Devotionals
By J. Swaggart
THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION IS NO!
SEXUAL UNCLEANNESS
Paul said, “Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves”(Rom. 1:24). The phrase, “Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts,” presents mankind not merely drifting toward,but actually, in a sense, being shoved by God in that direction. Since men chose to give up God and worship the creature, God could do nothing but givemen into the control of the sinful things they preferred. In other words, God would not violate man’s will and force him to do something he did not want to do. When men persisted infollowing their totally depraved natures, God allowed them free rein. The natural result was immorality of the vilest kind. Biblical scholar Henry Alford says of God’sact of delivering mankind over into the control of utter human depravity, “Not merely permissive, but judicially, God delivered them over.
As sin begets sin, and darkness of mind, deeper darkness, grace gives place to judgment, and the divine wrath hardens men, and hurries them on to more fearful degrees of depravity.” God, in other words, delivered man to uncleanness. The word lusts is epithumia in the Greek text, and means, “a passionate craving, longing, desire,” and in this sense, an inordinately sinful one. Alford again says, “Not by or through the lusts; the lusts of their heart were the field of action, the department of their being in which the dishonor took place.” In other words, this was what their hearts wanted. The phrase, “To dishonor their own bodies between themselves,” carries with it more thanmere profligacy in the satisfaction of natural lusts, but rather bestiality, which refers to impurity in the physical, and not only in the social and religious sense. In other words, man is grossly immoral. It speaks of adultery, fornication, pedophilia (sex with children), bestiality (sex with animals), lesbianism, and homosexuality. In other words, this “dishonor” includes all of these things mentioned.
CHANGING THE TRUTH OF GOD INTO A LIE
However, this condition of men’s hearts in purposely refusing the truth of God, led to the Lord using no restraining force over man whatsoever, allowing him without restraint to push headlong into this lie of darkness, which, in effect, is the same as God giving man a push. Considering man’s already depraved condition, the slide even further downward was terrible, to say the least!As we see here, the words, “God also gave them up,” as given in Verse 24, is a restraining force exercised by God even on unregenerate mankind, unless refused, which it was and continues to be.As well, there is far greater restraining force on believers as should be obvious (Job 1:10; Ps. 91; Rom. 8:28). However, this restraining force even on believers can be removed, as well, through disobedience and rebellion. The phrase, “And worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator,” (Rom. 1:25) presents that of which Paul spoke in his message to the Athenians (Acts 17:29-30). For man to worship and serve the creature, means he is doing such to something he has made with his hands and is, therefore, less than him.Regarding the “creature,” even if man worships himself or other men and women, which most of the world does, still, what good does that do him? The phrase, “Who is blessed forever,”should have been translated, “bless-ed,” because it refers to God. The word blessed refers to one receiving a blessing, in which, as should be obvious, God needs nothing. The two syllable wordbless-ed, in effect, refers to the One doing the blessing, in this case, the Lord. The idea is all true blessings come exclusively from the Lord, with idols or anything else for that matter, able to produce none at all. The word “Amen” means that this is anchored in the Word of God, and, as such, will not change.
WOMEN AND HOMOSEXUALITY
DISHONOR
The word vile in the Greek text is atimia, and means “dishonor, ignominy, and disgrace.”The first word in this meaning is dishonor, and looking at the meaning of its opposite “honor,” means to evaluate the worth of a person and to treat him with the consideration, respect, and love due his character and position. Conversely, to dishonor a person is to either put an incorrect appraisal upon his worth and treat him accordingly, or, having properly evaluated his character, to refuse to treat him with the respect and deference that are his due.
Paul is using this in the sense of the world putting an incorrect estimate upon the sacredness, dignity, and purity of the physical body which was made by God and, in effect, in God’simage, and thus, using it in a way which dishonors it. In that this is what the world wanted, they were given over to a “condition,” and not merely to an evil desire. It is one thing for an individual to do something which is very evil, but something else altogether for that person to “become” what they do, which is always where sin leads one
LESBIANISM
The phrase, “For even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature,” in short, speaks of lesbianism unnatural sexual relations between women (homosexuality).
Several things are said here: »The word women as used here is not the word used as in John 4:9, which simply speaks of designation, but rather the Greek word thelus which means “a female.” In other words, the Holy Spirit through Paul is pointing to the gender, meaning that it is to stay that way. That women tried to “change” the purpose of their gender, is the reason that Paul used the Greek word for female. They were not trying so much to change the gender, but rather its purpose respecting the sexual sense. Consequently, they were changing what God had designed, and doing so in a rebellious, base, and ignominious way. They went from a far higher use down to a far lower use. Even though this is one of the worst, or possibly the very worst example, still, this is the great sin of man, changing God’s ways for man’s ways, and in every capacity. The “natural use” presents that intended by God, in this sense, the way sexually that women were
originally created. The word natural in the Greek is phusis, and means “the nature of things, the force, laws, order of nature, as opposed to that which is monstrous, abnormal, perverse.”
That which is “against nature” respects that which is against nature’s laws, or God’s laws, which are one and the same.
MEN AND HOMOSEXUALITY
Black Hebrew Israelite Movement Examined
By: Jonathan Hoegle
The Black Hebrew Israelites consider themselves — and not mainstream Jews — to be the true descendants of the ancient Israelites. They teach that modern Jews are Edomites that hijacked Judaism from blacks. “Black Hebrew Israelite beliefs are a mirror image of the white supremacist nominally Christian Identity religion, which holds that northern Europeans, not Jews, as God’s true chosen people. Both see Jews as the spawn of Satan and accuse them of secretly controlling society by Machiavellian string-pulling. Tom Metzger, the notorious leader of the White Aryan Resistance, has said, “They’re the black counterpart of us (2).”” So with this in mind, it is clear that the Black Hebrew Israelite movement is very anti-Semitic, as they not only deny the bloodline of the true Jews, but they often demonize the Jewish race, and are frequently seen praising Hitler for the holocaust. It is completely idiotic that they would think highly of a man who believed in the principles of eugenics which taught that the black race was inferior and towards the bottom of societies totem pole of the racial hierarchy. Yet, because of their hatred for the true Jews, they seem to ignore this fact. Ultimately, what the more radical Black Hebrew Israelites are advocating is a demonically inspired genocide of the Jewish race, much like many of the neo-Nazis of today desire.
“Extremist Hebrew Israelites have a long, strange list of enemies. At the top of the list are white people, who they preach are descended from a race of red, hairy beings, known as Edomites, who were spawned by Esau, the twin brother of Jacob (later known as Israel) in the Old Testament. Equally hated are “fraudulent” Jews, “the synagogue of Satan.” They’re closely followed in no particular order by Asians, promiscuous black women, abortionists, continental Africans (who, according to the extremist Israelites, sold the lost tribes of Israel, who were black, to European slave traders), and gay people, who according to extremist Israelites should all be put to death (3).”
The origins of Black Hebrew Israelite movement had its roots in Black Judaism, a belief system that evolved out of the black Pentecostal “holiness” movement. One of the first groups of Black Hebrews, the Church of God and Saints of Christ, was founded in 1896 by William Saunders Crowdy. “He claimed to have a divine revelation from God that told him that America’s recently emancipated slaves were God’s chosen people, the true Hebrews. According to Black Judaism doctrine, when the Kingdom of Israel was destroyed, the Israelites were first scattered across the African continent and then selectively targeted by enemy African tribes who captured and sold them to European slave traders for bondage in the New World.
