A while ago I posted a vision and a dream about the fires that were to come to Australia. You can find the vision and dream on my blog. In a vision, I clearly saw, right in front of my eyes, a blazing red fire, with smoke coming from it (as though it was right in my room). Then, a while after, I had a dream of a Birds-eye map of Australia, where I saw fires and bad storms along the East Coast of Australia. I shared both dreams, trying to warn according to what the Lord had shown me. Hopefully it did some good.. hopefully it saved some people some pain.. I also another dream where I stood outside a house and looked out to a vista where, on the horizon, I saw a great wall of fire and smoke, which seemed to be very near to the house. Recently that image seemed to often repeated on the news. The Lord is so loving to want to warn and prepare the world and His people, and He is very faithful to do both.
Since these dreams and vision, Australia has experienced two of the worst times of fire in a very long time. One saw great destruction across the whole nation, and even saw a record temperature being recorded in the heartland of Australia. The one most recently, saw upwards of 66 fires in NSW and around Australia, in what news networks called the worst fires Australia has seen in a decade. In affect, the prophecies I received were fulfilled, proving that they were from the Lord, and these may even have a future fulfilment. We have also seen destructive storms and a few months ago on the Coast there were even reports of a tornado that formed.
All this to say- please remain vigilant in the future. The Lord shows these things, not to frighten in a wrong way, but to warn and to prepare people that He loves and people that He longs to accept His grace and His salvation. As a faithful shepherd, the Lord continues to reveal His grace to us, and through prophecy at that, just like with all the other gifts.
Monday, 28 October 2013
Saturday, 12 October 2013
SENSATIONALISM
There is a danger in Christianity to sensationalise our walk with the Lord in a predominantly earthly sense. We tend to believe at times that future perfections should be present realities, and that what is being prepared for us for another day, should be owned by us today. The New Testament, however, gives us a primarily different take on what we can expect in this life if we choose to follow the Lord. Although through the gospels, epistles and the book of Revelation, we see that while God provides for His people, gives them spiritual gifts and provides families and relations, these things are given in a context of suffering, service and a call to selflessness and sacrifice. Yes, God has given us, 'all things richly to enjoy,' but the formerly stated context will always be the setting by which these things will be enjoyed, and primarily this enjoyment will be spiritual.
Riches, the Apostle Paul says, often takes wings and flies away, and God allows such things so that our heart will always be for the heavenly Kingdom, over our earthly habitations, relationships and possessions. While many Churches now and many Christians try to define our walk with the Lord as being one of excitement, heroic glory, ease and total satisfaction, via a back-drop of production, hype and the marketing mechanisms and ideologies of the world, the true sense and substance of the Church has been and always will be a Church and a people that walk out their walk in a simple and straightforward sense, uncluttered, unburdened and unhindered by the deceitful trappings of sensationalism, sense and emotional hype.
Sensationalism has the goal of making Christianity appealing by way of human desires and a human understanding of what we should seek, desire, strive for and expect. True spirituality realises that everything we have is a gift given by God, and that all such things need to be used for His Kingdom and continually given back to Him. Not only this, but true spirituality realises that at any time, much or all of what we own could be justly taken from us; 'The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord'. Only in this way will His people, when the storms and tribulations of life come, be able to continue to walk with the Lord. Otherwise our hearts quickly become doubtful and even angry at the Lord, believing that we were called to something other than what is clearly laid out in the Word. Therefore, the test of true religion is this; would we still follow God if we lost everything? (i.e a Job like experience).
Sensationalism in the Church and amongst His people, is not just unprofitable, but down right dangerous and in some cases lethal to undermining the work of faith that God is seeking to build in His people. For we walk by faith, not by sight. God seeks to mature, grow and benefit His people via faith, and this is often completely contrary to the false promises leaders and proponents of sensationalism offer. Faith involves suffering and perplexity, and it calls on the follower of God to follow the Lord despite all evidences of what the senses tell the Christian. There are times when sense needs, not only to be resisted, but to be put to death via the Holy Spirit. Not only should we not be accepting a Christianity of sensationalism, but we should be actively seeking to reveal its wrong, deceitful and harmful substance and its subsequent effects.
Riches, the Apostle Paul says, often takes wings and flies away, and God allows such things so that our heart will always be for the heavenly Kingdom, over our earthly habitations, relationships and possessions. While many Churches now and many Christians try to define our walk with the Lord as being one of excitement, heroic glory, ease and total satisfaction, via a back-drop of production, hype and the marketing mechanisms and ideologies of the world, the true sense and substance of the Church has been and always will be a Church and a people that walk out their walk in a simple and straightforward sense, uncluttered, unburdened and unhindered by the deceitful trappings of sensationalism, sense and emotional hype.
Sensationalism has the goal of making Christianity appealing by way of human desires and a human understanding of what we should seek, desire, strive for and expect. True spirituality realises that everything we have is a gift given by God, and that all such things need to be used for His Kingdom and continually given back to Him. Not only this, but true spirituality realises that at any time, much or all of what we own could be justly taken from us; 'The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord'. Only in this way will His people, when the storms and tribulations of life come, be able to continue to walk with the Lord. Otherwise our hearts quickly become doubtful and even angry at the Lord, believing that we were called to something other than what is clearly laid out in the Word. Therefore, the test of true religion is this; would we still follow God if we lost everything? (i.e a Job like experience).
Sensationalism in the Church and amongst His people, is not just unprofitable, but down right dangerous and in some cases lethal to undermining the work of faith that God is seeking to build in His people. For we walk by faith, not by sight. God seeks to mature, grow and benefit His people via faith, and this is often completely contrary to the false promises leaders and proponents of sensationalism offer. Faith involves suffering and perplexity, and it calls on the follower of God to follow the Lord despite all evidences of what the senses tell the Christian. There are times when sense needs, not only to be resisted, but to be put to death via the Holy Spirit. Not only should we not be accepting a Christianity of sensationalism, but we should be actively seeking to reveal its wrong, deceitful and harmful substance and its subsequent effects.
Saturday, 5 October 2013
BAD COMPANY
Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." 1 Cor 15v33
Has anyone else noticed how bad TV is becoming in the last few years? That which was once 'rude' and 'vulgar' 10 years ago, is now accepted as quite normal. The TV shows that are coming out, and that are most popular, seem now to be those that CHAMPION and laud evil as heroic, and somehow twist what is vile to appear as though it is good. God clearly warns us against accepting this-
Isaiah 5:
20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!
