The following thoughts came to me after meditating upon Rom 10, particularly v1-4:

1 Brethren, my heart desire and prayer to God for Israel, is that they might be saved.
2 For I bear them record, that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knoweldge
3 For they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God.
4 For, Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness, unto every body that believeth.

To set the scene for my train of thought, I’ll include a number of assumptions that can be made.

Paul, being a pharisee, knew what Isreal considered to be righteous.

Paul had not given up on Israel.

Israel, as a people, were particularly zealous for God.

Rather than trying to find the heart of God, they distilled all the statements of Moses and the Prophets into a detailed list of “dos and don’ts”.

Christ’s purpose is that people would cease to follow these letter of the Law, and being to operate out of a heart for God.

This is really, baby christian stuff, however, it seems to me that often times, this truth is agreed to with mental assent, but not with lifestyles.

Let me explain. As finite beings, life seems impossible without knowing what we are doing at anytime. We need to know that our deeds are in agreement with a prescribed principle, rather than acting out of the nature that God has placed within us, being cultivated through perpetual communion with God, emanating from regular and consistant quiet times with God.

This “nessesity for principle” can appear to one to be righteousness, while to another, the absense of this “safety net” can appear to be a licence to commit any kind of immoral behaviour. Please understand that I am in no way trying to promote a kind of “until God ‘convicts’ you of a specific sin, you can disobey scripture”. What I am essentially saying is that “obedience” that is spawned from a bregudged heart, is in fact disobedience.

A pass over the Sermon on the Mount (Mat 5-7), particularly the beatitudes (Mat 5:3-12), will reveal the priority of the heart attitude over the action. This is not to say that actions are irrelevant, but that internal agreement with God is of higher importance.

Consider Jesus explaining obedience of heart (particularly Mat 5:17,21-22,27-28). We can see this as a “raising of the bar” – It’s not enough to control your actions, but you need to control your thoughts. Could it be, that like Israel listening to Moses, in coming to this assumption we are “establishing our own righteousness”, rather than coming to a greater dimension of the knowledge of God?

I believe that Christ is saying to us, “The problem isn’t that your killing and adultering, but that you want to be a murderer and adulterer.” After all, you’re not going to do something you really don’t want to do. How many are fighting an urge to go out and buy drug and get high while reading this? The next question would be, how many of those that answered “No” to the last question, have ever had a desire to do drugs? Hopefully, the people who answer an ashamed “Yes” to the second question, answer an indignant “No!!”to the first.

For me, being a reformed addict, drugs are no longer an issue, and not their temptation is even on the proverbial menu of sins for my flesh to select. Sure it appears periodically as a “special of the day”, but not with the regularity of things like lying, lustful thoughts, anger, and laziness, which are “specialties of the house”. To be honest, the only struggle I have with drugs is fighting the urge to look down on addicts as second class citizens.

Does this mean that I desire to be angry, lustfull…etc? Of course not, but reality is, is have not quite developed the desgust with my behaviour that will lead to complusive obedience in these areas. Does that give me licence to fulfill these lust? Of course not. Am I ashamed of my “ever present sin”? Of course. Then why is it there? Mmmmm…can I answer that honestly. Probably not. Is it I don’t pray enough? Is it that I don’t spend enough time in the Word? These are “real life” issues to be confronted. Do I have the answers? To be honest, not really. I may be able to present alot of hypotheticals, but answers…if I had them, I wouldn’t have the problems.

Before people accuse me of absolving people from their God given responsability, let me point toward Eph 2:8-10.

8 For by grace are we saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

From this, we can see a progression:

• Salvation is by grace alone.
• The mechanism for receiving this grace is trusting God (faith) as the only one “rich enough” (Rom 10:12) offer this saving grace.
• Even the actual faith isn’t our doing, as it can only be given to us, as God Himself reveals His truth to us (Rom 10:17).
• Becuse of all this, we can take no credit for our salvation as coming about by our own doing.
• Once the salvation issue is settled, we display our salvation, by fulfilling His righteous requirements, and obeying His directions.

While this can sound like a “I have faith, you have works” kind of thing, the truth of the matter is, that “good works” are the only logical option for a person. After all, a man who has been made aware of the seriousness of his rebellion against God, by the convicting light of the Holy Spirit, could not in good conscience wilfully rebel against Him again (Mat 18:23-35). Surely it would break his heart at the very thought of dispointing his Saviour that “…loved (him) and gave himself for (him)” (Gal 2:20b).

My one and only point is that there is little point splitting hairs over details of our rebellion against Deity. In the end, it is all disobedience from dishonesty to genocide. Albeit, we commit our sins one at a time, so therefore we must confess them likewise. My heart in explaining the whole obedience to “Principle” vs “Deity”, is that splitting hairs over the principles, will inevitably lead to excusing sin.

If we consider ourselves to be “spiritually and morally bankrupt”, and that leading to our “mourning” over our personal lack, we will begin to comprehend “meekness”, and develope a true “hunger and thirst for righteousness”. If after all that, we are not “merciful” toward others, then perhaps the love of God isn’t in us. This mercifulness that eminates from an earnest desire for righteousness, is true “purity of heart”. Who else would be qualified to be a pure motived “peacemaker”, between God and man? Who else will be able to “rejoice and be glad” in the midst of “persecution”, but them that have “seen God”?

Am I declaring a “cheap grace” or “legalistic” message here? I’ll leave that for you to decide.

I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel (Gal.1:6)

The Western Christian Church today is currently undergoing a precipitous decline in numbers, power, and relevence. Many theories have been suggested as to why we are no longer reaching the people of our culture, and why it is that we can now refer to this time in the West as the post-Christian era. I would like to propose that the reason is simply this: that the Christian church as a whole is no longer preaching the Gospel of the New Testament.

One of the great ironies of the modern church is that many Christians who proclaim the “gospel” the loudest are in fact guilty of preaching something that is not even true. This includes every denomination from the most liberal social gospel to the most fundamentalist hell-fire-and-brimstone plea for repentance. Most of these theologies are but poor reflections of the gospel preached by Jesus, Paul, and the other leaders of the early church.

Now I realize that nearly everyone who promotes one of these distorted gospels will argue strongly that he/she preaches the true gospel, and that it is all those other people who are in error. I am not so sure that this article will convince any of them that their particular brand of the message has in fact destroyed the power of the gospel. So this article is intended to offer an explanation of the losses of Western Christianity to those who have the eyes to see that the church is in ruins and is willing to consider, if just for the sake of argument, that the real message of the New Covenant has been stripped of its heart and purpose, and that such caricatures of the gospel have lead directly to a religious climate that lacks credibility, authenticity, and meaning.

While there are many variations on this theme, virtually all of the gospel pretenders fall into one of three categories:

1. The Gospel on the Left

The message here is that our greatest problems are a toxic environment, institutionalized oppression, and other evils of society. If we would simply all do random acts of kindness and prohibit all forms of organized evil, we could all live in harmony and bring about the Kingdom of God. In short, we need to identify and destroy evil through legislation and other cooperative means.

2. The Gospel on the Right

At the other end of the spectrum is the message that sin is bound up in the individual, and that our greatest problem is not the condition of society but the condition of the human soul. The gospel is all about how to rid oneself of the stain of sin so that he/she can go to heaven when they die. Printed tracts put out by the right present the alternatives in very clear terms: either pray the prayer on this page or go to hell.

3. The Gospel of the Consumer

The last variety may or may not be very explicit about being on the right or the left. The most important aspect here is that the gospel will meet your felt needs, primarily emotional and financial. Sunday morning gatherings are full stage productions, with entertainment being high on the agenda, regardless of what terms are actually used. When people grow tired of the show, they go find another church or simply opt for playing golf.

What’s Missing

The problem with all of the above approaches is that no one is preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, which is, God has decided to make his home inside us so that he can make us into the people he wants to have for his own. God is not just trying to see how many souls he can pull off this sinking ship called Earth before it goes down. And trying to build a just society without changing the human heart is doomed to failure.

God’s real heart is to transform human beings into light and salt for the earth and into creatures who live and breathe the presence of God in their lives. This is not an optional second-level goal that He would like to have from those who have accepted some get-out-of-hell free card. Nor is it some future result of fixing society. Rather, transforming people into the people of God what redemption is all about.

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Matthew 6:24

I’ll begin with a quick recap of the last post, by defining my working definition of Theocracy. Theocracy literally means the “rule of God”. My use of the word describes the principle of an individual allowing God the right to rule one’s life, in the present. For a further explanation of what I do and do not mean by Theocracy, refer to the last post.

Any discussion on Theocracy would be futile without considering the practical outworking of God’s Sovereignty. If our understanding of God’s rule doesn’t bring us to the place of obedience, then our pondering reduces itself to mere trivia or entertainment. Woe unto us if we allow this to happen to such an important theme.

Before we begin, there is something we must consider.

God Cares For Us

6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
1 Peter 5:6-7

He cares for us!!! It is absolutely vital that we see this, and that in the light of this fact, He not only can be trusted to have our cares cast upon Him, but He even invites us to do so. This is the major component of the basis of obedience, and a great source of humbling, that the Almighty God cares for us.

Consider the one whose hand penned these words. Peter was the one who, when Christ spoke of his imminent death at the hands of sinful men, rose up as a loyal subject, promising to defend his King (Matt 16:21-23). Even though it is normal for a king to cast his cares upon his subjects, and to put his needs and desires before theirs, Christ had shown Peter that God, not only cares for His subjects, but He actually desires to attend to their cares (see John 13:3-17).

Now, knowing this about God, let’s move on to His rule.

For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
Rom 11:36

The Westminster Shorter Catechism cites the above verse, while answering its first question with, “The chief end of all being is the glory of God, and to enjoy Him forever.” This verse clearly states that “all things” have their origin, continuance and destination in God.

There is no room given for another source of anything. These facts are confirmed in statements such as “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith..” (Heb 12:2) and “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty” (Rev 1:8). It is the present tense statement that we are facing in this post. The question we are raising is, “How do we live in the light of the knowledge of ‘all things’ being ‘through Him’?”

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Heb 11:6

There are two things which we must digest before we come to God. Firstly, “He is”. He is a present reality, existing now and is active at this moment, just as He was and will be. The exhortation is given, “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” (Heb 3:12-13)

The ever present “is” of God testifies to His “living”. Not only did He die for us “while we were yet sinners”, but He “raised again for our justification”. Which leads to the second fact about God that we must believe, in order to come to Him, “He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him”. It is a promise made by the one “that cannot lie” (Tit 1:2;Heb 6:18), therefore we can be assured that He will do just as He has promised.

It is on these two facts, that “of him, and through him, and to him, are all things”, and that God “is, and he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him”, that can anchor our understanding of the means by which He governs our lives. This is the foundation of His Personhood, and the manner by which He expresses His love toward us, as it underpins even His death, burial and resurrection.

Having said all this, it is important not to ignore our role in this: “without faith it is impossible to please him..”. In order to receive the benefit of that which He has “freely given”, we must surrender our complete trust to His reliability and integrity. Otherwise our life will be spent in the terror of doubt, fearing that He will let us down, and falling short of the abundant life that Christ promised to give us.

And now a short aside in order to make a vital connection between the theory and the experience of God’s rule over our life.

‘Is’ Not ‘Has’

27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
1 Cor 1:27-31

It should be of interest to note that the text states that Christ “is” wisdom, righteous, sanctification, and redemption. It doesn’t say that he “has” these things, but that he “is” these things. While this may not seem like much at this point, it will soon become apparent why this is so important…

This will end our introduction, let’s now look at the means by which God rules an individual’s life.

Ordered Steps

23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand.
Psalm 37:23-24

Matthew Henry’s comments bring some interesting insight into these statements:

“By his grace and Holy Spirit, he directs the thoughts, affections, and designs of good men. By his providence he overrules events, so as to make their way plain. He does not always show them his way for a distance, but leads them step by step, as children are led. God will keep them from being ruined by their falls, either into sin or into trouble, though such as fall into sin will be sorely hurt.”

The question that needs to be asked is “What is a ‘good man’?” Jesus responded to the Rich Young Ruler, who called him “good teacher”, by saying, “Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God” (Luke 18:18-19). In light of Paul’s statement that Christ is made unto us “righteousness”, amongst other things, it must be understood that anyone that Scripture would dare call a “good man” must have been “made good” by God.

Therefore we can plainly see that David’s words assure those that have been made good, or righteous, by God, that He orders their steps. Asaph bore witness to David’s words:

23 Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand.
24 Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
26 My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
Psalm 73:23-26

In the light of his opening words, “Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart” (Ps 73:1), and we can see that the “clean heart” is the one that is upheld by God, rather than being “cleansed” by one’s own self-exertion (Ps 73:13). Again Paul reveals the means:

For Christ is the end (ie. logical conclusion) of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Rom 10:4

…and how do we claim this free gift? Sometimes it’s easy to forget how easy it is meant to be:

8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
1 John 1:8-10

“We” confess (ie, openly acknowledge) our sin and “God” does the cleansing. Bible teacher, Chuck Missler refers to 1 John 1:9 as the “Christians bar of soap”. Diligently seeking Him, in this area, would be to lean our full weight on this promise, and the reward is righteousness. This means coming to God with an attitude that says, “If God didn’t want to do this, then He shouldn’t have made the promise.” That is the faith that pleases Him, and the only prescribed means of being made righteous. “Gaining righteousness” is synonymous with “losing unrighteousness”, just as one is “made clean” by being “cleansed of dirt”.

We may fret about whether or not we are in His plan, but this verse clearly states that He keeps those who are His own in His will. Whether or not I am in His will should not be my primary concern, but whether or not I am a “good man”. The issue is whether or not we have been made righteous in Him, because if we have then our steps will be ordered of Him.