“It’s a common myth that slaves were randomly shackled up and carried off to slavery,” “General Yahanna,” leader of the present-day Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge, told the Intelligence Report. Actually, “Slave traders sailed for months and days to get to specific pickup points. They knew what people they were taking — specifically, the lost tribes of Israel.”
Black Judaism leaders preached self-empowerment and economic independence, an early form of black nationalism that was foundational for later groups like the Nation of Islam. Their rhetoric, emphasizing the biblical theme of an oppressed nation being led to a promised land, informed black activist thought right up through the speeches of Martin Luther King Jr (4).”
Teachings
The Black Hebrew Israelites of New York City, lists the following correspondences between the ancient twelve tribes of Israel and modern-day inhabitants of the western hemisphere:
Ruben = Seminole Indians (Muskogee)
Simeon = Dominicans of Hispanola
Levi = Haitians Judah = African Americans
Dan = Cubans
Naphtali = Argentineans & Chileans
Gad = Native Americans
Asher = Incas
Issachar = Aztec Indians and other Mexicans
Zebulon = Mayan Indians and other inhabitants of countries from Guatemala to Panama.
Ephraim & Manasseh = Taino & Boriqua Indians and other Puerto Ricans
Benjamin = Carribe, Cibao, Arrowack, and other inhabitants of Guyana and the West Indies
Many of the Black Hebrew Israelite groups practice polygamy and have cult like leaders that are driven by narcissism. These self-obsessed leaders have an unyiedling arrogance about them, and love to give themselves large majestic titles while holding a despotic like power over their congregation. The Black Hebrew Israelites are a very confrontational group, that often spread their messages in major cities and condemn others for different views. Generally they do not like to hear their views challenged, as they only want their own voice to be heard . During the Christmas season they are known to burn effigies of the Virgin Mary and Santa Claus in the neighborhood to get a lot of attention from the public.
They believe in using extra biblical writings to support their ideas, such as Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha (meaning literally “false writings”). Although remarkably, the only Bible they use is the King James Version. There is not a universal consensus on doctrinal matters, but the following teachings are quite popular within the Church. They teach that the true name of God is Yah, and that it is only through this name that man can be saved. They deny the divinity of Jesus saying that he was born from Joseph and Mary, and therefore was not God. They teach that it is necessary to keep the Sabbath and observe various Jewish laws. They believe hell is a metaphor and not a literal place that people go and suffer. They teach that we are in the Caucasian heaven right now. As aforementioned, they teach that black people are the true decedents of the tribe of Judah. They say many of the popular people in history were black, including Pharaoh, certain Roman emperors, King James of England, and even Jesus himself was black. In fact, they proclaim that the white race came into an existence from Esau who was a black albino. White people are seen as conspirators who attempt to persecute the black people and hide their true identity as Israelites. Many Black Hebrew Israelites see white people as almost subhuman. The Hebrew Israelites have some interesting views regarding the end times or eschatology. According to many of them, Luke 21:24 with its reference to the “times of the Gentiles” is actually a reference to the times of the Europeans. When the Messiah returns, all Israel (meaning black people) will be gathered back to the promised land near Israel of today.
Their main message is of a coming apocalyptic like event that involves a God ordained race war in which the roles of the past will be reversed! They say that the white man will be left picking cotton in the black man’s fields. They compare their current experiences in America like the Jews who were held in bondage in ancient Egypt for hundreds of years. They believe that God will restore them to a status very much like Israel’s former glory days when all was flourishing in the Promised Land.
In fact, the former head of the Israelite Church of God and Jesus Christ, which is one of the main churches in the Black Hebrew Israelite movement, falsely prophesied that in the year 2000 that Jesus would return to the Earth and unleash bloody vengeance on the white race. When the prophecy of this key leader failed to materialize, a magnetic young leader by the name of Jermaine Grant an R&B singer became the churches new spokesman and High Priest. He was given the title of the comforter, declaring himself to be the “Holy Spirit” made flesh. Much of the image being portrayed by the church is a facade, as the expensive buses that the High Priest rides in to make him look like a superstar, are rented. It has been said that Grant enforces mandatory tithes and general offerings from his followers while reportedly demanding an additional $25 per attendee for a “High Priest offering.” The church is essentially exploiting the poor black man while teaching him absolutely heretical theology.
“In order to even attend one of these mysterious church services you have to go through an intimidating screening process first. First, there’s the question of skin tone; those with European ancestry need not apply. Others — and, lately, Hebrew Israelites have come to include West Indians, Latin Americans, and American Indians as brother “Hebrews” — may approach security for entry. Any stranger must meet certain strict conditions. You must promise the guards that you are “clean” — that you haven’t eaten pork or had sex in the prior 24 hours. You must explain how you learned about the church and why you’ve chosen to attend. You must assure guards that you’re not a law enforcement officer or a spy from a rival Hebrew Israelite group, and then you have to give up your photo identification. Any recording device will be confiscated during an aggressive pat down search carried out by the guards.
The black Jesus theory being promulgated by the Black Hebrew Israelites is intended to provoke racial tension. It is one of the most researched topics over the internet. People that are so focused on the skin color of Jesus miss the entire point of his ministry, which was to bring salvation to the entire human race. We must remember that God is a spirit, though he came in the flesh, the flesh is not what defines him. The Black Hebrew Israelites cannot accept the historical records, but need to have a black Messiah, black Santa Claus, black angels, black Madonna, etc. The Bible is against making images that portray our savior, as the Bible states in Deuteronomy 5:8, “Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:”
The Physical Appearance of Jesus Christ
Since we don’t have a time machine, we will have to look at the evidence from the Bible, and historical records to see what it teaches about Jesus physical appearance.
The Bible says in the Song Solomon 5:10, ” My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.”
Jewish commentators remark that he who is elsewhere called “the Ancient of Days” . Perhaps, the scriptures are implying that Jesus has a white complexion with reddish hair.
The Bible also says in Isaiah 53:2-3 “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”
Their isn’t a lot of information concerning the apperance of Jesus in the Bible. So the scriptures do not give us a real clear picture of what Jesus looked like, but we do know the popular paintings of him with physical beauty and long hair are inaccurate. In 1 Corinthians 11:14, Paul wrote, “Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?” It’s quite unthinkable that Paul would have made such a statement if Jesus Christ had long hair.
Despite, the scriptures silence on the skin color of Jesus, there is significant evidence to suggest Jesus had an olive skin tone like the vast majority of people that live in the middle East today. Remember that Judas Iscariot had to indicate to the soldiers who Jesus was because they could not tell him apart from his disciples. So clearly he looked similar to the typical Palestinian man of that era. The ethnic and racial composition of Israel is Syrian. This fact was to be confessed concerning Jacob in Deuteronomy 26:5: “And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous.” A Syrian ready to perish, identifies the skin color of Jacob and all Israelites as being olive. There is a definite distinction between the Black-Hamatic African race and the lighter skinned-Semite-Syrian race. A family of Syrian blood is pictured below with light skin.
Since Jesus was a descendant of King David who we know from the book of Samuel was a fair looking red head, we should expect Jesus to have a lighter skin color, as racial miscegenation was strongly discouraged in Israel. However, because of the hot and arid climate of the Middle East, Jesus was probably very tan. Using paintings of Jesus to determine his physical appearance is totally subjective to the painter, though the earliest pictures of Jesus, do show him with short brown hair, brown eyes and lighter skin. So those who are proposing that Jesus was black are clearly in error, as they are making this claim without any shred of evidence to support their position.
