Hindsight

Isaiah 7:1-2 ESV

In the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah, Rezin the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Remaliah the king of Israel came up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not yet mount an attack against it. When the house of David was told, “Syria is in league with Ephraim,” the heart of Ahaz and the heart of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.

Today the church is divided, just as the Israel of old was a divided kingdom. For, part of the church has joined forces with the nations, which are at war with God’s holy city (his heavenly Jerusalem, the temple of God, Christ’s body, his holy bride). The church united with the nations, thus, is opposed to the true gospel of our salvation and to its messengers, and is in an all-out war to try to defeat both the gospel and Christ’s servants and messengers.

The portion of the church which has unified itself with the nations is, thus, using their “hinds” to exercise insight, discernment and judgment, rather than using their head, Jesus Christ, to lead them into the right judgments, insights and decisions. For, their hinds are the fleshly parts of the body from which come evil thoughts, wickedness, immorality, filthy language, lying, hypocrisy, false righteousness, fakery, corruption, dishonesty and the like.

So, this fleshly and worldly part of the church, in unity with the nations, is indeed at war with the part of the church which is exercising divine and godly wisdom and discernment, and which is following Jesus Christ in his will and in his ways. Thus, the fleshly church, in unity with the nations, are in a crusade to try to discredit the gospel and its messengers and to try to convince people that they can continue to use their “hinds” instead of their “head” to make judgments about right and wrong for themselves.

This fleshly and worldly part of the church, too, is very self-focused, even to the exclusion of what is godly, holy and righteous. They are more focused on what brings them pleasure, rather than on pleasing God. They have more of an entitlement mindset, rather than having their minds and hearts set on our Lord and on his heavenly kingdom. And, they are opposed to anyone who would try to convince them that God is not ok with them living like that.

For, they are convinced that their salvation from sin gives them free license to continue in sin without guilt and without any need for remorse. They are convinced that Jesus’ death on that cross was only to take their punishment for sin and to promise them heaven as their eternal destiny. So, they are also convinced that they can live like the devil while they are still on this earth and yet still be guaranteed heaven as their eternal home. And, although some of them may not say that with words, by their lifestyles, which speak louder than words, they do indeed give off that message.

Isaiah 7:3-6 ESV

And the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz, you and Shear-jashub your son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool on the highway to the Washer's Field. And say to him, ‘Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah. Because Syria, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has devised evil against you, saying, “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it.”

We, who have placed our faith in Jesus Christ (Immanuel, God with us), should not fear the opposition from this worldly (fleshly) church in concert with the nations (the New World Order). For, our God is with us, and he will carry us through any and every situation which presents itself against us. He will give us all the wisdom, counsel and strength we need to combat the lies of the enemy and to stand strong in our faith, too.

We are not to be afraid of this opposition, though, because our Lord is on our side, if we are truly following him with our lives in obedience to his will and to his ways. Our enemies, who are also God’s enemies, may be able to kill our bodies, but they cannot kill our souls. They may fiercely oppose us and take advantage of our kindness to them, and they may even pretend to be our friends while they stab us behind the back. But, our Lord will sustain us through it all, and he will carry us safely into his eternal kingdom.

We must know here, too, that our Lord said that these times would come. He said we would be hated by the nations and that even our own family members, and people from our own nations and even within our own faith would turn against us, just like they did him. And, he said we should not be surprised or be overtaken when we see these things take place.

We were also warned in scripture concerning this beast (New World Order, one-world totalitarian government) that would rise and that would conquer nations and peoples and even the saints of God (See: Rev. 13). But, this is a two-headed beast, for one part is the nations and the other part is this fleshly-worldly church which has compromised with the world, and is leading the way towards a one-world religion where we all join hands together and sing “Kumbaya.” But, God has allowed this to take place for his purposes, one of which is to bring his worldly wayward church back to him, I believe.

Isaiah 7:7-9 ESV

Thus says the Lord God: “‘It shall not stand,    and it shall not come to pass.For the head of Syria is Damascus,    and the head of Damascus is Rezin.And within sixty-five years    Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,    and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.If you are not firm in faith,    you will not be firm at all.’”

For us, today, the message here is not that we won’t be persecuted for our faith in Jesus Christ. We will! It is not that our enemy will not be able to conquer us militarily. He will! It is not that those who devise evil against us will not be able to carry it out, either. They will! For, the Bible teaches that these things must take place before Jesus returns (See: Matt. 24).

But, the message is clear that we must not let these things unsettle us. We must not give in to fear and to intimidation. We must also not yield to the pressure to compromise our faith and convictions in order to “unify” with this worldly and ungodly church, in unity with the nations.

We must not let the enemy defeat us via manipulation of truth or of our minds, either. And, we must not let him convince us that God is ok with us doing evil against him and that repentance is not necessary for our salvation.

We must stand strong on the Word of God in the face of this opposition. We must expose the lies for what they are, and we must proclaim the truth. For, Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. Heaven is not guaranteed to those who still are walking (living) according to the flesh (according to their “hinds”). We must walk (conduct our lives) according to the Spirit in righteousness and purity if we want to have eternal life with God (See: Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Eph. 4:17-24; Gal. 6:7-8).

So, this is the truth we must stand on, and we must not waver in opinion from it, for if we don’t stand strong in our faith, then we will not stand at all.

For, when persecution gets much worse than it is now, especially for the church in America, which has not yet had to face much severe persecution, if we are not standing on the truth, we won’t make it. We will crash and burn if our faith is not on the solid Rock of Jesus Christ and his word, but if our faith is based on the thinking and reasoning of this world, thus making judgments with our “hinds” instead of with our head, Jesus Christ.

So, instead of exercising “hind-sight,” we need to be exercising foresight, knowing what is coming, preparing for it in advance, listening to the Spirit’s voice, bathing our minds and our hearts in God’s Word, and daily putting on that armor of God with which to fight off Satan’s evil schemes against us. This foresight, thus, comes from God, and it prepares us for what is coming, and it gives us the wisdom and discernment necessary in order to not cave to the world but to live according to the Spirit, holy and pleasing to God.

For Our Nation  

An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Trust Him with your life today.

Make Him your Lord and your Savior.

Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.

He will forgive you of your sin;

Cleanse your heart, made new within.

Men betraying: Our trust fraying.

On our knees to God we’re praying,

Seeking God to give us answers

That are only found in Him.

God is sovereign over all things.

Nothing from His mind escaping.

He has all things under His command,

And will work all for good.

Jesus Christ is gently calling

You to follow Him in all ways.

Men deceiving: we’re believing

In our Lord, and interceding

For our nation and its people

To obey their God today.

He is our hope for our future.

For our wounds He offers suture.

He is all we need for this life.

Trust Him with your life today.

https://vimeo.com/112351857

Tuesday, December 11, 2018