This week I was reintroduced to a good friend. This friend of mind has been home with the Lord for 29 years now and I can hardly listen to his music without going back in my head and heart to those days of youth; me and Marilyn fresh in our new birth listening to Keith Green and those crystal clear lyrics. Keith was born October 21, 1953 and died, along with two of his children, in an airplane accident, only 28 years old. Keith was unashamedly a Christian, and knew why he believed, and preached his belief through great music.

Marilyn and I would sit and listen to Keith and others and question, and probe, and search for truth. Keith’s ministry was a loud speaker in those days, penetrating our darkness with the light we craved. In the years since then many things and challenges have come and gone, but the search for truth in this world of darkness has never waned. To sit back and re-listen to all those wonderful songs fills me with sadness, sorrow, joy, and a vibrant life, which sometimes gets lost in our present circumstances. Keith's songs bring me back to what is important; he did it then, and he's doing it now.

I shed a tear for Keith and his wife, and for all those who are searching and just can’t seem to find anything solid to stand on. Be my guest and listen to this music video and allow Keith’s words speak to your heart.

We here at IndyWatchman love you.

Steve and Marilyn Blackwell 

by glennchristopherson

I know a lot of nice people and some of them are Christians.

Where do we start an examination of “truth,” well, at the beginning would be a good place, so let’s go back to Genesis and the Garden of Eden.

The common story of the “beginning” seems to always start and finish with the disobedience of eating the forbidden fruit. That is all well and good, but much is being left out. A few questions need to be asked:

·         Why the test

·         What is the significance of the test

·         Why is the “knowledge of good and evil” a bad thing

·         Why is it important today

Let’s go back to before the eating of the fruit, when things were good between man and God. God walked with Adam and Eve, and there was an open, harmonious, relationship; not like today. Adam, not knowing “evil,” instinctively knew the right thing to say and do, always. He was not distracted with all the mental gymnastics that accompany decision making now.  Answers and solutions flowed easily from a mind uninhibited by contrary thought processes and guilt.  All of nature was in sync and operated according to a perfect order. It was a time that we can only dream about; the stuff fairy tales are made of. Adam and Eve never spent time considering a better life than what they had; trying to imagine a more perfect perfection doesn’t even make sense. They were perfectly content.

In the entire Garden there were only good things, and Man and Woman had every bit of it at their disposal, to enjoy for evermore, and never grow bored, or complacent. Only a single test was required. God did not put any pressure on them outside of a single test.

It is paramount that we understand what happened in the Garden for us to understand all the problems that followed, and to grasp the significance of our predicament today. It is kind of like a math formula; if you get the expression wrong up front the outcome will be wrong also. When things don’t work mathematically it is necessary to go back and see where you erred and make corrections.  Consequently, very much of what we are faced with today, in the church, and in the world, is a miscalculation of the consequences that took place with that single test.

There are a lot of opinions as to why God tested our ancient parents, but the one thing we know for sure is that they failed. Speculation and debates are useless and only allow good debaters to take advantage of those who are not as talented in arguing, and we see this in the world stage at every level; men, governing, controlling, and lording it over those who are considered to be their “lesser.”

The church has missed a very important part of the event that took place in the Garden. The issue of sin is not being minimized; sin is tragic, and will be the reason for the loss of so many souls to the torment of Hell. But, there is something else here that is going virtually unnoticed, and is critical for our successful navigation through the maze we call human life. How do we find our way back to God? How do we determine good from evil, and truth from error?

 The Bible declares that men are “lost.” I went wandering off one time in the desert around Superstition Mountain in Arizona. It was a long time ago. My girls were still very young. I pulled the car over to the side of the road and told Marilyn that I would be back shortly. So with camera in hand and brain turned off I started taking pictures. When I was finished I turned to go back to the car, but to my stark realization, I had become “lost.” I did not know where I had come from, or where to go. I became acutely aware that this was serious, and for an instant an adrenaline rush of fear passed over me. Lucky for me Marilyn had the presence of mind to honk the horn and direct me out of danger. That was a great lesson, and the lesson of the Garden is similar. What men have failed to learn from the Garden lesson is that they are very lost in this world and hear horns honking from many different directions, and have only succeeded in going deeper, and deeper, into a vast waste land, trying to reason-out which horn is theirs.

A human characteristic, which is now an inherent part of our makeup, is this new ability to know both good and evil. But, wouldn’t this be a good thing? Where once we were in harmony with God and His creation, and now we are in such pain, sorrow, and confusion, do you think this is a good thing? It is true,  we do know both good and evil, we just don’t know good from evil; so now what do we do? God has chosen this way to make His offer of salvation; He had a plan.

The whole idea of faith, trust, belief, devotion, obedience, consecration, dedication, sanctification, allegiance, and reliance, is that we would be able to find our way out of this wasteland by being able to distinguish the sound of God’s horn, from all the others. The horn I refer to is the voice of God. This is exactly the problem we now face, the inability to distinguish right and wrong, good and evil, and black from white. Every question has a thousand nuances, and every horn sounds like salvation.

God was clear in His directions on how to distinguish the correct path to follow, so what’s the problem? Human nature is the problem. If the easy path can be the right path also what a blessing that would be, and there lies the problem. When I was lost in the desert I had good reason to be afraid, but being lost in the “world” doesn’t appear that bad. As a matter of fact, most people don’t even consider themselves lost with all the creature comforts they have. Our diversions hide the problem, and the solution.

Have you ever stopped to consider that everything in nature takes the path of least resistance? Water will always run downhill and into the sea. The wind is the same, unless forced into another path. The laws of electricity are governed by an equal reality. The “law of the jungle” is dictated in the same way. Animals push their sick and weak to the back of the herd. Animals will do their business in the open without shame. They will procreate in the open with no regard for onlookers. They have absolutely no consciousness of guilt about destroying other animals, and little concern about the death of a sibling or parent. Humans who display such characteristics are called “animals.” Why? If evolution is the correct answer then why are we infected with all this inner turmoil to “care” about others? Why do we protect our sick and elderly? Why do we take food out of our own mouth to feed the hungry? Why are we tormented with guilt when we lie, cheat, and steal? Are the traits in animals somehow left undeveloped in humans? Are lower animals actually more highly evolved than humans in this sense, and humans still evolving to this higher state of being self-centered, un-caring, and free of guilt?

As we see in all of our surroundings, mankind is very confused in their role on this planet. Our human nature seems to be a composite of natures, a good caring side, and an opposite “law of the jungle side.” It is this law of the jungle side that desires the, go-with-the-flow, I’ll do it my way, path of least resistance, way of life. This way appears to be the right way because it blends so nicely with what we experience in life. But, this way always leaves a lot of baggage behind in the form of guilt, and the common way to remedy the problem is to submerge our hearts and souls into the mire of this depraved kind of “freedom,” and liberate ourselves from conscience. These warring natures are actually clues of how to distinguish which “horn” to listen to.

