by glennchristopherson

part 1

What color is your truth?

Think for a moment of how many “truths,” there are said to exist…………O.K. times up. No one can possibly know how many! Did you come up with a number; did you even try? It could easily be said that there are as many truths as there are people. Do you think there is one truth about everything or many truths? Well, you know this is a trick question, don’t you. Of course there is only one truth about everything. I believe this because I am a Christian, and I know why I believe there is only one truth.

To begin with, simple logic tells us that if there is more than one truth, we would have to come up with a new word, like, “untruth,” no that word has been taken; how about “lie,” no that has been taken also; well, let’s just call it ridiculous, because the word itself dictates that truth be singular. It is impossible to have two truths. You can have one truth and one opinion; or you can have one truth and one lie; or you can have two lies, but it is impossible to have two opposing truths, one of them is a lie. Now, wasn’t that simple. There are no partial truths; partial truths are not true. Partial truths can be shaded, corrupted, clouded, compromised, debased, debauched, depraved, spoilt, ambiguous, equivocal, profaned, perverted, subverted, tainted, biased, colored, and evasive, but they can not be the truth. All of these things can be a shade of gray, but they can not be black or white.

Even the phrase “the truth” demands that it be unique and singular. We don’t say, “what is a truth of the matter,” we say “what is the truth of the matter.” The word the is definite, that is why it is called a “definite article.” When we say we are seeking “the truth” and end up with several options on the table, and everyone leaves satisfied to, “agree to disagree,” you have not discovered the truth, you have discovered compromise, or one of the other words above, but truth has not prevailed. 

There is some disagreement though. His Holiness, ugh, ugh, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama of Hamburg, Germany has this to say:

Some religions believe in one truth and some believe there are several truths. How do we resolve that difference?

 

For example, some people truly believe that their own religion is the ultimate, exclusively true one and that other religions are false. But religion is a personal, individual matter. So for any individual, what he or she believes and follows is in fact the only religion for him or her. But as for my friends who believe that there is only one true religion for everyone, the reality is that there are several religions in the world and several truths. We need to accept reality. Therefore, in terms of several people and communities, several religions are perfectly all right.

 

For those who feel there is only one truth, one religion, go ahead and keep that religion. But please respect other religions, since they bring deep benefit to my brothers and sisters. Because of that, I admire, appreciate, and respect all religions – Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu.

How relative is that statement; one truth is as good as another? Dalai’s answer to solving the problem is to refer to reality. He says that we can obviously see with our eyes that there are other religions so there must be other truths; what insight! But, our quest is not complete until we at least refer to the world’s “answerer of all questions,” no, not the Bible, Wikipedia:

Truth has a variety of meanings, such as the state of being in accord with a particular fact or reality, or being in accord with the body of real things, real events or actualities.[1] It can also mean having fidelity to an original or to a standard or ideal. In a common archaic usage it also meant constancy or sincerity in action or character.[1] The direct opposite of truth is "falsehood", which can correspondingly take logical, factual or ethical meanings.

 

However, language and words are essentially "tools" by which humans convey information to one another. As such, "truth" must have a beneficial use in order to be retained within language. Defining this potency and applicability can be looked upon as "criteria", and the method used to recognize a "truth" is termed a criteria of truth. Since there is no single accepted criteria, they can all be considered "theories".

 

Various theories and views of truth continue to be debated among scholars and philosophers. There are differing claims on such questions as what constitutes truth; what things are truthbearers capable of being true or false; how to define and identify truth; the roles that revealed and acquired knowledge play; and whether truth is subjective, relative, objective, or absolute. This article introduces the various perspectives and claims, both today and throughout history.

These two examples from the world are the words of really smart men, who have an interest in keeping “truth” relative. If truth has a variety of meanings, then we can use our ingenuity and manipulate people and things; truth becomes a mere convenience.  If truth has a variety of meanings then why call them all the truth; can’t smart men come up with new words? According to Wiki truth means, “constancy or sincerity in action or character”? Does this mean that if a liar constantly lies and is sincere, he is speaking the truth? Um, if the direct opposite of truth is falsehood, and truth is relative (which makes it false), and can be defined in a variety of ways, doesn’t this make falsehood the opposite of falsehood? Then, is there really such a thing as falsehood, wouldn’t they cancel out each other, or does falsehood just become a variant of the truth? And, since there is no criteria for truth we can just redefine truth as a bunch of theories. Well, I’m not sure, but I think we just destroyed, not only truth, but also falsehood, or at least made them interchangeable; that should work out nicely for a lot of people in this age of full blown sin.