But society has done this because of what Satan has always used as a weapon to deceive us:
'And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.' (2 Cor 11v14
The enemy is very clever when it comes to deceiving people to believe that what they think, believe and love, is actually pure, upright and beneficial, when it is actually anything but! Think about how much TV comedy today centre's around sexual joking! Those topics which should be things which exist in the privacy and sanctity of marriage, are bandied about as though they are common and dirty things and things which should be the target of ridicule and lewdness, and things which should only be for pleasure, without there being any kind of actual true love and devotion. These things should not be made into rudeness, lewdness and jokes that centre around perversity, for these are the very things which God made private in the beginning, because sin entered the world, and God COVERED UP Adam and Eve, and determined that such a relationship between a man and a wife be exactly that; something that is between a man and a wife and that is private. What God has sanctified, made Holy and made private, no Christian or the world for that matter should be making into an unholy and common thing.
Not only this, but it seems that not many people even realise this is happening. Many comedy shows now are simply blatantly rude, blatantly sexually rude, include illicit language and are constantly vulgar. Sin and sinful ways are being exalted as being 'ground-breaking' and 'cutting-edge' and are really just glorifying the perverse and every sin mentioned and warned against in the Bible (and particularly those sins that are especially warned against). The devil comes as an angel of light to deceive, and men have listened, not only to him, but to their own hearts in making much of what now exists.
Ten years ago I remember what was on TV as being a whole lot different, even in terms of comedy shows. Those shows that were once 'mostly' innocent in nature, are now blatantly perverse and make jokes out of that which is sexual, rude and just down right dirty and degrading. It's so disappointing, discouraging and just outrageous what our society is doing now, but it is going down the way they have chosen.
I speak to myself first and foremostly here in waking up to this fact, but what was once easier to doge with a flick of a remote, now I find becoming increasingly hard, if not impossible to avoid without just shutting down a certain show completely. No one is perfect here, and our own sinful weakness makes us willingly stumble at times, but all of us need to be aware of just how bad TV is getting. If we don't realise, we'll slowly just become more and more corrupted until we wonder how we got to a certain point of sinful acceptance of what we watch so quickly. Taking a stand for righteousness isn't just about what we say or do, but what we accept into our lives and what we choose to focus on and love. Conscience, plus the Word, plus the Spirit need to be our guides here, and we all need be very aware of what God desires- not just in terms of avoiding what is immoral, but going the other way in embracing what is moral and what is good. The Bible encourages us to think on those things which good and upright, and that should be our goal and our compass:
Phil 4v8: Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Just like friends rub off on us the more we hang around them (at least to some extent); thinking like them, speaking like them, imitating them, believing what they believe etc (by watching them, hearing them, hanging out with them and interacting with them), so the more we hang out with the company of shows we surround ourselves, the more we'll take to ourselves those things we watch and become like them in some ways. The eyes are the windows to the soul, and what we watch will end up inside of us, and then end up coming out of us (because the Bible says that out of the heart come the issues of life).
The Bible says that while we are free, let us not use that freedom for the flesh, but use it for the Spirit. So lets all ask ourselves, what is beneficial for us? and what isn't? What will help us spiritually? And what won't? And what has God clearly warned us against and forbidden as being directly contrary to what is good and to what He wants for us?
Has anyone else noticed how bad TV is becoming in the last few years? That which was once 'rude' and 'vulgar' 10 years ago, is now accepted as quite normal. The TV shows that are coming out, and that are most popular, seem now to be those that CHAMPION and laud evil as heroic, and somehow twist what is vile to appear as though it is good. God clearly warns us against accepting this-
Isaiah 5:
20 Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!
But society has done this because of what Satan has always used as a weapon to deceive us:
'And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.' (2 Cor 11v14
The enemy is very clever when it comes to deceiving people to believe that what they think, believe and love, is actually pure, upright and beneficial, when it is actually anything but! Think about how much TV comedy today centre's around sexual joking! Those topics which should be things which exist in the privacy and sanctity of marriage, are bandied about as though they are common and dirty things and things which should be the target of ridicule and lewdness, and things which should only be for pleasure, without there being any kind of actual true love and devotion. These things should not be made into rudeness, lewdness and jokes that centre around perversity, for these are the very things which God made private in the beginning, because sin entered the world, and God COVERED UP Adam and Eve, and determined that such a relationship between a man and a wife be exactly that; something that is between a man and a wife and that is private. What God has sanctified, made Holy and made private, no Christian or the world for that matter should be making into an unholy and common thing.
Not only this, but it seems that not many people even realise this is happening. Many comedy shows now are simply blatantly rude, blatantly sexually rude, include illicit language and are constantly vulgar. Sin and sinful ways are being exalted as being 'ground-breaking' and 'cutting-edge' and are really just glorifying the perverse and every sin mentioned and warned against in the Bible (and particularly those sins that are especially warned against). The devil comes as an angel of light to deceive, and men have listened, not only to him, but to their own hearts in making much of what now exists.
Ten years ago I remember what was on TV as being a whole lot different, even in terms of comedy shows. Those shows that were once 'mostly' innocent in nature, are now blatantly perverse and make jokes out of that which is sexual, rude and just down right dirty and degrading. It's so disappointing, discouraging and just outrageous what our society is doing now, but it is going down the way they have chosen.
I speak to myself first and foremostly here in waking up to this fact, but what was once easier to doge with a flick of a remote, now I find becoming increasingly hard, if not impossible to avoid without just shutting down a certain show completely. No one is perfect here, and our own sinful weakness makes us willingly stumble at times, but all of us need to be aware of just how bad TV is getting. If we don't realise, we'll slowly just become more and more corrupted until we wonder how we got to a certain point of sinful acceptance of what we watch so quickly. Taking a stand for righteousness isn't just about what we say or do, but what we accept into our lives and what we choose to focus on and love. Conscience, plus the Word, plus the Spirit need to be our guides here, and we all need be very aware of what God desires- not just in terms of avoiding what is immoral, but going the other way in embracing what is moral and what is good. The Bible encourages us to think on those things which good and upright, and that should be our goal and our compass:
Phil 4v8: Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Just like friends rub off on us the more we hang around them (at least to some extent); thinking like them, speaking like them, imitating them, believing what they believe etc (by watching them, hearing them, hanging out with them and interacting with them), so the more we hang out with the company of shows we surround ourselves, the more we'll take to ourselves those things we watch and become like them in some ways. The eyes are the windows to the soul, and what we watch will end up inside of us, and then end up coming out of us (because the Bible says that out of the heart come the issues of life).
The Bible says that while we are free, let us not use that freedom for the flesh, but use it for the Spirit. So lets all ask ourselves, what is beneficial for us? and what isn't? What will help us spiritually? And what won't? And what has God clearly warned us against and forbidden as being directly contrary to what is good and to what He wants for us?