Here is the part that never makes it to the pulpit, and for some reason, we never hear of; it is the new way of coming to the knowledge of “truth,” and hearing God’s voice outside the Garden; don’t follow your heart or its reasoning. [1]Because of this we have accepted that it is O.K. to have divisions within the body of Christ, that achieving [2]“unity of mind and thought” is passé. “Is Christ divided?” Did the Holy Spirit communicate one truth to one denomination and another truth to a different denomination? Or, was truth spread around through so many religions and cults? All the Christian denominations look at all the other religions and say they have missed it, while thinking it is alright for them to pulverize God’s word into so many sects and denominations.

[3]Our “natural” ability to find solutions to problems has been totally corrupted by the invasion of a foreign element–the knowledge of evil– and there is now no way to escape from the wasteland. [4]All of our imagined solutions are only mirages, which lead us further and further away from the “truth,” and into despair. [5]There is only one way out of this house of mirrors, and without help we are doomed. [6]All of the solutions we are faced with today are only different facets of the grand delusion that [7]Eve was offered; and that delusion is the lie that we can be self-reliant; that in and of ourselves, and our own brilliant insight, we can be complete, and make our own decisions.

At this point God steps in. In our minds we would reason that the best thing to do would be to just kick the Devil out of the Garden, but the truth is just the opposite; God kicks us out, and gives us [8]instructions on how to distinguish the sound of His “horn,” or voice. Faith, trust, and belief, are key components of those instructions.

This is all very [9]simple, but has been missed by the majority of people, including Christians. We cannot see the truth because it all seems so illogical to our now impaired ability to reason correctly. Here is the simple God-logic of the situation. [10]Do not listen to the instructions that come from your faulty navigation system—your mind‑‑they will trick you into faulty conclusions, and keep you self-confident, and follow the wrong path.

In the Garden, God told our Grandparents to enjoy all of His creation for their own benefit; nothing was off limits, except one tree; “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” God told them not to eat of that tree, that if they did, they would die; it would be the beginning of a trip into superstition and despair, which would result in death.

We don’t know how long Adam and Eve lived in the Garden before the “fall;” all we know for sure is that they fell, and they died.

According to the Bible the Earth is the kingdom of Satan and his horde of disenfranchised angles called demons. God obviously had a plan since He created this place of beauty and rest in the middle of a prison planet occupied by evil on all sides. The Garden was a haven in the very center of enemy occupied territory.

Outside the sanctuary of Eden is the chaos of Satan’s dark kingdom. In this kingdom everything is antithetical, pretentious, and counterfeit. Out here, in the world, there are many horns sounding, and everyday more are heard. All of them come with a promise of light and wisdom, showing us a way to god or to become gods. Even as we speak, all of these prognosticators, seers, oracles, soothsayers, esoterics, philosophers, prophets, politicians, mystics, kabbalist, sects, denominations, cults, orthodox and unorthodox, are raising high the standard of truth, with voices sounding ever more as one voice, propagating the religion of the world.  

 In the Garden, beauty, simplicity, peace, and harmony, was obvious; chaos could not be found; everything was “the truth.” Outside, chaos and confusion reigns, and lying is the norm; you will look very hard to find true peace.

 The Word of God, i.e. the Tree of Life, has been reduced to a loosely held set of cultural events and archaic moral recommendations. The Bible has become a muffled sound in a whole concert of horns, all blaring and blending as one synchronized commotion to drown out the one true sound that can save us.

 This is exactly what we should expect if we understand what has happened in Eden. What God has said, Satan has copied, or tried to destroy. God said to Adam, “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Gen 2:16, 17. The anti-type of Satan sounds something like this, “my world is here for your enjoyment, take all you want and have fun, and be happy, but there is this one restriction, do not eat from the tree in the midst of my garden, the tree of Life, or you will die.”

 What the Bible says throughout is to live a separated life, isolated from all the commotion outside the Garden; from all the efforts of Satan to tempt and trick us into responding to one of the false sounds of deliverance. We must make a decided effort to ignore the sirens and seductresses of this world by closing off all avenues of assault. Not only that, but we are instructed to not even trust our own thinking. I know this all sounds ridiculous, and that is precisely why very few will heed the warnings, and so many will be lost.

 [11]As the world continues to rumble, and the seas roar, like a woman in labor, ready to deliver, the events that took place in Eden, and after that, should begin to make more sense. The tree of Life—the Bible–that we are advised to not take literally, is our only escape. It foretells of these end time calamities. The religious and political power structures of Satan’s world have diluted the message to a near meaningless book of verbiage. For anyone still seeking the truth, the message is still absolute, and able to lead any who follow to safety, but the trip is not without perils; the Bible is clear on that point also.

 The Bible, the Word, is the “tree of Life.”  When the Bible speaks of mixing two types of cloth together, plowing with an ox and an ass, or adding yeast to dough, it is speaking of the peril of adding or mixing anything of the world to the truth of Scripture; this will never work; it is like adding venom to vaccine, as history has proven.

 By extension we can say: If you think you can do something good for the Lord, you are wrong. If you think you can build or plant a “Church” for the Lord, you are wrong. If you think you can live a good life and please the Lord that way, you are wrong. If you think speaking in tongues, or healing the sick, or even reading your Bible will secure you a seat on the Gospel Train, you are wrong. We had life once, inside the Garden of Eden, but now, outside the Garden, the Lord requires death. Jesus said to follow Him. Where did He go? He went to a hill outside Jerusalem and died, and it is there we are to follow. Dead men do not do anything, they are dead. All our thoughts and good intentions must go; all our aspirations and education, no good; all our lust, desires, and habits along with all of those things, even our devotion to children and spouse, must take their place on the burning altar and be reduced to ashes. Then, and only then, with the faith and belief of Abraham, we know that what we have dedicated to the Lord He is able to raise again from the ashes, to be a vessel for the King’s use, forever, and evermore.

Rom 12:1-2

 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

 John 14:23-24

 Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

 This is part of the lost truth of the Bible, and this is only the beginning. There is so much that we are not hearing from the sounds coming from so many religious buildings, with their CEO’s and Sunday morning speeches, and the horns are earsplitting. We have men trained by men to preach the party line; ordained by men, commissioned by men, sent by men, to build something for “men.” It sounds very much like the episode of Nimrod and the Tower of Babel.

 These are the last days of the last days, before the Lord’s return, and truth is at a premium. Solomon instructs us to “buy the truth and sell it not.” Jesus instructs us to sell everything we own and buy “the pearl of great price.” They both speak of “truth” as the most valuable possession that a person can own. There are so few of us who really want to know the truth. We will satisfy ourselves with concession, because it is something we can live with.

 You have to be very careful and “See to it, then, that the light that is within you is not darkness.” Luke 11:35

 “Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”  Matthew 7:22, 23

Many people, and Christians also, simply do not understand the story of the Bible, and throw out the parts that bother them. The Bible is the complete testimony of God; we accept it all or we reject it all, there is no middle ground. Those who did not accept Noah's offer of safety inside the ark perished; mercy had run it course. The Truth is still setting people free.