But, you see, people don’t really want to get rid of the word “truth,” because it is useful, it tidies up their lies lives, by giving them a sort of structure and stability, something to hold onto, that keeps them upright during the storms of life. We have all been caught, one time or other, referring to our own homegrown truth when necessary; fashioning it into a feature that gives us credibility; kind of like Play-Doh, we just extrude it through the Mega Fun Factory of our minds, and it comes out as, Pretended Truth or theory, or falsehood, or whatever.

Even institutional type “Christians” love Play-Doh, and I would venture to say that these Christians are the most proficient with the Mega Fun Factory. Truth, for these Christians is just as relative as it is with the un-Christian, but these Christians have this added feature, it provides an escape hatch, and a “get out of jail free” card. The un-Christians end up being more faithful to their credo than the institutional-Christians are to their belief system; at least the un-Churched cannot be hypocrites. Christians have the truth right in their hands, but only use it for show, to apply some “righteousness” when needed, or to sooth an aching conscience, or to fill out a new program, not to actually follow it, and allow it to direct their lives. The Bible says they are those “who hold the truth in unrighteousness.”

As we have seen above, truth is hard to discover for the un-Churched and institutional-Christians, if it even exist at all for them. But, is truth even important then, given its obvious elusiveness? Yes, yes, a hundred times yes! It is the very thing that our lives depend on for a sense of normality, and the thing we cherish in all our relationships, but it is the very thing that is denied, ignored, mocked, re-difined, and destroyed by everyone. Is truth important? You bet it is, but where do we find it, and how will we recognize it as the “truth?”

If brilliant philoshers, for thousands of years, have not discovered truth, what makes me think I can know the truth? Whenever we examine an argument or statement,  whenever we retrieve a memory, whenever we engage our brain at all, we are on a mission to discover truth. The very life of understanding and wisdom hinges on a continuous search for truth: is that thing I see in the distance a tree or a person? Where did I leave my car keys? On what bases do I chose a mate? Am I going crazy? Was Constantine really a Christian? Where is my child tonight? Our heart and mind is actually an organ designed to identify and pursue truth. The meaning of our life, has at its core the desire to know the truth.

Three questions that have plagued men since the gate was shut to the Garden of Eden are these: Where did I come from? Why am I here? What happens after I die? 

All of our present and future hope is based on knowing something for certain. Are you comfortable pursuing a future built on the shifting sand of variety and theories, chaos and confusion, rumors and innuendoes, or a million shades of gray? Me either. I have to know the truth, regardless of the cost, even if it spells disaster for my life on planet Earth. The goodnews is that truth exist, and can be known. Come back later and let's explore our options.

See you then. 

Proverbs 23:23 Buy truth, and do not sell it; and as a bonus get wisdom, instruction, and understanding. 

Love Wins

A New Book by Rob Bell

Every marketer knows that it is the headline or title that causes most people to read news papers, or buy books. Advertisers will tell you that the most important thing when advertising is the headline. Pick up a Readers Digest, they have mastered the "headline."

Rob Bell knows this also.

LOVE WINS,  A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.

Who can argue with the title of Rob's new book? What sect of Christianity, or any religion, would deny that Love wins in the end?  The question comes down to the definition of "love" and where that definition comes from.

In the sixties we were bombarded with "love," and we have seen what that experiment has produced; a whole generation of babies murdered in the womb. Today, love is in the air once again, and Rob Bell has captured the essence of this love fest by making scandalous claims against God. He has put words into the mouth of God that are pure and simple lies; Rob has made God a liar. Rob's definition of love has been plucked out of thin air, and can nowhere be found in the document given to us by God Himself. Rob's definition of love comes not from the Living God, so it must come from another source. Where, or who, might that source be?There is only one other source; if it is not from Heaven then, it is from Hell; if it is not God, then it is Satan. This is a trustworthy saying, because it comes from the Book of Truth, the Bible, God's own words.

Rob Bell understands marketing, and knows there is a "market" for his version of love. There has always been a market for Rob's version of love, because it appeals to the sensitivities of men and women wanting to fashion a life of love, on a definition that in no way interrupts their efforts to feed their desires or require absolute truth and repentance.