It could be said that for a Christian to know where God would have them be, he need only look to his feet. There is a sense in which the whole of a disciple’s life is ordered of God, from start to finish, even their life prior to being born again. Upon pondering my personal history, and my life of sin prior to yielding to Christ, I often wonder if it would have been possible for the Lord to bring me to the end of myself, had I not been a drug addict. In this way even the sinful history of the Christian is redeemed in Christ.

Now onto His actual means of leading His own…

Heeded Voice

26 ..ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep, as I said unto you.
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
John 10:26-27

This statement was made to some Jews who demanded that Jesus told them plainly whether he was the Christ or not. In the third chapter of John’s Gospel, Nichodemus began a discussion with Jesus stating that the Sanhedrin’s standard of validating Christ as a “teachers sent from God” were his miracles (John 3:2). Here Jesus cited the same standard, by saying “I told you, and ye believed not: the works that I do in my Father’s name, they bear witness of me” (John 10:25) in response to the Pharisees’ question, “If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly” (John 10:24).

So what has this to do with Theocracy? To the Jew, Meshiach (ie, Christ) was to be the coming king, the inheritor of the throne of David. If Christ simply said, “It is as you say” at that point, they probably would have begun to conspire to overthrow Herod, Pilate and the Romans and install Jesus as their king. The thing is, Christ was not only establishing his right to rule but was describing the means and manner of his rule.

I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
John 10:11

In this statement, Christ established his Davidic inheritance and his intrinsic right to rule, based on his surrendering of his own life as a good shepherd would for his sheep. One’s mind could recall David’s account to Saul of his slaying the lion and the bear, as he offered to risk his life in battle against Goliath, just as he had risked his life for his sheep (1 Sam 17:34-37). This is the nature of a “good shepherd” and the only difference was that Christ not only risked his life, but he actually laid it down.

4 And when he (the good shepherd) putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
5 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.
John 10:4-5

These words address a common issue in the Body of Christ. Just as we saw earlier, with the issue of being in the will of God, people tend to fret over hearing God’s voice. We have Charismatics coming experiencing shame from failing to have an “experience” and Evangelicals allowing a “Book” to come in between them and God. Please understand that I am neither implying that God has ceased to speak, nor that Scripture is anything but authoritative and true. What I am saying is by and large, many have replaced the “Person” of God, with a concept of Him. As a result, obedience has been reduced to submitting to a means of “knowing what God would will”, over being led by God, Himself.

There is a view that says that we need to learn to distinguish between the voice of God, Satan and self, and yet these words of Christ seem to imply that there is no need to fear. After all Jesus quantified his words, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” with, “And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.”

Following Him is the natural by product of being one of His sheep. Perhaps for those of us in western urban societies tending sheep is a foreign thing, so allow me to slightly alter the illustration:

Imagine a man taking his dog to a park. He lets the dog off the chain, and it plays in amongst all the people. There are children laughing, yelling and screaming, parents talking, and various other noises, including other dogs being called, but this dog is unmoved. But when it comes time to come home, the dog’s ears prick up because it has heard the voice of its master calling its name. However if another voice, that the dog doesn’t know, called then the dog would either ignore it, or recognise it as suspicious.

Just as earlier when we saw that “the steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD”, and found out that our primary concern should be whether or not we are good, so here we must ask ourselves, “Why aren’t we His sheep?” Hearing Christ’s voice is the least of your problems. If you are not His sheep, then you must to repent, and trust in the Saviour.

The Shepherd and the Stranger

Even though we need not fear the voice of the “stranger” if we belong to Christ, it is important note the mention of this competitor for our obedience. This is the real issue of obedience is that of the existence of two kingdoms, and the need to choose one, and reject another (Mat 6:24).

So there we have it. Two kingdoms and one choice. We start off as slaves to sin, and then we become new creations, and take on a new nature. Our “stony heart” is removed and replaced with a “heart of flesh” (Eze 11:14). Having been made righteous, God promises to order our steps. Having been redeemed by the “good shepherd”, we will hear His voice and follow Him, ignoring the voice of the “stranger”.

In other words, we are transformed from one thing into another. Herein is the perfection of God’s ordering revealed. Rather than demanding reluctant obedience from His subjects, God invests the desire to obey into the core of our being (Ps 37:4), so that obedience is spontaneous (Mat 12:33-35).

Trusting in the Lord

So our obedience is firmly anchored on His faithfulness. This does not allow room for complacency, however. As we saw earlier, God cleanses us of unrighteousness in response to our acknowledgement of our sin. We can see more in the words of the Psalmist:

5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.
Psalm 3:5-7

In order to “lean not on our own understanding” so that we can “trust in the Lord”, we need to have access to another opinion than our own, and to consult another with our decision-making. This is where prayer and Bible study come in. It is not a matter of these disciplines “saving us”, but they serve as an expression of our trusting Him, as we believe that He “is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Conclusion

The essence of obedience is based on us doing our part, trusting that He has done, and will continue do His part. And this is the foundation of Theocracy. May you hear His voice and follow Him, as He orders your steps and directs your paths.

This all started a number of years ago in a Baptist church in Crystal Palace in South London. The Sunday morning service was closing and a man stood up at the back and raised his hand and said: “Excuse me pastor can I share a short testimony?” The pastor looked at his watch and said “You have three minutes.” The man proceeded with his story: “I’ve just moved into this area. I used to live in Sydney Australia. Just a few months back I was visiting some relatives and I was walking down George Street. You know where George Street is in Sydney going from the Business Area out to the colonial area. A strange little white haired man stepped out from a shop doorway, put a pamphlet in my hand and said: ‘Excuse me sir, are you saved, if you die tonight are you going to heaven?’ “I was astounded by these words. No one had ever asked me that. I thanked him courteously and all the way home to London this puzzled me. I called a friend and thank God he was a Christian and he led me to Christ.”

The Baptists love testimonies like that. Everyone applauded and welcomed him into their fellowship.

The Baptist pastor flew to Adelaide, Australia the next week and 10 days later in the middle of a three day series in a Baptist church in Adelaide, a woman came up to him for some counseling. He wanted to establish where she stood with Christ. She said “I used to live in Sydney and just a couple of months back I was visiting some friends in Sydney and doing some last minute shopping down George Street. A strange little white haired man stepped out of a shop doorway and offered me a pamphlet and said ‘Excuse me madam, are you saved, if you die tonight are you going to heaven?’ “I was disturbed by those words. When I got home to Adelaide, I knew this Baptist church was on the next block from me. I sought out the pastor and he led me to Christ. So I am telling you that I am a Christian.”

The London pastor was now very puzzled. Twice in two weeks he had heard the same testimony. He then flew to preach in the Mount Pleasant Church in Perth. When his teaching series was over the senior elder of that Church took him out for a meal and he asked the elder how he got saved. “I grew up in this church from the age of 15. I never made a commitment to Jesus, just hopped on the bandwagon like everyone else. Because of my business ability I grew up to a place of influence. I was on a business trip to Sydney just three years ago. An obnoxious spiteful little man stepped out of a shop doorway, offered me a religious pamphlet and accosted me with a question: ‘Excuse me sir, are you saved, if you die tonight are you going to heaven?’ I tried to tell him I was a Baptist elder. He wouldn’t listen to me. I was seething with anger all the way home from Sydney to Perth. I told my pastor, thinking that he would sympathize, but he agreed. He had been disturbed for years knowing that I didn’t have a relationship with Jesus, and he was right. My pastor led me to Jesus just three years ago.”

The London preacher flew home and was soon speaking at the Keswick conventions in the Lake District and he threw in these three testimonies. At the close of this teaching series, four elderly pastors came up and explained that they too had been saved between 25 and 30 years earlier through that same little man on George Street, offering them a pamphlet and asking that same question.

The following week he flew to a similar Keswick convention in the Caribbean to missionaries. He shared the same testimonies. At the close of his teaching three missionaries came forward and said that they had also been saved between 15 and 25 years earlier by that same little man’s testimony and the same question on George Street in Sydney.

Next he stopped in Atlanta, Georgia to speak at a Naval Chaplain convention. Here for three days he spoke to over 1000 Naval Chaplains. Afterwards the Chaplain General took him out for a meal and he asked the Chaplain how he became a Christian. “It was miraculous. I was a rating on a Naval battleship and I lived a reprobate life. We were doing exercises in the South Pacific and we docked at Sydney harbour for replenishments. We hit King’s Cross with a vengeance. I was blind drunk, got on the wrong bus and got off in George Street. As I got off the bus, I thought I saw a ghost as this man jumped out in front of me, pushed a pamphlet in my hand and said, ‘Sailor, are you saved, if you die tonight are you going to heaven?’ The fear of God hit me immediately. I was shocked sober, ran back to the ship and sought out the Chaplain. He led me to Christ. I soon began to prepare for the ministry under his guidance. I am now in charge of 1000 chaplains who are bent on soul winning today.”

Six months later that London pastor flew to a conference for 5,000 Indian missionaries in a remote part of NE India. At the end the head missionary took him to his humble little home for a simple meal. He asked how he as a Hindu came to Christ.
“I grew up in a very privileged position; I worked in the Indian Diplomatic Mission and I traveled the world. I am so glad for the forgiveness of Christ and blood covering my sin. I would be very embarrassed if people found out what I got into. One period of diplomatic service took me to Sydney. I was doing some last minute shopping, laden with toys and clothes for my children. I was walking down George Street when a courteous white haired little man stepped out in front of me and offered me a pamphlet and said ‘Excuse me sir, are you saved, if you die tonight are you going to heaven?’ I thanked him very much but this disturbed me. I got back to my town, sought out our Hindu priest. He couldn’t help me, but he advised me that to satisfy my curious mind, I should go and talk to the missionary in the mission home at the end of road. That was good advice because that day the missionary led me to Christ. I quit Hinduism immediately and began to prepare for ministry. I left the Diplomatic Service and here I am today, by God’s grace in charge of all these missionaries who have together led 100.000 people to Christ.”

Eight months later that London Pastor was preaching in Sydney. He asked the local Baptist Minister if he knew of a little elderly white haired man who handed out tracts on George Street. He replied, “Yes I do, his name is Mr. Genor, although I don’t think he does it any more because he is so frail and elderly.”

Two nights later they went to meet him in his little apartment. They knocked on the door and this tiny frail old man greeted them. He sat them down and made them tea. He was so frail that he was slopping the tea into the saucer as his hands shook. The London preacher sat there and told him of all these accounts from the previous three years. This little man sat with tears running down his cheeks. He told them his story.

“I was a rating on an Australian warship. I was living a reprobate life. In a crisis I really hit the wall. One of my colleagues, to whom I gave literal hell, was there to help me. He led me to Jesus and the change in my life was night to day in 24 hours. I was so grateful to God; I promised God that I would share Jesus in a simple witness with at least 10 people a day. As God gave me strength I did that. Sometimes I was ill and couldn’t do it, but I made up for the days I missed it at other times. I wasn’t paranoid about it. I have done this for over 40 years. In my retirement years, the best place was on St. George Street where I saw hundreds of people a day. I got lots of rejections, but a lot of people courteously took the tract. In 40 years of doing this, I have never heard of one single person coming to Jesus until today.”

You know, I would say that he has to be committed To show gratitude and love for Jesus to do that for 40 years and not hear of any results. That simple little non-charismatic Baptist man witnessed to perhaps 147,000 people. I think that God was showing that Baptist pastor from London was the tip of the tip of the tip of the iceberg. Goodness knows how many more had been arrested for Christ, doing huge jobs out in the mission fields.

Mr. Genor died two weeks later. Can you imagine the reward when he went home to be in Heaven? I doubt his face would ever have appeared on Charisma Magazine. I doubt there would ever have been a photograph and a write up in Billy Graham’s Decision magazine. No one except a little group of Baptists in Sydney knew about Mr. Genor, but I tell you his name was famous in Heaven. Heaven knew Mr. Genor and you can imagine the welcome and Red Carpet and the fanfare that he received when he went home to Glory.

“The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” (Matthew 9:37-38).

I know the way I relate to the church is a bit unconventional and some even call it dangerous. Believe me, I understand that concern because I used to think that way myself, and I even taught others to think that way as well.

If you are happy with the status quo of organized religion today, you may not like what you read here. My purpose is not to convince you to see this incredible church the same way I do, but to answer your questions as openly and honestly as I can. Even if we don’t end up agreeing, hopefully you will understand that our differences need not estrange us as fellow members of Christ’s body.

Where do you go to church?

I have never liked this question, even when I was able to answer it with a specific organization. I know what it means culturally, but it is based on a false premise-that church is something you can go to as in a specific event, location or organized group. I think Jesus looks at the church quite differently. He didn’t talk about it as a place to go to, but as a way of living in relationship to Him and to others in His family.

Asking me where I go to church is like asking me where I go to Jacobsen. How do I answer that? I am a Jacobsen, and where I go a Jacobsen is. ‘Church’ is that kind of word. It doesn’t identify a location or an institution. It describes a people and how they relate to each other. If we lose sight of that, our understanding of the church will be distorted, and we’ll miss out on much of its joy.

Are you just trying to avoid the question?

I know it may only sound like quibbling over words, but words are important. When we only ascribe the term ‘church’ to weekend gatherings or institutions that have organized themselves as ‘churches’, we miss out on what it means to live as Christ’s body. It will give us a false sense of security to think that by attending a meeting once a week we are participating in God’s church. Conversely, I hear people talk about ‘leaving the church’ when they stop attending a specific congregation.

But if the church is something we are, not some place we go, how can we leave it unless we abandon Christ himself? And if I think only of a specific congregation as my part of the church, haven’t I separated myself from a host of other brothers and sisters that do not attend the same one I do?