We know Moses was light skinned also because when he did the miracle before Pharaoh where he stuck his hand in his breast and pulled it out, it was leprous as snow (Exodus 4:6). If Moses had been a Black man and he pulled out his hand, the leprosy would still be black. The whole leprous hand miracle of Moses was not to show the Egyptian king that God had the power to change a person’s race color, but rather the healing miracle power of Almighty God. Moses then, a descendant of Israel, was of the Syrian bloodline, and was not an African Black man.
The True Culprit Behind the Black Hebrew Israelite Movement
What the Black Hebrew Israelites fail to realize is that it’s the Jesuits who are behind their movement. Much of the Anti-Semitism in the world today is the result of propaganda being spread by the Jesuits, secret societies, think tanks, etc., that shift the light away from themselves towards the Jews. Why you may ask? Well, the Jesuits hate the Jews because they believe in a rival system contrary to the pagan Catholic Church. The Catholic Church teaches replacement theology, which states that God has forever abandoned the Jews and has replaced them with the Catholic Church. That is why the Catholic Church has always had its eyes on capturing Jerusalem, and even used the mass slaughtering of the Jews during the Holocaust to achieve its goal. Most people don’t realize that Hitler signed a concordat with Pope Pius XI in 1933 to annihilate the Jews. So with these facts in mind, now you know why the Jesuits would want the black population to embrace Anti-Semitism. So they can do the bidding of Rome, and then later be destroyed themselves. However, there is another purpose the Jesuits can use this movement for, which is to destroy the American republic once in for all. The Jesuits despise the American constitution because it grants people the ability to chose their own religion. The Jesuits want another Dark Age in which a Satanic religion will be enforced by a fascist papal obeying Jesuit controlled leader. So what better way to achieve this end by fomenting a race war. So the black American by embracing this lie of the Jews not being real Jews, are effectively helping carrying out the agenda of Rome.
Black Nationalism
The Black Nationalist concept of Judaism is in many ways similar to Black Liberation Theology and the Nation of Islam of whom Malcolm X the legendary black activist was involved with. Malcolm X was an avowed racist who taught that white people were a race of devils, and proclaimed the following: ” I’m not here to argue or discuss anything that we differ about, because it’s time for us to submerge our differences and realize that it is best for us to first see that we have the same problem, a common problem, a problem that will make you catch hell whether you’re a Baptist, or a Methodist, or a Muslim, or a nationalist. Whether you’re educated or illiterate, whether you live on the boulevard or in the alley, you’re going to catch hell just like I am. We’re all in the same boat and we all are going to catch the same hell from the same man. He just happens to be a white man. All of us have suffered here, in this country, political oppression at the hands of the white man, economic exploitation at the hands of the white man, and social degradation at the hands of the white man….If we don’t do something real soon, I think you’ll have to agree that we’re going to be forced either to use the ballot or the bullet. It isn’t that time is running out — time has run out!….Don’t let anybody tell you anything about the odds being against you. If they draft you, they send you to Korea and make you face 800 million Chinese. If you can be brave over there, you can be brave right here. These odds aren’t as great as those odds. And if you fight here, you will at least know what you’re fighting for…. Well, I am one who doesn’t believe in deluding myself. I’m not going to sit at your table and watch you eat, with nothing on my plate, and call myself a diner. Sitting at the table doesn’t make you a diner, unless you eat some of what’s on that plate. Being here in America doesn’t make you an American…. No I’m not an American, I’m one of the 22 million black people who are the victims of Americanism. One of the 22 million black people who are the victims of democracy, nothing but disguised hypocrisy. “We’re not Americans, we’re Africans who happen to be in America. We were kidnapped and brought here against our will from Africa. We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock – that rock landed on us.” So, I’m not standing here speaking to you as an American, or a patriot, or a flag-saluter, or a flag-waver — no, not I. I’m speaking as a victim of this American system. And I see America through the eyes of the victim. I don’t see any American dream; I see an American nightmare (5).”
What Malcolm X taught is similar to what Eric Jon Phelps teaches that races should be separated. Phelps teaches this based on the principle that God created the different races with various languages, and split them up at the tower of Babel, and so that is how he believes it should remain. Phelps suggests that Americans should create a new white nation called Pro-Baptical and that blacks should do the same. Yet, the Bible teaches in Galatians 3:28, ” There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Black Liberation Theology
Another popular teaching amongst the black Christian community is black liberation theology. This is the theology that was taught to Barack Obama when he attended Jeremiah Wright’s Church in Chicago Illinois. Cone a major supporter of black liberation theology described it as follows: “Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community … Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love…. There is no use for a God who loves white oppressors the same as oppressed blacks. We have had too much of white love, the love that tells blacks to turn the other cheek and go the second mile…. Black hatred is the black man’s strong aversion to white society. No black man living in white America can escape it… While it is true that blacks do hate whites, black hatred is not racism.(6).” Thus Black Liberation Theology perverts the gospel of Christ, the God of peace and love, turns into a God of their own construction, a God of hate and revenge, who is hell bent on political and social change at any cost and who supports the black man’s hatred of the white race and their need for revenge.
Conclusion
So in conclusion, we can see that these theories and ideas being spread throughout the black community are not only completely fraudulent but they are very dangerous ideas as well. They are meant to incite racism and especially hatred towards the true Jewish bloodline. My fellow brothers in Christ that are black, do not blame the white race for your problems, if you lived in all black country like Africa would you be better off? Regardless of skin color we are all one in the body of Christ, and so we must look at each other in love and not hatred, like Jesus Christ taught us to.
The Bible says in Ephesians 4:2-6, “With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”
Source
(1) http://www.villagevoice.com/content/printVersion/2481919/
(2) http://www.apologeticsindex.org/b58.html
(3) http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2008/fall/ready-for-war
(5) http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/speeches/malcolm_x_ballot.html
(6) Divine Racism: The Unacknowledged Threshold Issue for Black Theology”, in African-American Religious Thought: An Anthology, by William R Jones, ed Cornel West and Eddie Glaube (Westminster John Knox Press).
The Upside-Down World
From the August 2010 Trumpet Print Edition »
Excerpt from The Trumpet by Joel Hilliker
Little Green Men
The Apostle Paul recorded a scathing rebuke that has shown itself to be remarkably prophetic: He described scholars and academics “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever” (Romans 1:25).
These are hallmarks of the Upside-Down World: truths changed to lies; material things exalted above the God who made them; plain, clear, scriptural understanding scorned and irrational human reasoning worshiped.
These traits represent a fundamental hostility to reason. Yet they are manifestly present in the supposedly irreproachable, objective realm of science: Consider the evidence-defying, data-manipulating commitment to the man-made global warming doctrine and the impassioned vilification of skeptics; or the blacklisting and excommunication of scientists who so much as acknowledge the possibility that the elegance and predictability of the material world suggests intelligent design. The scientific establishment brusquely closes the curtain on anything that challenges the ridiculous notion that there are no answers whatsoever beyond matter itself—what Democritus called “atoms and the void.”