Rob Bell, is in effect playing god, like so many before him. Mary Baker Eddy, Joseph Smith, L Ron Hubbard, Sun Myung Moon, Charles Taze Russell, the Pope, and the beat goes on, and on, and on. These all pretend to have esoteric knowledge, i.e. understandable by only an enlightened inner circle. They all regard themselves to be able to know some hidden interpretation of Scripture other than what is plainly stated. At least the others claim to have had some supernatural experience, or angelic guidance, but Rob, he just sucks his knowledge out of thin air, or worse yet relies on his heart, which the Bible says is "deceptive beyond all things."

I will give credit to Rob for one thing, he got the title right. Unfortunately, everything else is wrong. From his web site,

Rob Bell addresses one of the most controversial issues of faith—the afterlife—arguing, would a loving God send people to eternal torment forever…? With searing insight, Bell puts hell on trial, and his message is decidedly hopeful—eternal life doesn’t start when we die; it starts right now. And ultimately, Love Wins.

The question becomes, is Rob Bell right, or is the Bible right. Where do we derive truth? Rob claims that with his "searing insight" he can put God on trial. Since it is God/Jesus that talks so much about hell and the "searing" reality of the place, it is really God who is on trial in Rob's court, and he finds God guilty of lying. Rob, through his omniscience, has discovered knowledge, that even God was unaware of.  Although Rob has gotten the title right, we must conclude that the love he speaks of is not the love spoken of in the Bible. The truth is that God has found Rob Bell guilty of "presumption." He has presumed to know God better than God knows Himself, and that what God has made known, is not what He really meant. The Hebrew word za·dhohn′, rendered “presumptuousness,” is derived from the verb zidh, meaning “boil up, become heated.” (Ge 25:29; Ex 21:14) The heat of anger or pride can cause one to act rashly, to become unwarrantedly bold, and to overstep one’s rights. The pride of one's own ability to see clearly, to reason correctly, or to follow his heart's leading is rebuked by Solomon in these words, "a man who trust in his own heart is a fool." Could it be Rob, that the reason God gave us His written word, is so that we would not trust our own "searing insight" and make a fool out of ourselves?

God's written word is the scales on which all our own "searing insights" must be measured. Rob's searing insight is just that, it is his, and therefore must be thrown out with the garbage. It is true that through study, prayer, and meditation on God's word, that we can move to deeper levels of understanding that exceed that of some others, but it will never, and I will repeat, never, contradict God's own revelation of Himself in His written word. Rob Bell's words, along with those of the newly formed cult of the Emerging church, which Rob is part of despite his claim to the contrary, are wholly contradictory to God's revelation, and for that reason, it is Rob who is on trial here, and not hell or God, and he is found to be wanting.

Rob's message is not only NOT "decidedly hopeful," as he promotes, but it removes all hope, and leads his followers to a hell he claims does not exist. He bases this on his own brilliance, which the Bible says is darkness, "Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness" Luke 11:35.

The Bible is either God's word, and therefore the truth, or it is not the truth. If it is not the truth as written, then throw it out, but throw out Rob Bell also, because he claims he is a follower of God. If Jesus was not God as He said, and was lying, then He was the Devil, because He said He was The Way, The Truth, and The Life, and that He should be followed to get to Heaven; and he said He could forgive sins, and only God can do that. If the Bible cannot be trusted, and Jesus cannot be trusted, where does that leave Rob Bell? Is he now made to be the way, the truth, and the life?

I think you can see where this is going. We have to have some means to know "truth." Jesus lived among us, His life was documented, and He proved to all posterity, by all of His miracles and His ultimate resurrection from the dead, that He is, in fact, Who He said He was, God, the Savior of mankind, from an eternal hell, by believing in Him and His word, and repenting from the works of sin through the deceitfulness of our own hearts, to follow after others who proclaim to have truth, and "searing insight." If we cannot trust the documented facts of the life of Jesus, why should we trust Rob Bell, who has only a few books, harvested from a few contrary thoughts of a fertile imagination? The bottom line is, that if we cannot believe the Bible as written, then there is no such thing as truth, and we are all free to live and think as we wish, and the law of the jungle rules; every man for himself, might is right, and the best man wins, NOT LOVE.

Link to Rob's video   http://vimeo.com/20272585

This is a very good question since we all want to be strong, healthy, and enjoy many good days of peace and comfort.