Thursday, 3 October 2013
SUDDEN & VIOLENT TRIBULATION
There are times, simply put, when tribulation hits us like a ton of bricks, and there is nothing we can do about it but take what comes to us. So often though, we are caught completely off guard when the trouble hits, as though we believed, whether consciously or not, that such sufferings are for others but not us and for other places, other times and for those in circumstances we could not even begin to imagine, relate to, or empathise with, but then they happen nevertheless. We are warned clearly by the Word, and often by revelation, even as Paul was once warned by a prophet, and yet we forget, or try to forget, that this is indeed the reality we must face in life and will face if we go on walking in the Kingdom of God:
1 Pet 4:12-13 (NIV) Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
1 Pet 2:19-23 (Phi) A man does a fine thing when he endures pain, with a clear conscience towards God, though he knows he is suffering unjustly. After all, it is no credit to you if you are patient in bearing a punishment which you have richly deserved! But if you do your duty and are punished for it and can still accept it patiently, you are doing something worthwhile in God's sight. Indeed this is your calling. For Christ suffered for you and left you a personal example, so that you might follow in his footsteps.
1 Thes 3:3 (NIV) so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know that we were destined for them.
1 Pet 1:6-7 (Phi) This means tremendous joy to you, even though at present you may be temporarily harassed by all kinds of trials. This is no accident--it happens to prove your faith, which is infinitely more valuable than gold, and gold, as you know, even though it is ultimately perishable, must be purified by fire.
In Acts 14, Paul and Barnabus, while in Iconium, were preaching the gospel. After having a time of success, the city was divided about what they thought of them, so much so that the Jews, Gentiles and rulers of Iconium made a violent attempt to stone the pair. Paul and Barnabus, becoming aware of the plot, fled to Lystra where they continued to preach the Gospel. While they were there, God used Paul to heal a man crippled from birth. So amazed were the people of Lystra, that they tried to sacrifice to both of them, thinking they were gods. Paul and Barnabus could scarcely stop them from sacrificing to them. Then Jews came and persuaded the people against them, so that, in the next moment, they turned against Paul and Barnabus, and ended up stoning Paul. Supposing him to be dead, they dragged him outside the city. However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went back INTO the city. The next day he left with Barnabus to Derbe:
Acts 14v21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” 23 So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. 24 And after they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. 25 Now when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 26 From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed.
27 Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 So they stayed there a long time with the disciples.
Here, what happened to Paul, and did not shake him, if it had happened to us, I think very few would've kept going with the work of the Lord. And I think most of us would've started to question where God was in our lives! I think most of us would've said, "Where was our God when we needed protection?" "Where was His power when we needed it?" "We were doing His work, so why didn't He stop those that came against us?" But both Paul and Silas were, it seems fairly obviously, ready for extreme and violent tribulation; to the extent that they knew that severe suffering and death could very well be waiting for them around the next corner of life, all for the sake of serving Him, and walking according to His will, and according to the Kingdom of God. Paul's mindset was such that, even after having gone through what must have been the shock of being liked to the point of nearly being worshipped, to being hated to the point of people trying to kill him, he didn't freak out, he didn't get mad at God, he didn't stop following or serving, and didn't even stop to rest or wait for a while, just to make sure God was with him! Amazing, incredible, what we would even call heroic in Christian circles these days, and yet to him, and to Barnabus, this was sudden and violent tribulation that didn't surprise, upset, daunt, slow or stop them in any way. It didn't lead them to a crisis of confidence, and it didn't get them to question their God or their doctrine or faith, because both were founded and found in, what was true; not halve truths, not shallow sayings of men and not from opinions and from fleshly mixtures of what many called truth. Far from it, their faith, confidence, strength and hope was founded upon the Word of God, and upon a solid understanding of God and of the way of God because of it. An experience that would've flawed most of us, DIDN'T EVEN SHAKE THEIR FAITH, rather they ENCOURAGED OTHERS TO CONTINUE IN THEIR FAITH: "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God." (Acts 14v22). Not only that, but they looked at the positive side of things; "...they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles." God had done a miraculous work with them, and a work that we are told in Chapter 14 that had included God doing signs and wonders via their hands, to confirm the Word of His Grace (14v3).
We as Christians are living in a society today that, whether we know it or not, has done a very good job of indoctrinating us to believe that all suffering is evil, and is to be avoided at all costs. Society today believes that most suffering can either be avoided or cured in some way, if we work hard enough at it. Whether this is by thinking it away, through positivity or the worldly belief that we can be masters of our own fate, or by popping a pill, or by wealth and a wealth of experiences, society implores us to believe that we can have it all, and that whatever we suffer can be stopped or assuaged in some way, and that we must do all we can to make this happen. Not only does society believe this, but much of the Church now believes it, and preaches it in ways that are subtle and that use scripture in order to prove their mistaken beliefs. Whether by intentional or unintentional deception, a lack of true understanding of the Word, a greed for gain, or a simple case of being influenced and corrupted by the very culture they seek to save, Churches are increasingly preaching prosperity and an idolatry of self, which fails to recognise the ultimate truth that believers of God must embrace if they are to continue following Christ: Christians must take up the cross to follow Him, deny themselves and must, not only the world to hate them and to come against them, but also many tribulations and many trials. Not only this, but we must expect sudden and violent tribulations, just like Paul and Barnabas faced, and therefore we must take to us the same mindset that they had, in preparation for such things, lest they derail us from the faith we believe we are so secure in: 1 Cor 10v12: Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
As we are children of God, sudden and violent tribulations will have already happened to most of us, and if not, they will, as the Bible says that 'we were destined for them' (1 Thess 3v3). However, the kind of trials that we have faced, in comparison to what Paul faced, and in comparison to what is to come in the future of our world, do not compare to what has been. We too, along with Paul, will face sudden and violent tribulation, the likes of which will make many us experience what Paul did in terms of his reaction to them:
8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,[a] about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself.9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
The trial that is coming to the world is unlike what many of us have ever experienced. War will come to America and Australia will be involved. Asteroids will hit the earth and terrorism will take place around the world. Fires and storms have already ravaged Australia, and for all we know, the worst may still be yet to come. Great destruction is coming to Sydney and Hillsong will experience a terrorist attack. A nuclear bomb will detonate out to sea from the East Coast of Australia around the area of the Gold Coast and Tweed Heads (all these things the Lord has shown me in dreams and visions. Already great fires and storms have hit Australia, and already terrorist attacks have hit the world, even in recent days, including the first one in America since 9/11 since I released the fact that the Lord had shown me these things were coming in dreams). Sudden and violent tribulations are coming, and we must begin to take the same mindset that Paul and Barnabus had in not only following the Lord, but in serving Him as well. When these things happen we must not be shaken in our faith, and we must not waver. We must not go back and we must not doubt the Lord who saved us, but believe in Him and believe in His Word (not a shallow and fleshly version of it, but the Word as it is). The Word clearly warns us that we are destined for tribulations, so this shouldn't shock or surprise us. The Word clearly tells us that we will suffer, so we must prepare ourselves accordingly. The Lord has not only been faithful to us in warning us in His Word, but warning us by revelation and by the revelations of His Spirit, and so we must recognise this, and take heed accordingly- the Lord does not warn for no reason, and He reveals the future that we might be prepared and that His children's faith and spiritual life might be protected at all costs. We must take unto ourselves the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation and we must take unto ourselves the sword of the Spirit and shod our feet with the Good News. We must be ready in season and out of season, for out of season is coming, and it is an incredibly dark and stormy time. We must cast aside the shallow preachings and doctrines of deceitful and deceived men, and cast aside notions that we are only destined for prosperity and protection, we are destined for great sufferings. Yes, these sufferings may also include many deliverances, even as the Apostles experienced, but these deliverances did not make the journey easy, or their pains often any less. They were delivered in order that they might continue to follow Christ and continue to serve Him, and to encourage and strengthen the body of Christ. Rest will come when we enter the Kingdom, and ultimate deliverance when we stand face to face with our Lord and Saviour. Until then we must recognise that our true identity is found in the reality that we are soldiers for the Kingdom, and that we must fight the good fight of faith. Our lives were never meant to be lived for us, but lived for Him, and this means that we must lay down what is most precious to us, for He bought what was already His, and so we are not our own: 2 Cor 5v15: 'And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.'
