Why does it always sound so hypocritical when Evangelicals bash Gays and so worldly when the other side embraces them? Could it be that they are both wrong!

In LGBT congregations the wrongness of the position is so apparent; they openly allow and advertise their sin. On the other hand, in the “Gay bashing” congregations, exposure by members mean repentance or censure.

The sin of homosexuality is sinful, simply and for no other reason, than the Bible says so. But, the reality is that there are homosexuals on both sides, but dealt with in different ways. The difference being that one side keeps their Gays in the closet, making this group appear more pure. And the other side, by openly flaunting their sin, wears this—forthrightness–as a cloak of honesty and righteousness.

The Evangelical’s unwritten rule of “don’t ask, don’t tell” has been a governing factor for many, many, years, and is nowhere questioned. Their assumed theory in this reasoning is, “what we don’t know can’t hurt us.” The business side of doing church has much to do with this approach. Organizational Christianity has no way of filtering out sin, because of its structure. When the “OPEN FOR BUSINESS” sign in hung out, any and all comers are welcome, and nobody really knows who they are sitting next to. If someone dares to speak out they are either directed to the church down the street or asked to straighten-up; but the preferred unspoken rule is to keep your activities to yourself. And, if homosexual sin is discovered, it is usually by accident, and not because of any real intimate family type relationship with the congregation, or a conviction of sin on the part of the sinner. The business managers, i.e. clergy, are isolated from their members and think that it is necessary only to preach to the crowd, and hopefully put a few under conviction, and not to get personally involved in the lives of the laity, except on a have-to basis.

On the other hand, the LGBT congregations come across as holier-than-thou because they are proud and parade their honesty and impartiality as a sign of Biblical righteousness. And, if they should be part of a peaceful protest, or confront their opposition with 1 Corinthians 13:1-4, spewing words of love and tolerance, then they win the acclaim of the world, being perceived as the more holy of the two. Is openness to depravity really the answer to modern Evangelicalism’s stalwart stance to old line legalism?

Modern brick-and-mortar Christianity, whether Left or Right, operating on modern business and marketing principles, is not what Jesus foresaw, and is at best, a dysfunctional family affair. This is not the Biblical model and cannot be found in Scriptures, anywhere. But, as in times past, from the very beginning of the Church, there are those who have discerned the problems on both sides of the aisle, and have chosen to separate themselves from both moderates and liberals.

Today many are finding true Ecclesia in small intimate gatherings of faithful believers; no advertising, no CEO’s, no 501c3 Government shackles, no programs; only trust in the promises of Jesus to do what He said He would do.

Can you believe in a hundred mothers, brothers, and sisters? Can you envision a living body, all contributing their gifts for the benefit of all the others, to the glory of God? all sharing their resources; all building on the strength of the others and the Holy Spirit, sharing in the development of the whole, dealing with sin at a family level, moving the whole body toward perfection. If you can then you are envisioning the Church as Jesus envisioned it; nothing fancy, no expensive buildings; just simple, humble, service to each other, to those looking for a way out of the deep dark woods; this is service to the Lord.

The Church as Jesus envisioned it is so far removed from what we see up and down Main Street that it seems impossible to achieve, but it is the only Church that exists. The Church of Jesus is not run by accountants, it is run by miracles, and only God can achieve it.

Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. Psalm 127:1

How often have you heard someone say, Awhat in the world are you waiting for?@ Deep down in the substrata of this little question rest the essence of nearly all the problems that plague the Church and the world.

 

This phrase is really a test of our allegiance. Is there an emotional, psychological, or physical bond that is fastening you to this world? Is there something you’re waiting for? We know that those who are of this world are waiting for something: more free time, hit the lotto, hit their boss, a new house, a new car, a new computer, the latest action game, a girlfriend, a boyfriend, to change the world, or a change of scenery, Friday, payday, another day, any day, as long as it isn’t today. When the world stops waiting for something, they’re probably pretty much at the end of their rope or the end of their life. Life, for those of this world, is mostly about waiting for something. Those people are linked to the world in a very materialistic way, waiting for it, the world, to deliver.

 

But, what about you, Christian man, Christian woman? When I say Ayou@ I mean all of you who say you are not waiting for anything of this world, and that includes a paycheck. Now, let=s narrow the field a little further, by introducing another question, Awhy do you do the things you do?@ This question tries to probe and penetrate the delusional fog that has engulfed the Church. Have you sensed that something has crept into the lives of everyday Christians, that doesn’t belong there, like an alien presence? Even writing this article can be a deception, thinking all-the-while that I am waging this important front line battle against Church corruption, when in reality it may be, that deep down, I’m just waiting for something. We have to force ourselves to answer these questions. It is conceivable that I’m waiting to write an article that will win me a little recognition and applause; and it is conceivable that what you are doing, and waiting for, is something for your own glory, and not the Lord’s at all.

