’s Christ’s work, His atonement fulfilling the promise of faith given to Abraham, the father of our faith. The assurance was not given for creating heirs through the law of Moses (Deuteronomy) by works but through the righteousness of faith. If the heirs of the kingdom were by the law, then the law of grace is void and of no effect, and you remain lost to burn for eternity.

“13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect” – Romans 4:13-14

But righteousness was not imputed to Abraham alone. It is written to us in the Old Testament and New Testament that by faith alone, those who would come to Christ, who is the justifier of all, shall be justified; for none other, including any works of our own at all, can justify.

How is a man justified? Speaking of Abraham: “23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” – Romans 4:23-25

There is a chapter break after Romans 4 and verse 25, but the rounding out and summarizing statement of Chapter 4 is in verse 1 of Chapter five, and we’ll include verse two for context: “1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” – Romans 5:1-2

Therefore, since the justification of the ungodly (sinner) is by faith and not repayment through works or human activity of any kind, we stand fast in the grace of God through the blood of Jesus Christ. We pray you never lose sight of the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus.

Sin By One and Atonement By One

Next, Romans 5:12 is a verse we often cite in many circumstances. It points back to the fall, where sin entered into the world, and evil becomes inherited by all men, for all men sin and die.

Adam is a figure of Jesus but only in federal headship over all men. We understand that you didn’t make Adam your federal head, but that’s just tough; the sooner you get over the fact that you’re not God and He is, the better everything will become for you and your civilization. The number of humanist Christians is alarming, if they’re actually converted by Christ, which we doubt.

In the single offense of unrighteousness, Adam, in violation of God’s holy ordinance in the covenant He made, came sin and death, both of which passed to all men. But, the figure of Adam is only in that universal imputation; through one (Adam) was sin ascribed to all, and therefore death passes upon all men.

In Christ is the perfect fulfillment of the covenant of God, that forgiveness by the grace of God might pass to all men by faith in Christ, who gave himself a ransom for all, fulfilling God’s plan according to the many prophecies of Scripture, and testified of today by those who know Him as the true and living King. Christ alone is the federal head of salvation from the sin you inherited. There are two inheritances; eternal life or eternal damnation.

“15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.” – Romans 5:15-16

The purpose of the law in the New Covenant

Another concept of Romans is essential and often misunderstood by modern evangelicals, believers of many stripes, and unbelievers. The notion that the law is of no use today and contrary to the purposes of the Christian in service to our Lord, drawing his family nigh to the throne of God, is wrong. Also, the law of God must serve as societal and governmental boundaries for the man, the body of Christ, the family, and the entire nation.

“11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. 12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” – Romans 7:11-12

Sin, when seen in the light of the law in the word of God, makes our sinful condition apparent. It’s not the law that causes death but the sin that the law reveals. The law of God is still perfect, holy, and just. Sin deceives us, and we deceive ourselves in sin, attempting to blame God for the perfection of His commands. And often, we are brought into thinking we’re not sinful, it doesn’t matter, or that somehow we are self-justified in our words or deeds. We also point out that the grace of God found in Christ is not license to sin.

When a man says he hates God’s law or even simply rejects it, he is, in fact, saying that the Holy Bible has revealed his sin, and he doesn’t know how to deal with that knowledge. This is an opportunity to understand the grace of God in the New Covenant; it was never the law that saved, but only faith. If you’re reading this and struggle with faith in God, understand that the rules outlined in the Holy Bible are not, and never were, designed to free you or put you in a forgiven position with God. Yes, indeed, the law of God is binding, and that’s the point; you need the grace of God to bring forgiveness for your inability to keep any set of rules, let alone the perfect letter of the highest and holy law in creation set forth by our heavenly Creator.

You need Jesus Christ, for He paid through obedience where you never could or ever will. Have the faith that Christ’s obedience today stands good for you before Holy God; make your covenant with Jesus to belong to Him. No amount of religious law or ceremony will save your soul; you must be Christ’s.

It’s by the ordinance that we know sin even today. When the Spirit of God convicts a sinner, be it unto initial salvation or working in the soul unto consecration, all instances have a related section of the law that has been trampled.

Again, by the law is the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20). No man is justified in keeping the law, for he cannot maintain the whole, but justification comes only by faith in Christ and Him crucified.

Verse 7 of Romans seven offers the example; thou shalt not covet. The cravings men claim in their desires they self-justify as requirements all day long, seeking that which is not only unnecessary but sinful or wicked. In our nature, we sin, having no knowledge that these lusts are wrong until the law is revealed by Scripture or Spirit. God’s holy law is good and does not kill. But the sin that the law reveals in us shows the end in us, which is death (Romans 6:23). Perfect obedience is not the point, but the fear of God by awareness of sin through knowledge of the law brings us to function in the service of Christ.