As a result, the establishment must turn its back on a great many facts—and simultaneously embrace some ludicrous fictions. Befuddled by the majesty of life, and the impossible perfection of the Earth to support it, scientists have entered the realm of fantasy in order to sustain their belief in a godless universe. They have suggested, with nothing to offer as proof but their own ideologically driven imaginations, that perhaps there are an infinite number of universes—magically making statistical impossibilities possible. Famous atheist zoologist Richard Dawkins—who delights in ridiculing religious believers and calling faith “a virus of the mind”—says he believes life may have been deposited on Earth by beings from outer space.
That’s right. In the Upside-Down World, superintelligent little green men from some great beyond (whose origin also must require an explanation, we might add) are easier to believe in than God. “[F]or scientific triumphalists mere facts apparently cannot compete with the doctrines laid down by the scientific priesthood,” Phillips explains.
The Apostle Paul put it this way: “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools” (verse 22).
Harvard geneticist Richard Lewontin made this self-condemning admission in 1997: “We take the side of science [as opposed to the supernatural] in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism. … Moreover, that materialism is absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door” (emphasis mine).
That is the crux of it: God must be kept out. Why?
Deceived
These trends all contravene or undermine the truth as defined in Scripture. Yet it is this widely dismissed and disparaged Book that exposes and explains the cause for society’s violent departure from logic and sense.
It reveals the very real existence of a spirit realm, invisible to us. “[W]e wrestle not against flesh and blood,” wrote Paul, “but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).
Yes, the Bible speaks of a benevolent and omnipotent God. But it also tells of a malevolent spiritual force that we must be on guard against.
As Paul worked to spread the truth of the gospel throughout hostile, Gentile cultures, he encountered resistance that he explained this way: “[I]f our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not …” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4).
The “god of this world” to which he referred was not the Creator. It was the same “god” the Apostle John described as “the great dragon … that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world” (Revelation 12:9).
Is it possible? The fact is, the volatile and deteriorating state of the world today—and the descent into ever more mad and crazy reasoning—cannot be fully comprehended without this understanding.
Read “Who Is the God of This World?” on page 28 for a scriptural explanation of how this “great dragon” came to have such a stranglehold on society. Herbert W. Armstrong described this biblically revealed reality as “the colossal kidnapping of all time”—in which the captives have been brainwashed into preferring and embracing the life and evil philosophy of the archkidnapper. “The willing victim … is the world that inhabits this planet Earth!” he wrote. “Yet this world has been so completely deceived that it cannot realize what actually has happened to it” (A World Held Captive).
The devil’s Upside-Down thinking is everywhere on display. He is a master at cloaking his motives, dressing up his destructive ambitions, making them appear noble and upright. “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light,” Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 11:14. But when his lies are compared against the right-side-up revelation in Scripture, the truth becomes clear.
The Upside-Down Mind
“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!” God wrote through Isaiah of this once-great angelic being who became the devil. “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God … I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:12-14).
Satan believes he knows better than God. He has his own ideas about what is good, what is evil, how the universe should operate.
God created human beings in His own image and likeness, and placed them in dominion over the rest of the material creation on Earth (Genesis 1:26-30). He created them male and female and instituted marriage and family as a wonderful means of preparing them for life in His eternal Family. (These profound truths are thoroughly explained in Herbert W. Armstrong’s book The Incredible Human Potential, which we will send you for free upon request.)
Satan hates human beings and is trying to destroy us. “He was a murderer from the beginning”; he is father of lies, Jesus explained (John 8:44). Satan inspired the notion that human beings are just like animals, less valuable than earthworms. He loves terrorism, violence and bloodshed. He promotes sterilization and abortion.
The Upside-Down attack on marriage and family is authored by this miserable being. He hates marriage and family because they are so central to God’s master plan for man! Angels were never offered that potential (e.g. Matthew 22:30; Hebrews 1:4-5). Satan has trampled on God’s laws about sex—laws against fornication and adultery, pornography, homosexuality, gender confusion and so on, all intended to safeguard the family—because angels cannot have sex, and sex produces more human beings.
This great dragon has flipped government within families Upside-Down because he hates authority and loves anarchy. God tells children to obey their parents and to honor old people—so Satan encourages them to rebel against their parents and mock the aged. The devil wants emotion-driven, unbalanced young people to dominate society so we lose our perspective, our heritage and our memory.
Satan pushes the impression that the whole of the mind-bogglingly impressive material creation exists by mere happenstance—that there is no order or purpose for any of it. He has befogged people’s understanding of evil because he is the epitome of evil and yet doesn’t believe it! He disagrees with God’s assessment of him.
In fact, that old serpent disagrees with everything God thinks, because he has allowed his thinking to become so twisted up with hate. Of all the Upside-Down reasoning he has fobbed off on this world, at the root of it all is that satanic idea: God is wrong—I am right.
As Paul expressed it, “For they [the self-professed scholarly, under the influence of satanic thinking] being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:3). As Lucifer said in his heart, I will exalt my throne—I will be like the most High.
This world is hoodwinked. So many of the people feverishly turning the world on its head are going about to establish what they think is right! “All are united by the common desire to bring about through human agency the perfection of the world,” Phillips writes, “an agenda which history teaches us leads invariably—and paradoxically—to tyranny, terror and crimes against humanity. Remarkably, all happen to be united also by a common and fundamental hostility to the central precepts of [biblical] religious belief …” (op. cit.).
The longer that people fail to submit themselves to the righteousness of God—who is the one and only true Lawgiver, who alone determines right from wrong—and the harder they work to establish their own righteousness, the more haywire this Upside-Down world will grow.
Thankfully, the sure Word of God promises that Jesus Christ will return and set this world right-side up. The Apostle Peter called this “the times of refreshing” and “the times of restitution of all things” (Acts 3:19-21). Christ Himself called it “the regeneration” (Matthew 19:28). You can read more about that wonderful Upside-Up World in the article on page 8.
Wage War to Help the Enemy
The routine murder of innocents may be protected in the clinic—but in the Upside-Down World, it is to be avoided at all costs on the battlefield. Even if it costs victory.
In the Afghanistan war—where the government and people are demonstrating sympathy for the Taliban—the top nato commander, Stanley McChrystal (before he resigned in June), was looking for ways to protect Afghan civilians. He considered a new military honor that recognizes soldiers who refrain from fighting: an award for “courageous restraint.”
Radical Muslim groups love it. They are far less concerned about civilian deaths; in fact, they invite them. They use a hodgepodge of vile, despicable tactics—purposefully embedding themselves among locals, even using schools and hospitals as staging grounds for rocket attacks—aimed specifically at provoking retribution that kills civilians (who, in many cases, actually sympathize with their cause), which they then broadly publicize for propaganda purposes. And the media and political classes eagerly trumpet that propaganda—even in cases where it is demonstrably false.
Clearly, Muslims aren’t the only ones who sympathize with terrorists; liberal intellectuals do as well.
Common sense says that someone trying to kill you and your family, someone trying to destroy your country, is an enemy. But such reasoning is far too barbaric for Western thinkers. Black-and-white morality has been replaced by a world of grays, of relativism, where even the most depraved behavior can be explained and excused. The Western mind has become deeply ambivalent about evil. Even words like evil and enemy are considered simplistic and backward.
A pillar liberal doctrine is that the perpetrators of evil acts are not responsible because they are actually victims of a far greater evil: Western ideals. Thus, “victim” groups are considered incapable of wrongdoing, while “privileged” classes are incapable of good. Muslims cannot be held responsible for terrorism—their Western targets must be the real cause.