 

Let me be direct. I’m talking about Ahumanism.@ Christian humanism is the trick that the flesh plays on us when we pretend we are doing something for the Lord. The humanism I speak of is not that credo or manifesto that many consciously accept because it blends so easily and conveniently with their worldview. It is not that way of life that we intentionally agreed to as a “consenting adult.” The humanism I speak of is that template that was stamped into our nature because we are children of Adam, and created in his likeness. It is not something extra that is tacked onto our God likeness, but rather, this humanism lies at the core of our being. The “Humanist Manifesto,” on the other hand, is basically the mandate and justification, by the world, for humans to be and act, like humans. Who do they justify this to, Christians? No! They justify it to themselves, to override that inner voice of conscience, which is saying that what they are doing is wrong? They certainly don=t have to justify it to Christians or anyone else; pray tell, they need no justification, they couldn’t do otherwise.

 

Humanism is both the scourge of the age and the drug of choice for today=s man and woman. You don=t have to look far to see the all-encompassing nature and effects of humanism in any aspect of life, and clearly it has captured the Church, e.g. Rob Bell, and Brian McLaren.

Before you can recognize humanism in the Church, you must be able to recognize it in yourself. It is there, it is all around us, and unavoidable, but it must be detected. In all of my efforts to expose this nasty plague to the consciences of those who represent our Lord in these last days, there has not been one in a hundred who have openly acknowledged the seriousness of the problem in the Body of Christ, not to mention their own lives. In most cases it has been vigorously denied or thrown back at me as one who has a vendetta against a particular person or the Church in general. I have no vendetta. Truth is the one thing that will bring the healing we need so desperately, with our eyes focus hard on that One who was lifted up for us. Jesus is Truth, and He is healing, and He is truly Human and truly God, and our only hope of escape and rescue is to clinging to that rope of Faith, in Who He really is, and what He represents for a disintegrating world.

Be careful of how you entered into the AWay@ and that you are not a common thief or robber. Be careful that it isn’t you, in your human nature, who will be on the wrong side; that you find yourself turning against truth instead of proclaiming truth. Examine yourself closely that you are not found to be only, at the end, a mere “HUMAN.”

I am not a doctor, philosopher, or psychologist, but I have discovered a few things about honesty that I would like to share with you.

Honesty, as a Christian spiritual virtue is nearly non-existent today. Hear me out and I think you will agree.

Honesty has several different facets. When we generally think of honesty we mostly consider it to be an outward act toward other people, whose opposite is displayed in acts of lying, cheating, or stealing. This aspect of honesty, although severely played down through the re-defining of modern morals and ethics, is not what I’m addressing.

Another facet of honesty is the inward element, which I will not address either. It is the mental judgment of the one we see reflected in our mirror. This type of illusionistic honesty is better known as self-deception, or psychological dis-honesty, played out in things like disavowal or aggrandizement.

There is another area where honesty is of utmost importance, and more vital and foundational than the outward or inward types mentioned above. As a matter of spiritual fact, the two named above cannot be understood correctly unless foundational honesty, i.e. spiritual honesty, is practiced.

Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part you shall make me to know wisdom. Psalm 51:6

For most of my Christian life I was a dishonest follower of Jesus, which just means that I was not following Jesus at all, only in my mind. After praying, maybe one of the few honest prayers of my life, the Lord answered me. I honestly wanted to follow Jesus, but I didn’t know how, and the answer to my prayer was an unfolding of events in my life, which demanded “honesty” in the inward parts. I was honest in my business dealings, and with my employees, and with the IRS, and with the man-in-the-mirror, but something was wrong. It was around this time that I discovered my dishonesty, how, spiritually, I had allowed deception and dishonesty to govern my life. I had failed to honor God by believing His words; I was a un-believer. The only way for me to discover this dishonesty was through the stern intervention of Father with an adult dose of truth.

The initial lesson in “spiritual honesty” came to me in two, what now seems as obvious, revelations: a giving of sight, and a hearing of the Word.

The first to get my attention was something I already had a surface awareness of and that I had witnessed in the Church, but I did not really “see” it as a manifest display from Almighty God. What I became acutely aware of was that the Church looked and acted like the world. The statistics were all there: divorce, abortion, pornography, drug and alcohol abuse, and perversions of all kinds. The Church was in denial, and I was in denial. I enjoyed my vices, and rested secure in the illusion that I was going to Heaven. I was headed for a crisis of Divine magnitude. The impact of seeing my Christian life against the backdrop of those statistics made me physically ill. Would I continue to live in denial, which demanded that I do nothing, or be honest, which demanded that I die? I choose death. I would learn what that decision meant; the Lord would pick the time and the place, and the sacrifice would be required. That decision was now in God’s hands.

The stench of those statistics began to rise up and gag me. I could not look in the mirror, or at the Church, without seeing an embarrassing hypocrisy: its ministers as agents of compromise, and myself as a very lost soul, in an impossible situation.                                

