Thursday, July 03,
2014, 8:46 a.m. – the Lord Jesus put the song in mind, “Praise Be Told.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read Isaiah 28. I will quote selected verses
in the NIV due to the length of the passage, and I will summarize other parts
of it. The passage in its entirety may be read here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+28&version=NIV
The northern kingdom of Israel was under judgment by
Almighty God. The government of this kingdom was the nation’s pride, and that
was also part of her downfall. Recently the Lord Jesus gave me a picture of the
northern kingdom as similar to the institutional church, whereas the southern
kingdom was to be paralleled over to the true church, the body of Christ. One
is an institution of humans whereas the other is of God. One is a corporation
of mankind, whereas the other is a spiritual entity of the Spirit of God. One
is headed by humans and government, whereas the other is headed by Jesus
Christ. One is operated like a business of humans whereas the other is operated
in the Spirit. One is physical. The other is spiritual. One gives allegiance to
governments of men, whereas the other has its allegiance to Christ alone.
Yet, the true church, the body of Christ, can exist within
the institutional church, but this church is divided because part is of the
flesh and part is of the Spirit; part is of men and part is of God. In other
words, it has divided loyalties. And, I do believe God is calling to his true
church to come out from these institutions of men and for the church to operate
in the Spirit as a spiritual entity with only Christ as the head (her only Pride
and Crown).
The judgment was specifically against the government of the
northern kingdom. Like a hailstorm and a destructive wind, God would throw the
nation’s pride, their government, to the ground. Many times over the Lord Jesus
has shown me how this may be applied to the institutional church here in the
USA whose government is her “pride”, and how God intends to bring such a
judgment against the US government. When this judgment comes, and it will come,
the church will no longer look to the government as her pride, but the Lord
Jesus will be her glorious crown. Amen! And, he will be a source of strength “to
those who turn back the battle at the gate.”
I believe this “turning back the battle at
the gate” has to do with those who have resisted Satan’s lies and deceptions
and temptations in their own lives, as well as this represents those who are
actively involved in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in order to turn back
this battle of Satan against God’s people, and at the gate of human’s hearts so
that people can be saved, so they can be free from the power of Satan and sin
over their lives, and so that they no longer allow Satan and sin to overcome
them. They stop it at the gate. For those who have done this, i.e. for those
who have “turned the battle back at the gate,” God will be their refuge and
strength. This does not mean they will not suffer or even die for their faith
in Jesus Christ and for his gospel, but it means that he will be with them even
in death and he will bring them safely into his glorious presence.
Though They Mock
“Who
is it he is trying to teach?
To whom is he explaining his message?
To
children weaned from their milk,
to those just taken from the breast?
For
it is:
Do this, do that,
a rule for this, a rule for that;
a little here, a little there.”
Many of the leaders of the people in the institutional church
of today, for whom the US government is their pride (their crown), are
captivated by the philosophies, values, marketing schemes, and teachings of
humankind over and above the teachings of Christ and of his word. Books on how
to grow big churches or on how to plant churches have often become their “bible,”
as well as are books which teach eastern mysticism and a diluted gospel, in
order to tickle the itching ears of their adherents. They bring God/Jesus down
to their level. They no longer teach the fear of the Lord. They make God into a
buddy who is altogether like us rather than exalt him to the holy and powerful
God that he is. They make the gospel comfortable, non-threatening,
non-judgmental and pleasing to the senses so that the world will embrace it and
will come to their churches, i.e. to their places of business.
Many of these leaders thus reject the true gospel of
salvation and all who hold to the foundational teachings of Christ and of the
apostles. Many of these leaders are even taught and also teach that the church
should avoid, cast out, discourage and get rid of those with strong spiritual
convictions or those who have a depth of knowledge of scripture, and some are
even taught to discourage the bringing of Bibles and the teaching of the word
in their meetings, because they see religion as something which divides people,
and so they try to minister to Christian and non-Christian alike in the same
ways, teaching an ecumenical gospel which appeals to people of many religions,
because it is tolerant of sin and it is tolerant of various religions, and it
works to bring all people of all faiths together as one.