Is God here warning us about prostitutes and wayward wives? Yes, of course, but there is a deeper reason Solomon sounds this warning. These verses are actually a commentary on the verses in James above. The prostitute mentioned above can be categorized in two ways: first, it is outward, the prostitution of the word and doctrine, through ignorance and false teachers. This is the sin of being carried away by every wind…. This prostitution is willful in the sense that we use our eyes and ears and deliberately look upon and listen to books, movies, or preachers, who appeal to our ability to reason, and thereby entice and draw away the will to some philosophy or teaching that satisfies a desire for something other than truth.

The outward lures of immorality are hard enough to resist, given the openness of sin in this late hour, but the dripping honey of an immoral imagination, and ungodly thoughts, provoked by the continuous infiltration of evil through television, radio, movies, marketing, and approved by nearly every pulpit, makes chastity an unrealistic goal for the average Christian. The supposed impossibility of living for Christ has made the 21^st century Christian presuppose that God must necessarily approve of all the sinful lives that institutional Christianity is producing and endorsing today. All sinful endeavors have been elevated, sanctified, and approved, if said endeavor can be adorned in Christian garb.

Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing… Who is Paul talking about? He is talking about himself, Paul the Christian, the author of two thirds of the New Testament, the Godly man Paul; he says that in himself dwells nothing good. Is that possible? Yes! Paul said that often when he would want to do good, he instead did evil. Rom 7:19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Paul went on to say, Rom 7:20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. It is indwelling sin that Paul had to fight; it is the prostitute living inside Paul, and in each of us, that Paul was required to stone to death. And, here is the most important thing Paul says, and that we need to hear, Rom 7:21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.  You must understand this if you will ever live the Holy life God requires. Paul made a profound, earth shaking, discovery, he says he found a law. Now, get this! He is not talking about a law like the Ten Commandments or a speed limit regulation, or a tax law ordinance. He is talking about a law like a law of nature, like the laws of physics, a law that says that water will always freeze at 32 degrees at sea level.  It is a law that is a constant influence, like gravity. So, what was this law? when I would do good, evil is present with me. This law is the law of prostitution, that lays wait for any opportunity to draw away, entice, conceive, birth, and then kill those who are so foolish to wander into her neighborhood and listen to her deceptive words.  The prostitute receive great joy in the fall of the righteous, and Paul says that every time his Godly inclination to do good arises the prostitute appears with her lures to entice and inflame some lust of greed, envy, hatred, jealousy, desire, or ambition. In Paul's case it was the heat of covetousness, inflamed in his heart, that brought the prostitute out in him, in all her pretended glory and cheap makeup, and warred against the law of grace, and caused him to cry out in his hopeless state, Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

To conclude: Of this prostitute, a.k.a. this law of indwelling sin, there are may more words that remain to be said. But, if by chance you make the discovery, as Paul did, you should become acutely aware of her ways and means, her power, her ability to prevail over the flesh, and her ability to succeed through deception, and that she is the greatest adversary you will ever encounter. But, as for those true characteristics that mark Christians, who truly understand the seriousness of what Paul discovered, and the warfare involved, their walk will not be void of, humility, self-denial, watchfulness, diligence, separation, and continual prayer to the Lord for help. These are some of the tools we must learn to master if we will win the battle against the prostitute that live within us.

To the God who is all knowing, even the deep things of our hearts, give us strength and mercy to fight the good fight against, not only those who would oppose us from outside, but arm us with weapons to stone every impure thought, and give us light enough to see us through tomorrow's conflicts.

To the only wise God and Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever.

Amen

THE HARNESS OF THE LORD

by Bill Britton

I SAW THE KING'S CARRIAGE

On a dirt road in the middle of a wide field stood a beautiful carriage, something on the order of a stagecoach but all edged in gold and with beautiful carvings. It was pulled by six large chestnut horses: two in the lead, two in the middle and two in the rear. But they were not moving, they were not pulling the carriage, and I wondered why. Then I saw the driver underneath the carriage on the ground on his back just behind the last two horses' heels working on something between the front wheels on the carriage. I thought, "My, he is in a dangerous place; for if one of those horses kicked or stepped back, they could kill him, or if they decided to go forward, or got frightened somehow, they would pull the carriage right over him." But he didn't seem afraid for he knew that those horses were disciplined and would not move till he told them to move. The horses were not stamping their feet nor acting restless, and though there were bells on their feet, the bells were not tinkling. There were pom-poms on their harness over their heads but the pom-poms were not moving. They were simply standing still and quiet waiting for the voice of the Master.

THERE WERE TWO YOUNG COLTS IN THE FIELD

As I watched the harnessed horses I noticed two young colts coming out of the open field and they approached the carriage and seemed to say to the horses: "Come and play with us, we have many fine games, we will race with you, come catch us." And with that the colts kicked up their heels flicked their tails and raced across the open field. But when they looked back and saw the horses were not following they were puzzled. They knew nothing of the harnesses and could not understand why the horses did not want to play. So they called to them: "Why do you not race with us? Are you tired? Are you too weak? Do you not have strength to run? You are much too solemn, you need more joy in life." But the horses answered not a word nor did they stamp their feet or toss their heads. But they stood, quiet and still, waiting for the voice of the Master.

Again the colts called to them: "Why do you stand so in the hot sun? Come over here in the shade of this nice tree. See how green the grass is? You must be hungry, come and feed with us, it is so green and so good. You look thirsty, come drink of one of our many streams of cool clear water." But the horses answered them not so much as a glance but stood still waiting for the command to go forward with the King.

COLTS IN THE MASTER'S CORRAL

And then the scene changed and I saw lariat nooses fall around the necks of the two colts and they were led off to the Master's corral for training and discipline. How sad they were as the lovely green fields disappeared and they were put into the confinement of the corral with its brown dirt and high fence. The colts ran from fence to fence seeking freedom but found that they were confined to this place of training. And then the Trainer began to work on them with His whip and His bridle. What a death for those who had been all their lives accustomed to such a freedom! They could not understand the reason for this torture, this terrible discipline. What crime had they done to deserve this? Little did they know of the responsibility that was to be theirs when they had submitted to the discipline, learned to perfectly obey the Master and finished their training. All they knew was that this processing was the most horrible thing they had ever known.

SUBMISSION AND REBELLION

One of the colts rebelled under the training and said, "This is not for me. I like my freedom, my green hills, my flowing streams of fresh water. I will not take any more of this confinement, this terrible training." So he found a way out jumped the fence and ran happily back to the meadows of grass. I was astonished that the Master let him go and went not after him. But He devoted His attention to the remaining colt. This colt though he had the same opportunity to escape decided to submit his own will and learn the ways of the Master. The training got harder than ever but he was rapidly learning more and more how to obey the slightest wish of the Master and to respond to even the quietness of His voice. And I saw that had there been no training, no testing, there would have been neither submission nor rebellion from either of the colts. For in the field they did not have the choice to rebel or submit, they were sinless in their innocence. But when brought to the place of testing and training and discipline, then was made manifest the obedience of one and the rebellion of the other. And though it seemed safer not to come to the place of discipline because of the risk of being found rebellious, yet I saw that without this there could be no sharing of His glory, no Sonship.