The second revelation came as I was listening to an associate pastor give his take on 2 Timothy 3:12 “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” I had never heard this passage before. I don’t mean that I had never read it before, I had read it many times, but I had never “heard” it before that night. It wasn’t anything the pastor said, he was just reading the words, it was something the Spirit said, and it was loud, and it was clear. What the Spirit said was that I was not living a godly life. How did I know, because I was not being persecuted, that simple. These two things I have come to learn are inseparable. This is the message of Jesus, and the Apostles, and is illustrated in the lives of all those who dared to live godly, Genesis to Revelation. The bottom line is that, if you preach the truth, that truth is going to land you in a position that is opposite to that of the world, and if that truth gets you opposition from the pulpit, then it is indicative of just how far the world has advanced, it really is that simple.

“Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.”

Luke 6:26

If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. John 15:18

These two seemingly simple tests of the Lord, regarding “honesty,” presented to the Church, have come back with failing grades. There is a lack of truth and honesty in the New Age Commercial Church of the twenty-first century. They do not see that the Church, as an institution, has failed, and this is plain dishonesty, because the failure is too obvious. They fail to recognize the simple truths of Scripture as to the primary personality trait of those who truly desire to live godly lives, and again the failure is obvious.

So, I ask you again, “are today’s Christians honest,” are you honest?

 “So justice is driven back,

and righteousness stands at a distance;

truth has stumbled in the streets,

honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found,

and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.”

Isa 59:14-15

1. Christians on both side of the aisle debate the goodness of a God who would permit the kind of death and suffering we see in the aftermath of Japan’s 9.0 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown.  

2.  

3. All over the world the main topic of discussion is the Japan tragedy, and now we learn that the worst is yet to come. Both Christian and non-Christian people are confused. People can’t understand how a “good” God could allow thousands upon thousands of innocent people to be killed. It is not necessary to present another theological or philosophical debate to explain what, and why, these things happen, or to try and justify God; John Piper has done that; and Brian McLaren’s philanthropic love has cornered the market on empathy. With those bases covered the question of “why?” still remains, and will not go away. After the prayers are over, and the aid exhausted, the mothers, fathers, and children, who have lost so much, return to their homes, and keep asking, “Why?”

   Christians don’t have to have all the answers, but answers help, especially now; and you can do no better than opening up the Bible.

   How do we balance the mercy and love of God, with His justice? I say “we” because God doesn’t do a balancing act, nor does He juggle His emotions, trying to keep some kind of equilibrium between good and evil. God is God, even when we don’t understand Him. God is perfect, and man confused; it is man that walks the tight rope wanting to know “why?” It is “we” who are out of balance and stumble, proposing our question in hopelessness, when the answer is right there, in the Book. God has spoken!

   God has anticipated the question and has included the answer, in His book of answers, the Bible. We will look in vain going anywhere else.

   Luke. 13:1-9 says everything that needs to be said for those who want the truth.

   “Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, ‘Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them — do you think they were guiltier than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.’” 

   Then he told this parable:

   “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’” 

   It was generally accepted by the Jews of that time, and many today, that if something bad happens to a person it is because of sin in their life. In other words if a building falls on you, you must have been very bad. Jesus’ simple answer was, no, that isn’t true. “But, unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” So, Jesus’ answer to the Japan disaster is, no, God did not cause this disaster, but He did allow it, and “unless you repent you will likewise perish.” The parable that follows, which most people overlook when considering the above passage, sheds some light on the matter. What some will see here is a mean natured God; others will see a God of mercy.

   By looking closely we discover that the wrong question is being asked. They, and we, ask “why did God do this or allow this to happen?” By understanding the parable and what Jesus is trying to teach us we understand that the question should be, Why does a perfectly “just” God tolerate anyone to live, why doesn’t He destroy all mankind, not just allow a few to die in accidents? The answer is “MERCY.”

   In the parable God is the owner of the tree and Jesus is the gardener, who asks for mercy on the tree, for a period of time, to try and make the tree fruitful. God is a merciful God who has waited and waited and waited, but His justice cannot wait forever; justice must prevail.

   It is precisely because of accidents that the preaching of the Gospel is so important. How long will God’s mercy be put off, the Bible says, “Today when you hear his voice, don't harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled,” Heb. 3:15? And, this is precisely why the message of Brian McLaren and Rob Bell, and the whole camp of the neo-liberal “Emergents” is a death sentence for anyone caught in their web of deceit. They destroy the justice of God and leave the question of “why” unanswered, and hide poor sinners from the mercy of a Father who will wait, till He can wait no longer.

   Come home, poor sinner;
   Why longer roam,
   Thy Savior’s calling,
   “Come home, come home!”

   He died to save you
   On Calvary;
   Behold what suff’ring!
   ’Twas all for thee.

   Oh, come to Jesus,
   Do not delay;
   Come, and He’ll save you;
   Come while you may.

