Habakkuk 2

Then the Lord replied: "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay."

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

No Peace for the Wicked

Wednesday, July 09, 2014, 7:03 a.m. – the Lord Jesus put this song in mind:

Shine Jesus Shine / Graham Kendrick

Shine, Jesus, shine
Fill this land with the Father's glory
Blaze, Spirit, blaze, set our hearts on fire
Flow, river, flow
Flood the nations with grace and mercy
Send forth Your Word, Lord and let there be light

Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Isaiah 48 (NIV).

Not In Truth

“Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob,
    you who are called by the name of Israel
    and come from the line of Judah,
you who take oaths in the name of the Lord
    and invoke the God of Israel—
    but not in truth or righteousness
you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city
    and claim to rely on the God of Israel—
    the Lord Almighty is his name…” ~ Is. 48:1-2

Physical Israel

The physical nation of Israel today is not to be confused with the nation of Israel of old. The nation of Israel of old was God’s holy people, set apart for God and for his service, although they certainly did not always live like holy people. Still, they belonged to God. He created them for his purposes. From them would come Jesus Christ, their Savior, into the world to save sinners, yet they, as a nation, rejected their promised Messiah, the seed of Abraham, and they had him crucified on a cross to die as though he was a common criminal, although he had done no wrong. So they, as a people, were cut off from the vine due to unbelief (See Romans 11). They can be grafted back in through belief, though. Yet, some Jews have believed in Jesus Christ as their Messiah, Savior and Lord. Amen!

Jesus Christ, through his death and resurrection, made believing Jews and Gentiles one in Christ. He destroyed the barrier between the two groups. “His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility... For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit” (See Eph. 2:14-18). So, you see, God only has one chosen people now, and they are the true church, the Body of Christ, whether Jew or Gentile by physical birth. Yet, we are no longer divided Jew and Gentile, but we are divided Christian and non-Christian; saved and unsaved (See Gal. 3:26-29).

“For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise. These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother…

“Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born according to the flesh persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.” ~ Gal. 4:22-31

It is critical that we get this in order for us to truly comprehend what is going on in the world and in the Middle East today! The physical nation of Israel today is not of God! It is of Satan! Those who do not believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives do not worship the God of Abraham. They are antichrist! They are not the children of promise. Only those who believe in Jesus Christ are the children of promise and heirs of God. The physical nation of Israel today is no different from any other nation created of men. They are of Hagar, so they are no different from the Arab nations. Do we get this? They are the “Gentiles” now! And, they are opposed to God and to his Son Jesus Christ, just like they were at the time they killed the Son of God. So, why do Christians support them?

Oh, church! Why do so many of you not see this? There is so much propaganda aimed at Christians today to get them to be sympathetic toward Israel, and to get them to give their support to Israel, but do you really know who you are supporting? You are not supporting God and his work! You are giving your support to the devil!! This is what scripture teaches. This physical nation of Israel of today was a creation of evil humans and for evil purposes. Pray about this! Check it out on the internet while the information is still there. See what the word of God teaches. The Israel that the Gentiles (non-Christians) oppose today is the church. We are the ones they are trampling down, persecuting and murdering. And, the US government has a big part in this “trampling” of the Holy City, the City of God, Zion, the New Jerusalem, the church of the living God, the Body of Christ, the saints of Almighty God.

Institutional Church

This goes for the institutional church, too. Just because it wears the name “church” does not mean it is of God or that it is the church. It, as a corporation of humans, and as a business of human beings, is not the true church! We need to get this, too!! We should not be giving our support (our tithes and offerings, commitments, etc.) to institutions of men. They follow after men. They market the church just like big business, and they will step on anyone who gets in their way or anyone who stands in opposition to their man-made false religion.

In fact, many of them even teach their people and their leaders to avoid or to “filter out” those who are versed in scripture or who have strong convictions of the Lord. They replace worship with entertainment and the word of God with movie clips and books written by fleshly man. They prey on the weak, the naïve, and the vulnerable, as they are the ones they can mold into man’s image. They dilute the gospel to make it more appealing to the world, and they entertain the world in order to draw them to their places of business.

Yet, not everyone within the institutional church is like this, and not every congregation runs their church like a business. Though they are rare these days, I do believe there are church fellowships within the auspices of the institutional church today which truly love the Lord Jesus Christ and are completely sold out to him and to his work, who make him the true head of the church, which he is, and who let him build his church, instead of trying to follow the models of human beings. Glory to God! Amen!

Not Heard or Understood

You have neither heard nor understood;
    from of old your ears have not been open.
Well do I know how treacherous you are;
    you were called a rebel from birth.
For my own name’s sake I delay my wrath;
    for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you,
    so as not to destroy you completely.
See, I have refined you, though not as silver;
    I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this.
    How can I let myself be defamed?
    I will not yield my glory to another. ~ Is. 48:8-11

So many people; so many professing Christians will close their ears to this, though, not that people have to listen to me, but they should listen to what God’s word teaches. And, it teaches us over and over again to not be followers of humans, and to put our trust only in God. It teaches us to test everything we hear against the word of truth, too, to make sure it adds up to what scripture teaches, so that we are not led astray by the deceptions of human beings in their deceitful scheming. So, when you are asked to give support to physical Israel today, you should inquire of your God, and you should read what the Word teaches concerning the physical nation of Israel, and to whom we are to give our support. We do not want to, unknowingly, be supporting Satan and his work, do we?

The same goes for the institutional church. Read what the Word teaches about the true church. Is this how your “church” is operating? Test the things you are being taught against the Word of Truth. Is your “church” following the ways and teachings of humankind and of this sinful world? Or, are they truly following the Word of God and the Holy Spirit in all that they do? Are you sure? What is the money going to in your church? Is it going to the spreading of the true gospel of salvation? Are you sure? Is it going to the needy, the hungry, the poor? Is it going to meet the true needs of your congregation? Or is it going toward edifices of men? So many “churches” spend so much money on “fluff” and on entertainment, the Big Show (the ‘worship’ service), and on “stuff” they don’t need.

God will discipline his wayward church, but not to destroy her, but to save her. He is saying to his church today that his purpose is to teach only what is best for us. He says, “If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea” (See Is. 48:18). God will judge the world’s system, even within the institutional church, so he is calling his true church to come out from her and to be separate so she does not share in its sins. He will judge the USA for all her many sins against humanity throughout the world. He will judge the physical nation of Israel, too. Yet, for those who have committed their ways to the Lord, who have not denied his name, who have held strongly to the teaching of the Word as taught by Jesus Christ and the apostles, and who have not forsaken their Lord or the true gospel of salvation, he will bless them. They will never be in want of anything they truly need. And yet,

 “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”

Above All /Artist: Michael W. Smith

Crucified laid behind the stone
You lived to die rejected and alone
Like a Rose trampled on the ground
You took the fall and thought of me
Above all



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