A Church For You

So many choices for today’s modern Christian!

If you want to continue fornicating and imagine you are heaven-bound, there is a church for you. They may even send you out to “reach the lost” and this will make you feel so Christian that you momentarily forget the weight of guilt on your soul.

If you love drunkenness and getting high, there is a church for you. You can smoke baby Jesus and the “Holy Ghost Bartender” can hook you up.  You can laugh and cry uncontrollably and act as ridiculous as you want, all while blaming God and looking down your nose at your less spiritual brothers and sisters who walk in self-control.

If you want to be a racist and still claim Christ, there is a church for you with Jesus paintings suited to your preferred skin color, and a genealogy chart tracing your family back to the patriarchs. Doesn’t Scripture say we are saved by race through faith?

If you want to be a “militant Christian” and use carnal weapons to pull off a crusade and take the earth by force, there is a church for you. Jesus didn’t really mean what He said, and His example is irrelevant.

If you are greedy and want to feel justified in loving money, there is a church for you. (Don’t forget to bring your seed gift–the bigger the better–credit cards accepted).

If you want to stop paying taxes and rebel against all law and order, and feel righteous in so-doing, there is a church for you. “Submit yourself to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake”?–Ridiculous.

If you want to marry someone of the same sex and still sing hymns on Sunday morning, there is a church for you. Look for the rainbow flag out front and bring one of those gender-inclusive Bible versions.

If you want ecstatic experiences and happy feelings and don’t care much for truth, there are churches where brains are checked at the door, and the God of order and peace and truth is forbidden entrance and won’t get in your way.

Oh yes, there is a seat on the pew for every man, no matter what his vice or personal ambition.

BUT ETERNAL LIFE IS RESERVED FOR THOSE WHO OBEY GOD, for those who do not walk after the flesh but after the Spirit.

Walk Circumspectly

See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. (Eph. 5:15-17)

“Circumspectly” means cautiously, vigilantly, heedfully, with watchfulness to guard against danger. “Circumspect” literally means looking on all sides, or examining carefully all the circumstances that may affect a determination. (source)

Why do we need to walk circumspectly?–Because the days are evil.  These are days of spiritual warfare.  In these evil days, we need to take up the whole armor of God so that we can stand against the wiles of the devil.  We need to be mindful that principalities and powers are against us to destroy us, but God has given us everything we need to overcome them if we will but heed His warnings. If we neglect the spiritual dress God has provided, we do so to our own peril.

Ephesians 6:11-17 teaches us how we must be dressed for these evil days:

in Truth–for the Lord desires truth in the inward parts (Psa. 51:6). Let us say with David, I have chosen the way of truth; Your judgments I have laid before me. (Psa. 119:30)  The entirety of God’s Word is truth (Psa. 119:60), and the truth is in Jesus (Eph. 4:21). We who follow Jesus and His teaching follow the living Truth, and it is the Spirit of Truth who lives in us (John 14:6-7).  It is by the truth that we are sanctified (John 17:17). Buy the truth and do not sell it (Prov. 23:23), for only those who receive a love of the truth will be saved (2 Thess. 2:10).

in Righteousness–for the Lord upholds the righteous (Psa. 37:17), and He shall never permit the righteous to be moved (Psa. 55:22).  He who does righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous (I Jn. 3:7), and righteousness delivers from death (Prov. 11:4).

in the Preparation of the Gospel of Peace–always being ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear (I Pet. 3:15), being unashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.  As Paul did, let us share also in the sufferings for the gospel as Christ’s ambassadors through whom our Lord pleads “Be reconciled to God.” (2 Tim. 1:8; 2 Cor. 5:18-20)  And if we are entrusted with the gospel, even so… speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts (I Thess. 2:4).

in the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation–faith to quench the fiery darts of the wicked that will come, and to move the mountains that will stand in our way; and our so-great salvation and its captain (Jesus) always guarding our minds. Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

with the Sword of the Spirit ever fitted to our hand and ready to be used–used to silence the lies of satan and to invade and pull down strongholds; casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:3-5). Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly; study to show yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (Col. 3:16; 2 Tim. 2:15).  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17).  Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you (I Tim. 4:16)..

always praying–with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints (Eph. 6:18).  Pray without ceasing, being ever mindful to keep your connection to the Father unobstructed by sin or apathy (1 Thess. 5:17).  Don’t go to sleep, saints, but watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. (Matt. 26-41).  Heed the warning of the Lord:

But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.  Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. (Luke 21:34-36)

Walk circumspectly; be dressed for battle and on your guard at all times, waiting and watching for your Master.  Do not be like the foolish virgins, who were unprepared for the long delay of their Bridegroom, and tried to shake off their slumber and get ready at the last moment, only to find they were too late.  Shake off your slumber now and check your oil supply; take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness (Lk. 11:35).  Make sure you are doing what God has told you to do, and that you maintain that work to the end, lest you be appointed a portion with the unbelievers.

Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning;  and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.  Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them.  And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.  But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.  Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season?  Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes.  Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has.  But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk,  the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. (Luke 12:35-40, 42-46)

Walk circumspectly when you are with the wicked, guarding your own behavior. David said, “I will guard my ways, lest I sin with my tongue; I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle, while the wicked are before me.” (Psa. 39:1)  Satan is looking to take advantage of us, and we are not ignorant of his devices (2 Cor. 2:11). We must not give place to the devil through our yielding to any sin (Eph. 4:27), especially in the presence of unbelievers who are watching to see if our walk matches our talk. Guard your mouth, for he who guards his mouth preserves his life, but he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction (Prov. 13:3).  Satan will exploit everything he can, to ruin our testimony before outsiders and offer them an excuse to reject the truth. Therefore, be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.  Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. (I Pet. 5:8-9)

Redeem the time. Each man is given only one life–one chunk of time–to steward, and the end of it is coming. So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom (Psa. 90:12). LORD, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, that I may know how frail I am.   Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths. (Psa. 39:45)  And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.  Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts (Rom. 13:11-14).  Saints, we simply don’t have time to make provision for the flesh and pursue vain things that have no eternal value. The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Who will go for the Lord? He who wins souls is wise (Prov. 11:30).

Do not be unwise, but understand what the Lord’s will is. His will is not that we seek a comfortable life on this earth while millions perish. His will is not that we eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die. His will is not that we blend in with our neighbors and keep our lights under a bushel, lest someone be offended. That is satan’s will.  Satan wants us to be carnally minded, because to be carnally minded is death (Rom. 8:6). We dare not be an offense and stumbling block to Christ and His mission, as Peter was at first, being not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.  For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  (Matt. 16:23, 25-26)  We must not be conformed to the thinking of this selfish world, but transformed by the renewing of our mind so that we can prove what is the perfect will of God (Rom. 12:2). We discover and prove the will of God so that we can do it, for whoever does the will of God is the Lord’s brother and sister and mother (Mark 3:35).

Walk circumspectly!  God bless you.

A Form of Godliness Denying the Power

Solomon wrote in Eccl. 1:9–

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

Remembering this, we can take God’s words to His stubborn Israelites, and understand how they apply to those who claim to be His people today.  Just as God’s people turned to wickedness and idolatry in the Old Testament, but thought their past calling coupled with a traditional continuation in religious practices saved them, so many think today. This is gross deception, and it is to this deception that I would like to aim the truth written in Amos 5.

There, the prophet spoke the following for the Lord–

For thus saith the LORD unto the house of Israel, Seek ye me, and ye shall live:  but seek not Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and pass not to Beersheba: for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought.  Seek the LORD, and ye shall live; lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph, and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel. Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth, seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name: that strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress. (4-9)

We must seek the Person of the Lord if we want to live. In Him is life. Think not that seeking religious places will save you. Think not that going to church will alone make you right with God. Think not that entering an “anointed” service and giving financially to “the man of God” will make you right with the Lord. His fire will break out even in these places, for judgment begins in the house of God (I Pet. 4:17).  Are you doing religious things while turning justice to wormwood and neglecting righteousness? You had better seek the One who is able to make the day dark, who is able to flood the earth with water from the sea, who is able to plunder the mightiest of men–seek Him in truth, seek His forgiveness, and seek to learn and practice His ways.  Make peace with this mighty King now, who is more than able to destroy you when you come face to face (Luke 14:31-32).

The prophet continues in verses 10-13–

They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.  Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.  For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.  Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.

Oh yes, religious sinners hate the one who rebukes them and speaks what is right!  “Pharisee!  Legalist!” they cry, not knowing what they are talking about. Yes, religious sinner, God knows your manifold transgressions and mighty sins, though you think to yourself that professing Jesus blinds God to what you do, that God can be mocked, and that He can be made use of for free pardon while you have no intention of ever changing.  Are truly righteous men falling silent around you because of your abhorrence for truth and your trampling on them when their righteousness manifests your own wickedness? Have you perfected the art of excusing your sin and making your continuation in wickedness sound like humility? Have you falsely accused the Lord’s true brethren, who do the Father’s will, of “self-righteousness”?  It is an evil time when professors of Christianity are the wickedest of men, preaching that God’s children must be relentless sinners until the day they die, with fair speeches deceiving the hearts of the simple. They serve their own bellies and not the Lord Jesus. They make the heart of the righteous sad, and they afflict the just exactly as Cain afflicted Abel, hating them for their righteous works while their own works are evil (I John 3:12).

Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken.  Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph. (14-15)

Do you really want the Lord to be with you in truth? You have  been saying He is with you, but He has been against you because you have denied Him by your evil works (Titus 1:16). Perhaps you have felt the void in your heart despite your fine-sounding words.  Do you want to change all that? You will have to seek good and not evil from now on. You will have to hate evil and love good! You will have to establish judgment in the gate–begin to uphold all that is true and right in every area of your life. You will have to love the one who rebukes you, and change accordingly.  It may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant. It may be.  Though they have sinned against His name, it may be that He will yet bless them.  Though He does not owe them a thing, yet He is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy (Psa. 103:8). Let them seek good and not evil from here on; let them call upon Him for forgiveness and help.  His blood will purge the stain of the past; and He will speak peace to His people and to His saints.  But let them not turn back to folly (Psa. 85:8)!

And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD. Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.  As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. (17-19)

“I will pass through thee”–not to your joy, your laughter, your delirious drunkenness, but to your wailing.  This Day of the Lord, this darkness, will come upon the pretenders at Christianity–those who have an outward show, but refuse to deny themselves and carry their own crosses and follow the Lord Jesus in truth. Many of these occupy high places in the visible church;  they are parishioners in good standing, liberal givers, eloquent teachers, deacons, and even pastors.  They have a form of godliness that can fool the untrained eye of the undiscerning, but they do not have the power of God unto a holy life; and from such, the truly God-fearing turn away (2 Tim. 3:5). Consider what it is when the Lord Himself brings darkness and not light–when He gives men who did not love the truth over to a lie.  What a fearful thing it is to fall into the hands of the living God! Does God want your feasts, your meetings, your offerings and your songs while your heart remains far from Him?–

I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.  But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. (Amos 5:21-24)

Among His people, God is looking for judgment (between right and wrong) and determined righteousness (purposely choosing the right.)  If we won’t give Him this, He doesn’t want our feasting, our assemblies, our offerings or our noisy songs. If we won’t give up our idols and truly love and give Him the preeminence He deserves, we cannot rightly call ourselves His people, and we can expect only the judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the Lord’s adversaries (Heb. 10:27)

Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?  But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. (25-26)

How about you? Have you fasted, tithed and given offerings to the Lord even while you held onto other gods? Did your heart seek after the world, its riches and goods, its celebrities, a job you knew was leading you away from Jesus, or a friendship or romance that choked the life of God in you? Were you doing your best to serve two masters? Were you afraid to speak of Christ before others because you loved the praises of men? Were you ashamed of His words, feeling the need to water them down and make Jesus more pleasing to those who heard you? In so doing, have you made a god to yourself–one that you can feel comfortable following and preaching because he is not intolerant of sin and offensive to rebels?

The Lord is a jealous God and rightly so. He knows that those who do not walk in the true Light will be destroyed in the shadows, not knowing where they are going. He knows that He alone is absolute Truth, He alone has the one Way, and in Him alone is Eternal Life. He does not want lip-service, which is only hypocrisy. He wants you to recognize His value and love Him from your heart, to recognize the folly of going your own way, and cling instead to His Way.  He is willing to forgive and cover past transgressions, but most professing Christians are not willing to leave them, and so their sin remains–creating an ongoing separation between them and God (Isa. 59). Many believe they are chosen and kept safe in the Lord even while they disobey the Lord, but no such promise is ever given in the Holy Scriptures.

What does the Lord say in Amos 5 to these who added the worship of idols to the worship of God?–

Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts.  (27)

Therefore. Because you have done this, you will be captives. Because you insisted on carrying the gods of the heathen with you, you will be ruled by the same.  Because you have willingly served sin, you will be a slave of sin. You will not be free anymore. Though you profess to be the Lord’s, He will cause you to go into captivity.

Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?  (Rom. 6:16)

And so I repeat, for those with ears to hear:  Seek the Lord and you will live. Love good and hate evil. Establish justice and good judgment. Leave off hypocrisy and false Christianity, which is a stench to God and a snare to men. Humble yourself in the sight of God; be completely real with Him. Depart from iniquity and purge yourself from the deeds of dishonor, that He can have mercy on you and make you a vessel worthy of honor.

Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.  But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.  If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.  (2 Tim. 2:19-21)

God bless you.