As a result of such ridiculous moral reasoning, the very nature and purpose of warfare has been flipped topsy-turvy. War is now something a nation must do for its enemy. Humanitarian goals trump self-defense. All efforts to seek the nation’s own interests are branded immoral and shameful. An oxymoronic “humanitarian war” approach has embroiled America and its allies in absolutely impossible efforts to rebuild and rehabilitate those nations it defeats.
Success in warfare used to benefit the victorious nation; in the Upside-Down World, “victory” comes with inexhaustible, unachievable moral obligations. War can never be won.
Heroes and Villains
Hamas runs Gaza as a theocratic police state; it silences dissent; it allows no religious expression outside radical Islam; it uses terrorism to advance its foreign policy, which is to annihilate Jews. Israel, by contrast, is a liberal democracy; it has an independent judiciary and an independent press; it protects religious freedom, even for the 16 percent of its citizens who are Muslim.
Which of these two do you suppose Western elites increasingly view as a political partner—and which as a villain?
It is positively bizarre. What possesses apparently intelligent, reasonable people who value political freedoms and respect for human life to defend the terrorist cause? Why are they so willing to overlook the barbaric acts of misogyny and murder—so seemingly contrary to liberal ideals—that plague radical Islamist culture? And why, then, are they so unforgiving as Jews try to defend themselves against it?
There is no reasoned public debate over these questions. Throughout academia, the media and political circles, the supposed rightness of the Palestinian cause over that of Israel is considered irrefutable.
In Upside-Down downtown Manhattan, a retail store damaged by shrapnel from the 9/11 terrorist attacks was razed—in order to make room for a new 13-story mosque. “In the ruins of a building reduced to rubble in the name of Islam, a temple to Islam will arise,” commented author Mark Steyn.
The increasingly universal immunity to reason vividly showed this past May when authorities foiled a bombing attempt in New York City’s Times Square. As always happens when a Muslim commits or tries to commit a terrorist act, politicians and press in America and Britain disregarded facts, threw out the religion connection and searched for a cause within trivialities like the would-be bomber’s struggle to pay his mortgage. New York’s mayor speculated that he was probably a right-winger, “somebody with a political agenda that doesn’t like the health care bill.” Wrong. Turns out the perp was on orders from the Pakistani Taliban. The mayor responded to the news by praising his city’s Pakistanis and gravely stating, “We will not tolerate any bias or backlash against Pakistani or Muslim New Yorkers.”
The rush to exhibit such multicultural sanctimony has become so predictable after such incidents. The more that Muslims attack, the louder we praise them. The same Upside-Down reaction was on parade five years ago, after Islamic suicide bombers killed 52 Londoners on their morning commute. British officials didn’t blame Islam—but Islamophobia. London’s mayor asserted that the true fault lay in “80 years of Western intervention into predominantly Arab lands because of the Western need for oil.”
Reality is screaming in their faces, and they are closing their eyes, plugging their ears, and saying “La la la la la.”
Why are efforts to merely enforce existing immigration law in order to curb rising kidnapping and murder branded as racist? Why are illegal immigrants in Britain guaranteed welfare benefits by law? Why is it against the law to deport dodgy foreign terrorist suspects back to their home countries out of concern that their human rights might be violated there?
These are senseless, dangerous policies—yet intellectuals will rise up in full-throated indignation against any who dare question them.
Political correctness—a bramble bush of self-contradicting doctrines—has so ensnared the self-declared scholarly that even when facts are presented that expose the error in their thinking they will not budge.
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah lamented. “Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:20-21).
He couldn’t possibly have described the Upside-Down World with more penetrating precision.
The Upside-Down World
From the August 2010 Trumpet Print Edition »
Excerpt from The Trumpet by Joel Hilliker
A New Orthodoxy
The first words uttered when a baby is born are either “It’s a boy!” or “It’s a girl!” That is because sex is biological reality—and none too difficult to detect.
None too difficult, that is, except for intellectuals. In their Upside-Down thinking, nothing is either/or, black-or-white—not even male or female! Gender is a choice, a state of mind, a construct, and always open for reinterpretation. Using this warped logic, they exalt homosexuality, bisexuality and varying degrees of transsexuality including surgical “sex change.”
How brazen are intellectuals at rewriting reality? British law now mandates that transsexuals be allowed to receive a new birth certificate saying they were born the opposite sex. If this person believes he was born female, then he was born female! And anyone who says differently is a bigot! is the message.
Proponents of such policies think they are creating a world free from oppression and hate, a world of tolerance and understanding, where everyone is accepted, where no one is condemned and no one’s feelings are ever hurt. In truth they are intolerantly imposing their Upside-Down reality, creating a nightmare world where discomfort with moral deviancy is punishable by law.
In this world, morality has been flipped on its head. Freedom of religion is being beaten to death by the “freedom” to practice aggressive homosexual activism. State and local laws criminalizing behavior deemed discriminatory against cross-dressers, bisexuals and homosexuals are forcing businesses, schools and publicly funded organizations to embrace perversion. Last December, a British registrar was forced to resign for refusing to conduct same-sex “weddings.” A pediatrician had to leave an adoption panel because he wouldn’t approve homosexual couples for adoption. In February 2009, a Scottish couple were denied their request to adopt their two grandchildren—so that the children, ages 4 and 5, could be adopted by a gay male couple; when the grandparents objected, the judge told them to hush up if they ever wanted to see the children again.
Such bullying is perpetrated in the name of “tolerance”—when in actuality it bears the hallmarks of history’s despotic regimes. Phillips argues that the religious tyrannies of the Middle Ages and the political tyrannies of the 20th century have been replaced by something just as pernicious: cultural totalitarianism. “Medieval Christianity—like contemporary Islamism—stamped out dissent by killing or conversion; Western liberals do it by social and professional ostracism and legal discrimination,” she writes.
“It is a kind of secular Inquisition. And the grand inquisitors are to be found within the intelligentsia—in the universities, the media, the law, the political and professional classes—who not only have systematically undermined the foundations of Western society but are heavily engaged in attempting to suppress any challenge or protest.”
In this world, “reason” supposedly reigns. The reality, however, is that false and empty values have become the new dogma—at the expense of reason. The most intellectual—those who purportedly believe in the unassailable omnipotence of rationality—have become shockingly irrational. Facts that don’t fit the party line, they discard or ridicule. Biblical orthodoxy has simply been replaced by a rabidly secularist orthodoxy.
Power to the Little People
Mountains of evidence show the benefits of traditional marriage to both husband and wife, as well as society at large—and the high costs associated with its dissolution. It proves the enormous advantages to children—in personal safety, academic performance, financial well-being, emotional stability, self-respect, and assimilation into law-abiding adult life, among other things—of growing up under the same roof with both biological parents, a living arrangement built upon a strong, stable relationship between a sperm-producing adult male and an egg-producing adult female.
But because this evidence contradicts the secularist agenda, it is routinely overlooked, ignored, dismissed and scorned. The Upside-Down World keeps cranking up the pressure to popularize deviant sexuality—while removing pressure on singles to marry, pressure on married people to remain together, pressure on parents to make sacrifices for their children, and pressure on children to view their parents as authorities. All history proves that strong societies begin with strong marriages and families, yet intellectuals continue heedlessly striking blows at the pillars of family life.
In the Upside-Down World, families are bottom-up: Children rule, and parents take orders. Legitimate efforts to safeguard children from abuses have been overwhelmed by hostile efforts to undermine parental authority and dismantle the family structure. All physical discipline—an indispensable tool that the Bible commands parents to use to correct bad behavior—is considered cruel and abusive.