INTO THE HARNESS

Finally this period of training was over. Was he now rewarded with his freedom and sent back to the fields? Oh no. But a greater confinement than ever now took place as a harness dropped about his shoulders. Now he found there was not even the freedom to run about the small corral for in the harness he could only move where and when his Master spoke. And unless the Master spoke he stood still.

The scene changed and I saw the other colt standing on the side of a hill nibbling at some grass. Then across the fields, down the road came the King's carriage drawn by six horses. With amazement he saw that in the lead, on the right side, was his brother colt now made strong and mature on the good corn in the Master's stable. He saw the lovely pom-poms shaking in the wind, noticed the glittering gold bordered harness about his brother, heard the beautiful tinkling of the bells on his feet — and envy came into his heart. Thus he complained to himself: "Why has my brother been so honored, and I am neglected? They have not put bells on MY feet nor pom-poms on MY head. The Master has not given ME the wonderful responsibility of pulling His carriage, has not put about ME the gold harness. Why have they chosen my brother instead of me?" And by the Spirit the answer came back to me as I watched: "Because one submitted to the will and discipline of the Master and one rebelled, thus has one been chosen and the other set aside."

A FAMINE IN THE LAND

Then I saw a great drought sweep across the countryside and the green grass became dead, dry, brown and brittle. The little streams of water dried up, stopped flowing, and there was only a small muddy puddle here and there. I saw the little colt (I was amazed that it never seemed to grow or mature) as he ran here and there across the fields looking for fresh streams and green pastures finding none. Still he ran, seemingly in circles, always looking for something to feed his famished spirit. But there was a famine in the land and the rich green pastures and flowing streams of yesterday were not to be had. And one day the colt stood on the hillside on weak and wobbly legs wondering where to go next to find food and how to get strength to go. It seemed like there was no use, for good food and flowing streams were a thing of the past and all the efforts to find more only taxed his waning strength. Suddenly he saw the King's carriage coming down the road pulled by six great horses. And he saw his brother, fat and strong, muscles rippling, sleek and beautiful with much grooming. His heart was amazed and perplexed, and he cried out: "My brother where do you find the food to keep you strong and fat in these days of famine? I have run everywhere in my freedom, searching for food, and I find none. Where do you in your awful confinement find food in this time of drought? Tell me, please, for I must know!" And then the answer came back from a voice filled with victory and praise: "In my Master's House there is a secret place in the confining limitations of His stables where He feeds me by His own hand and His granaries never run empty and His well never runs dry." And with this the Lord made me to know that in the day when people are weak and famished in their spirits in the time of spiritual famine that those who have lost their own wills and have come into the secret place of the most High into the utter confinement of His perfect will shall have plenty of the corn of Heaven and a never ending flow of fresh streams of revelation by His Spirit. Thus the vision ended.

INTERPRETATION OF THE VISION

"Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it," (Habakkuk 2:2). "Harness the horses; and get up, ye horseman," (Jeremiah 46:4). I am sure that many of you who can hear what the Spirit saith to the Church have already seen what God was showing in the vision. But let me make it plain. Being born into the Family of God feeding in the green pastures and drinking of the many streams of the unfolding revelation of His purposes is fine and wonderful. But it is not enough. While we were children, young and undisciplined, limited only by the outer fence of the Law that ran around the limits of the pastures (that kept us from getting into the dark pastures of poison weeds) He was content to watch us develop and grow into young manhood, spiritually speaking. But the time came to those who fed in His pastures and drank at His streams, when they were to be brought into discipline or "child-training" for the purpose of making them mature Sons. Many of the children today cannot understand why some of those who have put on the harness of God cannot get excited by the many religious games and the playful antics of the immature. They wonder why the disciplined ones run not after every new revelation or feed on every opportunity to engage in seemingly "good and profitable" religious activities. They wonder why some will not race with them in their frantic efforts to build great works and great and notable ministries. They cannot understand the simple fact that this Company of saints is waiting for the voice of the Master and they do not hear God in all this outward activity. They will move in their time when the Master speaks. But not before, though many temptations come from the playful colts. And the colts cannot understand why those who seemingly appear to have great abilities and strength are not putting it to good use. "Get the carriage on the road," they say, but the disciplined ones, those in God's harness, know better than to move before they hear the voice of the Master. They will move in their time with purpose and great responsibility.

And the Lord made me to know that there were many whom He had brought into training who had rebelled against the discipline, the chastising of the Father. They could not be trusted with the great responsibility of mature Sonship so He let them go back to their freedom, back to their religious activities and revelations and gifts. They are still His people, still feeding in His pastures, but He has set them aside from the great purposes for this end of the age. So they revel in their freedom feeling that they were the Chosen Ones with the many streams of living water not knowing that they have been set aside as unfit for His great work in this end of the age.

He showed me that though the chastising seemeth grievous for the time and the discipline hard to endure yet the result with all the glory of Sonship is worth it all and the glory to follow far exceeds the suffering we endure. And though some lose even their lives in this training yet they will share alike in the glory of His eternal purposes. So faint not saints of God for it is the Lord that doth bring thee into confinement and not thine enemy. It is for thy good and for His glory so endure all things with praises and thanksgiving that He hath counted thee worthy to share His glory! Fear thou not the whip in His hand for it is not to punish thee but to correct and train thee that thou mightest come into submission to His will and be found in His likeness in that hour. Rejoice thou in thy trials in all thy tribulations and glory thou in His cross and in the confining limitations of His harness for He hath chosen thee and He hath taken upon Himself the responsibility of keeping thee strong and well fed. So lean thou upon Him and trust not in thine own ability and thine own understanding. So shalt thou be fed and His hand shall be upon thee and His glory shall overshadow thee and shall flow through thee as it goes forth to cover the earth. Glory to God! Bless the Lord! He's wonderful! Let Him be Lord of your life, friends, and complain not at that which He bringeth to pass in your life.

PLENTY IN THE TIME OF FAMINE

For in the hour when famine sweeps the land He shall feed by His own hand those who are submitted to His perfect will and who dwell in the secret place of the Most High. When terror stalks the land those in His harness shall not be afraid for they shall feel His bit and bridle and know the guidance of His Spirit. When others are weak and frail and fearful there shall be those who shall be strong in the power of His might and shall lack for no good thing. In the hour when the traditions of the religious systems have proven false and their streams have dried up, then His Chosen Ones shall speak forth with the true Word of the Lord. So rejoice, Sons of God, that you have been chosen by His grace for this great work in this last hour.

The fence which kept the colts in their own meadows and their own pastures mean nothing to the team in the harness for the gates open to them and they go forth pulling the King's carriage into many strange and wonderful places. They do not stop to eat the poison weeds of sin for they feed only in the Master's stable. These fields they trample under their feet as they go forth on the King's business. And so to those who are brought into absolute subjection to His will there is no Law. For they move in the Grace of God led only by His Spirit where all things are lawful but not all things are expedient. This is a dangerous realm for the undisciplined and many have perished in sin as they leaped over the fence without His harness and His bridle. Some have thought of themselves as being completely harnessed and submissive to Him only to find that in some avenue of their life there dwelled rebellion and self-will. Let us wait before Him until He puts His noose around us and draws us to His place of training. And let us learn of the dealings of God and the movings of His Spirit until at last we feel His harness drop about us and hear His voice guiding us. Then there is safety from the traps and pitfalls of sin and then shall we abide in His House forever!