   Oh, come to Jesus;
   He’s waiting still
   With His salvation,
   Thy soul to fill.

   Oh, come to Jesus;
   How can you stay,
   He’s pleading, pleading;
   Come, come today.

    

Establishing the Fact

Why is it that every "Christian" thinks he or she is going to go to Heaven? The Bible is very plain concerning the fact that that isn’t going to happen. Everyone who says "Lord, Lord" will not make it. But, it doesn’t matter, wherever you go, or who ever you talk to, they’re all going.

Now, we have a little problem; either the Bible is incorrect or a whole lot of people have been deceived into thinking they have their ticket purchased and their trip all squared away, and they’re just waiting on the bus. Of course the idea that the Bible is not the final word and not totally correct is becoming more popular, and the issue of “having it all squared away” is becoming less controversial; there is a general consensus that that particular point is settled and we’re O.K., but the other idea, deception, ends up being the more realistic problem.

Deception, trickery, ruse, sham, fraud, con, cheat, what interesting words. Is it conceivable that so many Christians are deceived? Who is doing the deceiving? The preachers? The devil? The government? God? Maybe it is ourselves; Paul says, “…let no one deceive you…” as if we can only be deceived if we “let” ourselves be deceived. I can understand deception in the area of un-believers, but we’re talking about “Christians.” Ask anyone who has raised their hand during a worship service and they can assure you that they have followed procedures and that their bus token, regardless of how “straight” or hard the gate is to get through is valid. Who is it then that the Lord was referring to when he said in Matt 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven…” Paul, interestingly enough, encouraged Timothy to “lay hold of eternal life,” creating the notion that it might slip away, or tear itself loose from its mooring, that even he might be deceived. Deception, a very interesting concept indeed, and one that needs to be comprehended, after all, it could be soundly stated that we are living in the age of deception, at the end, when all the chips are on the table and the great contest of wills and wit comes down to “the Lie,” the bluff that will win the ranch away from so many deceived Christians. But it isn’t just salvation that is at stake here, it is the whole body of Truth. This is a dangerous time, a time when we must be able to think clearly,  to cut through the haze and fog, and discern Truth.

The Bible instructs us to comprehend the “signs of the times.” Even professional poker players, gamblers in this world, make their living knowing how to read signs or “tells” that enlighten them on how to stay in the game. The overriding principle of winning the game of poker is to “put all the odds in your favor,” so studying the cards, being able to read the other players, having discipline, and being consistent, are keys to winning. No professional poker player thinks poker is a game of chance; if he puts “all” the odds in his favor he knows he can win. There is something to be learned from their technique. We can put the odds in our favor by knowing how to read the signs of the times (discernment Jn. 16:13), by studying Jesus (Heb 12:2-3), looking for the “tells” which expose false teaching (Matt. 7:20), living a disciplined life in the Lord (walking in the Spirit Gal. 5:16), and by being consistent (faithful Jas. 1:6). We can not allow our salvation to become a game of “chance;” we must not be deceived.

Re-discovering the Path

Things have been going the way they are at present for an extremely long time. If we are deceived, when did the deception sneak in? We should be able to look into the past and discover the point at which the path was departed. At the point of exit is where we must return. We need to begin with a firm foundation, of belief and doctrine (1Tim. 4:16), from which we can establish a boundary marker or a base, and then we can determine if those markers have been moved or tampered with. Once we see where the boundaries belong we can alter our heading to resume the correct path. Getting back to where we belong will mean an exercise of extreme faith and discipline, saving ourselves (Phil 2:12,13), and becoming a beacon of light for those who follow. The laws of inertia have a cementing effect on men, especially men who have become weak and at rest, and much effort will be involved to get them moving again, effort directed by the Holy Spirit.

First, we need to establish the fact that it is conceivable that the masses of mankind can be deceived. If this fact cannot be firmly established then we are wasting a lot of time looking for something that may not even exist. We talked about discovering the old surveyor’s marker that determines what the standard should be, the boundary marker that tells us that we can go this far and no farther. Now we are at the spot where we have to ask ourselves, “Will I believe what the marker says or will I be enticed to move the marker and break through the wall into areas I’m not permitted.” The Bible is our standard; it is the ancient boundary stone that we are forbidden to move at our own hurt. Hos 5:10 says "The leaders of Judah have become the lowest sort of thieves” as those who move boundary markers to steal property from their brothers and from the Lord (see Dt. 19:14, 27:17). The truth is we have moved it many, many, times over the past two thousand years and that is why we are wandering and confused, desiring Agape (Divine love), Koinonia (fellowship and sharing), and Ecclesia (the gathering of the saints) but knowing deep inside it is more our imagination than reality. We get the sense of it, the scent of it, like a flower we can’t see, and we know it exist because we can smell it. It is genuine and it is that yearning, for the real thing, not the “replica,” which demands that we press forward; it is the smell of our Lord that we sense and it is He that draws us to Himself. It is Jesus who is the boundary marker, the standard, and it is He that the Bible speaks of, from beginning to end. Jesus can be trusted and He Himself cautioned us to, “Take heed that no one deceives you for many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many”( Matthew 24:4-5). “Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many” (v. 11.) “For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (v. 11). Note the words Jesus used: ". . . Many will come . . . and will deceive many . . . Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many." The Greek word polus, translated "many," means "many, much, great" (Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, 1985, "Many"). This deception is clearly massive and widespread. Who is the real mastermind behind this worldwide deception?". . . Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works" (2 Corinthians 11:14-15).