The United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child requires signatory countries to enact legislation to stamp out “all forms of physical or mental violence”—including spanking. But even beyond that, the convention emasculates parents by guaranteeing children the right of privacy, even within their own home, as well as “freedom of thought, conscience and religion.” Yes, Upside-Down leaders in the world’s foremost international body are convinced that children thrive best when parents abdicate their duty to educate their children spiritually.
Like-minded authorities have stripped authority from professional educators as well. With teachers unable to discipline students, classrooms increasingly become hatcheries of churlishness and rebellion. Apparently the students’ right to misbehave in school is more important than their right to actually learn.
The ominous vision of the Prophet Isaiah is now reality: “I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. … [T]he child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable” (Isaiah 3:4-5).
Yet, consider the irony. While Upside-Down legal minds work to empower children at their parents’ expense in many areas, there is one issue on which they stand firmly, even belligerently, with parents over their children: They passionately defend parents’ right to kill their own children before they are born.
Back in April, a street-corner preacher in Britain mentioned to a passing shopper that the Bible calls homosexuality a sin.
The comment got him thrown in jail.
An atheist homosexual policeman contended that since Dale McAlpine’s remark was loud enough to be overheard, he had broken the Public Order Act—a law passed in 1986 to control violent rioters and football hoodlums. Police carted McAlpine off, and he spent seven hours in a cell for causing “harassment, alarm or distress.”
It was quite the crackdown, considering what happened elsewhere on Britain’s streets at about the same time. After an Israeli official gave a lecture at the University of Manchester, she was attacked by pro-Palestinian protesters. Police responded to this provocation by escorting the official from the premises in a police car. The protesters climbed onto the hood of the vehicle and tried to break the windshield. They were not prosecuted. Apparently in Britain, this is “protected speech.”
Welcome to the Upside-Down World.
It’s a world where truth is trashed and lies are lauded. Where the honorable are despised and the depraved are empowered. Where sound morals and strong character are relentlessly mocked—while immorality is praised, paraded and protected.
“Self-evident common sense appears to have been turned on its head,” writes Melanie Phillips in her book The World Turned Upside Down. “[S]elf-designated ‘victim groups’ have turned right and wrong, victim and aggressor inside out. Their ‘right’ not to be insulted or discriminated against in any way has become the basis for discrimination and injustice against the representatives of majority values. …
“Nothing is really as it is said to be,” she writes. “Society seems to be in the grip of a mass derangement.”
Has the world gone mad?
There is a hidden cause for this bewildering trend that very few are willing to acknowledge. It is a remarkable reality that explains a whole array of seemingly paradoxical problems that bedevil our world.
Protect Muhammad, Mock Jesus
In this world, everything is twisted in knots. The solution to debt problems is increased spending. The antidote to government waste is more government. “Freedom of speech” is used as a shield for vulgarity and filth—and a bludgeon against godliness and virtue.
Comedy Central cartoons mock everything. They delight in committing sacrilege. Back in April, one poked fun at the furor over depictions of Muhammad, founder of Islam, by showing him dressed in a bear suit. A radical New York-based Islamic group didn’t like that one bit. On its website, RevolutionMuslim.com, it posted a warning along with a graphic photo of Theo van Gogh, the Dutch filmmaker brutally murdered in 2004 by a Muslim; it warned that the show’s creators might suffer the same fate.
Comedy Central’s executives got the message. They censored the cartoon and removed all record of it online.
Then they turned around and proceeded with plans to create JC, a cartoon aimed squarely at garnering laughs at Christians’ expense. The show will depict God and Jesus Christ as regular guys who move to modern-day New York City, where Jesus adjusts to big city life while a deadbeat God sits home and plays video games.
These two seemingly incongruous decisions are hardly unusual. In fact, both follow a pattern increasingly playing out in America and Britain. In societies that value free speech, many decision-makers are shutting down even mild criticism of Islam. And though these same societies also value freedom of religion, public and even private expression of Bible-based Christianity is coming under fierce attack.
Leaders and officials kowtow to bullies and thugs on one hand, then become bullies and thugs on the other. They accommodate evil and vilify good.
~Excerpt from The Trumpet Magazine by Joel Hilliker
To Whom Much is Given,
Much is Required
After a person is saved (and perhaps baptized with the Spirit), many things are then required of that person. He is expected to walk in the Light, as God gives the Light. He is expected to grow in Grace and Knowledge of the Lord. He is expected to follow the Lord Jesus Christ—according to the Word of God!
If that person has been involved in error, wrong teaching, or in a Church that doesn’t really believe in God or the way of God according to the Word—he is expected to come out of that Church, to straighten his ways, and to allow God to work within his heart and life. Very little is required of the person who doesn’t know God. But much is required of that person after he comes into a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Fundamentally, this is what we are talking about. This is wherein the difficulty lies. For example there are multiplied thousands of Catholics who have been (in my opinion) truly Born-Again. They love the Lord Jesus with all their hearts. And, yet, there are multiplied thousands of them (including Priests and Nuns) who elect to remain in the Catholic Church. Is this proper? Are they Scripturally correct in doing so? What will happen to these people if they persist in maintaining this position?
I suppose the question should be raised: Does it really matter? Does it matter whether a person is Protestant or Catholic? Does it matter whether an individual belongs to one particular Church or another? Do these things count?
It Does Matter
Of course, many will say it doesn’t matter. Many Preachers avoid this issue—and proclaim to the world that the only thing of importance is whether the Person has come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Admittedly, the fact of an individual being saved is of tremendous importance, but the question must be raised, “What happens to that individual after he or she becomes saved?”
This period of time following the Salvation experience is so important that the bulk of the New Testament was provided to show Christians how to live, how to walk in the Light, how to conduct themselves, and how to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
If a Christian, even though genuinely saved (Born-Again) and baptized with the Holy Spirit according to Acts 2:4, elects to stay in an environment of error, then that Christian’s Spiritual Growth will (at least) be stunted, and perhaps much worse will result. That individual could even be destroyed, spiritually speaking, if he insists on walking contrary to the Light that God has laid down.
A tremendous obligation enters the hearts of those persons who have been saved by the Blood of Jesus Christ. They are no longer their own, but are bought with a price (I Cor. 6:20). That price was the indescribable agony suffered by Jesus as He hung on the Cross. We are, therefore, “to deny ourselves and take up our Crosses and follow the Lord Jesus” (Mk. 8:34). We are commanded to follow the Lord wherever He may lead. It may be at the cost of losing friends, relatives, Church, Mother, Dad, job security, or even our very lives. Read Matthew 10:34–38. The Lord was very specific on this in all His teachings and in all four Gospels.
So What Should the
Christian Do?
So, we come to the bottom line as we address ourselves to those Christians who are truly saved but attend a religious organization in error. What should they do? Is it proper (in God’s eyes) for them to stay in that particular Church after they have been Born-Again? Will they become “better Church members”? What should they do? Should they get out of the “Church”, renounce its practices and policies, and find another Church to join and associate themselves with? What are the answers to these questions?
I hope they will realize that I speak out with equal fervor against anything I consider to be non-scriptural in any Denomination. And, yes, as those who have followed me for any length of time will realize, this includes Pentecostal Churches as well.