George Warnock say so gracefully and plainly what I have been trying to say, in my stumbling way, that we need an awakening to the deep things of God. What we have learned to be content with, in our forms and programs, George brings to the forefront and shines the bright light of truth squarely into its darkness.

I pray that you will be blessed as I was with the reading of Beauty For Ashes.

I will be publishing, for FREE, in PDF format, George Warnock's entire Beauty For Ashes series in our new store front, so be looking for it.

Steve Blackwell

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George H. Warnock

I am confident the time is at hand when our Lord will arise in the midst of the Church with eyes as a flame of fire, with feet as of polished brass, with a sharp twoedged sword proceeding out of His mouth… to cleanse and purge and prepare His people for His Appearing.

l am confident that any ministry in this hour that does not hear what this One is saying, and does not minister what this One is ministering, will be heaping up wood, hay, and stubble for the furnaces of God.

I am confident that there is a people in the land whom God is preparing, disciplining, and refining… who are going to minister in this hour out of the heart of God; and who, because of this, will work and minister in harmony with Him and with one another, as God sends His fire into the midst of the Church to accomplish His cleansing and purifying work.

We have come to the end; and no longer can we merely prophecy about end-time events, and teach end-time truths. We must begin to minister in union with the End-Time Lord.

Is He not the One who is the Same yesterday, and today, and forever? Ah Yes He is! But He has a special End-Time Name, and that Name is the OMEGA… which is the last letter of the Greek alphabet. I know He is the Alpha, and He changes not. But in this hour He stands in our midst as the OMEGA. He is bringing to a conclusion. He is bringing to a consummation. He is finishing what He started. He is completing the Building, for which He has laid the foundation. He is about to gather the Harvest, for which He planted the Seed. He will reconcile and join together in harmony the Family of God, for which He sent His Son to be the "firstborn among many brethren." He will bring forth the LOAF in His people, even as He was the Manna that came down from Heaven. He will effectually join His beloved ones unto Himself in one BODY, even as He was the BODY through which the Father expressed Himself in the earth many centuries ago.

The Vision is high, and we must keep it high. Man has obscured the Vision, because it seems too high for attainment. But in reality it is because man does not want to go God’s way, and yield himself as clay in the hands of the Potter. For this is God’s work… this is God’s creation.., it is not the work of man.

God is going to do what He said. But He is going to do it in a manner far different from, and far beyond, what any of us have imagined. He is going to bring to desolation everything, every church structure, every planting, every gathering together in His Name, every ministry.., everything that is NOT THE PRODUCT, that is NOT THE FRUIT OF HIS OWN SPIRIT EXERCISING HIS LORDSHIP IN THE MIDST OF HIS PEOPLE.

And then out of the ashes of all this desolation He will bring forth the very Beauty of the Lord!

And so I can think of no better title for this series of messages that I feel the Lord has laid on my heart, than this beautiful phrase from the prophet Isaiah, where God promised He would give His people "BEAUTY FOR ASHES."

Our hope is that we might rekindle the vision in the hearts of God’s people, and make it clear and plain… lest in the face of all the disappointment and disillusionment that has overtaken the people of God they begin to take the course that has been so tempting to take: either to forsake the Vision entirely, or to so dilute it with human reasoning and manipulation that there is really nothing left but a vision for some humanly devised project for promoting programs of various kinds, or amassing large congregations of people together in one building, under the guise of gathering together the Body of Christ in "the unity of the Spirit." In so many, many cases the Spirit of God is left completely out of the picture.

Invariably this seems to happen when God comes on the scene and makes His way known. Call it a vision, a revelation, a promise, or whatever. God may well have given it. But as we wait for it to come to pass a weariness sets in, a certain sense of perplexity, of disappointment, of frustration. Then little by little we find some strong leader who presumptuously begins to tackle the problem with his own wisdom and understanding. All in the name of "faith," of course. All in the name of "Christ." All in the name of "edifying the Body of Christ." And so there comes into being another church structure, another system, another outreach, another plan for accomplishing what God would accomplish in and through His own Spirit in the earth. And God gets the credit (though I should really say "the blame") for the new machinery that has come into being for the purpose of fulfilling the Vision of God.

Of course, every man has to "prove his own work," and this is not a wholesale condemnation of all that goes on in the Name of Christ. But this seems to be the general pattern; and for a season God seems to go along with it (if you understand what I mean). He knows the course that man will take, and He is not quick to abandon them because of their failure, or their lack of understanding. He just says nothing, and goes along with them. He does so in His great wisdom and love. To stop them short in their tracks would only frustrate them further (if they are determined to go their own way)… so God lets them do it. "God you said you wanted this… now I am trying to bring it into being… why do You hinder me?" So He usually just goes along… and blesses… for a season.

It doesn’t mean He has approved what man is doing… or that He has changed His mind about anything. And it doesn’t mean that He is going to incorporate man’s puny efforts into the grand scheme and design of His own purpose. It is simply a case. of the God of all wisdom and knowledge giving man the opportunity to do what He knows He alone can do; and then when man has become aware of his own failures, and the futility of his own works… God Himself comes on the scene… and in the background of human failure and desolation, and in the fullness of time, He gives… 

"Beauty for ashes, 

The oil of joy for mourning, 

The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness" (Isa. 61:3).

It is really the story of the Old Covenant and the New. Not that there was inherently anything wrong with the righteous requirements of the Law. But when God gave it, man grasped it in his own hands, and confidently cried, "All that the LORD hath said will we do…" You might even say that God enticed them into it. He offered it to them. Paul says, "The Law entered that the offence might abound" (Rom. 5:20). The thought seems to be it "crept in unawares." One translation reads, "The law slipped in…"

God knew it would. It was never part of His eternal purpose for the Church; but it would have a temporary purpose: namely, to "make sin exceeding sinful"… and to "shut up all men unto disobedience"… to imprison all men in one prison-house of sin and disobedience, that one day the Keeper of the prison might walk in and pronounce the message of free Grace: "If you realize now that you are in prison… if you know for a certainty that you are helpless and undone, and utterly hopeless before God, you may go free… I open the prison-door, and set you free, by the blood of My Cross."

And so this matter of justification by faith has become an established truth in the Church ever since the Reformation; and many congregations throughout the land rejoice in the fact that they are "not under the law, but under grace." But this whole matter goes much deeper than having the right theology; and the fact remains that most congregations of God’s people are living under Law, though loudly boasting of their deliverance from it. For the Scriptures make it plain that "IF YE BE LED OF THE SPIRIT, ye are not under the law" (Gal. 5:18). Only the ministration of the Spirit of God in our midst can deliver us from Law. Only as we "walk in the Spirit" are we really free from the Law.

All we have to do is to take a glance across the scene of Christendom, and what do we find? All kinds of laws and by-laws for running the Church. Elders and deacons and pastors and church workers of every kind are ELECTED by the popular vote of the people. It would be too tedious a matter, and too devastating to carnal ambition, to seek God so earnestly that the Spirit of God might come forth and say, "Separate unto me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them," as He did in the early Church. (See Acts 13:2.) Who needs that in this day and hour? It is much easier and more practical to have a missionary program of our own, and send out the ones we think are qualified for the task.