The idea that those who gather on Sunday mornings to watch a praise concert and listen to a teaching are part of the church, and those who do not are not, would be foreign to Jesus. The issue is not where we are at a given time during the weekend, but how we are living in him and with other believers all week long.

But don’t we need regular fellowship?

I wouldn’t say we need it. If we were in a place where we couldn’t find other believers, Jesus certainly would be able to take care of us. Thus, I’d phrase that a bit differently: Will people who are growing to know the Living God also desire real and meaningful connections with other believers? Absolutely! The call to the kingdom is not a call to isolation. Every person I’ve ever met who is thriving in the life of Jesus has a desire to share authentic fellowship with other believers. They realize that whatever they know of God’s life is just in part, and only the fullest revelation of Him is in the church.

But sometimes that kind of fellowship is not easy to find. Periodically on this journey we may go through times when we can’t seem to find any other believers who share our hunger. That’s especially true for those who find that conforming to the expectations of the religious institutions around them diminishes their relationship with Jesus. They may find themselves excluded by believers with whom they’ve shared close friendship. But no one going through that looks on that time as a treat. It is incredibly painful and they will look for other hungry believers to share the journey with.

My favorite expression of body life is where a local group of people chooses to walk together for a bit of the journey by cultivating close friendships and learning how to listen to God together.

Shouldn’t we be committed to a local fellowship?

That has been said so often today that most of us assume it is in the Bible somewhere. I haven’t found it yet. Many of us have been led to believe that we can’t possibly survive without the ‘covering of the body’ and will either fall into error or backslide into sin. But doesn’t that happen inside our local congregations as well?

I know many people who live outside those structures and find not only an ever-deepening relationship with God, but also connections with other believers that run far deeper than they found in the institution. I haven’t lost any of my passion for Jesus or my affection for his church. If anything those have grown by leaps and bounds in recent years.

Scripture does encourage us to be devoted to one another, not committed to an institution. Jesus indicated that whenever two or three people get together focused on him, they would experience the vitality of church life.

Is it helpful to regularly participate in a local expression of that reality? Of course. But we make a huge mistake when we assume that fellowship takes place just because we attend the same event together, even regularly, or because we belong to the same organization. Fellowship happens where people share the journey of knowing Jesus together. It consists of open, honest sharing, genuine concern about each other’s spiritual well being and encouragement for people to follow Jesus however he leads them.

But don’t our institutions keep us from error?

I’m sorry to burst your bubble here, but every major heresy that has inflicted God’s people for the last 2,000 years has come from organized groups with ‘leaders’ who thought they knew God’s mind better than anyone around them. Conversely, virtually every move of God among people hungering for him was rejected by the ‘church’ of that day, and the people that were part of that move were excluded, excommunicated or executed for following God.

If that is where you hope to find security, I’m afraid it is sorely misplaced. Jesus didn’t tell us that ‘going to church’ would keep us safe, but that trusting Him would. He gave us an anointing of the Spirit so that we would know the difference between truth and error. That anointing is cultivated as we learn His ways in His Word and grow closer to His heart. It will help you to recognize when expressions of church you share life with become destructive to his work in you.

So are traditional congregations wrong?

Absolutely not! I have found many of them with people who love God and are seeking to grow in his ways. I visit a couple of dozen different congregations a year that I find are far more centered on relationship than religion. In these congregations Jesus is at the center of their life together, those who act as leaders are true servants and not playing politics of leadership, and all are encouraged to minister to one another.

I pray that even more of them are renewed in a passion for Jesus, a genuine concern for each other and a willingness to serve the world with God’s love. But I think we’d have to admit that these are rare in our communities; many only last for a short span before they unwittingly look to institutional answers for the needs of the body instead of remaining dependent on Jesus. When that happens, do not feel condemned if God leads you not to go along with them.

So should I stop going to church, too?

I’m afraid that question also misses the point. You see I don’t believe you’re going to church any more than I am. We’re just part of it. Be your part, however Jesus calls you to and wherever He places you. Not all of us grow in the same environment.

If you gather with a group of believers at a specific time and place, and that participation helps you grow closer to Jesus and allows you to follow His work in you, by all means don’t think you have to leave. Keep in mind, however, that [your gathering] is not the church. It is just one of the many expressions of it in the place where you live.

Don’t be tricked into thinking that just because you attend its meetings you are experiencing real body life. That only comes as God connects you with a handful of brothers and sisters with whom you can build close friendships and share the real ups and downs of this journey. That can happen among traditional congregations, as it can also happen beyond them. In the last seven years I’ve met hundreds, if not thousands, of people who have grown disillusioned with traditional congregations and are thriving spiritually as they share God’s life with others, mostly in their homes.

Then meeting in homes is the answer?

Of course not. But let’s be clear: as fun as it is to enjoy large group worship and even be instructed by gifted teachers, the real joy of body life can’t be shared in huge groups. The church for its first 300 years found the home the perfect place to gather. They are much more suited to the dynamics of family, which is how Jesus described his body.

But meeting in homes is no cure-all. I’ve been to some very sick home meetings and met in facilities with groups who shared an authentic body life together. But the time I spend in regular body life I want to spend face to face with a group of people. I know it isn’t popular today, where people find it is far easier to sit through a finely-tuned (or not so finely-tuned) service and go home without ever having to open up our life or care about another person’s journey.

But ultimately what matters most to me is not where or how they meet, but whether or not people are focused on Jesus and really helping each other on the journey to becoming like him. Meetings are less the issue here than the quality of relationships. I am always looking for people like that wherever I am, and I always rejoice when I find it. In our new home in Oxnard, we’ve found a few folks and are hopeful to find even more.

Aren’t you just reacting out of hurt?

I suppose that is possible and time will tell, I guess, but I honestly don’t believe so. Anyone who is engaged in real body life will get hurt at times. But there are two kinds of hurt. There’s the kind of pain that points to a problem that can be fixed with the right care — such as a badly sprained ankle. Then there’s the kind of pain that can only be fixed by pulling away — as when you put your hand on a hot stove.

Perhaps all of us have experienced some measure of pain as we have tried to fit God’s life into institutions. For a long time most of us hung in there hoping if we tweaked a few things it would get better. Though we could be successful in limited ways during moments of renewal, we also discovered that eventually the conformity an institution demands and the freedom people need to grow in Christ are at odds with one another. It has happened with virtually every group formed throughout the history of Christianity.

Are you looking for the perfect church?

No, and I don’t anticipate finding one this side of eternity. Perfection is not my goal, but finding people with God’s priorities. It’s one thing for people to struggle toward an ideal they share together. It’s another to realize that our ideals have little in common.

I make no secret of the fact that I am deeply troubled by the state of organized Christianity. Most of what we call ‘church’ today is nothing more than well-planned performances with little actual connection between believers. Believers are encouraged toward a growing dependency on the system or its leadership rather than on Jesus himself. We spend more energy conforming behavior to what the institution needs rather than helping people be transformed at the foot of the cross!

I’m tired of trying to fellowship with people who only view church as a two-hour a week dumping ground for guilt while they live the rest of the week with the same priorities as the world. I’m tired of those who depend on their own works of righteousness but who have no compassion for the people of the world. I’m tired of insecure people using the Body of Christ as an extension of their own ego and who will manipulate it to satisfy their own needs. I’m tired of sermons filled more with the bondage of religion than the freedom of God’s love, and [I'm tired of congregations] where relationships take a back seat to the demands of an efficient institution.

But don’t our children need church activities?

I’d suggest that what they need most is to be integrated into God’s life through relational fellowship with other believers. 92% of children who grow up in Sunday schools with all the puppets and high-powered entertainment, leave ‘church’ when they leave their parents’ home. Instead of filling our children with ethics and rules we need to demonstrate how to live in God’s life together.

Even sociologists tell us that the #1 factor in determining whether a child will thrive in society is if they have deep, personal friendships with non-parent adults. No Sunday school can fill that role. I know of one community in Australia, which after 20 years of sharing God’s life together as families, could say that they had not lost one child to the faith as they grew into adulthood. I know I cut across the grain here, but it is far more important that our children experience real fellowship among believers than the bells and whistles of a slick children’s program.

What dynamics of body life do you look for?

I’m always looking for a people who are seeking to follow the Living Christ. He is at the center of their lives, their affections and their conversation. They look to be authentic and free with others, to express hurt when they hurt, to express doubts and questions as they experience them, and to follow his voice without others accusing them of being divisive or rebellious. I look for people who are not wasting their money on extravagant buildings or flashy programs; where people sitting next to each other are not strangers; and where they all participate as a priesthood to God instead of watching passively from a safe distance.

Aren’t you giving people an excuse to sit home and do nothing?

I hope not, though I know it is a danger. I realize some people who leave traditional congregations end up abusing that freedom to satisfy their own desires and thus miss out on church life altogether. Neither am I a fan of ‘church hoppers’, who whip around to one place after another looking for the latest fad or the best opportunity to fulfill their own selfish desires.

But most of the people I meet and talk with are not outside the system because they have lost their passion for Jesus or his people, but only because the traditional congregations near them couldn’t satisfy their hunger for relationship. They are seeking authentic expressions of body life, and they pay an incredible cost to seek it out. Believe me, we would all find it easier just to go with the flow, but once you’ve tasted of living fellowship between passionate believers, it is impossible to settle for anything less.

Isn’t this view of church divisive?

Not of itself. People make it divisive when they demand that people conform to their revelation of truth. Most of us on this journey are accused of being divisive because freedom can be threatening to those who find their security in a religious system. But most of us aren’t trying to recruit others to leave their congregations. We see the body of Christ as big enough to encompass God’s people however He calls them to gather.

One of the things often said about traditional church is that Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in American culture. We only meet with people who look like we do and like things the way we do. I’ve found now that I have far more opportunity to get with people from a broader cross-section of his body. I don’t demand others do it my way and I hope in time that those who see it differently will stop demanding we conform to theirs.

Where can I find that kind of fellowship?

There’s no easy answer here. It might be right in front of you among the fellowship you’re already in, or it might be down the street in your neighborhood or across a cubicle at work. You can also get involved in compassionate outreaches to the needy and broken in your locality as a way to live out his life in you and meet others with a similar hunger.

Don’t expect this kind of fellowship to fall easily into an organization. It is organic, and Jesus can lead you to it right where you are. Look for Him to put a dozen or so folks around your life with whom you can share the journey. They may not even all go to the same congregation you do. They might be neighbors or coworkers who are following after God. Wouldn’t that kind of inter-connection among God’s people yield some incredible fruit?

Don’t expect it to be easy or run smoothly. It will take some specific choices on our part to be obedient to Jesus. It may take some training to shake off old habits and be free to let him build his community around you, but it is all worth it. I know it bothers some people that I don’t take my regular place in a pew on Sunday morning, but I can tell you absolutely that my worst days outside organized religion are still better than my best days inside it.

To me the difference is like listening to someone talk about golf or actually taking a set of clubs out to a course and playing golf. Being his church is like that. In our day we don’t need more talk about the church, rather we need people who are simply ready to live in its reality.

People all over the world are freshly discovering how to do that again. You can be one of them as you let him place you in his body as he desires.

© Copyright 2002 by Lifestream Ministries. Used with Permission.

Wayne Jacobsen was a pastor for 20 years and currently acts as a Contributing Editor to Christianity Today’s Leadership Journal. He travels the world helping people discover the simplicity of cultivating a friendship with God and experiencing the joy of relational body life. He is the author of four books on spiritual intimacy: He Loves Me, In My Father’s Vineyard, Tales of the Vine, and The Naked Church. His newest title, The Lost Art of One Anothering, will be released in September 2003. Wayne is the founder of Lifestream Ministries. For more articles by Wayne, check out www.lifestream.org. He lives in Oxnard, California with Sara, his wife of twenty-seven years.

This letter was orginally published on my first blogsite, CJaK’s fOrEsT, on April 30, 2007. Apart from some minor updates, such as updating references to certain people, due to chronological changes (such as one person, who has since passed away, being referred to in the past tense), and the removal of some grammatical errors, missed ealier, it is presented here as it was presented then, avoiding the temptation to insert some of the information that has come across my path since.

Anyone who knows me personally would realise the significance of the statement, in the disclaimer, “Interestingly, my first observations regarding Seventh Day Adventist doctrine came to my attention immediately prior to what has become one of the most arduous times in the life of my family. The letter you are about to read was written mostly under the anguish of the strains associated with having your family hurled into such disarray. As a result, the suffering spoken of, has been tasted, at least in finite form.” It was after a recent conversation with a brother, which drifted into eschatology, and how it relates to Theocratic themes, which has led me to releasing this here.

You may find this disturbing, you may find it irrelevant, and either reaction would be quite understandable. The themes addressed here are of eternal significance, and as a result can be a little hard to grasp, if you have not been exposed to theme before.

As we enter into a time that many are speculating to be some of the most perilous, our planet as ever faced, perhaps it would be wise of us to consider the time that, when described by Christ, it was said, “..except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened” (Matthew 24:22).

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.
Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21

Disclaimer

I have been holding onto this for a few months now, waiting for the right time to put it forward. What I present here began as a response to an accusation of anti-Semitism, directed against myself. The person that I wrote it to has not only consented to my posting this, but also actually suggested that I do so (my only censorship of the original letter has been for the purpose of maintaining his anonymity). The data presented was literally stumbled across, through a series of coincidences. Much of it can be confirmed at Wikipedia or the like, and I welcome any attempts to verify the data contained, within.

This is in no way an attempt at prognosticating the future, but merely some observations that I have made, as to Israel and the church, in light of prophetic Scripture. I welcome your scrutiny, however I only ask that you consider the observations in light of the evidence. It is very rough around the edges. The reason being that it was written over a period of four or so months, with many interruptions.