A God Who Hurts and Rejoices

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.  And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. (Gen. 6:5-6)

What a wonderful record of the beautiful heart of God!  In the face of sin and rebellion, He is more than just angry, wrathful or vengeful. He is grieved in His heart. It hurts Him. In longsuffering, He waits, giving a space to repent (I Pet. 3:20) In light of the first commandment to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, I think it very good to meditate on the fact that God has a heart that is made to feel sorrow by our sins.

Because God exercises such amazing self-control, and is longsuffering and merciful toward us, we tend to forget that God hurts.

He testified that he was grieved forty long years with the generation of Israelites He had rescued from Egypt (Psa. 95:10). Later, when new generations of Israelites had fallen away, He gave these stirring testimonies:

Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves. Amos 2:13

Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.  Isa 1:14

I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols. Ezek 6:9

God felt pressed, weary, and broken because of the sins of His people! Yet all this time, He was patiently working out His great salvation for those who would repent and seek Him wholeheartedly. What amazing love and goodness!  Is He not worthy of our returned love? Should we not repent of grieving His heart, of wearying Him, of causing His brokenness by our whoring after the idols that only ruin us?

The same God who is capable of feeling intense grief, is also capable of ecstatic and appropriate joy when we repent.  He is the self-less Shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine safe sheep to find one that wandered away, and when He finds him, he lays him on His broad shoulders rejoicing. And He is like the woman who seeks diligently to find her one lost coin, and afterwards celebrates with friends. Likewise, there is joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner that repents (Luke 15:4-10). He is the father who runs to his returning son, still stained by the muck of the pig-pen. How eagerly He clothes his repentant son with the best robe and receives him back into the family! Not only that, he declares that it is fitting to make merry and be glad, for the son who was dead in sin is alive again, and the son who was lost is found at last.

Sinner, won’t you leave off wounding the great and passionate heart of God with your sins today? Won’t you stop crucifying the Son of God afresh? Won’t you come to your senses and stop sinning? Won’t you return to the Father–admitting you deserve nothing,  but willing to serve–and cause rejoicing in the presence of the angels?  Is He not worthy?

My God, We Know Thee (Lord, Lord!)

Israel shall cry unto me, My God, we know thee.  Israel hath cast off the thing that is good: the enemy shall pursue him. (Hos. 8:2-3)

Is God mocked? Can He be fooled into accepting those who treat His redeeming blood as an unholy thing by their continuation in disobedience after God has provided so great a salvation? No–

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.   For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. (Gal. 6:7-8)

Please note: according to this passage, depending on what we “sow” (do), we will either reap corruption or everlasting life (salvation).  This passage says nothing about losing a few rewards while still receiving everlasting life, as many are falsely teaching. Do not be deceived.  Israel was delivered from Egypt by the mighty power of God, and atonement was provided for his sins.  Yet because he cast off the thing that was good, counting the great things of God’s law a strange thing, the Lord declared, “The LORD accepteth them not; now will he remember their iniquity, and visit their sins: they shall return to Egypt.” (Hos. 8:13)

It is not enough to cry out, “My God, we know thee!”–even if you really knew Him at one time. It is not enough to have a Bible and knowledge of what it says. We must cease from casting off the thing that is good. We must willingly wear the good yoke of Christ, keeping in step with Him through the Spirit, living as He is–holy–in this world (I Jn. 4:17). If we cast off the thing that is good, the enemy shall pursue us, for sin always brings forth death.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.  (Matt. 7:21-23)

Have you escaped the pollutions of the world through knowing Jesus Christ, only to become entangled therein again? Have you known the way of righteousness only to turn from the holy commandment? Are you a worker of iniquity that must be barred from entering the kingdom of heaven?  Unless you repent, you would have been better off having never known Him! (2 Pet. 2:20-22)  For we will be judged according to what we did with what we were given, and the one who knew his Master’s will and did not do it will be beaten with many stripes, as opposed to the few stripes that will punish the ignorant (Luke 12:47-48).

Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. (Jam. 1:22)

God bless you.

The King’s Meat and Wine

Before Daniel faced the lions’ den, and his three Hebrew friends faced the fiery furnace, they all faced and resisted the temptation of the king’s meat and wine.

But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. (Dan. 1:8)

Have you ever wondered how you might handle intense persecution?  I suggest that we will be better equipped to handle such times if we live lives of consecrated devotion now, refusing to indulge ourselves in the king’s meat and wine right now.

What is the king’s meat and wine?