Believers today also fail God when they reject the law because they don’t allow it to convict them that they might purge their sins, one by one, being set apart now, drawing ever closer to the Holy One. Having first received the law of grace, the law in ordinances is an aid in refining the man that he be made worthy to carry the title of Christian, by faith, belonging to Christ as his King, and having no other.

Where the law of commandments is the conviction for sin, the law of grace is not allowance of sin, but forgiveness from sin. The law of God is the conviction of sin unto death; the law of grace is the mercy of God unto eternal life.

The maturing Christian comes to love the law of God, for it points out our weakness, enlightening the eyes to just how holy our Creator and Redeemer truly is; the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous by any measure of depth or breadth. The law points us to our need for Christ to grow ever closer to Him. The law directs us to understand our wicked ways so that we might be active participants in the purging of our sins, for it’s sin that separates the man from his God. And the law of the Lord is perfect to convert the sinner to walk in the love and light of Jesus Christ our Lord by faith alone. The law only ever pointed to the grace of Christ by faith in Him.

We’ve already explored why you are made in the Image and Likeness of God in three parts; One, Two, and Three. Those posts, starting from Genesis, regard what our final estate will be. And we previously posted on this very topic discussing The Image of Christ.

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 [Isaiah 53], 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.

The Stoic Christian, who I’m not very familiar with but seems solid in doctrine from what I’ve read, has a succinct article about artwork depicting Jesus, wherein this question is raised based on the Second Commandment. This is a consideration we’d not made previously.

Theologians often grapple with the question of visual representations of God and the incarnation of Christ. This document explores the four main objections raised by the Orthodox and Reformed traditions regarding visual representations of God and provides insights into the theological discourse surrounding this topic.

1. Violation of the second commandment

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: [Exodus 20:4 KJV]

The objection stems from the belief that creating pictures of Jesus or God goes against the second commandment, which prohibits making idols. Critics argue that visual depictions of God, made by human hands, can lead to idolatry. They refer to Old Testament descriptions of pagan idols made of earthly materials, incapable of hearing, seeing, or acting.

The question arises: Do visual representations of Jesus, whether in Sunday School books, galleries, or places of worship, amount to idolatry? Furthermore, how should we understand the relationship between the unique revelation of God in the incarnation and visual depictions of that Word?

The other three concise objections are at the link.

It has occurred to me that many problems in some churches and church groups have arisen from idolatry, which is not a stretch since the word of God is replete with warnings. A question was asked, why is sodomy rampant in certain churches, sects, and denominations? God warns us in Romans 1 of this path when making idols of creatures.

“23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.”

Now, doubtless, Christ is not a creature but the Creator (Colossians 1:16); nonetheless, He is the image of God not in appearance but in manifest power, grace, truth, and by instruction in righteousness (John 1:14). Images of an effeminate or beautiful Jesus have their own disrespectful effect on the senses. The Image of Christ is His holy word (the Holy Bible); after all, He is the word made Flesh (again John 1:14). He is the Son of God and having been raised from the dead: “And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:” – Romans 1:4. Context is critical, this declaration is near the outset of the entire Romans thesis on New Covenant doctrine, and before verses 23 through 25 above. Having risen from the dead, all power also given Him (Matthew 28:18), He is The Word of God (Revelation 19:13) coming to destroy His enemies and bringing in His kingdom.

The recent case in New York about the defense of others on the subway will undoubtedly be politicized, and the laws will be abused for those purposes with no respect of persons but to discriminate wrongfully, trashing God’s ordained laws of justice. It would be quite remarkable if any just application of the law were found in this case.

The Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution comes from the ancient biblical legal foundation of not treating persons differently in matters of law as a magistrate or juror. It’s respect of persons, which is not respect for persons. Respect for persons requires discernment and, yes, discrimination in the classical sense of the word.

Though not about firearms, the case concerns the defense of others, something every CCW should consider carefully and pray about. You must know the laws in your state about using deadly force to defend others. It’s biblical to protect those less able from unlawful harm of all forms by the use of arms or other means. If we are commanded to rescue our neighbor’s Ox from the ditch, how much more important, made in the image of God, is the defense of our less capable neighbor?

Here are two articles concerning the matter.

Defending Law And Order Is Social Justice

Rewriting the Parable of the Good Samaritan

The parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37 is considered.