Interestingly, my first observations regarding Seventh Day Adventist doctrine came to my attention immediately prior to what has become one of the most arduous times in the life of my family. The letter you are about to read was written mostly under the anguish of the strains associated with having your family hurled into such disarray. As a result, the suffering spoken of, has been tasted, at least in finite form.

The catalyst for posting this at this time has been a wave of discussion about the Book of Revelation, on a forum that I frequent. As much as this is not an attempt at being “prophetic”, the fact that it deals with prophetic themes causes me to ponder whether or not to consider this to be a “prophetic paper” (between that and the means in which the material came, as it was required, for entry into the letter). Anyway, I’ll leave you to decide.

Enjoy…

Friend,

I was going to send you a copy of Art Katz’ ‘Holocaust Book’, but I considered your point that it was a big ask to expect you to read a whole book, when you had only asked of me was to watch a short video. I’ve decided instead to respond in my own words. Allow me to establish my view point based on Scripture, so that you can work out whether or not you want to read the book.

Before I do, firstly I wish to point out a flaw in your observations of Israel. You stated that your dealings with Israel have been pleasant, and I can understand why. You see, you came to them out of concern for their soul, and helped them to see the fact that God hadn’t rejected them as a people (something that Paul firmly established in the Book of Romans). It isn’t loving the one that comes in peace that is impressive, that is just normal human nature.

Cultural Distinctions

When I mentioned Israel’s arrogance, I was referring to a global perception based on cultural behavioural stereotypes. Similar to how English people tend to appear to be serious, private and prudish, Australians tend to be easy going and lazy, Greeks passionate and quick tempered, and Vietnamese angry and impatient. The odd thing is that people from each of these cultures can display these traits amongst their own people, and still convey a message of love and appreciation to each other, while outsiders can feel uncomfortable and even rejected around them (I sometimes consider that these behavioural variations could be symptomatic of the confounding of speech after Babel, as they seem to convey things that others misunderstand, and can be far more divisive than mere words).

Granted these cultural distinctions are mere tendencies, and there are exceptions to the rule, but unless deliberate attempts are made to change them, they tend to be the norm. And note that these traits have good sides and bad, and cultural acceptance requires that the ‘bad’ be taken with the good, in spite of the irritation that can result from being around these differences.

In light of this, what is so bad about the Jews being seen as arrogant? It would seem that almost every Jew excels in their chosen field. They seem to ooze confidence and superior intellect. They have been responsible for discovering the Theory of Relativity and Nuclear Fission (Incidentally, Oppenheimer lamented over the “A bomb’s” destructive purpose, and expressed this by quoting a passage out of the Baghata Vita during the Trinity Test. The passage he quoted referred to the personification of death being ushered into the world). They are the ‘Steven Spielberg’s and the ‘Aaron Spelling’s.

Consider even the stand out Christian speakers of today, who have brought to our attention long neglected truth’s. Names like Art Katz, James Jacob Prasch and of course, one who is always being accused of arrogance by his opponents, Ray Comfort, are definitely amongst those who come to mind, all of whom are Jews. As a side, I have heard both Katz and Prasch refer to themselves as “dumb jerks”, acknowledging an arrogant tendency that they are constantly tempted to yield to, and acknowledging it as a cultural inheritance).

Jewish Cause For Offence

Granted, you can see this arrogance as “national pride”, which to some degree, is an admirable quality, but surely you can see how their heathen enemies can be chafed by this, even if it is at times out of pure jealousy? And surely you could appreciate the plausibility of this being exasperated by means of “God’s chosen people” responding to this jealousy with a cynical arrogance? To be honest, that is what I heard in that “Open letter to the world” video. If was like, “Okay, say what ever you want about what we have done, but you started it.” Doesn’t that seem tragically immature to you? If you don’t think so, then how would you feel if the Arabs did likewise in the same circumstance? Essentially they could say that Israel was pre-emptive, by invading the Canaanite lands and having the audacity to blame their “genocidal conquest” [sic] on God (more on this later) (see the Book of Joshua).

God in Scripture clearly pointed out what would cause persecution to break out against them. Deuteronomy is where it was plainly laid out before Israel, as they were about to enter the promised land (Deuteronomy 27-30), and in Joshua Israel went on to “ratify to proposal” (Joshua 24:19-25) that God put forth, thereby consenting to the conditions and means of their chastening.

Mandate To Flee From ldolatry

Judges cc1-2 summarises the situation, and the beginning of the chastening. Essentially, God mandated that the entire peoples of the promised land, who had prospered from placating idols, were to be wiped out from the face of the earth. This mandate was required lest Israel would be tempted to follow their example. Harsh penalties were given for failure in this area. A warning was given that only the virgin girls would be spared for marriage. Perhaps the reasoning for this was that because sexuality was such a significant part of their worship, and logic would say that, as a race of people, they would be experts in giving maximum pleasure, and therefore could cause the Israelites to direct their gratitude to the gods that taught their spouses such skills.

When Israel ignored this directive against intermarriage, which occurred in the third generation after entry into the promised land, God finally made good on His threat. The summary of the Book of Judges is basically a cyclic tale of Israel’s idolatry, God causing a nation to rise up against them, Israel crying out to God for mercy, God sending a Judge to liberate them, peace in the land, Israel’s return to idolatry, etc… The historical tale has been the same, with an interesting twist that occurred in the middle of the 19th century. But before this, allow me a little side regarding idolatry…

True Nature Of Idolatry – Self Worship

As you may know, the main two gods that were worshipped by the inhabitants of Canaan, were Ashteroth (fertility goddess, worshipped sexually in sacred groves around ‘Ashteroth Poles’) and Baal (ruling spirit over a territory who needed to be placated in order to receive his favour, sacrificed to on altars erected in ‘High places’). The other lesser mentioned god was Moloch (promised power and prestige to those who would ‘pass their son through the fire’, ie. throw him into a white hot furnace as a sacrifice). These gods have been manifest through various other names through history. Ashteroth, for example, as Diana of Ephesus, Aphrodite of the Grecians, and Venus of the Romans. Paris Reidhead, in his sermon “The Dangers of Third Generation Religion”, has expounded on this, by comparing these gods with the ‘lust of the eyes’, ‘lust of the flesh’ and the ‘pride of life’ (1 John 2:15-16). It goes like this:

• Ashteroth – temptation to sexually sin (lust of the flesh)
• Baal – temptation to be “morally inventive” in order to achieve one’s goals (lust of the eyes)
• Moloch – temptation to claim “ascendancy over one’s fellow’s” (pride of life)

Note that John cites these three things by referring to them as “all that is in the world”. It’s like this, God has set the standard of the Ten Commandments, and Satan agrees with the standard but offer’s three exceptions to the rule. My two children (currently oldest is refer to these as the Devil’s three tricks, to get us to break God’s Commandments. This principle that John referred to as “all that is in the world” operates like an “exception to the rule”. It is as if they to us, “The Commandments are good, but this is more important.” Everything in the world screams at us that this is the case, even today. It was these three things that tempted Eve with the “forbidden fruit”:

“…when the woman saw that the tree was good for food (lust of flesh), and that it was pleasant to the eyes (lust of the eyes), and a tree to be desired to make one wise (pride of life), she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat…”
Genesis 3:6

… in spite of the fact that God commanded them not to eat of “that tree”.

Paul made mention of the fact that an idol has no power in itself, but that its power is in our devotion to it (1 Corinthians 8). The real sin of the idolater is that, in defining his own god, he has become creator of his own god, and therefore a god in himself. So the act of worshipping an idol is ultimately ‘self-adulation’ because in worshiping a god of your own imagination, you in fact worship yourself.

Appeasing The Conscience

Considering that “temptation is the proposition presented to the intellect to fulfill a God given good appetite in a forbidden way” (Reidhead), then the purpose of the idol is to appease the conscience, giving license so that we can act upon the temptation without disturbing it. For example, in order to maintain your farm, you’ll need family members to help with the work. Ashteroth will resist your fertility unless you appease her by participate in sexual acts with her priests/priestesses. Therefore not only is promiscuity not actually wrong, but it is a necessary ‘evil’ in order to survive. The farm needs rain, but rain is withheld by Baal until a sacrifice is offered to him, because he controls the rain (call it a ‘rain tax’). You see, because man could not shake the fact that he would, one day have to answer to God, he invented ‘gods’ who would require of us ‘sinful behaviour’. This way, he can blame the idol for making him do it (ie, the “devil made me do it”). This is why John and James both told us that “friendship with the world is enmity with God”.

One can note, at this point, the stark difference between the Kingdom of God, and the world. The world demands activity in order for it to yield what is required (Genesis 3:17-20), where God is one who sends “rain on the just and the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). In other words, the world withholds from all but those that comply with its terms, while God freely gives regardless (1 Corinthians 2:12).

The Second Advent Awakening

This went along fine up until the nineteenth century. A man named William Miller, a farmer in the US, came to faith in Christ after studying the Bible. He became particularly interested in eschatology and, by applying the ‘year/day theory’ to Daniel’s prophecy, calculated the timing of Christ’s return to be October 22, 1844. History will remember the 23rd of October as the ‘Great Day of Disappointment’, because Jesus obviously didn’t return.

Out of what was refereed to as the “Second Advent Awakening” came various sects that tried to vindicate Miller for his mistakes, and amongst these are the Seventh Day Adventists, and the Watchtower Society (ie, Jehovah’s Witnesses). Regardless of these people’s attempts at redefining Miller’s conclusions, before he died in 1879, Miller himself declared, “we expected the personal coming of Christ at that time; and now to contend that we were not mistaken is dishonest. We should never be ashamed frankly to confess our errors. I have no confidence in any of the theories that grew out of the movement.” Even critics of the Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah’s Witnesses concede that, “Miller was a sincere, godly Christian to the end of his life.”

Why do I mention this? It is because something did happen in October of 1844 that is more consistent with the actual prophecy that Daniel gave.

13 Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?
14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.
15 And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, and sought for the meaning, then, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man.
16 And I heard a man’s voice between the banks of Ulai, which called, and said, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.
17 So he came near where I stood: and when he came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but he said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision.
18 Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground: but he touched me, and set me upright.
19 And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be.
Daniel 8:13-19

Now, Miller concluded that the 2300 years before the “sanctuary (would) be cleansed” (applying the year/day theory), would begin when the Temple at Jerusalem was decreed to be rebuilt by Artaxerxes (Ezra 6:14). Since historians placed this event in 457BC, that would mean its completion would be 1844AD (bearing in mind that there was no such year as 0AD). Considering that the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) was the event in the Hebraic calendar where the cleansing of the temple occurred, and that Artaxerxes’ decree was in Autumn, Miller concluded that the event that he was expecting would occur on that day. In 1844, the tenth day of the seventh month in the Jewish calendar, fell on October 22nd.

Cleansing Of The Sanctuary, Not Christ’s Return

Miller concluded that this event would be Christ’s return, because it was common for the earth to be referred to as God’s sanctuary, and since the earth wouldn’t be truly cleansed until Christ returned. This interpretation would be fine if the Bible had no other references to the cleansing of God’s sanctuary, but there are others. Ezekial saw a vision of six men with destroying weapons in their hands, who were sent into the midst of Israel to smite all but “the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst (of Israel)”. One of the six men, also had an inkhorn, in order to mark the foreheads of these “sighers” and “criers”, in order to identify them (Ezekiel 9). Logic would suggest that seeing as they were commanded to “begin in (God’s) sanctuary” and go out from there, then prophetically speaking, the sanctuary could not be the whole earth. It must be something more specific.

Before I mention a possible alternative event that could be considered to be a catalyst to produce a “cleansing of the sanctuary”, let me return your attention to the main points of this article.

• Israel chose to intermarry two generations after entering the promised land.
• The three main gods that were worshipped, co-relate to how the Apostle John described “all that is in the world”, in his first epistle.
• Idolatry’s ultimate purpose is to give justification to the conscience, so that we can act upon our temptation without our conscience being disturbed.

Forsaking the Lord

In Judges, God told the Israelites that he would leave the inhabitants of Canaan so that “through them (He) may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it , or not.” (Judges 2:22) After their first captivity, they returned to eventually worship their “means of worship”, over the One who was meant to be the “object of their worship” (Matt 23:23). This ultimately led to God allowing the destruction of His Temple at the hands of Rome, in 70AD.

No temple meant no place for sacrifice, so a rabbi named Yochan Ben Zakkai redefined Judaism’s means of forgiveness in terms of repentance (Teshuvah), prayer (Tefillah) and good deeds (Tzadakah). I have heard a messianic Jew say that if you went outside a synagogue after they finished their Yom Kippur ceremonies, and asked them if they were forgiven and they would reply, “I don’t know, but I’ve done all that I can do.” This is what most of Judaism has consisted of up until today.

You may know that Israel had no nation of their own, until 1946, but did you realise that Israel had a tendency to view Germany as their “messianic alternative” (this will be explained later) to having their own land? This is why there was such a concentration of Jews in Germany prior to World War 2. Consider that 80% of the world’s Jewish population is of Ashkenazi origin, and recognise the Yiddish language, which is of Germanic origin, as their “mother tongue” (Hebrew being the “father tongue”) and you can see some clues to substantiate this fact (Art Katz spoke much on this, from extensive research, so again I recommend you read his book “The Holocaust: Where Was God”).

Germany offered much to be desired, considering its long reputation of being the epicenter of excellence. It had spawned Luther, Beethoven, Handel, Freud, Boehme and Einstein. It’s military might was second to none, and their innovativeness was, and still is, likewise unparalleled. What better place for such a nation as Israel to dwell. There was one other significant mind that Germany had spawned.