1 Pet 4:12-13 (NIV) Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
1 Pet 2:19-23 (Phi) A man does a fine thing when he endures pain, with a clear conscience towards God, though he knows he is suffering unjustly. After all, it is no credit to you if you are patient in bearing a punishment which you have richly deserved! But if you do your duty and are punished for it and can still accept it patiently, you are doing something worthwhile in God's sight. Indeed this is your calling. For Christ suffered for you and left you a personal example, so that you might follow in his footsteps.
1 Thes 3:3 (NIV) so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know that we were destined for them.
1 Pet 1:6-7 (Phi) This means tremendous joy to you, even though at present you may be temporarily harassed by all kinds of trials. This is no accident--it happens to prove your faith, which is infinitely more valuable than gold, and gold, as you know, even though it is ultimately perishable, must be purified by fire.
In Acts 14, Paul and Barnabus, while in Iconium, were preaching the gospel. After having a time of success, the city was divided about what they thought of them, so much so that the Jews, Gentiles and rulers of Iconium made a violent attempt to stone the pair. Paul and Barnabus, becoming aware of the plot, fled to Lystra where they continued to preach the Gospel. While they were there, God used Paul to heal a man crippled from birth. So amazed were the people of Lystra, that they tried to sacrifice to both of them, thinking they were gods. Paul and Barnabus could scarcely stop them from sacrificing to them. Then Jews came and persuaded the people against them, so that, in the next moment, they turned against Paul and Barnabus, and ended up stoning Paul. Supposing him to be dead, they dragged him outside the city. However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went back INTO the city. The next day he left with Barnabus to Derbe:
Acts 14v21 And when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, 22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” 23 So when they had appointed elders in every church, and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. 24 And after they had passed through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. 25 Now when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. 26 From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed.
27 Now when they had come and gathered the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. 28 So they stayed there a long time with the disciples.
Here, what happened to Paul, and did not shake him, if it had happened to us, I think very few would've kept going with the work of the Lord. And I think most of us would've started to question where God was in our lives! I think most of us would've said, "Where was our God when we needed protection?" "Where was His power when we needed it?" "We were doing His work, so why didn't He stop those that came against us?" But both Paul and Silas were, it seems fairly obviously, ready for extreme and violent tribulation; to the extent that they knew that severe suffering and death could very well be waiting for them around the next corner of life, all for the sake of serving Him, and walking according to His will, and according to the Kingdom of God. Paul's mindset was such that, even after having gone through what must have been the shock of being liked to the point of nearly being worshipped, to being hated to the point of people trying to kill him, he didn't freak out, he didn't get mad at God, he didn't stop following or serving, and didn't even stop to rest or wait for a while, just to make sure God was with him! Amazing, incredible, what we would even call heroic in Christian circles these days, and yet to him, and to Barnabus, this was sudden and violent tribulation that didn't surprise, upset, daunt, slow or stop them in any way. It didn't lead them to a crisis of confidence, and it didn't get them to question their God or their doctrine or faith, because both were founded and found in, what was true; not halve truths, not shallow sayings of men and not from opinions and from fleshly mixtures of what many called truth. Far from it, their faith, confidence, strength and hope was founded upon the Word of God, and upon a solid understanding of God and of the way of God because of it. An experience that would've flawed most of us, DIDN'T EVEN SHAKE THEIR FAITH, rather they ENCOURAGED OTHERS TO CONTINUE IN THEIR FAITH: "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God." (Acts 14v22). Not only that, but they looked at the positive side of things; "...they reported all that God had done with them, and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles." God had done a miraculous work with them, and a work that we are told in Chapter 14 that had included God doing signs and wonders via their hands, to confirm the Word of His Grace (14v3).
We as Christians are living in a society today that, whether we know it or not, has done a very good job of indoctrinating us to believe that all suffering is evil, and is to be avoided at all costs. Society today believes that most suffering can either be avoided or cured in some way, if we work hard enough at it. Whether this is by thinking it away, through positivity or the worldly belief that we can be masters of our own fate, or by popping a pill, or by wealth and a wealth of experiences, society implores us to believe that we can have it all, and that whatever we suffer can be stopped or assuaged in some way, and that we must do all we can to make this happen. Not only does society believe this, but much of the Church now believes it, and preaches it in ways that are subtle and that use scripture in order to prove their mistaken beliefs. Whether by intentional or unintentional deception, a lack of true understanding of the Word, a greed for gain, or a simple case of being influenced and corrupted by the very culture they seek to save, Churches are increasingly preaching prosperity and an idolatry of self, which fails to recognise the ultimate truth that believers of God must embrace if they are to continue following Christ: Christians must take up the cross to follow Him, deny themselves and must, not only the world to hate them and to come against them, but also many tribulations and many trials. Not only this, but we must expect sudden and violent tribulations, just like Paul and Barnabas faced, and therefore we must take to us the same mindset that they had, in preparation for such things, lest they derail us from the faith we believe we are so secure in: 1 Cor 10v12: Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.