Satan's Modus Operandi, DECEPTION  

"But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!" (2 Corinthians 11:3-4.)

"I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ" (Galatians 1:6-7).

Jesus Christ predicted that some would take His name and claim to represent Him—but those same people would be deceivers. They would claim to be Christian but would bring a different message and a counterfeit Christianity. In Paul's day this movement was already well under way. Some were already preaching "another Jesus" and "a different gospel." Most churches in our time focus on a gospel about Christ while ignoring the focus of His teaching. Obscuring His intended message, they preach a gospel that is different from "the Gospel of the kingdom of God"  that Jesus taught (Mark 1:14, 15).

What is the extent of this deception?

"… that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world" (Rev 12:9)

“…and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while” (Rev 20:3).

“Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea…” (Rev 20:7-9).

“Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth” (Rev 13:14).

Who is involved in this deception?

"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:13) .

Within only a few years after Jesus Christ's death, people began to distort and misrepresent His message. When two decades had barely passed, the apostle Paul warned congregations about "false apostles," telling them that he had already suffered at the hands of "false brethren" (2 Corinthians 11:13,26). These deceivers came in Christ's name, but they led many astray with their distorted message. By the time we reach AD 68 Jesus is telling John, in a vision, that if the Church did not do its first works over their candle stick would be removed. The social gospel had been born and was gaining a life of its own, a child of deception, and the offspring of Satan. The social gospel was no threat to Rome because they were of the same family. These corrupted believers could worship their god without the risk of persecution, just like the church in America and Europe.

In the face of  persecution, that followed closely, the genuine “Body of Christ” grew at an astounding rate. Within 300 years nearly the whole known world had been Christianized. All of this took place as Satan and his demons were lighting up the Roman Empire with the bodies of Christians, turned into human torches; while hungry lions gorged themselves on the members of Christ’s body; while Christians hid in caves and catacombs and fled for their lives into the vast reaches of the then known world, carrying with them the news of God’s immense love, His Kingdom come to earth, as exhibited through the living Body of Christ, the Church.

In A.D. 311 the Emperor Constantine declared the Roman Empire a Christian nation and established Christianity as the state religion. Did you catch that? Now, believing became easy, as the cost was reduced and persecution stopped. The doors were swung wide and the pews became packed with unbelievers anxious to partake of this free lunch of "Christian" importance. The numbers grew steadily, for awhile. Today, in this same area of the world, Christianity has been reduced to just a handful of believers and persecution is on the rise again. With Constantine, building the church was something men did. Men sanctioned it, men sponsored it, and men built it, with earthly materials. It was decided by men that building, maintaining, and spreading Christianity was something best accomplished by trained experts. Jesus was no longer the living head of the church body but rather the absentee landlord who has become a symbolical figurehead of the new church organization. The Body of Christ had become an organization instead of the living organism that characterized the early church of the Book of Acts. Only rumors and spotty second hand accounts remained to identify this new church with the power of the Holy Spirit displayed in the form of gifts and miracles and supernatural love. The church, as warned by Jesus Christ, was now in the hands of its captors, with miracles, healings, dreams and visions, and prophesies, all of another sort.

An historical account taken from Schaff’s History of the Church

\Volume Three – From Constantine the Great to Gregory the Great (A.D. 311-590)\NICENE AND POST-NICENE CHRISTIANITY (A.D. 311-590)\1. Introduction and General View. – §

1. Introduction and General View.

“From the Christianity of the Apostles and Martyrs we proceed to the Christianity of the Patriarchs and Emperors.” “The third period of the history of the Church, which forms the subject of this volume, extends from the emperor Constantine to the pope Gregory I.; from the beginning of the fourth century to the close of the sixth. During this period Christianity still moves, as in the first three centuries, upon the geographical scene of the Graeco-Roman empire and the ancient classical culture, the countries around the Mediterranean Sea. But its field and its operation are materially enlarged, and even touch the barbarians on the limit of the empire. Above all, its relation to the temporal power, and its social and political position and import, undergo an entire and permanent change. We have here to do with the church of the Graeco-Roman empire, and with the beginning of Christianity among the Germanic barbarians. Let us glance first at the general character and leading events of this important period.”