Self-Worship Unveiled

On October 15th 1844, a child was born to a Lutheran pastor and his wife, in the small village of Röcken. After the death of his father at the age of five, younger brother at six and his grandmother at twelve, his mother raised him on her own with his sister, Elizabeth who was two years younger. The young man attended a boys school and later a private school, and in 1864 went on to study theology and philology at university. After one semester, the young man stopped his theological studies and left his faith behind. Over time he wrote many works, primarily of a philosophical nature. The man’s name was Friedrich Nietzsche.

Nietzsche was one of the first to establish the principles of Atheism in a way that made sense. He proposed the importance of humanity establishing its own morality, without the need for an “imaginary judge” that we need to face one day. He presented a theory that portrayed the type of relationship between God and man, as a “master/slave” relationship, and then exhorted man to become their own God (Übermensch, lit. “over man” or “god man”). This in effect gave humanity the first opportunity to openly yield to temptation without the need to be plagued by their conscience, because they had now been given the right to establish their own moral code, based on their own values. Nietzsche is best know for penning the words “God is dead” in his book titled “The Gay Science”.

Idolatry of Modern Israel

The veil of idolatry had finally been lifted, and men were now free to be their own God, unashamedly. In other words, the new “idol” was to become “raw selfish humanism”. If you’ve heard Paris Reidhead’s “Ten Shekels and a Shirt”, you’d be keenly aware of humanism’s affect on Christianity, but Judaism was also deeply affected. Room was made for the concept of “Meshiach” to be about a new social order, because sacrifices had been replaced with good works, a legalistic arrogance began to fester once again. “Salvation by works” silently carries with it the notion man is “good enough in himself”, thereby not requiring God’s intervention in order to “make him good”. Monotheism and the Scriptures began to be thought of as a Jewish invention (after all their people gave the world Moses, David, and the prophets), and therefore, in their minds, these things confirmed their “greatness”.

The Jewish culture was kept, while the God that was such an integral part of their culture, was all but ignored. The Jews had, for the most part “outgrown God”. Theism was replaced by Deism, and ultimately God was tossed aside. A messianic Jewish friend of mine, not long after coming to faith in Christ, stated that he believed that “while many (Jews) would say that they believe in God, well over 50% would live and believe essentially the same things as an atheist… Well over 50%.”

You see, in the time of the Judges, it wasn’t that the Israelites stopped worshipping Yahweh, so much as that they supplemented their worship with sacrifices to gods that would ‘get the job done’, when God wasn’t answering their prayers quick enough. They honoured Yahweh with their lips, but feared and worshipped the gods of the land.

One can see this in the closing stories in the Book of Judges, where we see, for example, Micah building his own temple, filling it with idols, and then claiming that “the Lord (Yahweh) will do him right”, because he acquired a Levite to serve him in his idolatry (Judges 17). God referred to this, in His Word, as “forsaking the Lord”. So, here we are. Israel had chosen to go “a whoring after” their own “messianic alternative”, which allows them the luxury of a self perception of greatness, in place of their Meshiach who came in brokeness, shame and humility, calling them follow in his footsteps. They chose a self vindictive stance against their oppressors, rather than recognising them as God’s promised vehicle of chastening for forsaking the Lord, to pursue their “gods”.

The Sanctification of the Prophet of Atheism and Anti-Semitism

Now, considering that seven days is allotted time that is waited before a Jewish male is circumcised, and that Nietzsche was born seven days before October 22nd 1844, could it be possible that the birth of this man, who lifted the veil on idol worship, like no other, could have been the event that Daniel was pointing us to? Note that Miller would have had no reason to know about this fulfillment, because Nietzsche was relatively unknown until the twentieth century.

To add another twist to Nietzsche’s role in the “cleansing of the sanctuary”, his sister, Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche married a known anti-Semite. Nietzsche wrote his sister a letter, which strongly objected to her choice of suitor, on the grounds of the Förster’s anti-Semitism. This wouldn’t mean much, except that on January 3rd 1889, Nietzsche suffered a severe mental collapse, which led to Elisabeth becoming executor of Nietzsche’s literary estate. After Nietzsche’s death in August 25 1900, Elizabeth published the book entitled “The Will to Power”, by compiling Nietzsche’s unpublished notebooks into one anthology.

Although the name of the book wasn’t mentioned, in the sermon “Ten Shekels and a Shirt”, Paris Reidhead referred to “The Will to Power” as the work which influenced Hitler to believe that the “chief end of all being” is to “gain ascendancy over one’s fellows”. Historians have used this book as the cornerstone of charging Nietzsche with accusations of fascism and anti-Semitism. In light of the above mentioned letter that he had sent to his sister, other historians believe that Elisabeth had selectively included material and gave the excerpts from Frederich’s notebook an order different to that of his own. This led to the current opinion that her manuscript as a revisionist corruption bringing her brother’s text in line with her own anti-Semitic beliefs, which he had vehemently opposed.

It would seem that, like most true atheists that I have had dealings with, of late, Nietzsche was of exceptional moral character in regard to pragmatism. His life apparently had, as a practical outworking, a consideration of others that would shame all but the most pious Christian, in spite of penning the slogan “God is dead” and ranking one’s own life as its sole consideration when evaluating how one should act. Racism would have been intolerable because it is not self serving, outside of a biased superstition based on fear and/or self delusion. Therefore, Hitler’s notions of the Jews being the enemy of mankind would have been considered to be based on paranoid delusions, as there would have been no individual element to them.

Jewish Self-Sufficiency

On the heels of the Nazi holocaust, Israel adopted the slogan of “Never again!!” and resolved to resist aggression against itself at all costs. The “Open Letter To The World” video that you showed me perfectly illustrates this. Now, before you condone or excuse away this attitude as justified, consider that Yahweh has been portrayed as a “tribal war god”, in books like “The DaVinci Code”, who issued orders to commit genocide and the hands of his people, Israel. In a world that is becoming increasingly atheistic, and therefore believes that gods are figments of the imagination, used by superstitious people to justify cruel behaviour, one would logically hold the nation of Israel accountable for the ruthless barbarity depicted in the Book of Joshua, for example. The issue at hand here is not one of excusing wrong, due to exceptional circumstances, but acknowledging the prophetic “cause and effect” of God’s decrees and interpreting history in light of this, rather than based on mere human sympathy.

Compare Israel’s arrogant response to their unjust persecution, to the description of the returning remnant, having endured seeing two out of every three of their people perish (the tragedy of the Nazi holocaust only saw one third die):

23 Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked.
24 The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.
31:1 At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
2 Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
4 Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
5 Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria: the planters shall plant, and shall eat them as common things.
6 For there shall be a day, that the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the LORD our God.
7 For thus saith the LORD ; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.
8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither.
9 They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
Jeremiah 30:23-31:9

The remnant shall return with “weeping” and be led by “supplications”, while the holocaust survivors returned with “defiance”, led by “resolve”. The remnant shall cause the world to beat their swords into plowshares and live in peace, while the survivors have fortified themselves and turned their back on the world with such indignation that even the peaceful are increasingly beating their “plowshares into swords”.

Modern day Zionist Israel is creating a rod for its own back. It has allowed itself to return to a land, thereby surrounding itself with avowed mortal enemies. All prophetic indications seem to suggest that the prophesied “Time of Jacob’s Trouble” will commence in Jerusalem. If this is the case, then herding all the Jews into their land, is equivalent to the Nazis sending the Jews to the concentration camps. It is only a matter of time before the United Nations will recognise Palestine to be its own nation, and with such autonomy, the right to legally build its own army. This in turn will enable the Islamic League of Nations to import arms and support, in its resistance against Palestine’s current “tyrant” [sic].

Mindsets Can Change Quickly

I say this not to endorse a Jihad against Israel, but to map out a plausible scenario. Consider world opinion as people’s oil dependence, for example, leads them to conclude that Israel is the cause of all their woes. After all, if they weren’t there, the Muslim world wouldn’t have an enemy. Consider also how commentators and experts in warfare refer to terrorism as the only weapon available to the oppressed. If only Israel would “give Palestine its land back”, then there would be no reason for them to set off suicide bombs, and therefore no need for it to spill out into the western world.

With all the great push of Islam trying present itself as a “religion of peace, with some rogue fanatical elements”, this kind of philosophy could be prevalent within a decade. After all, Hitler came to power in January 1933 and World War 2 finished when he committed suicide April 30 1945. Within his twelve year reign, he had convinced German Christendom to reject the Old Testament and with it all Jewish references in Christianity, and to introduce “Hitler Youth” programs into their churches. He also convinced the nation that the Germanic people were the master race and that their genetic integrity had to be preserved, to the extreme of sterilising and euthanasing the disabled.

Change can come that quickly. I have spoken to some elderly Germans who, although they didn’t agree with Hitler’s “Final Solution”, they figured that there must have be a point to the claim that the Jews were the source of all Germany’s woes. On hindsight, however they could see how wrong they were.

Light In The Darkness

During this time there were some that resisted the Nazi’s influence on the German church. These were known as the Confessional Church. Names like Deitrich Bonhoeffer and Karl Barth were amongst those who were pivotal in this modern reformation. The following are exerts out of the first article of their united theological declaration (for the full document, Google “Theological Declaration of Barmen”):

“The Confessional Synod of the German Evangelical Church met in Barmen, … from all the German Confessional Churches met with one accord …. In fidelity to their Confession of Faith, members … sought a common message for the need and temptation of the Church in our day… (T)hey are convinced that they have been given a common word to utter. It was not their intention to found a new Church or to form a union…, rather, to withstand in faith and unanimity the destruction of the Confession of Faith, and thus of the Evangelical Church in Germany. In opposition to attempts to establish the unity of the German Evangelical Church by means of false doctrine, by the use of force and insincere practices, the Confessional Synod insists that the unity of the Evangelical Churches in Germany can come only from the Word of God in faith through the Holy Spirit. Thus alone is the Church renewed…
We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church were permitted to abandon the form of its message and order to its own pleasure or to changes in prevailing ideological and political convictions…
We reject the false doctrine, as though the State, over and beyond its special commission, should and could become the single and totalitarian order of human life, thus fulfilling the Church’s vocation as well…
We reject the false doctrine, as though the Church… should and could appropriate the characteristics,… becoming an organ of the State.”

History has proven the validity of their objections. Bonhoeffer for one was highly vocal with his protests, from his parish in London. During the peak of the Nazi regime, he returned, claiming that he would have no right to be a part in the rebuilding of post-Nazi Germany, if he didn’t share in their suffering alongside them. He was executed three weeks before Hitler’s suicide, and the prison camp that he was in was liberated just days after his death.

This Confessional Church was pivotal amongst those who aided the Jewish people, during the Holocaust. They understood clearly that when Jesus spoke of the “least of his brethren” that first and foremost, his brethren were the descendants of Israel. Many who aided the Jews ended up in concentration camps alongside those that they tried to protect. There are those amongst eschatological commentators who cite this historical fact when claiming that the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble” of the Old Testament and the “Great Tribulation” of the New Testament are interlinked, describing Jewish and Christian perspectives of the same ultimate event. Art Katz has often described dreams that some have had where men with balaclavas drag people out of their houses because they are amongst those who love the Jewish people. Consider a scenario where Israelites will suffer extreme persecution, based purely on their ethnicity. How much more will the suffering who associate themselves with such a people, by choice?

True Love

Now, also consider this scenario in light of my earlier comments regarding the arrogance of Israel. Consider also how God’s love is commended to us in the way that Christ died for us, not only while, but even before we had yet begun sinning, as His enemies (Romans 5:8-10; Matthew 5:43-45). As the old saying goes, “You can choose your friends but you can’t choose your relatives.” We are adopted into God’s family. In a sense, God chose us, but at the same time, our response is to choose God. Paul compared Israel to a cultivated olive tree, and warned that we Gentles, were grafted in from a wild olive tree, and therefore it would be easier for us to be removed so that cultivated branches could be grafted back in, than the other way around (Romans 11:13-25).

Similar comparisons are made to regarding our betrothal to God, replacing Israel who had given herself to harlotry. The fact is, to give ourselves to such a husband, would require that we love all that He loves, as He loves them. To truly love someone, one must be willing to accept them warts and all, otherwise we set ourselves up to be disillusioned. Having observed many marriages, mine own included, I have noticed that only after the “honeymoon period” is over, does the marriage truly begin. Often jokes are made about how everything changes after marriage. Scott Peck, in his book “The Road Less Traveled”, wrote, “The myth of romantic love is a dreadful lie. Perhaps it is a necessary lie that it ensures the survival of the species by its encouragement and seeming validation of the falling-in-love experience that traps us into marriage.” Basically it goes like this:

• Boy meets girl.
• Boy thinks girl is pretty.
• Boy puts his “best act on” to impress her.
• Boy marries girl.
• Boy now relaxes and shows his true colours.

If they have reached this point, and you can be assured that the girl has been doing the same thing, there is a disillusionment that occurs, at which point “true” love can begin. Bonhoeffer wrote of this “crisis of disillusionment” in his epic work on Christian community, “Life Together”. Until this point is reached, it cannot be known whether or not a relationship can withstand a significant offence occurring.

Anti-Semitism

In recent years, the church has become enamored with the Jewish people, particularly the prophetic significance of the establishment of the Zionist state of Israel. Some eschatological commentators claim that Christ will return within a generation of Israel’s return to their promised land. Great efforts have been made to assist Israelites in such a relocation. Amongst Messianic commentators are some who claim that the common opinion amongst Jews is that Christian interest in their people is purely utilitarian, because Israel’s return will hasten the second coming of “their Jesus”.