As we are children of God, sudden and violent tribulations will have already happened to most of us, and if not, they will, as the Bible says that 'we were destined for them' (1 Thess 3v3). However, the kind of trials that we have faced, in comparison to what Paul faced, and in comparison to what is to come in the future of our world, do not compare to what has been. We too, along with Paul, will face sudden and violent tribulation, the likes of which will make many us experience what Paul did in terms of his reaction to them:
8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,[a] about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself.9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
The trial that is coming to the world is unlike what many of us have ever experienced. War will come to America and Australia will be involved. Asteroids will hit the earth and terrorism will take place around the world. Fires and storms have already ravaged Australia, and for all we know, the worst may still be yet to come. Great destruction is coming to Sydney and Hillsong will experience a terrorist attack. A nuclear bomb will detonate out to sea from the East Coast of Australia around the area of the Gold Coast and Tweed Heads (all these things the Lord has shown me in dreams and visions. Already great fires and storms have hit Australia, and already terrorist attacks have hit the world, even in recent days, including the first one in America since 9/11 since I released the fact that the Lord had shown me these things were coming in dreams). Sudden and violent tribulations are coming, and we must begin to take the same mindset that Paul and Barnabus had in not only following the Lord, but in serving Him as well. When these things happen we must not be shaken in our faith, and we must not waver. We must not go back and we must not doubt the Lord who saved us, but believe in Him and believe in His Word (not a shallow and fleshly version of it, but the Word as it is). The Word clearly warns us that we are destined for tribulations, so this shouldn't shock or surprise us. The Word clearly tells us that we will suffer, so we must prepare ourselves accordingly. The Lord has not only been faithful to us in warning us in His Word, but warning us by revelation and by the revelations of His Spirit, and so we must recognise this, and take heed accordingly- the Lord does not warn for no reason, and He reveals the future that we might be prepared and that His children's faith and spiritual life might be protected at all costs. We must take unto ourselves the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation and we must take unto ourselves the sword of the Spirit and shod our feet with the Good News. We must be ready in season and out of season, for out of season is coming, and it is an incredibly dark and stormy time. We must cast aside the shallow preachings and doctrines of deceitful and deceived men, and cast aside notions that we are only destined for prosperity and protection, we are destined for great sufferings. Yes, these sufferings may also include many deliverances, even as the Apostles experienced, but these deliverances did not make the journey easy, or their pains often any less. They were delivered in order that they might continue to follow Christ and continue to serve Him, and to encourage and strengthen the body of Christ. Rest will come when we enter the Kingdom, and ultimate deliverance when we stand face to face with our Lord and Saviour. Until then we must recognise that our true identity is found in the reality that we are soldiers for the Kingdom, and that we must fight the good fight of faith. Our lives were never meant to be lived for us, but lived for Him, and this means that we must lay down what is most precious to us, for He bought what was already His, and so we are not our own: 2 Cor 5v15: 'And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.'
Friday, 6 September 2013
'WHERE' MATTERS
John 3v6:
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Unless we are consistently in the Word of God, and allowing the Holy Spirit to change our thinking so that we view all things from a spiritual perspective, we will constantly have trouble accepting the Word of God and the revelations the Lord gives. Not only this, but we will unwittingly start to worship, serve and obey according to the way that seems best to us (and even start to call it what the Lord wants!). The spiritual is so far apart from the fleshly, that the spiritual way of viewing life and all its important decisions it will always APPEAR WRONG to our flesh, and unless we can discern the distinction between both, we’ll frequently fall prey to those ways that are purely earthly. At the heart of it, the fleshly perspective always is selfish and self-seeking, and has at its centre man, while the spiritual understanding is always selfless and self-sacrificing, and has at its centre, Jesus. While the fleshly understanding consults only its own conscience and its own logic and wisdom, the spiritual understanding always consults the Word of God, through prayer, and submits itself to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and the counsel of the Godly.
So often we hold beliefs that are simply held because they SEEM right to us, and right to the majority of those we hold with high esteem. If the majority believes it, whether those of the world or those of Christendom, it must be right! If the minority believes something different, it must be wrong! In the Old Testament, God’s people, the Jews, started to worship AT A DIFFERENT PLACE than where they had been instructed to. These places were called ‘high places.’ It didn’t seem any big deal to them not to worship at the place the Lord wanted them to worship at, after all, ‘what’s the difference?’ you could very well imagine them saying- ‘The manner of worship doesn’t matter, only the substance matters.’ But God was extremely concerned with both, for He knew that one intimately related to the other (as does the root of a plant and its fruit), and both are inextricably linked to the other (because the act doesn’t exist without the belief and vice versa). Not only does it matter that we worship with SINCERITY (the manner with which we worship), but it also matters WHERE we worship- IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH. ‘Our’ way of worship, based off of what seems right to us, is nothing more than a deception and a deceptive fruit- the same fruit the enemy used to deceive Adam and Eve. When we eat of our own understanding, we believe that our eyes are ‘opened’ (and we rejoice in the NEW way of seeing things that we have found- be wary of NEW doctrines- all doctrine can be found in the Word, and no part of the Word will contradict another part) and that we now know the difference between good and evil. But if we believe this way, we are greatly deceived, for the Bible is very clear about how we are to learn to discern what is good, and what is evil:
Heb 5v 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
This is why it seems as though many Christians simply disengage from hearing (‘ears to hear’) and from loving and immersing themselves in the things of the Word, and instead become immersed in the love of the things of the world (and so become entangled in them, whether they know it or not). They would rather not have to bother with, and the hassle of, engaging, learning and growing, and instead remain ‘blissfully’ (although really it is ‘miserably’) ignorant, unaware and uninterested in the deeper things of God. Some choose to knowingly remain children, thinking to avoid the sorrows they believe those more mature in the faith receive because of their being ready to face greater trial and greater testing from the Lord. All they while they forget that in growing in the Christian faith, we come to know more and more of the glory and goodness of our Lord and King, in all the colours of His grace that attend such a magnificent, perfect and all-powerful person, Saviour, God and King. And contrary to their belief, such children of the faith (in maturity) may very well be in for greater sorrow than they can possibly comprehend, just as a child who loses much cannot cope with great loss (nor understand or even begin to comprehend it), so how will the children of the faith cope with great storms, sorrows and loss when they have no doctrine to support such things? How will they bear crosses they don’t believe they should have to carry? How will they trust a God who slays them? Conversely, how will they be used in more mighty ways? How will they be able to grasp the experience and knowledge of the facets of the glory of God? How will they understand greater revelations of His voice and power? And so we have all failed here, and yet His grace has remained, so much so that He even gives time for us to change our ways, so that we’ll not repeat such mistakes in the future.