And, so they mock those who still preach the gospel as
taught by Jesus and the apostles, and they work to discredit them, trying to
prove that obedience to Christ and repentance are works of the flesh that
people perform in order to try to earn their salvation. They don’t like
messages that say we have to leave our lives of sin behind us and that we must
walk in Christ’s righteousness and holiness. They give their adherents a free
license to continue in sin without guilt, thinking they have their ticket into
heaven and that God’s grace covers it all. Yet, the Bible teaches that God’s
grace teaches us to say “NO!” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live
self-controlled and upright lives in this present age while we wait for Christ’s
return (See Tit. 2:11-14). Jesus Christ died, not so we would be free to
continue in sin without guilt or remorse, but he died so that we would no
longer live for ourselves but for him who gave himself up for us (See 2 Co.
5:15; cf. Ro. 6-8; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:17-24; & 1 Jn. 1-5).
So, God will judge these leaders, too. He will bring
foreigners against them, and this will be God’s way of speaking to them, since
they will not listen to his word, and since they will not listen to his
servants and messengers who tell them the truth about what God’s word says.
They - both government and religious leaders - have made a lie their refuge and
falsehood their hiding place. They have followed the lies of our government
leaders, which is why they have made the government their pride, and they have
followed the lies of these writers of books who tell them that they need to
change the gospel to make it more appealing to the world and that they need to
run the church just like a business so that they can grow in numbers. And, in
these lies, deceptions and manipulations of truth they have trusted.
A Precious Cornerstone
“See,
I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone for a sure
foundation;
the
one who relies on it
will never be stricken with panic.
I
will make justice the measuring line
and righteousness the plumb line;
hail
will sweep away your refuge, the lie,
and water will overflow your hiding place.”
Jesus Christ is our precious cornerstone. A cornerstone is
the foundation of something. Another word for cornerstone is capstone, which I
believe gives even a much more vivid picture of who Jesus Christ is in relation
to his church, his building. The capstone is a crowning achievement, i.e. a
reference to the Pride and Crown that he will be to the people once he comes in
judgment on the government in whom they have taken pride and made their crown
in place of Christ, in many cases. Jesus Christ, as our capstone, is
the top, the first, the most important, the foundation, the beginning, the
center, the support, and the keystone of this building, his church, whereas the
government in the US is the head of the institutional church. Yet Jesus Christ
is our only sure foundation. All other things we put our trust in – the government,
wealth, possessions, land, health, humans, humanistic teachings and
philosophies, church edifices (buildings built by humans), etc. will all pass
away and they will all disappoint us, but God’s love will never fail us. He is faithful
in all he does!
So, make sure you are not trusting in a lie.
Make sure you are trusting in the word of God, the word of truth, the true
gospel of salvation, and in Jesus Christ as your only foundation.
Praise Be Told! /
An Original Work / December 28, 2013
Based off Various Scriptures
He was pierced for our
transgressions.
He was crushed for all
our sin.
Our chastisement was
upon Him.
By His stripes, we now
are healed.
He has witnessed all
our trials,
And the sins we choose
to wear.
Yet, while we were dead
in our sin,
Jesus died, our sins
to bear.
He himself bore all of
our sins
In His body on a
cross,
So that we might die
to our sin,
And live for His
righteousness.
By faith in the pow’r
of Jesus
And His blood shed for
our sins,
We can be forgiven our
sin,
And have life with God
in heav’n.
He will lead us and
He’ll guide us
In the way that we
should go.
He will comfort and
protect us,
Because Jesus, we do
know.
Though He disciplines
for our good,
He will heal us –
Praise be told!
Do not fear, your Lord
is with you.
Just have faith in
Christ your Lord.
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