We could go on and on in this; but we are just illustrating the fact that God’s people as a whole continue to function according to LAW, human LAW… whether it be the Law of Moses, or their own. They have a certain organizational procedure, and all the while they boast they are "free from the Law."

Ishmael, Child Of The Flesh

Of course, if God were to come forth in our midst and say, "Now I want you to set apart this young couple for a special work for Me…" we would perhaps be quite prepared to submit to His choice, But if we wait and wait for Him to do it, and He remains silent in the matter, obviously we have to do something about it ourselves. (Of course, we are not suggesting that the Antioch experience is to be the formula for the Church. We are only emphasizing that if and when the Spirit of God is Lord in our midst, He will indicate His will and His way for the people of God.)

And so we have the story of Ishmael repeated over and over again in our various churches and fellowships that abound in the land.

"We have the Word… we have His promises… it’s up to you and me to get in there and make it work…"

And so the "Promise" that God gives us as a Word to embrace and cherish and hold, a promise that we must guard and nurture in our spirits, until it becomes a living and "pregnant" Word within us… we take it rather as a challenge to act upon, in the name of faith, in the name of Christian zeal, only to end up in frustration.

And God seems to go along with it for a season. So long, in fact, that we finally are able to convince ourselves that God DID use our plans after all.

And so Ishmael grows up in the household of Sarah and Abraham, as the beloved son that God had promised. God does not whisper in Abraham’s ear the day Ishmael is born, "Now look, Abraham… Ishmael is your son, and I will bless him… but he is not really the heir that I promised you." As a result Abraham comes to consider God’s silence to be His consent and approval… this year, and next, and next. Time rolls along, and Ishmael becomes the beloved of Abraham’s heart.

We have been accused of setting the Vision too high… too high for people to grasp. If only we could convince the people of God that the Vision is much higher than we have ever taught or expressed… and that it is not something for them to "grasp," but to nurture in their hearts until by the Light of His countenance we are "changed into the same image." For though the Vision might be spoken of in many ways (as we anticipate doing in this series of writings)… in the final analysis the Vision is NOTHING LESS THAN THE VISION OF HIS OWN GLORY AND PRESENCE, coming to abide in the House of God.

Then why do we not stop right here, and leave it at that? Because it is the Vision of Him… and there are so many facets of His Being, so many rays of His glory, so many aspects of His beauty, so many unfoldings of His secrets, that unless we see Him in the full expression of His Being we are not really seeing Him AS HE IS. And God forbid that we should, in this writing or in any other, become so taken up with the chemistry of the living Word that we rejoice in our scientific knowledge of spiritual things, and fail to eat of Him who is the living bread sent down from Heaven for the life of the world. We must not take our place at the table of the Lord as a scientist: able to clearly analyze the food that is on the table, and know for a certainty that there is carbon in this, and sulphur in that… and hydrogen in that over there… all the while being totally accurate, but NOT PARTAKING OF THE LIVING TRUTH and allowing it to bring life and health and strength to our spiritual man.

God waits about thirteen years, and then He comes on the scene and reveals Himself afresh to Abraham, and announces: "This shall not be the heir… Sarah shall have a son…" Abraham’s immediate response is one of surprise, and frustration, as if to say, "Impossible, Lord. But we have Ishmael already… Why not Ishmael Lord?"

We see an awful lot of the Ishmael in the Church today… in church structures and programs, and in the individual lives of God’s people. Not away out there in the apostate church… but in the midst of the anointed people, the people of God who profess to have the Spirit and to know His ways. God continues to bless, and God’s blessing is taken as a sign of His approval. But in the midst of it all there is the Abraham people of God, who are aware that God is coming on the scene… and they are hearing Him announce as He did to Abraham and Sarah: "My covenant will I establish with Isaac…"

In other words, God is bringing us back to the clear Vision that He announced in the Word; and we are going to have to forsake our own initiatives and all the schemes that we have devised to bring forth the true Body of Christ in the earth. For instance…

"God wants His people to be ONE. Just forget your differences and come together, and worship with us… forget your doctrines, they only divide the Body of Christ, and they don’t really matter all that much… just praise and worship together with us, and learn to love one another…"

And so we have a very sentimental display of what they call love and unity, and a systematized form of worship and praise, something you just do, something you just perform, something you even do in the flesh if need be, just as long as you do it.

Or we have a more practical, a more structured way of doing it…

"We have true leadership in our church. We have the apostolic and prophetic order established by God. We are authorized to establish the church on its proper foundation. Come under this covering, get on this sure foundation… and you will come into true relationship with the Body of Christ…" And so, acting under the delusion that because God did something wonderful away back there in history, whether it be so many centuries ago or so many years ago… and because they have continued on in that particular "movement" in an unbroken line of succession, therefore, it just must be RIGHT to try to continue and perpetuate what God started. The Spirit of God may have left the whole thing centuries ago… or even just a few years ago, as the case may be… but because God started it we are supposed to try to perpetuate it.

God help us to learn the lesson of Eli, of Saul, of Bethel, of Jerusalem, of Rome, of Constantinople… and we could go on and on in this; places where God’s glory once rested in power and authority, but which have long since ceased to be anything more than an empty shell, just a memory of what HAS BEEN. Hear what God has to say about Bethel, the House of God, the place of God’s visitation to His chosen Jacob… but which God forsook because the people had gone into apostasy and idolatry:

"For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, SEEK YE ME, and ye shall live: but SEEK NOT BETHEL, for… BETHEL SHALL COME TO NOUGHT. SEEK THE LORD, and ye shall live" (Amos 5:4-6).

God help His people to understand that places, things, gifts, enablements, ministries, men of God, movements, whatever He might have anointed and used for His glory, THESE ARE NOT TO BE HELD IN VENERATION BY GOD’S PEOPLE; and that for their day and hour they are to be received and honored only as channels of His grace to LEAD HIS PEOPLE INTO RELATIONSHIP WITH HIMSELF. Then having served their purpose, God removes them from the scene, that He Himself might have all the glory.

Definition of PACIFIST

2: strongly and actively opposed to conflict and especially war

Does that definition describe Jesus? No! Although He never engaged in or even defended Himself against violence, and charged His followers to do the same, He did not strongly and actively oppose conflict or war by unbelieving nations or people. On the contrary the Bible declares that it is God who establishes kings and kingdoms to do His will to punish and judge, and Paul states in Romans that these kings and kingdoms bare not the sword in vain, and is it not Jesus who will return and smite the nations, and tread out the winepress of God's wrath? Jesus did not disapprove of war, only that His followers should not participate in it; or violence of any kind.

As we move toward the end of the age, with all of what that means in terms of violence and war, what should the Christian position be? Should Christians support, oppose, or remain neutral as to war and military service? The position of Jesus must be the position of every follower of His if we claim to be Christians.

