Stay The Course

I don’t know if in this life we can fully appreciate or comprehend the graciousness of Jesus. Ephesians tell us in order for anyone to comprehend the expanse of His love, it doesn’t come naturally through our intellect. Paul prayed for the Ephesians that they would get a supernatural revelation from the Holy Spirit. Then and only then can we “comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height — to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge.”

I think we need that as well to comprehend His grace towards us, sinners. In Hebrews 5.2 there is 1 little line that many skip over. I know I had for my whole adult life but when I was studying it for communion it struck me. First a little context.

Hebrews 5.2 it says “He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray.” Any Jewish reader would automatically remember in the O.T. this differentiates between sins of ignorance and willful deliberate sins. Like a trespass, I know it’s sin, I know where the line is, and I know what happens if I cross that line, but I don’t care, I’m going to do it anyway. Any one of us, would be gracious to someone who sins against us accidentally, it was a mistake. No big deal. But if someone deliberately sinned against us? I don’t know about you, but my reaction would be to treat that same person differently. Not so gracious.

But notice, not Jesus. He has compassion in both circumstances. The reason is, Jesus understands what it’s like to be a human. He was exposed to everything the sinful culture could throw at Him. He was tempted with pride, power, control, impatience hurt feelings, betrayal, character assassination and more just like you and I.

And so yes, we need a supernatural revelation from the Holy Spirit to be able to comprehend and fully appreciate just how gracious He is with us. This will also help us to be like Him, when we need compassion with other sinners like us.

History shows clearly enough that true spirituality has never at any time been the possession of the masses. In any given period since the fall of the human race, only a few persons ever discerned the right way or walked in God’s law. God’s truth has never been popular. Wherever Christianity becomes popular, it is not on its way to die–it has already died. Popular Judaism slew the prophets and crucified Christ. Popular Christianity killed the Reformers, jailed the Quakers and drove John Wesley into the streets. When it comes to religion, the crowds are always wrong. At any time there are a few who see, and the rest are blinded. To stand by the truth of God against the current religious vogue is always unpopular and may be downright dangerous. The historic church, while she was a hated minority group, had a moral power that made her terrible to evil and invincible before her foes. When the Roman masses, without change of heart, were made Christian by baptism, Christianity gained popularity and lost her spiritual glow. From there she went on to adopt the ways of Rome and to follow her pagan religions. The fish caught the fisherman, and what started out to be the conversion of Rome became finally the conversion of the church. From that ignominious captivity, the church has never been fully delivered.

Here’s the sign I spoke about last Sunday covering Acts 9.

2020 produced plenty of false prophets, some making weekly predictions of a “significant imminent event this week”. Of course that happened almost every week. It has also happened in the early part of 2021 and we’re only a couple of weeks into it! 2021 has much of the Church nervous or on edge, and I think we can expect more false prophecies and prophets. The latest thing sweeping the internet is called the Berisheet Passover Prophecy. It first came out in the spring of 2018. Berisheet is Hebrew for “in beginning” and is the first word in the Bible, in Genesis 1.1. The promoters of this say that each Hebrew letter in that word is a word unto itself and is a prophecy about the date of the crucifixion and the 2nd coming of Jesus. Make no mistake, the spirit of it is really good. The gospel is spelled out by my count at least 3 or 4 times. I really liked the presentation. That said, there are several problems. First it comes too close to date setting like the Millerites of Wayne county years ago. To be fair, they don’t set a specific date for the rapture, but certainly the second coming (2030), and then sort of set a window of a date for the rapture (anytime between now and 2023). Second, the date that is used for the crucifixion is wrong. They use 30AD rather than 33AD. This one fixture is key to everything else in the presentation and if this key point is wrong, everything else that hinges off of it is wrong too. Third, it treats the prophecy like Michael Drosnin’s book; The Bible Code. The premise of that book was that names and events were secretly encoded in the Old Testament. I remember buying the book, being really interested in it. The problem is, that’s not how prophecy works, that’s not how God communicates and it isn’t how we are supposed to read the Bible. Again, the spirit of this isn’t bad, but it’s not right for a number of reasons. As Christians, there are so many scriptures that tell us how to live in light of Christ’s imminent return. I think that statement alone, should tell us. Yes, the Lord could come at any moment and since time is short, the great commission and our witness is ever more important. Time is short. In the mean time, just be aware there might be more of these “hot” prophecies that will spread like wild fire. Maranatha!