“The reign of Constantine the Great marks the transition of the Christian religion from under persecution by the secular government to union with the same; the beginning of the state-church system. The Graeco-Roman heathenism, the most cultivated and powerful form of idolatry, which history knows, surrenders, after three hundred years' struggle, to Christianity, and dies of incurable consumption, with the confession: Galilean, thou hast conquered! The ruler of the civilized world lays his crown at the feet of the crucified Jesus of Nazareth. The successor of Nero, Domitian, and Diocletian appears in the imperial purple at the council of Nice as protector of the church, and takes his golden throne at the nod of bishops, who still bear the scars of persecution. The despised sect, which, like its Founder in the days of His humiliation, had not where to lay its head, is raised to sovereign authority in the state, enters into the prerogatives of the pagan priesthood, grows rich and powerful, builds countless churches out of the stones of idol temples to the honor of Christ and his martyrs, employs the wisdom of Greece and Rome to vindicate the foolishness of the cross, exerts a molding power upon civil legislation, rules the national life, and leads off the history of the world. But at the same time the church, embracing the mass of the population of the empire, from the Caesar to the meanest slave, and living amidst all its institutions, received into her bosom vast deposits of foreign material from the world and from heathenism, exposing herself to new dangers and imposing upon herself new and heavy labors.”

“The union of church and state extends its influence, now healthful, now baneful, into every department of our history.”

“The Christian life of the Nicene and post-Nicene age reveals a mass of worldliness within the church; an entire abatement of chiliasm with its longing after the return of Christ and his glorious reign, and in its stead an easy repose in the present order of things; with a sublime enthusiasm, on the other hand, for the renunciation of self and the world, particularly in the hermitage and the cloister, and with some of the noblest heroes of Christian holiness.” “Monasticism, in pursuance of the ascetic tendencies of the previous period, and in opposition to the prevailing secularization of Christianity, sought to save the virgin purity of the church and the glory of martyrdom by retreat from the world into the wilderness; and it carried the ascetic principle to the summit of moral heroism, though not rarely to the borders of fanaticism and brutish stupefaction. It spread with incredible rapidity and irresistible fascination from Egypt over the whole church, east and west, and received the sanction of the greatest church teachers, of an Athanasius, a Basil, a Chrysostom, an Augustine, a Jerome, as the surest and shortest way to heaven.

It soon became a powerful rival of the priesthood, and formed a third order, between the priesthood and the laity. The more extraordinary and eccentric the religion of the anchorets and monks, the more they were venerated among the people. The whole conception of the Christian life from the fourth to the sixteenth century is pervaded with the ascetic and monastic spirit, and pays the highest admiration to the voluntary celibacy, poverty, absolute obedience, and excessive self-punishments of the pillar-saints and the martyrs of the desert; while in the same degree the modest virtues of every-day household and social life are looked upon as an inferior degree of morality.”

Today we have reached the pinnacle of pride and human glory in the man-made church and it is identified with a totally outward appearance but utterly lacking of inward substance. In the preface to his book The Knowledge of the Holy, A. W. Tozer says the reason for writing the book was “called forth by a condition which has existed in the Church for some years and is steadily growing worse.” “Modern Christianity is simply not producing the kind of Christian who can appreciate or experience the life in the spirit.” “…The churches are more prosperous than at any time within the past several hundred years. But the alarming thing is that our gains are mostly external and our losses wholly internal; and since it is the quality of our religion that is affected by internal conditions, it may be that our supposed gains are but losses spread over a wider field.”

When we look for the church today it can be found in these outward characteristics of architecture, religious symbolism, or the increase of knowledge and intelligence. Mans seeking “his own” glory is at the root of the problem. Their earth bound desire to unlock Holy Scripture reflects a similar incident, involving the Pharisees, related in Matt. 22:29 “You error, not knowing scripture, or the power of God.” If we are not seeing God’s results from God’s Word then we are in ERROR and deceived. Even the disciples, after three years of teaching had to be rebuked for their unbelief. It wasn’t because they didn’t understand what they were told; it was because they did not believe what Christ said. “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken” (Lk. 24:25-27). All the theological schools and universities and man made churches are filled to the hilt with deceived “Christians” trying to determine what God means in His word. Almost ninety times in the New Testament alone, an appeal is made to readers to just believe what “is written,” as if everything was simple enough to understand if you wanted to. Pride, self-will, self-deception, and rebellion against what “is written” are the causes of the Bible being hard to understand.

The Body of Christ today has become the invisible church, only to be found by very few. Today, as never before, it has become very apparent that all the building of our modern Tower of Babel has failed. The sheep of His flock have scattered and are lost and hungry and listening for a voice from heaven. Jesus promised that His sheep would hear His voice and would follow Him. The Good Shepard’s voice is being heard now, even though faintly, calling His sheep out of the dark.

“My sheep know my voice….”