So where do we worship from? Where do we serve from? And where do we follow from? If we love and learn of the Word, it is highly likely that we’ll do these things from the place of Spirit and Truth. If we don’t really know the Word well, then it is very likely that we’ll worship from the place of the flesh, even though we ourselves are spiritual beings. We will in effect contaminate the worship of God and not even know it. And many of these things the modern Church has already done, and we ourselves have done, so we must be on our guard. Jesus often looked strange and unlovely to those that tried to understand His Word and His ways according to how they saw life, and according to what they saw as right. Do we as Christians struggle with the same thing? This is evidence that we may be more of this world than we think, and it may be time to take drastic measures to extricate ourselves, so that we can be sure we follow Christ, and not an idol of our own making, being ourselves.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Unless we are consistently in the Word of God, and allowing the Holy Spirit to change our thinking so that we view all things from a spiritual perspective, we will constantly have trouble accepting the Word of God and the revelations the Lord gives. Not only this, but we will unwittingly start to worship, serve and obey according to the way that seems best to us (and even start to call it what the Lord wants!). The spiritual is so far apart from the fleshly, that the spiritual way of viewing life and all its important decisions it will always APPEAR WRONG to our flesh, and unless we can discern the distinction between both, we’ll frequently fall prey to those ways that are purely earthly. At the heart of it, the fleshly perspective always is selfish and self-seeking, and has at its centre man, while the spiritual understanding is always selfless and self-sacrificing, and has at its centre, Jesus. While the fleshly understanding consults only its own conscience and its own logic and wisdom, the spiritual understanding always consults the Word of God, through prayer, and submits itself to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and the counsel of the Godly.
So often we hold beliefs that are simply held because they SEEM right to us, and right to the majority of those we hold with high esteem. If the majority believes it, whether those of the world or those of Christendom, it must be right! If the minority believes something different, it must be wrong! In the Old Testament, God’s people, the Jews, started to worship AT A DIFFERENT PLACE than where they had been instructed to. These places were called ‘high places.’ It didn’t seem any big deal to them not to worship at the place the Lord wanted them to worship at, after all, ‘what’s the difference?’ you could very well imagine them saying- ‘The manner of worship doesn’t matter, only the substance matters.’ But God was extremely concerned with both, for He knew that one intimately related to the other (as does the root of a plant and its fruit), and both are inextricably linked to the other (because the act doesn’t exist without the belief and vice versa). Not only does it matter that we worship with SINCERITY (the manner with which we worship), but it also matters WHERE we worship- IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH. ‘Our’ way of worship, based off of what seems right to us, is nothing more than a deception and a deceptive fruit- the same fruit the enemy used to deceive Adam and Eve. When we eat of our own understanding, we believe that our eyes are ‘opened’ (and we rejoice in the NEW way of seeing things that we have found- be wary of NEW doctrines- all doctrine can be found in the Word, and no part of the Word will contradict another part) and that we now know the difference between good and evil. But if we believe this way, we are greatly deceived, for the Bible is very clear about how we are to learn to discern what is good, and what is evil:
Heb 5v 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
This is why it seems as though many Christians simply disengage from hearing (‘ears to hear’) and from loving and immersing themselves in the things of the Word, and instead become immersed in the love of the things of the world (and so become entangled in them, whether they know it or not). They would rather not have to bother with, and the hassle of, engaging, learning and growing, and instead remain ‘blissfully’ (although really it is ‘miserably’) ignorant, unaware and uninterested in the deeper things of God. Some choose to knowingly remain children, thinking to avoid the sorrows they believe those more mature in the faith receive because of their being ready to face greater trial and greater testing from the Lord. All they while they forget that in growing in the Christian faith, we come to know more and more of the glory and goodness of our Lord and King, in all the colours of His grace that attend such a magnificent, perfect and all-powerful person, Saviour, God and King. And contrary to their belief, such children of the faith (in maturity) may very well be in for greater sorrow than they can possibly comprehend, just as a child who loses much cannot cope with great loss (nor understand or even begin to comprehend it), so how will the children of the faith cope with great storms, sorrows and loss when they have no doctrine to support such things? How will they bear crosses they don’t believe they should have to carry? How will they trust a God who slays them? Conversely, how will they be used in more mighty ways? How will they be able to grasp the experience and knowledge of the facets of the glory of God? How will they understand greater revelations of His voice and power? And so we have all failed here, and yet His grace has remained, so much so that He even gives time for us to change our ways, so that we’ll not repeat such mistakes in the future.
So where do we worship from? Where do we serve from? And where do we follow from? If we love and learn of the Word, it is highly likely that we’ll do these things from the place of Spirit and Truth. If we don’t really know the Word well, then it is very likely that we’ll worship from the place of the flesh, even though we ourselves are spiritual beings. We will in effect contaminate the worship of God and not even know it. And many of these things the modern Church has already done, and we ourselves have done, so we must be on our guard. Jesus often looked strange and unlovely to those that tried to understand His Word and His ways according to how they saw life, and according to what they saw as right. Do we as Christians struggle with the same thing? This is evidence that we may be more of this world than we think, and it may be time to take drastic measures to extricate ourselves, so that we can be sure we follow Christ, and not an idol of our own making, being ourselves.
Thursday, 5 September 2013
HOW TO RECOGNISE TRUTH
John 3v30 He must increase, but I must decrease. 31 He who comes from above is above all; he who is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. 33 He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true. 34 For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God does not give the Spirit by measure.
The test for determining whether what we hear is truth is quite simple- is the teaching we hear based on and centred around how our lives can become better or is it based on and centred around the Lord Jesus, and how we can serve Him? If it is based around the later, then whatever comes from it, including the subject of our lives and God's love and care for us, then we can trust that it is ok, as long as it is based on scripture. If, however, it is based around the former, then whatever comes from it, will be poisoned, and is dangerous for consumption, and in short, is not truth. Jesus did not preach from man's perspective or from His point of view, but preached from the basis of the will of God, and in accordance with obeying that will and laying down our lives for the ruler of that will- the Father. Jesus even went so far as to say that He didn't say anything or do anything unless He heard it from His Father, or saw His Father do it. And yet what great liberties men take today in shepherding and serving His people! They think of a way of doing Church, and they presume it is ok, as long as they can twist the scriptures to support their way of doing it. If there comes a passage they don't like because it doesn't support their way or their preaching, they dismiss it as irrelevant, or as doctrinally outdated, or they simply choose not to respond to it in any way. Men buy and sell in His Church, and yet Jesus drove the buyers and sellers out- calling them thieves! Men preach certain sections of the Word and leave massive portions out, and yet the Word says that we must love and accept the whole counsel of God (and they call their choosing of what to preach led by the Holy Spirit! God said all of His Word is LIVING AND ACTIVE, AND SHARPER THAN ANY TWO EDGED SWORD). Jesus said that the worship of God wasn't about a place, but about worshipping in Spirit and in Truth, and yet men have made worshipping at their places of worship and Church buildings, an idol unto themselves (benefitting themselves, their lusts, pride and their pursuits much more than the desires of God). Jesus said that we should seek the honour that comes from God, and yet men have loved to honour themselves and make themselves seen and heard, and take great titles to themselves, and to say whatever will endear themselves to others at the great expense of truth, and the honour of God and His benefit. Jesus preached a Word that was always hard for the flesh to hear, and yet words are now preached that men lap up and that cause no offence to the flesh. Jesus came to lead men to God, but now men lead people to themselves, and call it honouring to God. Jesus came to teach men that we should hide ourselves and yet glorify God, and yet men strut around with their personalities as though the whole world should stand amazed at their grand and awesome personalities and their amazing gifts and abilities. Jesus came to show men that in this life, ultimately we are called to die to ourselves, and to live for God, but now men are taught that we must save our lives at any cost, and follow God in order to enrich our lives at any cost. Jesus came to give life through the Spirit, and now men try to give life through places of worship that are more akin to nightclubs (and the values of nightclubs), now men try to gain life through everything but God, and through all the things the world has to offer. Jesus came to give the Word, but men now come to give their own word.