It’s been somewhat popular for Christians to post Isaiah 8.12 “Do not say ‘A conspiracy concerning all that this people call a conspiracy, nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” I have no doubt it’s well meaning to deter people from believing in conspiracy theories. But that’s NOT what that passage means. There are a couple of reasons this verse shouldn’t be used this way. First, the word translated “conspiracy” isn’t the best translation. It’s better to translate it “treason” or “confederacy“. Second, it rips it out of it’s context which always has to be primary to understanding the verse. Here’s the context:

At this time Israel was divided between the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and the Southern Kingdom (Judah). The Northern Kingdom King Pekah had made a horrible ungodly alliance with Syria’s King Rezin. He did so to defeat the southern Kingdom of Judah in a civil war.

Isaiah, prophet to the southern Kingdom (King Ahaz at the time) spoke these words to him. Ahaz, out of fear was about to make a counter, ungodly alliance with Tiglath-Pileser, King of Assyria. He’s telling him, “don’t make a ‘confederacy‘ it would amount to “treason” against the Lord! In verse 13 Isaiah goes on “The Lord of hosts, Him you shall hallow, let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.” Whenever that title “Lord of Hosts” is used, it is done so to speak of his Sovereign governance over His own legions of Angels that are at His disposal to fight on behalf of Him and His cause and His people. The whole incident is recorded in 2 Kings 16 and 2 Chronicles 28.

Yes, there are conspiracies, yes it’s ok for a Christian to be suspicious of Worldly leaders who are motivated by greed, power, pride. The scripture says we should be suspicious of our own heart “the heart is desperately wicked, who can know it.” We’re told that Jesus as a human “did not commit himself to men because He knew all men.” In Romans 3 Paul lays out the wickedness and wicked intentions of the human condition without the Holy Spirit residing inside. This Isaiah passage is a different subject matter.

It’s amazing how closely related this is to Christmas and here’s why. This same King Ahaz was further encouraged by the prophet Isaiah that the ultimate solution by God the Father would be in the form of a baby. Not a confederacy, not a war, but a baby. Not just any baby but God’s son, Jesus. In Isaiah 9 Ahaz hears that the baby will come…

“by way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, In galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined…For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end.”

So when fear comes in, rather than letting that fear motivate us to make an ungodly alliance to build security into our lives in a carnal way, we should trust the Lord Jesus. I believe that was a good word to Ahaz and it certainly is a good word to us today. There is a peace we can experience this Christmas with those thoughts, and it’s God’s desire for His people to rest, He want’s us to rest. Maranatha!

The World Economic Forum has been formulating plans to create “a better world”. Of course man has always thought he could create a utopia or heaven on earth. Some of these men and women are elected, some are unelected bureaucrats. Sinful mankind has had a penchant for taking advantage of a crisis to gain control and 2020 is no exception. I’ll have more on this in the future but here’s a short video of the agenda. Remember, man may have an agenda, but God has one too and His agenda is never delayed or stalled. The scripture says “even the wrath of man will praise Him.” Maranatha!

Here’s what Rice University has been developing to keep your readable vaccine record on your arm.

https://news.rice.edu/2019/12/18/quantum-dot-tattoos-hold-vaccination-record/

I’ve been wanting to share this article from the Federalist. Since so many countries and states have about 85-90% mask compliance, why did cases rise so high? Obviously faulty testing is a whole other subject but this is important for people to know. We need critical thinking.

https://thefederalist.com/2020/10/29/these-12-graphs-show-mask-mandates-do-nothing-to-stop-covid/

This is an incredibly informative interview with Dr. Simone Gold of America’s Frontline doctors. She explains how she started and clarifies so much about Covid, testing and lockdowns. It is a must. She was interviewed by Pastor Rick Brown at God Speak Calvary Chapel.

https://youtu.be/7Kf29ogLEtE

This is an important resource for people to hear the other side of things. You can find their resources at http://americasfrontlinedoctors.com

Here is there latest statement on mandating vaccinations:

America’s Frontline Doctors met at the CDC to make our message clear.

Experimental vaccines should NEVER be mandated or forced by businesses or govt. This choice should always remain between a doctor and a patient. pic.twitter.com/qVjv8AHUNt

— Dr. Simone Gold (@drsimonegold) December 16, 2020