In our everyday relationship with God the strength, health, courage, peace and consolation of our spiritual lives depend much on our mortification of sin. I said these things depended on mortification, but that they are not the cause of our peace and spiritual health. Mortification is an essential condition, but only as a thing that has an effectual influence toward spiritual health and peace. Why is this so? Because:

1.                  Sin weakens and darkens the soul. Unmortified sin will hide the truth like a thick blanket spread over us, depriving us of light and oxygen for the soul. King David in Psalm 38 & 40 talks of his condition while living with unmortified sin. He said that it broke all his bones and left him as a spiritual weakling; and he complained of being weak, wounded, and sick. Allowing sin to live in the soul will exhaust and drink up the spirit, and its energy, and cause the soul to look outward for relief.

2.                  The perfectly tuned soul resonates with the Holy Spirit and is the picture of health. Unmortified sin un-tunes the soul and entangles it with other affections breaking down Godly communion needed for strength and vigor. Love of God is expelled and love of idols (the affections for the world) become our Abeloved.@ To be able to say of God Ayou are my portion@ means the devices used to satisfy all your fears, desires, and hope, which are the souls choice affections, are not entangled with other creative means of the deceptive heart to achieve satisfaction.

3.                  Unmortified sin is evidenced by our thoughts being filled with contrivances to make provision to satisfy the affections of the soul. The peace our souls require for health is replaced with worthless fleshly acts to bring us happiness. If sin remains unmortified in our hearts we must, over and over again, continuously, be making provision to fulfill the lust thereof. We must always be adorning, the objects of the flesh and its lust to get satisfaction; and this we are able to do while living in the wonderland of our defiled imaginations.

4.                  Unmortified sin will finally find expression and break out of any feeble attempt to confine it. The ambitious person must be constantly planning and studying, the greedy must be always busy working or contriving, and the sensual, vain person=s eyes are always looking for arousal of their vanity and lust, when they should be engaged in the worship of God. Sin in the heart will rob us of our duty of worship toward God by raising up idols in its stead.

It is in this regard that the strength, vigor, health, and peace, of our spiritual life depends on our mortification of indwelling sin. The lust of the flesh cause men to cry out to God for deliverance and help. When their sins become apparent as sin, and that it isn=t the blessing of God they had so imagined, and they are overwhelmed, they cry out to God, but they are not delivered, and in vain they seek many cures and remedies. ASo Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound,@  but God says, "they shall not be healed" (Hos5:13). Ephraim and Judah looked for cures in different ways. Their own ways were not recognized by God and He would not heal them because they (v.15) would not "acknowledge their offense." Men may seek all the outward satisfaction they want, and divert and cover over their illness for a time, but they are only growing worse and worse as their real life ebbs away. Their sore may scab over and they think they are healed, only to have the cancer come out at another spot. Unless the proper application is applied, their own cure will not be effective.

The death of sin in the heart is like the pruning of a fruit tree, it cuts away the bad so the good can come forth. Mortification of sin in the heart makes room for the graces of God to thrive and grow. An unkempt garden, although planted with precious seed, will produce no life sustaining fruit unless the noxious weeds are removed, and the soil fertilized and tilled. It may even happen that a seed will grow somewhat, but it will be a poor, withered, thing. The good seed will hardly be recognized amongst the thriving weeds.

We must oppose every unclean thought. To give way to sinful thoughts is to build up a wall against God. Sin is the enemy of God and the soul. If sin would have its full expression, every hateful thought or word would be murder; every greedy impulse would be armed robbery or oppression; every sensual imagination, adultery; and every unbelief, atheism.

Mortification of indwelling sin is the soul's vigorous opposition to self as commanded by Christ. Mortification is an act of obedience, not for the express purpose of obtaining gifts, but because we are followers of Jesus. Mortification of indwelling sin and dying to the old man, may not earn us any peace or health, but those things cannot be obtained any other way.

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

______________________________________________ 

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.

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.” 

In the last post the question was posed as to why there are so many different denominations and sects in the Christian Church?, and we left the answer till now.