You see, the problem lies, all too often, in our tendency to “root for the home team.” If we’re Democrats, the Democratic Party can do no wrong. If we’re union members, the union can do no wrong. If we belong to the Moose or the Elk or the Rotary—the Moose, the Elk, and the Rotary can do no wrong. And if we’re Catholic, the Catholic Church can do no wrong. The Truth, naturally, is that anyone can be wrong, and if we don’t diligently search for the Truth, we can be wrong.
~JSM
Atonement
David said: “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered” (Rom. 4:7).
The force of the Hebrew term “to cover” is dual. It implies Atonement and Justification. Atonement does not mean merely “at-one-ment” or “at-one-with,” but rather expiation of guilt by a blood-sacrifice which covers it.
The argument of Verses 9 through 12 in Romans, Chapter 4, is that Abraham was declared by God to be a righteous man while he was yet uncircumcised, i.e., outside of the Covenant within which the Jews afterward stood in their unique relation to God.
Had the promise of heirship of the world been based on the principal of law, i.e., of merit, that would have set Abraham aside, for the inheritance was given him by Promise and, therefore, on the principal of Faith. Faith does not fulfill a promise made to it, but believes it; and that Faith was reckoned to Abraham for Righteousness. This principal consequently opened wide the door of Grace to all men.
The Effect of Law
Paul said: “Because the Law works wrath: for where no Law is, there is no transgression” (Rom. 4:15).
The effect of law is always “condemnation,” and, in fact, it can be no other.
So, this means that all Believers who seek to function by “law,” whether the Law of Moses, or a law devised by themselves or someone else, can only come to one conclusion, and that is “condemnation.” And let the Reader understand the following:
If the Believer doesn’t understand the Cross, then the Believer doesn’t understand Grace, and neither does he properly understand Faith; consequently, such a Believer will then resort to law, because there is no other place for the Believer to be. It’s either “Law” or “Grace.”
This means that virtually the entirety of the modern Church is functioning under law, which means they are under constant condemnation, because most of the modern Church has little or no knowledge of the Cross whatsoever.
And yet, the Church thinks that it does know and understand the Cross. But several questions should be asked:
Are you, the Reader, living a victorious, overcoming Christian life? The question could probably be better asked, “Is there repeated sin of some nature in your life?”
Is the Fruit of the Spirit being developed in your life? Perhaps the question could be asked in this fashion, “Are you becoming more and more Christlike, in your life, personality, and demeanor?”
Please allow me to delicately say that far too many Christians lie to themselves. And it’s just as much a sin to lie to ourselves as it is to someone else, perhaps even worse. In other words, we need to look at the questions just asked and answer them honestly.
The Action of Grace
Whereas the effect of law is condemnation, the action of grace is “justification.”
The doctrine of justification by works generates religious pride—that of Justification by Faith produces contrition and humility. In the matter of Justification, Faith and works are opposite and irreconcilable—as opposed as Grace and Debt. Since God declares ungodly men righteous, works cannot in any sense furnish a ground for Justification, and hence the first step toward Salvation on the part of a sinner is to humble himself and accept the Divine pronouncement that he is “ungodly.”
Then the second and concluding step is to repose Faith in Him Who justifies the ungodly. Nothing gives more Glory to God than simply believing Him. Justification is not a change in character but a declaration by God as to the Believer’s standing before Him. It is objective. Sanctification affects character and is subjective.
As we have stated, the expiatory Sacrifice of Christ is the one and only and eternal ground on which God can act in declaring ungodly men righteous. Galatians 3:21, and many similar Divine declarations, reveal the hopelessness of standing before God in a righteousness which He will accept upon any other principal than that of Faith in a crucified Sin-Bearer.
A Perfect Sacrifice
Christ’s Perfect Obedience to the Law of God formed His Own Righteousness and gave virtue to His Sacrifice—for a Sacrifice for sin must have neither spot nor blemish. But it was not the spotlessness of the Lamb which made the Atonement, but its out-poured Blood, i.e., its surrendered Life, for the blood is the life. The judgment pronounced upon sin being death, that claim could only be vindicated and discharged by the suffering of death. Christ suffered that penalty and, in consequence, saves the Believer from it.
If Christ’s obedience during His Life was man’s obedience, then man stands as He stood and, consequently, there was no reason why He should die. In that case there was no penalty, for if man fulfilled in Him all Righteousness, there was no occasion for judgment.
But the Scripture declares that Christ died for sinners, so that it is His Death that provides a spotless Righteousness for sinners who believe in Him; and it was His Obedience in life which gave efficacy to His suffering in death.
Regrettably, the vast majority of mankind accepts the human doctrine of salvation by merit; a very small minority believes the Divine Doctrine of Salvation by Grace. As the Lord Jesus Himself said, few tread that narrow way. It is abhorrent to human pride.
J. Swaggart Ministry
Hebrews 10:26 –“For if we sin willfully (the ‘willful sin’ is the transference of faith from Christ and Him crucified to other things) after that we have received the knowledge of the truth (speaks of the Bible way of salvation and victory, which is ‘Jesus Christ and Him crucified’ [I Cor. 2:2]), there remains no more sacrifice for sins(if the Cross of Christ is rejected, there is no other sacrifice or way God will accept).
SO, USING HIS PEACE Plan to solve the five “global giants” of the world (spiritual empti-ness, [corrupt] leadership, poverty, disease, and illiteracy), Rick Warren communicates tothe people that defeating global giants is worth any cost! In the name of missions, social action will take precedence above all else. Warren goes on to say that these problems are so big that everybody has failed to solve them. Warren said, “The United States has failed, and the United Nations has failed as well. Nobody has solved these five problems because the solution needs a three-legged stool. For the stability of a nation, you must have strong healthy government, strong healthy business, and strong healthy churches. A three-legged stool will have sta-bility. So, I am going from country to country teaching business its role, teaching church its role, and teaching government leaders their roles because you have to work together.
We cannot solve the problems in your country or the world if we won’t work together. You see, unity is the name of the game!” Unity is also a part of the new gospel that is being preached, but this type of unity is unbiblical! Unity is taught in the Bible, but it refers to the unity of belief and doctrine, not to unity with unbelievers and/or false doctrine.
1. Every wind of doctrine pushes its audience this way and that way, and few Christians are able to resist it. Their teachings for years have moved the
church into a wrong direction.
2. Many precious Christians started off with good intentions only to find themselves shipwrecked alongside the others they
befriended. Standing for the truth and giving a good defense of the Gospel is more important to God than friendships that could cause you to compromise the
Gospel. Here, it is the truth of Scripture that matters first, not someone’s ministry or who he is. Jesus told the people the truth
and offended the religious crowd. Nothing has changed today if you stand for the truth of Scripture. Those who are exposed will
always respond in anger. Just expect it!
One only has to look at the condition that the world is in today to see that his mission plan has not succeeded. Our government is in the worst shape it has been in since it was founded. Business
is so full of corruption that it is in total disarray, and the church is anything but healthy. The church in America overall is weak and weary not strong, not well, not healthy. It has a diminishing voice because its message has been watered down to the point that it has lost its integrity, and its leaders are not leading.There are damnable doctrines that have been brought into the church today, such as The Purpose Driven Life and its agenda, with that being “modern religion.” In all of Rick Warren’s PEACE Plan, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not mentioned.