Sadly I feel that there is some truth to this claim. Until the church can see beyond the romantic image of Israel as God’s “holy people” a realise that there are some ugly spots that need to be acknowledged and embraced, without minimising this “ugliness”. Art Katz has referred to a latent antisemitism that exists within every Gentile. Perhaps this can be traced back to Noah’s prophetic decree toward his three sons:

25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan (son of Ham); a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
Genesis 9:25-27

Here we have three sons, who would grow into races. In fact, every human being or the planet can trace their lineage back to one or more of these brethren. One would be cursed, one would be blessed, and one would be great. Japheth (father of the Western nations) would be enlarged, and yet would require Shem (father of the Eastern nations) to provide his dwelling. Ham’s descendants (the African peoples) had a curse placed on them that resulted in their servitude of their brothers, and yet because of Shem’s blessing, this service would be received by God as if it was to Him. Canaan’s curse was to be the expression of blessing to Shem and his “house guest”. A similar curse could be seen upon the Levites, where they would receive no inheritance in the land itself, but in place of this, the Lord Himself would be their inheritance (Genesis 49:5-7). Often what would initially appear to be a curse in the eyes of man, is in reality the ultimate blessing in the eyes of God.

Tents of Shem

Looking at recent political scenarios, and we have a world that is being dominated by Western nations (Japheth), with these nations being dependant on oil and manufacturing from Eastern nations (Shem), with African nations (Ham) being relegated to the background, all but ignored as they wipe themselves out by civil war. Looking at this ideologically we have Western nations (Japheth) dominated by a Atheistic mindset which is Capitalistic in nature, having to placate to the Islamic Arabs and Communistic Chinese (Ham) in order to keep their economy and power afloat. Note that Africa (Ham) has been becoming more and more Muslim and Communist as time goes on.

Both Islam and Communism are, in their purist expressions, Semite creations. The Quran being written by the Arabic Mohammed, and the Communist Manifesto by the Hebrew Karl Marx. These two ideologies could be considered to be like a great “tent” that has been spread over the world that is becoming increasingly inescapable and, despite all the military might of the Western World, they are more and more “dwelling in the tents of Shem”.

Here we have the Monotheism of the Muslim, and the Atheism of the Communist, both of which are a misrepresentation of reality in relation to the truth of God. Monotheism limits God to one nonrelational entity, which is not participant with humanity and therefore cannot save us, while retaining His integrity at the same time. Atheism, on the other hand, denies not only God’s very existence, but the need for God’s existence, as discussed earlier. Both of these deny God’s right to rule, in a practical sense. Islam gets around this by painting God out to be a controlling dictator who demands obedience or “appeasement via ritual” if He is not obeyed. Communism, on the other hand, goes down the road of deifying humanity as an entity, and requiring blind devotion to the human race, over the individual. We can see these philosophies prevailing more and more within society. God is seen as the distant “man upstairs”, who is ignored while things are going well and blamed when things go wrong. As we have seen earlier, all idolatry, which is a false representation of God are based on self-deification, and therefore Atheism is, in essence, idolatry in its undiluted form.

False Shaming the False

The other thing about these philosophies is that they bring shame to both Jews and Christians. Jews claim to be monotheistic and yet act atheistic, because they deny God’s right to rule in their day to day lives. Muslims on the other hand are strict adherents and guardians of “true monotheism”. Christians are supposed to be defined by their love for one another, but for the most part, there is nothing but sectarianism and control of congregations by ministers who justify their behaviour by citing the amount of benevolent deeds that they perform. Communists on the other hand, function as ants in a hill, refusing to consider themselves higher than another, and pledging undying and unquestioning loyalty to their superiors. Ironically, it is the Bible that exhorts “the sluggard” to “look to the ant”, and exhorts the rebellious to “obey them that have the rule over (them), and submit (themselves)”.

Paris Reidhead had spoken of going to the Communist headquarters in Minnesota, as a young Bible College student, to ask about “communist teaching methods in America”. The man he spoke to commented on how their greatest source of inspiration was the Bible. All they had to do was ignore the references to God. The rationale was that if Jesus’ disciples were able to transform their world within a generation or two, what better historical source book could there be for a budding young revolutionary?

Instruments of Judgement

Could it be that God has allowed these two ideologies to arise in order to become instruments of judgement to both Israel and the church, due to their rejection of God’s right to rule? Images of 9/11 provoke imaginings of religious zealots who were so incensed over the decadence and immorality of western nations and prepared to do something about it. While their methods appear to work against God’s, one can see that this as in keeping with historical examples of God’s judgement, as given in Scripture. Take the repentance of the Assyrians after hearing Jonah’s preaching in Ninevah. This led to the sparing of that cruel nation who would later invade and conquer Israel as judgement for their consistent idolatry. This could also be taken into consideration when viewing Nazi Germany in light my earlier comments regarding Nietzsche’s influence on atheism and antisemitism.

13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
Isaiah 29:13

One eschatological commentator has made the observation that 9/11 was an attack on the economic and military centers of a purported Christian nation, that places the words “In God We Trust” on their currency, and has scantily clad rock and movie stars starting their acceptance speeches with the words “I’d like to thank God”, while they daily display an ignorance and avoidance of God, at best, and a betrayal and dishonouring of Him at worst. Often their songs and movies are full of blasphemous statements and glorification of adultery, fornication, murder and deception. Is it little wonder that one who is zealous for the reputation of God, albeit misguided, would feel the need to act, when they see God being associated with such immorality? Historically, both Islam and Communism have served horrific persecution to both Jew and Christian alike. While I’ll leave further mention of Communist influence for another time, due to current attention toward Islam and ignorance toward Marxism.

Loving God’s ‘Chosen People’ In Their Time of Distress

If we consider all that I have presented here, we can see a melting pot, with great potential to produce the Time of Jacob’s Trouble as described in Scripture. The question that we as Christians need to ask is, “What has this to do with us?” I have touched upon the answer to this question earlier, and it is found in these verses:

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
…
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Matthew 25:37-40, 45-46

Whilst I realise that this has been often used to encourage general benevolence, and this is a good usage, could it be that Jesus is also stating that a significant part of being righteous, is to be practically loving toward his “brethren”, the Jews? And not just loving them while in good times, but through the distress of hunger, thirst, isolation, nakedness, poverty, illness, and imprisonment. In other words, this love will be required at the times when they will be hardest to love, when the most extreme of the above mentioned negative characteristics will be revealed.

Sharing In Israel’s Suffering

The consequences of such a choice to love these persecuted ones could be catastrophic. Leonard Ravenhill was quoted to say, “The prophet is a tragic figure. He suffers for the people, with the people and by the people.” Imagine the frustration that Christians will face, as they are trying to protect these Jews, who have rejected their Messiah and are distrustful of anything to do with Jesus (After all, Germany was a “Christian nation”, and the Muslims have repackaged Jesus as a prophet who came as a sign against them). The love that will be required will attract contempt from the Jewish people, misunderstanding from other professing believers, and victimisation from Israel’s persecutors.

Earlier I had mentioned stories told of people who had nightmares of being dragged out of their homes for associating themselves with the Jewish people. This may sound farfetched, but don’t forget that it only took Germany’s Nazi party twelve years for it to rise and fall. As I mentioned earlier, in referring to the German Confessional Church, this Time of Jacob’s Trouble could be the catalyst for the great tribulation that is mentioned in the Book of Revelation.

Now, realise that I am not attempting to be pontifical in my statements here, and I am open to the possibility that I may be wrong about all this, but either way, we need to be mindful of such things. The data that I have presented is factual, and can be easily verified on Wikipedia or like, whether my interpretation of the facts are correct or not. Having said all that I am persuaded that this is an accurate assessment, and could come to pass very soon. If Australia, for one is not either under Sharia Law, or in the midst of a Communist style revolution within the next five years, I will be surprised.

The Liberating Effect of Truth

My reason for writing this to you is to alert you to the need to love Israel as they are in actuality, recognising their failures as well as their strengths. Love that is based on anything but truth is a sham, and therefore mere delusion, for it is not “true love”. We were commanded by Christ to love our enemies, citing as an example how God “maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:44-45). Note that God doesn’t call his enemies “friends”, but loves them in spite of their enmity. Vance Havner wisely said, “If we loved the world in the way that God loved the world, then we wouldn’t need to worry about loving the world the way that we shouldn’t.” (referring to John 3:16 and 1 John 2:15).

I have seen many pass into disillusionment over the years, and have noted that this period tends to “make or break” believers. When I consider these ones, I can easily imagine a Christendom that instantaneously turns against Israel, almost universally. The only thing that can spare us in that situation is truth. For Christ himself said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” I believe that there are many now who will state that they are of the “seed” of Wesley, Whitfield, Edwards, Finney, Spurgeon, Tozer, Ravenhill, Comfort, etc.., in the face of such words. Perhaps Christ would respond to many of these as to those who pleaded their ancestry in Abraham, “Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” (John 8:31-36).

When we look at events that are going on in the world, few would doubt that there is definitely “something afoot”, prophetically speaking. There are many who would put their head in the proverbial sand, rather than, turn aside like Moses, to see when they encounter such a “burning bush”. There are even more is who would entertain fanciful tales of escape from such a drama, rather than ready themselves for endurance. This I won’t elaborate on now, but I am sure you know what I am referring to.

Conclusion

So the point of all this is to say that we are to love Israel as God’s chosen people, and our love for them must be based on who they are in reality, rather than on romantic notion of who we think they should be. There are times of global distress coming, of which Israel and he Church will be principle victims. Their role as “victims” is not so much one of being innocent, but rather this is the result of their national involvement in idolatry.

In spite of all this, it must be remembered that God has foretold all of this in His Word. He is aware of the plight of His people, and has promised that those who repent and endure until the end, will not only survive but will be rewarded for their endurance. God’s chastening is a sign of His love (Hebrews 12:5-7). Often it is only though God’s chastening that we will come to the point of “godly sorrow”, which is what “works repentance” in us (2 Corinthians 7:10).

May our heart for Israel and comprehension of salvation be as Paul described in Romans 10:

1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
3 For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
Romans 10:1-4

In His grip,

Aaron Ireland

Petter Ottness

Blaise Pascal was very much a man ahead of his time. His brilliant mind covered such issues as physics, mathematics and probability, theology, the first public transport system and the invention of the first calculating machine^* to name but a few. He also lived his life in constant pain, from his early childhood until his dying day. It was both his brilliance and pain which shaped Pascal’s life and his relationship and understanding of God, Jesus, grace and the state of humanity. His was a mystical, experiential faith. A faith and knowledge of God not dry and dead but rather very much alive.

A Brief Account of the Life of Blaise Pascal

Blaise Pascal was born on the 19^th of June, 1623 in Clermont, France, the son of Etienne and Antoinette Pascal^*. At the age of two, Blaise fell seriously ill. The cause at the time was not known, however later researchers have identified malnutrition and rickets as the most probable cause^*. Illness, pain and constant, debilitating headaches would plague Pascal almost everyday for the rest of his life^*.

Etienne, Blaise’s father, though not wealthy was a part of the minor nobility of France^*. When his wife Antoinette, Blaise’s mother, died in 1626 Etienne dedicated himself to the education of his three children; Gilbert, Blaise and Jacqueline, while at the same time working as a government bureaucrat^*.

In 1646 Etienne slipped and fell on an icy street in Rouen, breaking his hip^*. This would have great implications for the future as the specialists who set his hip and lived with the Pascal family for the next three months, Monsieur Deslandes and Monsieur de La Bouteillerie were both Jansenists^*. The Pascal family was profoundly influenced by the faith of these two doctors.

On the 24^th of September 1651, at the age of 64, Etienne Pascal passed away^*. The following year his sister, Jacqueline, entered the Jansenist convent in Port-Royal de Paris^*. This was a very difficult time for Blaise. He now found himself very much alone in the world. For the next three or so years Blaise looked to the world for his fulfilment^*. It was during this time that Blaise discovered and developed the science of probability and risk in a series of letters between himself and his friend Pierre Fermat^*. However, his pursuit of the society life soon left him jaded and disgusted with the world and desperate within himself. He felt abandoned by God and family^*.

On the night of the 23^rd of November, 1654, Blaise’s life was to change forever. This would be known as his ‘Night of Fire’^* On This night he had a mystical encounter with God which changed him forever. No longer was he a man of dry religion fraught with confusion. The event was so profound and so powerful that Blaise wrote everything down, then sowed it into every jacket he owned so as to have it near at all times^*. Now he was free of all confusion and full of zeal for the defence of Christianity and Jansenism.

Jansenism

Jansenism takes its name from its founder Cornelius Jansen, the Bishop of Ypres^*. It was a 17^th century movement against the leniency of Catholicism at the time towards sin. This leniency was especially true of the Jesuits, who seemed happy to make allowances for sinful human nature^*. Jansen and his good friend Jean Duvergier de Hauranne, the abbe de Saint-Cyrian, popularised their views of humanity and Grace around the early 17^th century^*.

Nowhere was Jansenism more popular than in the Convent of Port-Royal, where Saint-Cyrian was appointed Father Confessor to the nuns in 1633^*. It is also worth noting that Saint-Cyrian had also been a disciple of Pierre de Bruille, who believed that the only way to conform to Gods will was to burn out all instances of self love and a strict adherence to Jesus in the Eucharist^*.

The Jansenist movement took a deeply pessimistic view of human nature. They believed that humans were incapable of choosing good, and that human nature should be disciplined to annihilation^*. Without God’s grace humans could only do evil, and God’s grace was only given to some. This grace was irresistible and always produced the desired result. The Jansenists called this “efficient grace” and was only given to those pre-ordained by God. Jansenists were therefore radical Augustinians, and interpreted Augustine in much the same way as Calvinists^*. They also believed that Mass should only be taken infrequently following a thorough self examination and confession^*.