In America, as it is in most other countries I suppose, patriotism and national allegiance are honorable positions, but are they “Christian” positions? Most of the Christian denominations are considered to be “warring” denominations, by the Government, when the question of conscientious objector status is brought up. This is not surprising considering that it is very often Christians who lead the charge in the debate of “just war.” They are the first to stand, and recite with the loudest voices, the Pledge of Allegiance, and in singing the National Anthem.  What is the Biblical position that Christians should follow? And, if they are following a contrary position, why are they following it, and where did that position come from?

The question of whether or not Jesus was a Pacifist is not a fair question. Since we know God never changes, being “the same yesterday, today, and forever,” and we know that Jesus will return to tread the winepress of the wrath of God, then we can say with confidence that Jesus was not, and is not, a Pacifist. Did Jesus come to show us a new way to run the earth by ridding it of war? No! He came to show us a way out, by following His example of faith and trust in a supernatural God. He came to save us from the evil that rules the earth, not to establish a new theocratic world government of men based on the faulty idea that all mankind can be convinced to live peaceably. 

I really don’t like the word “pacifist” much, it has been hijacked by the liberals, who are for the most part pacifist, but for a worldly kingdom, and not the Kingdom of God. They are really humanist who use pacifism as a political tool to engineer a man made peace on earth, which is impossible, if you believe the Bible. If we say yes, Jesus was a Pacifist, then we protest, picket, and run off to join Jim Wallis and his band of liberal Christian humanist, exploiting politics and theology for an ecumenical one world government.

But, if we say that Jesus was not a Pacifist, we join the ranks of the “just war” advocates and ally ourselves with the evil of mass destruction, and to the government that promotes it, and drape the cross in red, white, and blue.

Jesus was neither for or against war, as far as the question pertains to the world. Both of the arguments above have their roots in the flesh of men. They both start in the minds of men and reason their way to a presupposed conclusion. They both get what they want at the expense of truth.

The words pacifist and pacifism are worldly terms that conjure up images that are packed with worldly ideals, none of which reveal the mind of Jesus. We cannot force Jesus to conform to our definitions and to model Himself as a hippie or a warlord; Jesus will not follow us, we must follow Him. Neither ignoring His plain words, like the mass of conservative nationalistic evangelicalism does, or contorting His meanings, like the old school liberal camp and the more resent emerging Christianity, will work. Disobedience and rebellion are a malignant cancer in both camps.

As practicing Christians we must impose this limitation in our search for facts, are those facts true, according to Scripture. On the surface this statement may seem obvious. You may say, “well of course, the Bible is the final word on any subject, so why state something so apparent?” Because, although, the truth is apparent it always seems to have the habit of disappearing in a cloud of human reasoning. The Bible warns us in both the Old and the New Testaments to not trust human reasoning, but we cannot resist the temptation to take a position founded on what we conclude to be a very rational thought process. 

Prov. 14:12, 16:25 "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."

Prov. 3:5 "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." 

1 Cor. 1:20-21 "Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe."

1Cor. 3:18-20 “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, ‘He is THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTINESS’; and again, ‘THE LORD KNOWS THE REASONINGS of the wise, THAT THEY ARE USELESS.’”

Why is the Lord so adamant about not trusting our ability to reason through a problem and coming to, what we might consider, a logical conclusion? The answer is, that we do not have the ability to reason properly since those days in the Garden of Eden, and that apple thing. Satan was right about having our eyes opened to both good and evil. Only now all of our cherished opinions and decisions are tainted with error. Every little task we now undertake has to be run through the infected database of our minds and heart. We rightly question whether or not we have made right choices. We ask our friends, search it out on the internet, and run it by the pastor, and are still deluded because we have not believed the plain written words of our Lord; the only one who can think straight and who has the power to discern correctly between good and evil; He says, "trust Me." 

Did Jesus exhibit the characteristics of a "pacifist" while He walked upon this earth? Yes, He appeared to be a pacifist. But, He was not. When Jesus comes the second time He will be no pacifist, but a roaring Lion, to tread out the winepress of the wrath of His Father, and to present a deed, that was purchased on Calvary. He will come as the conquering King, not a sacrificial Lamb, and declare war on all evil and unbelief.

It is Jesus’ first appearance, as the Paschal Lamb that we are to emulate. It is His cross that we are to likewise bear; it is His life that we are to present to the world, over and over again, as we follow the Master. The Lamb is our life, the humble Lamb, the meek Lamb, the weak and lowly Lamb. The life of Jesus should be the life of His followers.

This sounds all very simple, as it should be, yet there are those who disagree and argue that God supports and even promotes “just war.” In other words God approves and blesses Christians who fight as individuals, or in league with national allegiance, to suppress evil or defend the weak. 

Is this true? The truth is more important than any pet doctrine or allegiance to a flag. 

It seems that every little fragment of truth that we gather puts us more and more outside the circle of the general opinion or the consensus of Christian belief, either on the one side or the other.  Is it possible that truth is so rare that those who find it also find that they rarely agree with others who profess to follow the same Jesus you follow? The simplicity of Jesus, seems to be itself, veiled in complicated darkness and hidden from the sight of those who follow from a distance. They are more concerned with the pretty stones along the seashore than the mighty rolling glory of the Sea itself. But, many there are who look for pretty stones, and miss out on the preciousness, power, and cruelty of the sea. To follow Jesus will drive a wedge between what could be, lasting relationships, if the simplicity of Jesus becomes a reality in your life. 

If you were to ask the average person what Jesus preached – even the mediocre Christian – you'd no doubt hear something about love: "Jesus taught about love. He said we should all love each other." This perception of Jesus' teaching isn't wrong. Jesus did talk a lot about love. In fact he said that loving God is the greatest commandment and loving our neighbors is next (Mark 12:29-31). So, love figured prominently in the message of Jesus.

But love was not the core of Jesus' message. And, his preaching about love didn't get Him hung on a cross. Neither the Romans nor the Jews would have been particularly bothered by a Jewish prophet who ran around telling people to love God and people. A lot of Jews would not have appreciated His love of their enemies, but the Romans  wouldn't have crucified someone whose main crime was telling Jews to love them and turn the other cheek. The bone of contention with Jesus' message must have been more abrasive, indeed, more disgraceful, than a call to love your enemies.

Jesus' message was anything but pacifistic. He says of Himself that He, "came not to bring peace, but a sword." Jesus came to declare war against evil, using the tools of meekness, and obedience to the will of the Father, as a weapon of mass destruction to all who reject Him. What He doesn't win over with His immense, pure, complete, and everlasting display of love will be forever vanquished from His presence in a place the polar opposite of love, which can only be called pure Hell.  

Jesus spoke many times of the Kingdom of Heaven come to earth as a conquering force. He gave parables about the Kingdom and its King and His intentions.

Lk. 14:31 "Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?"

Lk. 13:6-9 "He also spoke this parable: "A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, ‘Look, for three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the ground?’ But he answered and said to him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.’"

Jesus' preaching of the Kingdom was not a message of a pacifist; He was delivering a stern warning, and it was understood as such by those who killed Him.