But first, as background, respect of persons in the Holy Bible applies only to law. It stems from Leviticus 19:15 and has nothing to do with outcomes of equality or equity among men and surely not forced results. See also Proverbs 24:23.

Proverbs 28:21 perfectly makes the application as to why any person representing the law of the land must show non-bias. “To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that man will transgress.” What would a judge do for a bit of bread? Some areas of the world operate on “greasing the wheels.” Christendom was supposed to be different (Acts 24:26), but look no further than Congress receiving bread to bias the law, and here we are. There’s a reason money is sometimes referred to as bread and now you know why. Anyone in a position of authority is bound to this Bible truth and will be judged by the Almighty, including parents with their children, teachers, pastors, supervisors, civil leadership, business owners, etc. It’s the Law of God. And James 2:9 says failing to adhere is a sin.

Next, respect of persons in the law of salvation is considered. God is no respecter of persons; all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God by breaking His law and all will be judged rightly on that terrible day. But neither does salvation in Christ grant license to sin. Salvation in Christ is a judicial matter before the courts of heaven as to how you will make restitution to God for your transgressions against Him.

Romans 2:11 mentions respect of persons, and verses 12-16 explain why in God’s law, all men need Christ Jesus, both the Jew and Gentile: if you sin in the law (of Moses / 10 Commandments), you’re judged by that law and die in hell without Christ. If you sin outside the law of Moses (a Gentile), your conscience bears witness, through God’s law written on your heart, about your sin against Him; without Christ, you also burn in hell. That’s God’s law concerning soul salvation without respect of persons; you must have Christ Jesus, as your mediator before the Judge, by faith to enter into eternal life.

That’s how Jesus completed the law by making the final necessary offering, and that of Himself, to God so you might be found not guilty if you place your faith in His payment to God by believing His sacrificial death on the cross is sufficient to cover your sin debt. Christ rose again the third, proving He has the power to go to God for you as your intermediary, or great High Preist proclaiming you to be His by right of payment; by faith in Him, you make this covenant to become His purchased possession, a bondservant of the King, no more bound to death and hell, but an everlasting heir with Christ in the household of God. I say to you, my friends, it’s a far better gig than being trapped by sin under the law of either Moses or conscience; He says: “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Much lighter than a life mired in the horrors of sin and its ever-worsening consequences and so much more, for liberty in Christ eradicates the law where men were bound to a set of rules they could never attain. Praise be to God.

Now, the precursive conversation that leads to Jesus’ parable and some application. Context is king. Understanding the parable correctly requires understanding its purpose. Here’s the beginning of the exchange between a lawyer and Jesus that sets the parable’s intent and meaning.

“25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? 26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou? 27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. 28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.” – Luke 10:25-28

So far, so good, but then comes the tempting in verse 29.

“But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?”

If your church skips discussing justification and goes straight to an explanation about who your neighbor is, I’ll caution that you may be in a liberal church. No man will justify Himself before God.

Remember, the question before us is one of law: be it the law of Moses or that which God wrote on your heart. The lawyer is confronted with a matter of Bible law from which comes our now-ending system of jurisprudence that began to mold and then guided Western Civilization since the Gospel went into Europe.

Next, this bit of commentary from the second link above (Rewriting the Parable of the Good Samaritan), though essentially right in its assertions, has glaring results of the dumbed downed churches in America.

“This was the story of a man who was robbed, beaten and left for dead. A priest and a Levite both saw the beaten man and walked past him, crossing to the other side of the street. But the Samaritan stopped to help the injured man, attending to his wounds, bringing him to an inn, paying the innkeeper to care for the injured man until he was well.”

I realize that article is about current events, but some necessary background would be helpful. Why did the Preist and Levite walk by, even crossing to the other side of the street? They were trying to follow the letter of the law and not become unclean by touching a sinner, getting blood on themselves, or helping a man that might die in their arms. Remember the context, Jesus is talking to a lawyer about Bible law. The Preist and Levite should have violated the immediate letter of the law concerning purification to save the man, then gone through the ceremonial tasks of making themselves “clean” again under the law. It would have burdened them more to take the time to separate themselves from family, fellowship, and work to be purified again than it would to have helped the man. They used the law as an excuse for not doing the right thing; beware the leaven of the Pharisees.

And finally, here’s the parable:

“30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, 34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.”

And Christ’s necessary final exchange with the lawyer whose question was, who is my neighbor?

“36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? 37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.”

It’s a merciful duty to defend yourself and others.