Humanity

Pascal held the belief that humans were created with ‘Two loves’. He first set out his idea of the ‘Two Loves’ in a letter to his sister Jacqueline upon the death of their father in 1651. In this letter he states that all humans have the love of God and the love of Self. When sin entered it took away the love of God, and the love of self filled the void. In order to regain the love of God, it must first give up the love of self in order to make room for the love of God. He goes on to state that once one has died in the soul, death to the body is easy^*. This theme of ‘Two Loves’ he would pick up again later in his uncompleted apologetic work Pensees. Pascal held tightly to the Augustinian view that the fundamental nature of sin is self love, and the cure for sin is the grace given though faith in Jesus Christ^*.

So Pascal began to remove all worldly pleasures from his life during his last few years. He turned his living quarters into somewhat of a monastic cell by removing anything superfluous and vain. He also refused to eat anything but broth and he encouraged people to follow his example and abandon all desire for worldly things. Although pain was his constant companion, he nevertheless forced himself to go out among the poor and give his money away^*.

Pascal also adopted the Jansenist doctrines of human depravity and divine predestination, which were essentially Augustinian^*. Augustine believed that humans had completely lost the ability to do good when sin entered, and therefore also lack the ability to take the first steps toward salvation. This is humanity’s depravity^*. This is illustrated for the Jansenists by the misery, suffering and helplessness of humanity. As a man who had known pain, suffering and helplessness almost everyday of his life, this must have been abundantly clear to Blaise Pascal^*.

Grace

In order to understand grace, one must first understand sin. Pascal followed the Augustinian tradition of the wretchedness of humanity. Sin has made the human race incapable of doing the good required by God, and therefore humanity is unable to take the first steps toward reconciliation with God^*. This sin was passed on from Adam to every human through the act, and pleasure, of sex. Therefore the sin of Adam rested on every human. A life of penance was required, if not for your own sins then at least for the inherited sin of Adam^*. Although created much higher than the animals, proven by humanity’s moral and religious status, humankind needs God’s grace in order to be saved^*.

This grace given by God is irresistible^* and efficacious^*. The two concepts of irresistible grace and efficacious grace are closely tied. Efficacious simply means to be fully effective^*. Efficacious grace is that which effects the purpose for which it is given, what God purposes never fails or comes to naught^*. Therefore, if the grace of God always fulfils the purpose for which it was given it is necessarily irresistible. For Pascal the redemptive grace of God through Jesus Christ was more powerful than any of the senses or any reason, both of which may be deceptive^*. Taken to its fullest extent this turns humans into puppets, without any free will.

The Jesuits held the view that humans were in fact able to exercise free will to choose grace. This set the Jansenist and Jesuits onto a collision course. The Jesuits accused the Jansenists of heresy and of being closet Calvinists^*. Pascal responded with the ‘Provincial Letters’. In them he not only attacked the Jesuits theology, he also openly mocked them and reinforced the stereotype of the sly and crafty Jesuit^*.

The Jesuits tried to explain away and rationalise sins committed, assuring the sinner that God was on their side^*, whereas Pascal saw sinners as already abandoned and sin everywhere. One must seek sin out and destroy it though penance^*. This penance was something Blaise took very seriously. He wore iron prickles under his clothes and every time he had a prideful or diversionary thought he would press them into his flesh^*.

Christ

For Blaise Pascal, an understanding of the cross of Christ was essential for an understanding of God and humanity. The cross demonstrates that there is a God, that humanity is in a fallen state and can no longer see God clearly, and that God has sent a redeemer to rescue it^*. Before knowledge in Christ, we are blind to God. Christ is the only one who can reveal God to us. He is the only one who pulls back the veil of obscurity to reveal God. The failure to see God is not because he is not there, but rather due the blindness of fallen humanity which can only see partial truth^*.

The faith which we put in Christ, the only way through which we can know God, is given itself by God. Faith is in the heart, not from reason. Christ is therefore the only way to know God^*. By uniting the will, feeling and knowledge one can bring about a life-giving personal and mystical relationship with Christ. Only by this means God can be discerned by the heart^*.

Pascal also saw the cross as a representation of Christian life. The indication of God’s grace is the readiness for moral and spiritual reorientation toward God. This, according to Pascal, is a crucifixion of self will^*. It was therefore impossible to become a true follower of Christ without a profound moral change^*.

God

Pascal held to the view that God was not absent from this world, but rather that humanity is blind to him. As humanity is blind due to its fallen nature, God appears to be hidden from us^*. Once faith in Christ has been given, God can be revealed. The heart of humanity is the only means by which we can recognize God. This was a reaction against Descartes, who held the view that belief in God must be reasoned^*. For Pascal reason is continually blinded by passion and is therefore a useless means of discovering God and truth^*. Reason is therefore an ineffective means of discovering God^*.

Out of his mystical ‘Night of Fire’ experience Pascal realised his insignificance and meaninglessness when compared to the eternity of time and space. For most this would lead to Atheism, but for Pascal it lead to “… a deep, abiding faith in … God”^*. Outside of God, therefore, there was no meaning or purpose to life and certainly no point to any study or any science. Meaning can therefore only be found in God, as meaning cannot be produced from nothing^*.

For a man of Pascal’s capability it was a natural progression to apply probability theory to God. This became famously known as ‘Pascal’s Wager’. This wager not the result of rationalism but rather a reasonable conclusion. As we are limited and finite, we cannot begin to grasp God’s infinite and unlimited nature. It is therefore impossible to prove God rationally^*.

His wager begins with the premise that a choice must be made to either believe or reject God. To refuse to make a choice is not to abdicate choice but rather it is, in effect, to reject God. The prize in the wager is eternal life. If you believe in God and are proven right, then you gain eternal life. If you are proven wrong then you have lost nothing. If you choose not to believe in God and are proven right, then you have again lost nothing. If your disbelief in God is proven wrong you have then lost everything. It is therefore both sensible and reasonable to believe in God as the risk is small and prize immeasurable^*.

Conclusion

Blaise Pascal was a man who came to eventually oppose the society into which he was born. He not only separated himself from this fallen world, he also took umbrage against the economically comfortable and morally permissive theology of the Jesuits, who took minor notice of the poor and intimated that conversion to Christ made few demands for ethical or economic change^*.

His pain filled life proved to him the total helplessness of mankind and its need for God. The only way to see God was through the cross of Christ. Without God, he could see only meaninglessness. With God, and the grace received from God, he could see life and meaning. God cannot be seen or perceived by rationalism, but only through the heart.

Bibliography

“As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him… beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And you are complete in Him…” (Colossians 2:6,8,9a)

The Christian life is a life that is lived IN CHRIST. That is to say, to walk IN HIM is to live as a Christian. Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship. A Christian is a branch that grows out of the Vine and continually produces abundant fruit for the Husbandman. The Church is the gathering together of all individual branches into one Vineyard (see John 15). In this metaphor we see that Christianity is supposed to be a living phenomenon, an observable reality, not a religious philosophy or set of teachings.

As we first received the Lord Jesus, so we continue to walk in the Lord Jesus. Receiving Christ is the Gate, but walking in Him as we have received Him is the Path. The Gate is an event, while the Path is a process. The Gate is for entering, while the Path is for walking.

Everything God has done, is doing, and will do is aimed at bringing us deeper into Christ, to finish what was begun in us when we first received Him. God is the One Who brings us through the Gate, and God is the One Who leads us along the Path. Everything God has done, is doing, and will do has the same purpose, and that purpose explains everything you have been through, everything you are going through, and everything you will go through.

Jesus is the Alpha from Whom all things in God are initiated, and Jesus is the Omega unto Whom all things of God find their purpose, their meaning, and their reason for being. Everything begins in Christ, and everything ends in Christ. He is the Beginning as well as the End.

Real spiritual growth occurs when we realize that God has only one goal for us, and that is, the full, mature, complete, and experiential knowledge of Jesus Christ. To the extent that we discard “things” and become focused wholly on Christ, to that extent we will make progress.

THE CHALLENGE OF REMAINING CHRIST-CENTERED

Christians should walk in the Lord Jesus as they received Him. We must not allow anything to keep us from growing up in to Him. Spiritual growth in the life of a Christian is determined by the measure of the increase of Christ and the decrease of Self: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). It is not a question of gifts, knowledge, years of experience, or power. If by the end of today there is less of me and more of Jesus then I am growing. Otherwise I am not. Jesus must become greater and greater in my life, and I must become lesser and lesser. This is the Path.

Along this Path towards apprehending Christ as all in all there are many pitfalls, snares, hindrances, and detours. Thus, Paul says we are to be on our guard and let no man spoil us. In this context, the word “spoil” means, “to destroy and strip of one’s possessions; to deprive of something valuable by force.” Every spiritual blessing heaven has to offer is found in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). Each believer has an incredible fullness and completeness in the Person of Jesus Christ. Christ is THE Gift of God, the ultimate Gift, and this Gift is precious, valuable, and of great worth.

How then can we be spoiled? According to Paul we are spoiled “through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments (elements) of the world, and not after Christ.” It matters not if the philosophy is good, right, morally excellent, and praiseworthy. It matters not how well intentioned, meaningful, or helpful the tradition is. It matters not how necessary we think the worldly element to be, or how important it is to society in general. If none of these things are “after Christ”, that is, if they are not of Him, through Him, and unto Him, then they are worthless insofar as God’s Purpose is concerned and must be discarded.

This is what Paul alludes to in Philippians 3. Paul represents the very best that religion, philosophy, and tradition has to offer – education, gravity, intelligence, doctrine, zeal, community service, and so on. “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (v. 7,8). To be able to sweep aside all religious upbringing, moral philosophy, and tradition with one wave of the hand and consider it refuse is to know Jesus experientially as Enough. This is what it means to be decreased. God’s Purpose for all believers is to be reduced to Christ, and everything is working to bring us to this final conclusion: “not I, but Christ” (Galatians 2:20ff).

The apostolic letters that make up a significant portion of our New Testament, more than anything else, seek to redirect the saints back onto Christ and away from a myriad of things seeking to rob them of their time, energy, attention, focus, and spiritual devotion. Many things competed with Christ and tried to spoil these new believers. These distractions were abundant in the early Church. They became entangled in many things. The whole controversy of Jews and Gentiles; to be circumcised, or not to be circumcised; to marry, or to remain single; to keep the Sabbath, or not to keep the Sabbath; which foods to eat, and which foods not to eat; whether one should follow Peter, or Paul, or Apollos; to speak in tongues, or not to speak in tongues; how men should behave, and how women should behave; what about this, and what about that. On and on it went, and on and on it still goes today.

I have said many times that we do not need more of the Lord, since we are already complete in Christ – we just need less of everything else. There are many things that spoil, hinder, distract, and lead us away from the simplicity of an abiding relationship with Jesus. Many of them are spiritual and religious. The spirit of Antichrist is not necessarily seen in something that is obviously satanic or demonic. Instead, the spirit of Antichrist is revealed in anything that seeks to spoil us by taking our eyes off of Christ – it is anti-Christ, against Christ, antithetical to the great Purpose of God.

How easy it is for us to become distracted into something less than Christ! Are you centered on Christ? Is Jesus your obsession? Is He your focus? Or have you set your sights on something beneath Him? This speaks right to the heart of the crisis we find ourselves in today.

CHRISTLESS EVANGELISM

The crisis of Christless Christianity begins with the way we go about reaching the Lost. Jesus said if He is lifted up then He will draw all men to Himself (John 12:32). Instead, we lift up religion and draw all men into an institution. Sinners today are presented with a Gospel that is decidedly in their favor. It is marketed and packaged the same way a salesman makes a sales pitch: it must answer the all important, universal question: “What’s in it for me?” And the answer is salvation, the assurance of a home in heaven, deliverance, solutions to problems, peace, blessings from God, and so forth.

The death of Christianity will not be the result of everyone rejecting the Gospel, but the result of everyone accepting a watered-down version of it.

All too often the object of salvation, its very purpose, is overlooked. Why should a sinner repent? Not for what he or she can get out of it, but for what the Lord Jesus gets out of it. Do we reach out to the world based on their own self-serving need, or based on the Lord’s Need? The harvest is for the Lord, not for the workers, and not for the ones who are harvested. The sheep are for the Shepherd.

A sinner ought to repent because the Kingdom of God is at hand. They should be shown that God is gathering together in one “all things in Christ” (Ephesians 1:10ff), that this is God’s Purpose for all men, and that yielding to Him now is the only reasonable, logical, and life-saving alternative they have. But an easy Gospel begets easy disciples. If our message is easy then many will respond under the impression that they are doing God a big favor by “getting saved”. Thus, God becomes their debtor, and they expect Him to repay them many times over, not merely with a future promise of life in heaven, but with good things for them in their present life on earth. Is it any wonder that the Church is spiritually weak and immature, with “disciples” such as this?

Christless evangelism does not give anyone salvation, it only gives them the false assurance of salvation. The Church is supposed to make disciples for Christ, not record decisions for Christ. A decision does not necessarily make a disciple. Christ must be the object and the focus of all outreach.

CHRISTLESS APOSTLES AND PROPHETS

What is “the ministry”? According to the Scriptures, there is but one ministry, and that is the ministry of directing everyone to Christ as all in all. Now how this ministry functions in each one of us is different according to how God has placed us. There are many operations and many functions, many gifts and many manifestations, but there is only one goal and that goal is Christ.