First, never think that the work is ever done. To crucify, mortify, or to subdue sin, will never be at an end. Regardless of how well we pretend we have done, there is always some reserve remaining that we overlooked. Beware when you stand (as a victor) lest you fall. 

Secondly, sin hides in that which is versatile and changeable, and deceitful above all things. This means that there has to be someone on the wall at all times. It is a perpetual watch. An outward enemy will give some rest, but you can never rest against this inner enemy. You cannot be too suspicious, doubtful, or watchful. We find many warnings about being, careful, circumspect, diligent, and watchful.  All the cautions that are given concerning the heart, I think none is as important as, remember not to believe the heart. 

Thirdly, commit it all to the Lord, who alone can search the heart, and knows it. Everything else mentioned is our duty, but here lies our safety. Ps 139:23, 24 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. In the previous verses David is praising God for knowing all things, and these words were his conclusion. 

Knowing ourselves is the thing that is most needed by Christians today, as it has always been. This is why Paul gives so many warnings to not trust our ability to reason things out; we simply cannot do it, we will rest on faulty facts, our house will crumble. Where is the wisdom of this world? Where is the wise? Has not God brought to nothing the wisdom of the wise and the philosophers. We can barely decide what we are going to eat for breakfast, much less things that really matter: about our family, our friends, our life as a mother and wife, or father and husband, about God. We are just not capable, regardless that we make the declaration that it is for good, that doesn=t make it so.

We have not even gotten into the effect and strength of this indwelling sin. How this law causes fearfulness and eruptions of actual sin; how it destroys a once healthy zeal and holiness; how it leaves it victims beaten, bleeding, and dying, with no strength to lift their head to Heaven; or the slow and unrecognized dying by degrees, of a slow fall from grace; or the great apostasy that is swallowing huge numbers of once stable believers into the morass of easy believism and cheap grace. 

We are living in a time when we should be buttoning down the hatches for the great storm that is on the horizon. It is a time of introspection and casting off of all weights that anchor us to this world. Our eyes need to be glued on the eastern sky, not on the treasures of this world. 

Be careful when contemplating building something for God. God nowhere requires us to build anything for Him, only to become a living stone in something He is building.

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.

For the better part of my thirty plus years of calling myself a Christian I never comprehended or understood what was meant by the “offence of the Cross.” it seemed to me that this “offence” was an overstatement. Was Christ and His Cross really offensive or just mildly disturbing and controversial? And, all the persecution, couldn’t that be explained as the usual forces of opposing group dynamics; no different really from the varied conflicts we have on any given level? In these thirty years, I have known very, very few who have a deep-seated hatred for Christianity or the Cross. On the contrary; tremendous numbers of unbelievers go to Christmas cantatas, Easter plays, they bow their heads at invocations, wear cross-shaped amulets, give money to missions, and agree with the statement, “In God We Trust.” To be perfectly honest; the Christ and Cross, presented by commercial Christianity, of which I was a part, has never once offended me or anyone I know. The religious buildings of organized Christianity are busting at the seams with the unsaved all across this nation and they are not offended at all.

 The big question, at least in this time before Jesus comes again, is, if Christianity and the Cross are offensive, as pictured in Scripture, attested to by early Church history, and sometimes preached, why is it that Christianity, today, is so much in favor with the world, its supposed adversary? This is totally opposite of what we would expect. Is it that Christ has won out over the world and that the 1615 year old dying words of Julian the Apostate, nephew of Constantine, are true, that, “Thou hast conquered, O Galilean”. How can we explain the general lack of offense and persecution that should be part and parcel with Christ and His Cross? Is it conceivable that Satan is the real conqueror? Is it conceivable that the message of the Cross is not being presented or that a different message has taken its place? Is it conceivable that the visible Church has been bewitched and deluded into believing they are preaching the Gospel? Is it conceivable that the true message of the Cross-is still just as offensive as it ever was, but is nowhere being declared? Yes, this must be the answer, but how does the Cross become offensive? What is the “bone of contention” that is the real offence of the Cross?

 We see today the beginning again of trouble that has, at its root, the Cross.  The Cross has proved to be the means upon which God has caused to rest the full weight of His saving power. A proper understanding of the Cross will always instigate the foaming hatred of Satan against the saints. The Cross is the sole instrument of deliverance to save from the damning regions of darkness, both in this life and the life to come. Why is it that the Cross is behind so much of the renewed turbulence in professedly evangelical institutions, denominations, Christian homes, and individual Christian lives?

 Before we can answer that question, it is important to differentiate between: heroics, aesthetics, and romanticism, of which so many in religion are captivated—and the Cross’s deeper meaning. That meaning or implication, which the Bible attaches to the Cross, is the source of inflammation and aggravation, and can be witnessed in the following applications.

The Cross Passes Sentence on the World

 The Cross stands at the crossroad, it is a separator, dividing and disuniting two worlds, and it discriminates and disrupts, disregards and disqualifies, and disproves and disputes. The difference is so great that the two cannot be bridged. They are two totally different systems of values, standards of judging, sets of laws; forever antagonistic and irreconcilable.