In order to partner with the other religions of the world, it must be left out because the preaching of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection would be a stumbling block. The Muslims and the Hindus would not partner with him if that message was the focal point. The whole premise of the five giants of the world is untrue. There is only one giant that needs to be defeated and that is sin. Sin is what produces all of the other problems. Mankind’s problem is sin but that is not even addressed here. Until it is addressed as such, man’s problems will not be solved. Jesus Christ is the remedy for sin and until the world accepts Him, we will always have poverty, disease, illiteracy, corrupt leadership, and spiritual emptiness. Compare the statement of Rick Warren with that of John Foster Dulles, and you will easily see this is not about Jesus Christ, but it’s about the social gospel for a one-world religion.
One-world government means one-world religion. What we really see here is not the truth of the Bible being taught, but rather a change agent at work, changing the hearts of men away from Jesus to “another Jesus.” Rick Warren is the change agent and The Purpose Driven Life and The Purpose Driven Church are the means to achieving change. Churches by the thousands are falling for this lie. Jesus Christ and His redeeming power to save man from his evil ways is being replaced by the false gospel of servitude. Serving man rather than Jesus Christ is the message of the false prophets of this day. They, of course, will deny this, but we will in this article examine their message. Of course, the false gospel of the Word of Faith teaching on positive confession for health and prosperity has become the norm. Christian television has become the extension for the false teachers of money. They have a monopoly on the airwaves. They preach an unbiblical pseudo-scheme called “s e e d f a i t h.”
I think we could even call it a Ponzi scheme. They are removing the money from faithful Christians to themselves. The preachers become richer while the average layman becomes poorer. Their teachings for years have moved the church in the wrong direction. This affects evangelism, discipleship, and tithing. Tithing is no longer giving to God because we love Him and want to help further the message of Jesus to a hurting and dying world. The message today is about giving to get rich. This is man’s gospel and not the message of the Bible. We have every wind of doctrine being preached through the airwaves and in the church. All of this is being preached by men claiming to be Spirit-filled, anointed prophets and apostles, but they themselves are without the Spirit, are carnally minded, or have succumbed to another spirit. The Bible says that if they do not speak according to its Word, they have no light in them. Isaiah 8:20 states,
“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them. (The great question should always be, and about any situation, ‘Is it biblical?’)
THE VICTORY OF THE CROSS
Paul in his Epistle to the Colossians spelled it out as to exactly what Jesus did for us at the Cross. He said:
“Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us (the Law), which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His Cross;
“And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Col. 2:14–15).
Two things were here done:
1. The demands of a thrice Holy God were satisfied.
2. Satan was completely defeated.
Now let’s see how all of this was done.
The Law of God as given to Moses, sometimes referred to as “the Law of Moses,” proclaimed the Standard of Righteousness which God demanded of all men. Unfortunately, man in his depraved, fallen condition, could not live up to this Law, and no matter how hard he tried. In fact, in the entirety of these some 1,600 years of the Law, not one person succeeded in satisfying its demands, except Christ.
In fact, as it regards the moral Law (the Ten Commandments), it is still incumbent upon humanity, at least all who do not know the Lord. As stated, this is God’s Standard of Righteousness.
Unable to keep the Law, it condemned us, even as all Law must. In other words, it declared us guilty, and demanded the penalty, which was death (Rom. 6:23).
However, Jesus came as the “Last Adam,” referred to by Paul in that manner, because He would do what the first Adam did not do, and would as well do it so perfectly, that another would never be needed, hence Him being referred to as the “Last.”
He kept the Law perfectly in every respect, doing it all on our behalf, even as our Substitute. One might say that he did all of this as the “Representative Man” (I Cor. 15:45–50).
He not only kept the Law, and as stated, did so perfectly, but as well, He suffered its terrible penalty of death—all on our behalf.
When He did this, the price was paid, with the record that was against all of us, being completely and totally “blotted out.” The Scripture plainly says that He “nailed it to His Cross.”
Now we are seeing why the Cross is so very, very important.
This which He did satisfied the demands of a thrice Holy God. The Reader must understand, that the Cross was not carried out in order to satisfy the Devil, etc., but rather to satisfy the demands of God. It was either us die, which meant that we would never be raised from the dead, and because we were an imperfect sacrifice, or for God to become man, which He did, thereby taking our place.
However, having done this, what Jesus did at the Cross, also spelled defeat for Satan and all his henchmen.
Satan has a legal right to place man into captivity because of sin. But with all sin atoned, even as Jesus did at the Cross, Satan lost that right, at least as it regards those who will believe (Jn. 3:16).
In other words, Satan has no more legal right over me and because I am now “in Christ,” which means I have trusted Christ and what He did at the Cross on my behalf, which cleanses me from all sin. Sin being the means by which Satan holds men in captivity, with sin being gone and washed away, and by the precious Blood of Jesus, as stated, Satan has no more right.
As a result, this spoiled all principalities and powers, which refers to all demon spirits and fallen angels, which includes Satan as their federal head, with the Scripture plainly saying that Jesus “triumphed over them in it,” meaning, that what He did at the Cross totally defeated them.
So this means, that every single demon spirit is defeated, every fallen angel is defeated, even the mightiest of them and in totality are defeated, and above all, Satan as their federal head is defeated.
As we’ve said previously, the work which Jesus did at the Cross by the giving of Himself in Sacrifice, was actually a legal work. It satisfied the legal demands of a thrice Holy God. Man had committed a terrible crime, and that crime had to be addressed, with its penalty satisfied. It was satisfied in Christ.
All these things we’ve just said, are the reason that the Cross is the Source of all Victory, and of course, we are speaking of what Jesus there did. That’s the reason our Faith must ever be in the Cross. And this I might quickly ask:
Many Preachers claim that we must go beyond the Cross, especially many of those of the Charismatic variety. What do they mean by going beyond the Cross? Actually, where is one to go?
The Work of Christ at the Cross, is called a “Finished Work,” which is portrayed by Paul in Hebrews 1:3, by Jesus being “sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” As well, Paul referred to this great work as “the Everlasting Covenant” (Heb. 13:20).
Some may claim that we leave the Cross after conversion, thereby going on to the Holy Spirit. However, when we understand, that the Holy Spirit will not work within our hearts and lives, at least to the full degree which He can, without our Faith being properly placed in the Cross, then we realize that it’s impossible to separate the Holy Spirit from the Cross. That’s what we explained in Romans 8:2. Everything the Holy Spirit does, He does within the framework and the parameters of what Jesus did at the Cross. In fact, before the Cross, He could not even come into the hearts and lives of Believers to abide. This could only be done after the Cross, which satisfied the sin debt (Jn. 14:16–17).
The great Ministry of the Holy Spirit is to “glorify Christ” (Jn. 16:14). And how does He glorify Christ?
He does so, by constantly pointing to the Cross (I Cor. 2:2).
Actually, in the last two Chapters of Revelation, which speak of the perfect age to come, when Satan is locked away in the Lake of Fire, along with all his demon spirits and fallen angels, and in fact, there is no more sin, we find the Holy Spirit referring to Christ some seven times as “the Lamb” (Rev. 21:9, 14, 22–23, 27; 22:1, 3).
Seven of course speaks of God’s perfection, and “Lamb” refers to the Crucified Christ (Jn. 1:29).
The Holy Spirit does this, so that we will never forget, that it was the price paid by Christ on the Cross, which has afforded, and does afford all of these great and glorious things. In fact, the entirety of the story of the Bible is the story of man’s Redemption, which in effect, is the story of the Cross.
J. Swaggart