The Bible also asks the same question but states it this way, “is Christ divided?” or is, “Christ the author of confusion?” The obvious answer to that is, NO! Then why all the divisions? The Church, over the last couple of millennia, has given up even looking for an answer, assuming that what they see, and what their experience dictates, is O.K. with the Lord, and that what they have read in the Bible doesn’t mean, what it appears to say. But, any amount of common sense should cause us to step back and ask the question, why the divisions?, if we believe the plain words of the inspired Scriptures. With all the divisions, someone uninitiated to “orthodoxy” would venture to answer that Christ is divided, and that He is the author of confusion, because that is what we see in the Church today, and for many, many, hundreds of years.  So, we must question the validity of Scriptures or the validity of those who are causing the divisions, namely the universities, the colleges, the ecclesiastical organizers, the preachers, the bishops and elders and deacons, and the pope. Either they are right or the Bible is right. Somebody is either ignorant of what the Bible says or they are just plain lying for the sake of self aggrandizement.

The organized Church cannot answer the question, because they are part of the problem, but, as stated last post, the answer is quite simple, FAITH, is the solution, “from faith to faith,” just as the Bible declares. But, you ask, simply stating that faith is the answer seems rather complicated to the mind reared on reason and study, and theology and doctrine, and creeds and councils, and pastors and popes, but, nonetheless, it is faith alone. The question must be answered on an individual basis, and not influenced by familiarity, friendship, or family. If the “seeker” is interested in truth, then he/she must deal with these honest questions.

What Are You Eating?

Let me try and explain. It has to do with our diet, the stuff we are eating, and the tree from which we harvest “wisdom.” Remember this verse from Solomon? “There is a way that seems right to man, but the way thereof is the way of death.” From where cometh the “way that seems right” and the wisdom of man? It is the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

A Little History

The history of man upon the earth is the history of failure. Why did he fail? Because he depended on his own knowledge of reason, sense, rationale, mixed with a generous helping of brute force, worldly talent, and the gift of verbal manipulation. In essence he did things the way men do things, these were the ways that seemed right unto man, and he had access to nothing else, almost! There were a few in those days who understood what God wanted, and learned to please Him by trusting Him. We remember the great examples of Abraham who trusted God and it was counted unto him as righteousness, and David who was the apple of His eye, because of his great trust in his Savior; and we compare this with the great failure of King Saul, who did things that “seemed right,” and all the other failures, up to and including, the great “Church” debacle of today. This is the unending story of men doing things they “reason” will please God.

The Old Testament is a story of how man has failed, and why he failed. Every time the Jews turned from God and did things there own way, there was failure, and when they “believed” that God would return to them, when they relinquished their own vain attempts, according to His faithful promise, then things would turn around, and so goes the see-saw life of the Jews all the way through the Old Testament. Then, we come to the New Testament, and we find that we must exercise faith and trust in God, just like the Old Testament believers; that it is “faith unto faith, the just shall live by faith,” then, now, and forever.

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

We all know that there is only one “Christianity,” so why all the diversity? The challenge of that question has been the cause of many sleepless nights. I have studied many of the different sects, and read large portions of Edward Gibbon’s The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Phillip Schaff’s History of the Christian Church, read the works of Luther and Calvin, but the question remained, why all the division? The very closest I have come is by taking a closer look at what happened in the Garden of Eden.

The desire for the fruit of the knowledge concerning good and evil has taken men far from the truth, in pursuit of the fulfillment of an appetite created by the adversary of God, and man, Satan. We now live in a world that feeds that appetite on foul fruit, that never satisfies, or leads to truth.

This is where faith comes in. In the Garden of Eden we are told to eat of any tree except the forbidden tree. Now that we are outside God’s Garden, we are for the duration of this life, in the Garden of Satan, and here we are told by Satan, to eat of any tree in the garden, except the one he forbids, the Tree of Life, which is now contained in the inspired words between the covers of Scriptures. Granted many will read the Bible, but do they eat it? Have they really ingested that wisdom, and incorporated the words of God into the fabric of their life and soul, and trusted God to complete His task through them, and not just rubber stamp their own plans and goals by presumptuously claiming God’s blessing? All that we see around us is the production of our accumulated knowledge obtained from our many sources of knowledge, the knowledge of men, not God. Quite simply Jesus tells us to not trust our own thoughts; that we cannot even think a sinless thought. Paul tells us that it was not by knowledge that we came to know Christ, but rather through revelation. This is why “faith” is so important. We must take at face value the direction given to us from the Bible, the inspired words of God.

Christian men call themselves “believers.” Basically, we claim to be believers in what we read in the Bible, as “from God.” In this Book we are told to believe many things, and we readily exercise a superficial faith in the things which appeal to our self interest and flesh, like getting things from God: job security, good health, and a home in Heaven. The Bible has become like a good luck charm, and the cross a talisman, but there are other things in the Bible we are told to believe also.