The kingdom of God has been equated with all sorts of things in the last two millennia. Some have claimed that it is heaven, and that Jesus was saying, in so many words, "Now you can go to heaven when you die." Others have understood "the kingdom of God" as referring to the Church. From their perspective, Jesus announced the beginning of the age of the Church. Still others have seen the kingdom of God as a world infused by divine justice. They have taken Jesus' announcement as a call to social action. In recent times, New Agers have reduced the kingdom of God to inner awareness of one's divinity. Like the ancient Gnostics, they understand the good news of the kingdom to mean "You are divine."

Jesus was unleashing the power of God into the world through His sacrificial act and that it would be carried on by the sacrificial acts of all His followers.

His message is; The Kingdom of God is coming, God is establishing His direct rule or government in the earth, and this government will be manifested through Messiah (Jesus) (Psalms 2), and His warning is, repent or perish, that is the terms for peace. The government of the whole world will "rest on His shoulders." Human self-determination will end, and "every knee will bow."

All the false dreams of nationalism, patriotism, and pacifism will be extinguished, and then we will come face-to-face with reality, because God is the God of reality.

What is the Acost@ involved to follow Jesus? And, what are the terms for peace dictated by the Great Conqueror? It will cost you everything; every cent; every ounce of energy, and every minute of every day; your life is no longer yours. The terms of peace are to lay down your arms and surrender. He will take everything. Your whole existence is the spoils of victory, and you are reduced to a servant, to serve Him forever. In return, He will allow you to live; He will give you life, eternal life as an adopted son, to share in His eternal glory and abundance, and never own anything, ever again, forever. But, He will not accept a compromise or mediocrity in your commitment.

God loves us but it does not mean that we can live a mediocre life; we have to discipline the body and mind, and press toward the mark of the high calling. The Israelites were baptized in the red sea and they had shared in spiritual food and drink, the food of angles, but this doesn=t guarantee the promised land; they all perished in the wilderness, remember. "…these things are warnings for us, not to desire evil as they did." To desire evil does not mean to commit murder, robbery, or anything of that kind necessarily. The Israelites' desire was to go back to the world ‑ to Egypt, to settle for something less than the best; to be mediocre. Their heart was still back in the world with the world=s mindset, resulting in Aimmorality… and twenty‑three thousand fell in a single day."  They loved the world, and the world said it was O.K. to hedge their bets by holding back from God, and the world was in those who moaned and groaned that God was too harsh and demanded too much. The world in their midst were those 23,000 who had contracted the fatal disease of mediocrity, who failed to count the cost to build God=s Kingdom. Those 23,000 wanted a kingdom built on a structure similar to the kingdoms of the world, where mediocrity was accepted and encouraged, and they all died, in one day.

We Christians don=t want to be Good Samaritans these days; we want to be Mediocre Samaritans, where we only put a bandaid on a situation, then we=re off on our mediocre way, reasoning away God’s intentions for our lives. A mediocre Christian deserves a mediocre kingdom, and that kingdom will be pure Hell.

Mat 7:22,23 AMany will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

Have you heard of Helen Roseveare?  I hadn’t until I came across a book of hers called Living Sacrifice.  She was a medical missionary in Zaire from 1953 to 1973.  Her story is a remarkable one.   Not so much for the adventures she experienced in Africa, but more because of her brutal honesty in relaying the years it took her to truly surrender her entire will to the Lord.  You would think that the very choice to become a missionary in a hostile country on the verge of civil uprising would be sufficient to warrant a “well done, good and faithful servant”, but God saw it differently. 

One incident she describes left a deep impression on me.  The village where she resided suffered an invasion of small, weaver birds.  Requiring palm leaves to weave their nests, these birds stripped the trees in such great numbers, that the future yield of nuts (from which the villagers extracted their valuable palm oil) was seriously threatened.  Not only was palm oil a basic commodity in their diets, it was also essential to sustaining the local economy.

A deal was struck with the local village boys: for every ten birds they shot, they got a penny.  The kids turned out to be extremely capable marksmen.  Soon, the lower branches of all kinds of trees and shrubs were missing.  The boys likewise endangered the economy in their zeal, by hacking off the lower, choice boughs from fruit-laden citrus trees and flowering coffee shrubs, acacias, and any other growth which exhibited promising artillery potential.  Quick action ensued to salvage these crops.   A decision had to be made.  Arrows were desperately needed and the only trees to produce them would have to be the acacias, since they only served as eye appeal.

Everywhere, boys were found whittling, sanding and buffing the thin branches.  Any offshoots, knots and thorns were stripped, and smoothed away.  Gone were the feathery leaves and fragrant flowers.  All was sacrificed to make a perfectly straight and well-balanced arrow, thus ridding the community of the hordes of destructive birds, and preserving the essential food-source.

The analogy was immediately realized by Helen.  She wrote,

“To be thus transformed, was I willing – am I still willing – for the whittling, sandpapering, stripping processes necessary in my Christian life?  The ruthless pulling off of leaves and flowers might include doing without a television set or washing machine, remaining single in order to see a job done, re-evaluating the worthiness of the ambition to be a ‘good’ doctor (according to my terms and values).  The snapping off of thorns might include drastic dealing with hidden jealousies and unknown prides, giving up prized rights in leadership and administration.  The final stripping of the bark might include lessons to be learned regarding death to self – self-defense, self-pity, self-justification, self-vindication, self-sufficiency, all the mechanisms of preventing the hurt of too-deep involvement.  Am I prepared for the pain, which may at times seem like sacrifice, in order to be made into a tool in His service?  My willingness will be a measure of the sincerity of my desire to express my heartfelt gratitude to Him for His so-great salvation.  Can I see such minor ‘sacrifices’ in the light of the great sacrifices of Calvary, where Christ gave all for me?  Can I see the apparent cost as minimal compared to the reality of the gain?  Do I accept His right to demand my willingness to pay such a price in order to enter into the privilege and joy of being used in His purposes?”[1]

To be perfectly honest, reading this was not easy.  And harder still was posing a similar line of questions to myself.  For some reason, the childhood memory of being asked to sit still, and open my mouth wide to receive that ghastly orange-flavored cough syrup came to mind.    Then I remembered the words penned by F.B. Meyer in his essay “The Blessed Life”:

“If you cannot give all, ask the Lord to take all, and especially that which seems so hard to give. Many have been helped by hearing it put thus.  Tell them to give, and they shake their heads despondently.  They are like the little child who told her mother that she had been trying to give Jesus her heart, but it wouldn’t go.  But ask them if they are willing for Him to come into their hearts and take all, and they will joyfully assent.”

Sometimes I need to remind myself that the work of sanctification is not my work to do.  A person who requires a heart transplant merely displays his faith in the doctor’s skill by submitting himself to the doctor’s care.  So it is with Jesus Christ.

He knows me better than I know myself.  He loves me more than I can fathom.  He is the Great Physician, and what little I can offer, even the weak plea for Him to take those things that I vainly hold onto which only bring sorrow, frustration or bitterness, I trust that He will do so with tenderness and wisdom, that He may enjoy a vessel, an instrument, or even an arrow, fit for the Master’s use.

“Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.”  I Thessalonians 5:24