Concluding statements. Some states have had statutes on the books where a citizen must help somebody whose life is under threat, making it criminal to do what the Preist and the Levite did. That’s taking Jesus at His word and applying it seriously as a people, as it should be again. In post-Christian America, the law of Christ is fading fast. In much of Europe, it’s now illegal to defend yourself from murder, let alone somebody else under threat. That’s not at all Christian.

Atheists, Agnostics, and mushy Christians declare there is no need for God or His law in government or society; keep your religion private they demand. Look around at the darkening landscape: behold, injustice and violence in all quarters in the absence of the Law of God.

That’s some background to help you understand what’s at stake as a result of the recent event in New York on the subway and the case in Austin, Texas with Daniel Perry. The overall trend in Western law as America comes under judgment is an outright abuse of hundreds of years of Western jurisprudence by removing the biblical foundation of the law including that of having no respect of persons and considering rightly the duty of defense as a good neighbor in light of understanding proper application of the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Material Wealth has Driven America to a Poverty of the Soul.

I’ve been reading some Machen. The introduction of his short work, Christianity and Liberalism, is an excellent snapshot of the progressive conquest up to 1915 or so. The leaps the communists have made are clear from that starting point forward. This post is random thoughts, less so on the depth of the problem, but offers, from my own negative experience, some possible solutions.

Public schooling has reduced all education to a simple tactic, obeying the State expert and paraphrasing information, willfully neglecting consideration of that information’s purpose, usefulness, or validity. But it’s gotten worse still, full of communist dogma.

That system has been so deeply ingrained that Christian education is little more than State education without the overt worship of centralized authority. However, even then, most Christian schools still teach government worship while adding veneers of wholesomeness or tradition that are also accurately described as teaching helplessness but with Christian-sounding words and themes. Changing a curriculum is not enough if it still teaches children to remain dependent on the thoughts of other men.

Under the communist program, all hope of a child later finding his true purpose and potential is gone before ten years of age. Please don’t do this to your children; don’t teach them, as the heathen religions do, to reject the honest exploration of God’s purposes in anything. The object must be for boys to fill them with the ability to do things more significant than themselves. When boys hit young adulthood, they desire to be part of something bigger than themselves, for their people.

Gone from modern society in the last 100 years or more are excellent and beautiful art of all types. Also absent is the study of science, which the Christian correctly defines as the examination of God’s creation and His created order; science should always look for God’s purpose in a thing, or science itself becomes a false religion. To the religious mind, understanding that sin exists, where evil appears in creation, does not excuse that evil for some purported greater good in the name of “science.” Science absent from God can only lead to one place; mass murder.

There are no literary works of worth, probably because people must be taught how to write but are only shown what to repeat for a grade. Writing starts with critical thought upon the ponderance of an idea. Or, it begins with something else for the creative mind; I don’t know what that is; ask them.

The purpose of this is not yet another litany of complaints but to present a few ideas we hope will help. Sadly, almost all of these suggestions come not from positive experiences but from negative ones, so untested they remain.

I’m not claiming to be a good writer here. Of course, good writing starts with reading complex and rich texts, which is not the primary, but one reason that I reject all modern translations of the Bible. Reading that educates and teaches a man to think requires work to understand and, in the case of the Holy Bible, prayer. Much of the purpose of reading should be not to assimilate information but to teach the mind to take ideas and apply them critically, teaching how to think. Don’t teach children to read things to know what is said, becoming consumers of other men’s thoughts; they must read rich and complex texts thinking for themselves. Avoiding specific texts is prudent, but reading should teach how to think, not what to think; children learn that from listening to parents daily.

One positive is that my father taught me how to read and instilled a particular love for reading, or more precisely, respect. The Department of Defense, for all its flaws, taught me how to teach myself. That didn’t come by general instruction offered to every recruit but from a small program that required not compliance with orders but problem-solving in a unique environment. But, the point is, people can be taught how to teach themselves; this is a gift of immeasurable value to impart to somebody. Teach your children neither by rote nor through informing but by showing them how to learn and teach themselves.

It’s been many years since meeting a heritage American who speaks more than one language, other than missionaries who get trained as adults. So thorough is the brainwashing that folks with language knowledge are viewed with suspicion. There may be a sound basis for that; foreigners bring foreign ideas, but Christians shouldn’t consider teaching language to their children as some anti-civilization enterprise; quite the contrary. Otherwise, why do we train missionaries in language except to bring the great truth of Christ to that people’s dying souls and meaningless religions? Much of the spreading of quality of life beyond Europe had a humble beginning in the missionary work of extending the Gospel to every creature. Giving the heathen skills and resources makes them merely a more effective enemy of Christ; they need salvation.