All too easily much of the Church has now swapped the glory of God, for the glory of this world- a glory that is false and quickly fading. When the storm comes, the glory of this world will falter and will be proved false, and everything built on that foundation will fall and fail. Men will be severely shocked and alarmed to realise that what they so readily relied upon will so easily be swept away. The shallowness of what the Church loves will fail to provide in that day, and will offer no protection and will offer no solutions to the problems that arise. The glitz, glamour and fun that the Church has relied upon to prop up its services and bring the world to its doors will be revealed as a lying friend and a traitor to the sober, serious and important doctrines and pure truths of His Word. Jesus did not come to set up a Kingdom of men in the world, but He came to set up a Kingdom, and a highway for that Kingdom, in the hearts and lives of men, so that whatever may come in this present world, might not shake people from their following and service of Him. Much of the Church and leaders of it have deceived the people of God in the grossest manner, and they shall themselves realise the deception they accepted and promoted in that day when the storm arrives. They shall realise that all the doctrines and truth they hid from Christians and ignored in the Word because they considered them too hard and unnecessary for people to hear, were actually those very things that above all (apart from salvation itself) where vital for His people and vital for themselves in order to be prepared and in order to be given the courage, conviction and the strength of His grace that will be needed to see those times through. The people of God will themselves realise how much deception they swallowed in the name of God in that day, and they shall very much regret it. They shall realise their own grace error, and the errors of their 'leaders' in that day, and only the grace and mercy of God will be able to step in, in order to see them through in that time.
The House of God and the following of God will always be called something that is according to the Word, to prayer, to obedience to that Word, to grace through faith, and nothing more. Everything else that is built upon it will fall, either in this life, or the next. How much will fall will depend entirely on how much we decided to build on it that is of our own ways (earthly), devices, imaginations, ill-gotten and deceived perceptions of His Word and all the justifications therein (motivated by our desires and lusts)- things that have absolutely nothing to do with the worship of God, but only the worship of humanity and the worship of ourselves.
The test for determining whether what we hear is truth is quite simple- is the teaching we hear based on and centred around how our lives can become better or is it based on and centred around the Lord Jesus, and how we can serve Him? If it is based around the later, then whatever comes from it, including the subject of our lives and God's love and care for us, then we can trust that it is ok, as long as it is based on scripture. If, however, it is based around the former, then whatever comes from it, will be poisoned, and is dangerous for consumption, and in short, is not truth. Jesus did not preach from man's perspective or from His point of view, but preached from the basis of the will of God, and in accordance with obeying that will and laying down our lives for the ruler of that will- the Father. Jesus even went so far as to say that He didn't say anything or do anything unless He heard it from His Father, or saw His Father do it. And yet what great liberties men take today in shepherding and serving His people! They think of a way of doing Church, and they presume it is ok, as long as they can twist the scriptures to support their way of doing it. If there comes a passage they don't like because it doesn't support their way or their preaching, they dismiss it as irrelevant, or as doctrinally outdated, or they simply choose not to respond to it in any way. Men buy and sell in His Church, and yet Jesus drove the buyers and sellers out- calling them thieves! Men preach certain sections of the Word and leave massive portions out, and yet the Word says that we must love and accept the whole counsel of God (and they call their choosing of what to preach led by the Holy Spirit! God said all of His Word is LIVING AND ACTIVE, AND SHARPER THAN ANY TWO EDGED SWORD). Jesus said that the worship of God wasn't about a place, but about worshipping in Spirit and in Truth, and yet men have made worshipping at their places of worship and Church buildings, an idol unto themselves (benefitting themselves, their lusts, pride and their pursuits much more than the desires of God). Jesus said that we should seek the honour that comes from God, and yet men have loved to honour themselves and make themselves seen and heard, and take great titles to themselves, and to say whatever will endear themselves to others at the great expense of truth, and the honour of God and His benefit. Jesus preached a Word that was always hard for the flesh to hear, and yet words are now preached that men lap up and that cause no offence to the flesh. Jesus came to lead men to God, but now men lead people to themselves, and call it honouring to God. Jesus came to teach men that we should hide ourselves and yet glorify God, and yet men strut around with their personalities as though the whole world should stand amazed at their grand and awesome personalities and their amazing gifts and abilities. Jesus came to show men that in this life, ultimately we are called to die to ourselves, and to live for God, but now men are taught that we must save our lives at any cost, and follow God in order to enrich our lives at any cost. Jesus came to give life through the Spirit, and now men try to give life through places of worship that are more akin to nightclubs (and the values of nightclubs), now men try to gain life through everything but God, and through all the things the world has to offer. Jesus came to give the Word, but men now come to give their own word.
All too easily much of the Church has now swapped the glory of God, for the glory of this world- a glory that is false and quickly fading. When the storm comes, the glory of this world will falter and will be proved false, and everything built on that foundation will fall and fail. Men will be severely shocked and alarmed to realise that what they so readily relied upon will so easily be swept away. The shallowness of what the Church loves will fail to provide in that day, and will offer no protection and will offer no solutions to the problems that arise. The glitz, glamour and fun that the Church has relied upon to prop up its services and bring the world to its doors will be revealed as a lying friend and a traitor to the sober, serious and important doctrines and pure truths of His Word. Jesus did not come to set up a Kingdom of men in the world, but He came to set up a Kingdom, and a highway for that Kingdom, in the hearts and lives of men, so that whatever may come in this present world, might not shake people from their following and service of Him. Much of the Church and leaders of it have deceived the people of God in the grossest manner, and they shall themselves realise the deception they accepted and promoted in that day when the storm arrives. They shall realise that all the doctrines and truth they hid from Christians and ignored in the Word because they considered them too hard and unnecessary for people to hear, were actually those very things that above all (apart from salvation itself) where vital for His people and vital for themselves in order to be prepared and in order to be given the courage, conviction and the strength of His grace that will be needed to see those times through. The people of God will themselves realise how much deception they swallowed in the name of God in that day, and they shall very much regret it. They shall realise their own grace error, and the errors of their 'leaders' in that day, and only the grace and mercy of God will be able to step in, in order to see them through in that time.