When these four young men found themselves captives in Babylon, a land of idol worshipers, King Nebuchadnezzar wanted them nourished with his own meat and wine for three years while they were being educated in the ways and culture of the Chaldeans.  Likewise, while we are strangers in a strange land, satan would like us to fill up with his “meat and wine” while he attempts to get us to forget our homeland, that is “the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God“– the “better…heavenly country” to which we look (Heb. 11:10, 16)

During our sojourn here, we will be faced with many spiritual battles. Daily we dine on spiritual food; the question is whose spiritual food?

Jesus said we must eat His flesh and drink His blood (partake of the Word of God) to have life, and such as do this dwell in Him (John 6:53-56). To dwell in Him is to abide in Him, as a branch must abide in the Vine to have life and produce fruit (John 15.) Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matt. 4:4) And if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:31-32) This is the same God who said, “I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.“  (Psa. 81:10)

There is a table of God from which His sheep can expect a continual feast. He gives us green pastures, still waters, and a constant provision  even in the presence of our enemies (Psa. 23). But there is also a table of demons from which the devil, the god of this world, will tempt us to eat.

The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.   Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.  (I Cor. 10:20-21)

Gentiles here is indicative of those outside the covenant of God, or unbelievers, for a true Jew is one who has had his heart circumcised (Rom. 2:29). What are the sacrifices of unbelievers or Gentiles? Ungodly conversations, un-edifying music, ungodly movies and television shows, and all manner of wicked entertainments and vain pastimes designed to fill us with the wrong “food.”  The children of the devil produce the fruits of the devil; these they lay upon the table of demons, essentially sacrificing to devils. We are naive if we think we can indulge in these sacrifices–even in the more “innocent” of these–and not be changed. Many Christians indulge themselves in “harmless” entertainments as a way of life, and by them become spiritually lazy and weak, gradually falling from their first love and becoming lukewarm in their affections for God.  Such are in the gravest of spiritual dangers. Should intense persecution come upon them in this state of self-indulgence, they would likely fall away entirely!

What made Daniel desire to eat only vegetables and water while he was in training in the king of Babylon’s house?  Although his life was in no immediate danger, there was much to seek the Lord about. His people had experienced great tragedy and overthrow due to their apostasy from the Lord.  I believe Daniel was choosing to deny himself the king’s meat and wine so that he could be as spiritually fit as possible for whatever trials lay ahead, not only to help himself but to help his people–who were very much on his heart, judging by the powerful petition he offered on their behalf (Dan. 9). The prayers of this righteous man were so  effective that an angel was dispatched from heaven to speak with him!  When the temptation to desist from his life of prayer became a choice between prayer and the lions’ den, he was ready. He had already denied his own flesh and set his face to seek the Lord, and had received strength from his communion with God to overcome even the fear of death.

Are we not in a similar situation as Daniel? Are we not watching gross apostasy spread through the church even now, taking people captive? Is now the time to indulge ourselves in fleeting pleasures, while there is so much to pray for, so much to seek God about?

Jesus warned His disciples that following Him would mean being hated by the world, certain tribulation, and possible death. But unless a seed goes into the ground and dies, it cannot produce life. The way up is down. The way to grow in power with God is to deny ourselves. In fact, if we don’t deny ourselves, take up our crosses daily and follow Him (He went all the way to death), we cannot be His disciples. We must through much tribulation enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). We must be ready to lose every other important relationship if necessary in order to be faithful to Christ. We must be willing to lose even our very lives, trusting our souls to our faithful Creator.

Thousands upon thousands of disciples have followed the Lord to the end, overcoming the devil by the blood of the Lamb, the word of their testimony, and by loving not their own lives to the death (Rev. 12:11).   Before these martyrs faced executioners, guillotines, and other terrors, they had no doubt first denied themselves the king’s meat and wine.  They had passed by the tables of demons that offered them pleasures galore, and ate instead at the table of God, even if it meant standing alone.  Like Moses, they refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;  choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;  esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt [the world]: for [they] had respect unto the recompence of the reward (Heb. 11:24-26).  

God bless you!

Judgment is Coming on America

Please take a moment to visit this precious fellow-saint’s blog. Truly, Wisdom is still crying out, but so few are listening.  Read, understand, and spread the message far and wide!  God bless you.

Today, as in the days of the early Church, Christians endure persecution on varying levels.  Whether we are hearing news of a precious Saint who was murdered for the cause of Christ, or seeing slurs and racism based upon our political views, we know that all who live godly in Christ WILL suffer persecution.  Yet we cry Wisdom and pray that sinners will repent of their wickedness and find salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

Recently, the state of New York passed a law sanctioning their approval and legalization of homosexual marriage. (Read More)