Missing are complex and rich music, local agriculture and horticulture, and training in religion, including the history of the Church. Everything seems geared toward repeating what some other person has discovered or produced, perhaps worthy, perhaps not, but gone is the free expression of ideas, teaching children to think for themselves and act on their own accord under the law of grace.

Material wealth has driven America to a poverty of the soul. All aptitudes of intellect and physical ability are of God. This is the root of the problem; denying God’s grace in ordinating men’s gifts or talents denies the grant’s purpose from the giver. Of course, the converted must walk by faith in using the spiritual and material facilities that God endows. Our purpose on earth is to glorify Holy God; this is why He made each individual the way they are and gives children aptitudes toward certain enterprises so that they may bring glory to God in those pursuits.

I’m not sure that American Christians believe what the Holy Bible says; the communist project has been so thorough that it’s hard to know where to start, but as with all things, prayer and the word of God must be first.

To grow children in resurgent traditional heritage America, outside help with language, music, art, natural science, etc., is needed. Other than old books, I don’t know where to get good help, but language training needs to start well before eight years old, and so does music training. Where to get training not overrun with the effects of willfully making children dumb and dependent on central authority is a huge problem even in Christian curriculum.

Civilization is gone because of the loss of classical liberal education. Just using the words liberal education causes consternation; since the War of Northern Aggression, communist demagogues have entirely destroyed the word liberal.

The point is that the simplicity that is in Christ is the foundation and root of all expression that lifts man, causing his mind to wonder at what he could create, his soul to yearn for a better day, and his heart to seek well and thoroughly the gifts that God has given not that he may walk in the uselessness of private knowledge but that he may bless his fellow man through works using the skills that God has ordained. The grace of God teaches us to share our gifts, for He shared His own Son upon a cross for our sin against Him, bringing the miracle of salvation unto eternal life in us through the resurrection. And He continues to teach us through His word and lead through His Spirit.

Teaching children to be anti-state is not enough; they must be pro-civilization and pro-culture of grace and love. Teaching children merely the basis of knowledge is quicksand over generations as each loses a small fraction. Preparing children in anything, however right and proper, without emphasis on our duty to Christ to be of service to civilization will not save the next generations.

Communism or socialism isn’t the only problematic cause. The hyper-personalization of Christianity is destroying the religion. Personal soul salvation is not the end; it’s the beginning, the launching pad from which the great faith of grace and truth in Jesus Christ is to permeate all aspects of society. Hiding Christianity away will not save it, for the agents of evil will not be satisfied with merely locking you in your church buildings or limiting you to silent prayer. Nor will they tolerate compromise within the word of God when Christians allow adding theoretical origins and hypotheses to the creation and other events in the Old and New Testaments. Evil will not stop its march if we integrate sciency-sounding excuses into the faith of the Old Testament forefathers. If science “proved” Christ never walked the earth (because that’s the direction we’re headed), would you still believe? Would you still earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints?

Though solid doctrine hid well in the heart that we might not sin against God is foundational, and teachers of the Christian religion abound, but where are the doers of the word, where are those dedicated to the Lord of the harvest, how are His fields ripe for the picking but left fallow? Hyper-personalization leading to a secret selfish religion is how Christianity shrinks to a mere ember. Evil will never be satisfied until Christ casts Himself down from the pinnacle of the temple. But the grace of the cross exists because Christ had a mission; do you think you’re immune to the onslaught of evil or that neglecting the assignments of a disciple will save you or your people?

All things come by the grace of God, for He owns all things. That simple fact produces character in the young, humility before the Creator builds love in a man’s soul. I deeply fear that God must take our material ease from us to bring us back to faith and knowledge of He who created and bestowed these things upon us.

The government has its own project of dependence, but God will not long compete with this mocking. The tremendous redemptive religion that is in Christ appears backed into a corner with enemies on all sides. Still, we reckon that’s just how Christ likes to fight, up close, personal: restorative or damning to the hearer of the word, for a man chooses his way upon contact from God, heaven or hell?

Read Joshua 23 and 24. We have gone the wrong way in all things, yet God offers a choice.

There is a longing for traditional ways, but it’s not enough to be anti-modern. There must be more than pious-sounding yet vacuous religious tenets for the building of a resurgence. With all assuredness, we begin in our own houses first. From there, the way to a future for our people is through knowledge of the giver of all graces who granted dominion to us over His creation, and becoming doers of the word in the name of Jesus Christ.