The House of God and the following of God will always be called something that is according to the Word, to prayer, to obedience to that Word, to grace through faith, and nothing more. Everything else that is built upon it will fall, either in this life, or the next. How much will fall will depend entirely on how much we decided to build on it that is of our own ways (earthly), devices, imaginations, ill-gotten and deceived perceptions of His Word and all the justifications therein (motivated by our desires and lusts)- things that have absolutely nothing to do with the worship of God, but only the worship of humanity and the worship of ourselves.
Saturday, 31 August 2013
ZEALOUS FOR ALL OF HIS WAYS
His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."
-John 2v17
Today we as Christians are very zealous for good things; we are zealous for love, for grace, for gentleness, humility, patience and giving- all amazingly good things! But are we zealous for knowing the Lord's judgments? Are we zealous for knowing His justice and His righteousness? The only thing the Bible ever says Jesus was zealous for was for an act of judgement through which His temple was completely cleared of those that had made His House into a place of merchandise and the merchandise itself. The Lord, in that one act, forever set the standard by which the Church would be accountable to, and forever in that one act did Jesus ensure His people knew exactly where His heart was at when it came to the worship of the Lord, and the honour that attends, and should attend, that name.
Are we zealous for the Lord's judgments in the same way, even as King David was?
Psalm 119v7 ...'When I learn Your righteous judgments.
8 I will keep Your statutes...'
13 With my lips I have declared
All the judgments of Your mouth.
20 My soul breaks with longing
For Your judgments at all times.
30 I have chosen the way of truth;
Your judgments I have laid before me.
62 At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You,
Because of Your righteous judgments.
75 I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are right...
137 Righteous are You, O Lord,
And upright are Your judgments.
160 The entirety of Your word is truth,
And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.
(And the scriptures above are just from 1 Psalm!)
Or do we shy away from judgment because we do not understand it? If we don't understand it, we need to search the Word to find out exactly what it is, and how He works such things. Whether in the Old or New Testament, His judgments are there, and the Lord has not stopped working according to His character, whether in either testament. Though there is grace now because of the cross, still His judgment lingers over those that haven't been washed in it (Rom 1v18 + John 3v18). And though His grace covers and washes all the sins of His people, still He reserves the right to discipline us with acts of judgment according to His good and gracious wisdom (1 Peter 4v17-19) to grow us and to keep our hearts and lives following His path.
There are so many things that are wonderful about the judgements of God. Through His judgment He purifies and renews, revives and refreshes. Through such things the world of old during Noah's time was set free, in a major sense, of a load of corrupting and polluting sin, unrighteous and all its deadly effects and consequences. Through judgments the Lord stems the tide of evil, removes and replaces rulers, renews vision, replaces hardened hearts, reminds us of His power, reveals His wisdom, sets His people free, saves the unsaved, testifies to His truth and the Word of God, reminds the world of judgment and sin, and the judgment and grace to come, and orders all things according to His good and wise will. We must also remind ourselves that BECAUSE OF JUDGMENT, grace was enabled to fully be given to us and a needy world in the first place, and that because Jesus was judged in our place, all of us that believe may go free! From this we see that judgment is often used by the Lord to set new paths and highways for His Spirit to tread, both into the inroads of our hearts and the hearts of both the great and small within nations. Judgments often bring in the greatest moves of God, and the greatest times of revival for the people of God. Judgment kept the Church practically Holy in Paul's day (1 Cor 11v30) and at it's beginning after the cross (Acts 5). And finally it is with judgment that God will usher in the end of all sin, and thus a new heaven and earth, and the permanent and visible Kingdom of God.
Yes, when learning of the judgements of God there are hard things to encounter, and sorrowful things to understand and bear also; things that bring perplexity to our mortal minds and our limited understanding, and that often offend the fleshly part of us that still tries to rise up (and our sensibilities which are so often unknowingly influenced by the dictates, fashions and reasonings of the world around us) but we shouldn't allow these things to bar the way to us understanding that in the midst of all, He is Sovereign, Just, Wise and Good; and that whatever He does via judgment, He does according to such a criteria. And so we must remind ourselves that all His acts are GOOD, HOLY, WISE, BENEFICIAL AND JUST, not just those acts that we can understand, and that we find easy to identify with and to uphold and promote. Understanding His judgment means that we will, all the more, understand just how valuable His love and His grace really is, for it is by one, that we can understand the other. We will also understand that in judging, God is still gracious, and that in being gracious, God is still just.
Lastly, it is of paramount importance that we come to, not only understand judgment, but to love it. Not because judgment often brings destruction, but because the God who judges is Just and Good, and when He judges, it is needful and beneficial, no matter the cost. We are living in a day today when the time is soon approaching where the judgments of God will be made more particularly manifest, and to a time when God will choose to judge in a more severe and particular manner than what we have known in recent times. To know why, all we have to do is to look at the society around us. If we still do not understand why, surely we are in some kind of trouble, to not recognise what sin is around us, and the awful affect it is having on the minds and hearts our nation and the nations around the world. God is coming to judge for these things, and He is righteous in doing so. When we understand judgment, and the God who judges, we too shall be able to firmly stick by our Lord and stick close to His banner, though all the world may rally to hate both Him and us, for doing such a thing. The time is coming where many, even unknowingly to themselves, will have to choose between a God who is truly loving and just, and a world that professes such a thing, and yet is so far from it. Today, our world tells us to bow to the god of tolerance, in the name of their so called 'love'. If we don't, there will soon be consequences for it, and though that is just my opinion, that much should be easy enough for any Christian to see. The time is coming where we must stick by our God, though to all the world He looks as though He is someone who hates and who doesn't accept according to their rules. And we will only be able to do that if we fully understand just how Just God's judgment is, and just how GOOD it is too. Yes, we may not be able to understand all of it, after all, His ways are so high above ours, that there will always be things that we don't understand. And yet, if we are diligent to understand what we can, the Holy Spirit will reveal just how just and good our God is, in all His judgments, and in all His ways.
God bless!
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