 The Cross is absolute in its distinctiveness, i.e., its interest and objectives, relationships and resources, saved and unsaved, and ultimately between the living and the dead. This absoluteness is a heavy wedge that drives and separates, even between those in the Church, and is offensive to the planned ecumenicism prevalent in today’s congregations, and to the nation building goals of governments.

 Paul said that he had been “crucified to the world” and the world to him. God declares, “the whole world lieth in the wicked one.” The world’s ways, motives, purposes, ideas, and imaginations are all opposite of God’s, and the world is utterly incapacitated from receiving Divine revelations, or achieving God’s likeness. Therefore; it cannot enjoy and appreciate real fellowship with God, and cannot be trusted with God’s privileges, or His co-operation.

 The verdict, condemnation, and demands of the Cross, are unacceptable and vexing to the world and to token Christians. This “worldliness” in Christian lives and in the Church is the very thing that neutralizes them (keeps them lukewarm) as effective agents in regard to the purposes of the Cross. Consequently; they call themselves Christian, but their lives are full of sin and failure. 

The Cross Crucifies the Flesh

 The flesh is a lovely, sacred, and cherished thing, and worthy of respect, to the natural man. But,  the Word of God declares that by the Cross “our old man was crucified with Christ,” and that “they which live should henceforth live no longer unto themselves, but unto Him.” What we see is that we have tried to bring a big part of that old life over into the new life, but God will not go along with our designs, and the Cross continually torments and frustrates. What we see also is that God allows us to imagine that we can succeed in our plans if we keep trying, and even permits us to manufacture our own gods, our own way. All the living loveliness of the flesh, men have brought into their supposed worship of a God, Who only wants them dead.

 At the Cross God kills the conversation of the fallen race. From that time on God’s entire concern and communication is with His new creation. What this means is that God does not deal with us on a human level any longer. All our goodness and badness, our abilities and inabilities, talents or lack thereof, were included in that death. Humanly speaking, we have nothing of interest to God; no credits are given for some superior gift; speaking, art, knowledge, strength; nothing is acceptable to God because we are dead men. The flesh has been cut off; it is diseased. We are called to meet God on an entirely different level, a spiritual level, where the world and the flesh cannot enter. God only see us “in Christ” on the cross, dead; and, “in Christ” in His resurrection.

 The paralysis of the spirit life always comes about by the infiltration of the flesh, a human element; be it an assumption, a like or dislike, some personal interest, or ambition. The visible Church exist in these elements and thinks itself alive, when it is dead (condemned). It is not only our sins, but also our “selves” that were taken to the Cross. The only way to see God’s purposes fulfilled through our lives is to see our flesh hanging on that Cross with Jesus; we died with Jesus.

 While we are quick to acknowledge that we are, ourselves the trouble with our own lives, we are so very slow to accept our crucifixion with Christ, to have the Cross kill us, so that the life of Christ might be made evident in us. Herein lays the offence of the Cross, both to the world and to Christians. 

The Cross Banishes the Devil

 The fundamental cause of the offense is Satan’s claim on the world and the flesh as his property and instruments, by which he maintains his controlling force. As Jesus approached the Cross and His execution He said, “now is the prince of this world cast out.” And, Paul, looking back at the Cross said, “Christ stripped off principalities and powers, making a show of them openly, and triumphed over them.” By the Cross every true Christian has the authority, by being in that Cross with Christ (being now dead), to disavow all demands of that now defunct prince.

 It is to be expected that, that great source of evil should, by every means and resource, seek to make the Cross of none effect; a mere artifact of history. By our talents, strength, and by the pale cast of thought, Satan will dilute and play down the message of the Cross. By pushing in the world’s methods, means, materials, and spirit, he will sap the vitality of the Church, while allowing it to appear strong. By stirring the flesh, the ego, and the old man, he will divide, stress, and disintegrate; or by the vain institution of the human elements of art, aesthetics, heroism, and humanitarianism, he will blind the eyes to the need of regeneration. Reputations, popularity, bigness, success, are all contrary to the spirit of Christ, but they are the instruments of war to overthrow God’s Kingdom, and to engross the minds of many, even Christian ministers.

 Therefore, if the Cross is preached with full freedom, being emancipated from the world, the flesh, and the Devil, you can expect that the forces of evil will leave no stone unturned, and promote every cause of offence, in its quest to put down your revolt.

 The fullness of the Cross in our lives, the experience of victory, and the administrative co-operation with Christ, as a result of our realization that His purposes are our purposes, results in the joy of knowing that we are the children of the Most High God and co- regents with His Son Jesus.

 “I have been crucified with Christ, henceforth. . .no longer I but Christ.” “They overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony, and they counted not their lives dear unto the death.”