So, here we go again, Why, so much difficulty? Why so many divisions? And, why so much failure and feuding in the Church? At the core of this answer is a lack of faith. At the core of this answer is a lack of understanding of what faith is. And, at the core of this answer is the fact that we are not believing the things required by God. This is where the element of “faith” becomes powerful.

Fellowship with God, and other Christians, will come to us as we just believe, and eat the Flesh of Jesus, and drink His blood. He is that Tree of Life.

Trusting Jesus will contradict every fiber of knowledge we have gathered on our journey through life, because it is contrary to what we experience in the garden of Satan; it is the knowledge of two totally different kinds of life. Most times we are not asked to figure it all out first, but to just trust Him, then He will confirm it us His own way. You see, that is the way of faith. But, Christians today think they must have the teaching of men, and traditions, and creeds, and councils, and techniques of worship, candles, ambience, labyrinths, choirs, stain glass, and all the other stuff that goes into building something learned from eating from the wrong tree. Simple faith is really just “simple faith.”

Take away all that the tree of un-belief (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) has added to the body of Christ (marketing, church growth, organization, ritual, titles, costumes, programs, etc.) and you would find how rapidly believers would find themselves in agreement on most issues. But, that is not going to happen because the stool of pride would have to be knocked out from under them, and they have a vested interest in keeping that stool upright.

God’s plan is a mystery because the minds of men cannot figure out what God is up to through their own knowledge; His ways are only understood by faith. Since the day that Eve ate that fruit and shared it with Adam man approaches every inquiry, question, or problem, with the goal of reasoning and weighing the odds, in his mind, as to whether or not this is the will of God, or how he can do, what he has reasonably deduced, as honoring Jesus. When there are conflicts with other “men of faith” there different “reasons” prevail and divisions occur.  Even prayer, is nearly always approached with an answer already conceived or an excuse made. Projects are promoted with the thinking that such and such a thing must surely please God. Bible passages are ignored, even though they clearly direct us to just trust God and have faith in Him, and place our plans on the altar.

The heart of man is corrupted beyond repair. His thoughts and powers of reason cannot be trusted. Paul warns us to cast off our intelligence as a way of finding the will of God. What we see in all the divisions of men is not intelligence or good reasoning, but terrible confusion and deception.

The way of understanding the will of God does not come through degrees or diplomas, through choreographed worship services, through eloquent speeches, through the beads of a rosary, through attending many conferences, through repeating a mantra, or any other devices of men; they are all lies. You can search the Scriptures from now till doomsday to find such things.

It is only as we cast ourselves onto Him, completely, without reservation, our minds, our hearts, and our bodies, and trust and believe that it is God who comes to us, and not the other way around, that He, reveals Himself, to us. All the church growth business, all the grand missionary organizations, all the talk of social justice and unity, and winning the world for God is nothing but legalism veiled in the pretty garments of men dressing up for their God, or putting on a show, which does more for the ego, of the men doing it, than it does to satisfy the Lord. God has nowhere required men to do these things. All He has ever required of men, both Jew and Gentile, is to let go of their devices and trust Him. He is the One who builds the Church, He is the One who heals the land, He is the One who goes before us, and is our rear guard, it is Him who prepares a table in the presence of our enemies, it is God who causes our enemies to live at peace with us, when our ways please Him.

Do you see that it is this message that the Holy Spirit wants us to grasp through faith. What we are exposed to in this evil garden, outside the walls of safety, are all the lies of Satan finding fertile soil in our corrupted abilities to reason things out and find the truth, where no truth exist. The Bible holds the answer to all our questions, and anyone, regardless of intellect, can be found by Him, if they who will just fall upon that Rock, and be broken.

What I have written here is not the words of a great person, or well known amongst the preachers of this world, but it is the truth, and God Himself has promised that when you fall on Him, He will save you. You need not go forward at some meeting, or speak in tongues, or confess to a priest, or send money on a regular basis, or mail off for some prayer cloth; you don’t have to do anything except trust Jesus, and continue trusting Him all the days of your life. You don’t have to go to some building and listen to speeches once a week; God requires none of those things, they are all the contrivances of mere men who think they understand faith in God.

I feel that the following response from Jesus, when he was asked the question – “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” embodies the simplicity of faith in a most elegant and profound manner. “Jesus replied:

“ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40.