For example, the purpose of the apostolic ministry is not church planting, or setting churches in order, or taking missionary journeys. The purpose is Christ. Now, they may DO those things. We are not suggesting that Paul did not do all these things; we are simply saying that Paul’s purpose was Christ, and towards that end he labored accordingly. Without God’s End in clear view, all these things become mere activities, religious carryings-on, but there is nothing ultimate about it, nothing that ties it all together or justifies it in terms of furthering God’s Purpose. I have my little work, you have your little work, but there is no harmony, no communion, no relatedness between any of several million projects, ministries, and outreaches. Each one struggles to achieve their own ends, and there is little if any agreement on what exactly that “end” is supposed to be.

The apostle communicates the ultimate Purpose of God, lays the foundation, and then keeps the End before the builders at all times. But many of today’s apostles seem to be presenting themselves as church planting or church growth experts. Is this what the apostolic ministry is becoming? Church growth is not God’s goal. Church planting is not His purpose either. These are merely things: they are not Christ. You can plant churches and grow churches and completely miss Jesus in all of it.

What about the prophetic ministry? The purpose of all prophetic speaking is Christ. “It is the truth concerning JESUS that inspires all prophecy” (Revelation 19:10b, Knox). Those inspired to speak or proclaim something by the Holy Spirit should be helping to direct our attention onto Christ and away from everything that distracts us. The prophetic voice should rise up like a trumpet and bring clarity and direction out of confusion and misunderstanding. It is not just truth stated in an inspirational way, it is the truth concerning JESUS spoken by those who know Him and can lead others to Him. But of all things, the prophetic ministry today does more to distract us from Jesus than to tell us the truth concerning Jesus. In fact, it is difficult to find Jesus at all in most of what is touted today as “prophetic”.

The prophetic word is given to point us to Jesus. Everything the Holy Spirit would speak, reveal, teach, and show us is towards this same end, which is CHRIST. We do not need to mull over every dream, vision, word, or prophecy, trying to exegete its hidden meaning, struggling to extract some spiritual significance where none exists. If what we see and hear does not point us to Jesus then it is not prophetic and should be discarded. This simple test will keep us from distraction.

Apostles must point people to Christ. Prophets must point people to Christ. Evangelists must point people to Christ. Pastors and teachers must point people to Christ. Otherwise they are not fulfilling the purpose for which God placed them in the Church to begin with. Apostolic ministry is not an end unto itself, but is a means to an end. Prophetic ministry is not an end unto itself, but is a means to an end. Evangelistic ministry is not an end unto itself, but is a means to an end. Pastoral and teaching ministries are not ends unto themselves, but are a means to an end. What is the end? What is the purpose? What does it all lead to? It leads to “the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13b). The fullness of Christ, the full-knowledge of Him – this is God’s Goal and His Ultimate Intention.

CHRISTLESS FELLOWSHIP

We know by now that the actual church building has nothing to do with God’s Eternal Purpose. The church service is a thing created by us and for us – God’s Need is seldom, if ever, considered. If we recognize that the service, ministry, meeting, gathering, or building is not the end, but only a means to an End (which is Christ), then we do well. But when we attach spiritual, emotional, or even superstitious significance to a mere thing, or place, or day, or tradition, or way of doing things, then we will be spoiled through “traditions of men”, and will not walk after Christ Himself.

Even something as good as fellowship with other believers becomes such a distraction from Christ that He cannot trust us with relationships. We hunger and thirst for “like-minded believers”, which is sometimes a code word for “anyone who thinks and believes the same as I do and will always agree with me no matter what!” The end result is we seldom find what we are looking for in other people.

Christians go here and there looking for “fellowship”. They participate in meetings, conferences, seminars, groups, and online discussion lists and email exchanges. To be sure these can be useful tools for bringing Christians together – but not if they are looking for fellowship as a “thing”, instead of the fruit of a Christ-centered life.

If fellowship with others is my focus then I am bypassing the Head and trying to have fellowship on some ground other than Christ. The Bible clearly teaches that “what we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that you may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ…if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another…” (I John 1:3,7a).

Fellowship is ordained by God as a means through which the Life of Jesus may be shared: “From Whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, making increase of the body towards the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:16). In other words, we are joined together to experience the Life of the Lord together. This is what makes us of one mind and one accord. Like-mindedness only occurs when we agree to “let this mind be in [us] that was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5). Life is not in a meeting, or in a gathering, or in a way of doing things – Life is Christ, and Christ is Life. He is the Purpose.

So true fellowship is grounded in Jesus first of all. Fellowship with others on THAT basis is neither forced, nor orchestrated; it is effortless, spontaneous, and full of life. Fellowship naturally occurs because we have all seen and heard the same thing from the Lord – we are walking in the same Path towards Christ as all in all. We are in one accord not because we all look, think, and act just the same, but because we all, in spite of our differences, have God’s End in mind.

If we look to one another for fellowship apart from what we have seen and heard of the Lord then we are limiting ourselves to relationships with people with whom we naturally get along with. If we see fellowship as the reason for our existence as Christians then, ironically, we will never be satisfied. We cannot know one another according to the flesh and find contentment. We cannot properly discern the Body until we establish communion with its Head. Life is given and received as we stand with one another in relationship to Christ.

CHRISTLESS SPIRITUALITY

What is the “deeper Christian life”? It is nothing more and nothing less than Christ Himself. To be deep is to be simple, focused, and devoted to the One Thing that is needed (see Luke 10:41,42). But even here, some believers seek the deeper Christian life as a thing, a teaching, a certain way of acting spiritual. The “deeper life” becomes the goal instead of Christ as Life. They become profoundly mystical and spiritual, but it is death because they do not touch Christ, they touch spirituality. There is no life in spirituality, or mysticism, or religiosity; there is only Life in Christ. Anything less becomes a distraction.

I came to the Lord in the midst of the Charismatic movement. The emphasis was on Spirit-filled living, restoring spiritual gifts, the power of God, and so forth. We find no fault with walking in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. But what is the purpose of all this fullness? Why tongues, and prophetic words, and other spiritual gifts? Why the manifest power of God? All of these things are given us by the Lord to draw us deeper into Himself; to repeat, they are means to an End, but they are not the end, for the End, the Purpose, and the Reason for all things is Christ.

“When He, the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide you into all Truth [Christ]: for He shall not speak of Himself… He will glorify Me, for He will receive from Me, and will reveal it to you” (John 16:13,14ff). All the gifts, all the power, all the counsel, everything pertaining to the Holy Spirit has the goal of bringing us into a more complete knowing of Jesus Christ. Everything must be in harmony with this.

But just see how the experience of being “filled” or “baptized” or “anointed” or “slain in the Spirit” has replaced Christ! What is the result? Excess, error, and a falling away into the flesh. Today we see only a shadow of what we once saw. How many “Full-Gospel” believers are still living off of the glory that they saw twenty-five years ago! They are still looking for an experience, but if God gives it to them, it is a step backwards. They have not grown one bit; they are simply coasting on the energy of what God was doing twenty or thirty years ago.

It is time for us to leave elementary school and go on to maturity. “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man I put away childish things” (I Corinthians 13:11). The Lord has a high calling for us, and we are called to “go on to maturity” (Hebrews 6:1ff). The spiritual life begins in Christ, is sustained by Christ, and leads us to Christ. We may begin by having some profound spiritual experiences, but maturity is certainly not achieved through them.

CHRISTLESS WARFARE

Out of the Charismatic movement came an intense interest in spiritual warfare. Here is yet another potential distraction from Christ. What is spiritual warfare? It should be the process of demonstrating the preeminence of Christ over all things. It should be bringing all things into conformity to God’s Ultimate Intention and showing that Christ is the Head of all principality and power. It should be learning how to defeat the dragon by the blood of the Lamb, the word of our testimony, and the denial of Self (cf. Revelation 12:11).

Instead, spiritual warfare has become a weird end unto itself, and Jesus is scarcely seen. The revelation of Christ is seldom found; instead, we are often told to seek the revelation of satan and all his workings. Saints are kept occupied day and night fighting the devil (sometimes only in their imagination), or traveling all over the world to “confront” territorial spirits (which only proves they are warring after the flesh, for there is no distance in the spirit realm), intruding into things they have no business getting into. The backlash is swift and the damage is severe. Why? They have grasped spiritual warfare as a “thing” apart from Christ.

True, we cannot afford to be ignorant of satan’s devices (II Corinthians 2:11b), but neither can we afford to make darkness the focus of our lives. Our focus is not the devil, what the devil is doing, or what the devil is planning to do. Our focus is Christ, and to the extent that we walk in the Light, to that extent the Darkness will be exposed by the Light and will flee.

Victory is not the result of everything we know about spiritual warfare: Victory is a Man. All the formulas, methods, teachings, manuals, and books in the world will not sufficiently prepare us for demonstrating the preeminence of Christ over all things if we do not, in fact, have an abiding relationship with the One Whom we are proclaiming.

What is the focus? Spiritual warfare, or Christ Himself? The first is a thing, the second is a Person. Spiritual warfare, properly carried out, is harmonious with God’s Purpose because it exalts Christ (not the devil) and demonstrates that all things are submitted to Him. But without this foundation we are inviting disaster.

RESTORING CHRIST TO CHRISTIANITY

We are trying to get to the heart of things, down to the very root of these matters. The bottom line is there are many things that are ABOUT Jesus, but are NOT Jesus. Then there is Jesus Himself. When the things about Christ become more important than Christ Himself then we need to revisit who we are and what we are doing.

We live in the Laodicean age that is characterized by insipid lukewarmness and blindness to the truth of our own spiritual condition (cf. Revelation 3:1-19). The picture presented to us is one of Christ standing on the outside of things, knocking at the door, and waiting for someone to open the door to Him (cf. Revelation 3:20). Since this is written to the saints it cannot be construed as an invitation to sinners to “invite Jesus into their heart”; instead, it is the Lord calling upon the church to make Him the center again. The issue was, and still is fellowship, communion, and abiding – maintaining its relationship to the Head.

God’s solution for a lukewarm, tasteless, colorless, odorless church is a fresh revelation of Jesus Christ. He will bring us back to our foundation. He will align us with His Purpose. He will adjust us back to Himself. God will purge, refine, chasten, and conform us to the image of His Son. But we must respond to His invitation and open the door.

O Christian, come back to Christ! Simplify your life, eliminate the “many things”, count them as dung, and cling to the One Thing! Be reduced to Christ!

The Lord says, “To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne” (Revelation 3:21).

Amen! Even so, come Lord Jesus.

I am your brother,

Chip Brogden

©1997-2008 TheSchoolOfChrist.Org
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“…in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us…”
Rom 8:31-39

More than a conqueror

No matter how great the conquest, the greatest title given to the victor is “conqueror”. To conqueror implies that the war is over, and the enemy is defeated. In other words, successive “battles” are won until there emerges a final victor who is known as the “conqueror”.

When the conqueror emerges from the war there is no more fighting to be done. There is nothing more to be added to the conquest. To attain greater conquest, would mean starting the war again, which would mean that we cease being the conqueror until the war is won again, at which point we go back to being the conqueror.

In other words, the only way for us to taste something “more” would be to taste defeat. Then we would cease to be the conqeror (ie, become “less”than a conqueror). In warfare, there will always be a winner and a loser (“conqueror”and “conquered”), at the end. The only exeption would be in the event that diplomatic resolution leaves both sides equally victorious, in which case their is neither “conqueror”nor “conquered”.

Victory through Christ’s defeat

So what could it mean to add to conquest? Could it possibly be “conquestthrough defeat”? Although this seems contradictory, consider the cross, where Christ is “conquered” by the ruling religious and secular leaders of his day, and based on his defeatedness, he obtains Victory over sin and death.

In the same way that Caiphas, Herod, and Pilate (and all that they represented) were enemies of Christ, so too are we. We would have been crying out for his crucifixion also, as Jesus had displayed a blantant disregard of human morality (Matt 26:63-65; Mark 14:61-64; Luke 22:67-71; John 18:19-23; religion), democratic choice (John 19:10-11; politics) and curious enquiry (Luke 23:89; science). These attitudes are among the chief causes of indignation when they are directed at us, as they imply that we are corrupt and incompetant, while denying analysis of the evidence, in order to the “devilify” our reputation.

Not only that, but Christ’s words, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” rub salt in the wounds of his “taunts”, as they not only confirm our wrong doing and ignorance but imply that he is both smarter and holier than us. “How dare he claim this? Doesn’t he know that ‘all men are created equal’?” we cry from every pore of our consciousness. “Even though I’m not perfect, no one is greater than I!!!” This is the war cry of selfishness and it is implied when we object to having our faults revealed. Selfishness is our crime. And this selfishness is what we are charged of and because of this “selfish nature” we share in the guilt of Christ’s murder, as accessories. It’s a charge that shares equal responsability wth the one who’s hand took the life of the victim, for without us, there would be no reason for Christ to have died.

Our Conqueror becomes our Advocate

Consider now the contradiction between Christ being both our “condemner” and “intercessor” (v34) in our murder trial where he is also the “victim”. Literally, Christ is “prosecutor”, “defence” and “plantif” in this trial. How can he be both “for” and “against” us at the same time? Wouldn’t this create a conflict of interest? Verses 35-37 give us a clue by presenting a woeful situation of us being counted as “lambs for the slaughter, killed all the day long for (His) sake”, and then while looking at this lamentable situation, declaring us to be “more than conquerors” with the qualification of this, being that we are “in all these things”, and all this in response to the question of “Who can separate us from the love Christ?” Even this “answer” raises enough questions to drive one to the brink of insanity. This perplexity shows that we are yet to realise the “mind of Christ” that has been “freely given” to us (1 Cor 2:16).

We have to realise that true victory is attained through our own defeat. Christ “condemns” our “selfish nature”. Christ also “intercedes” in order to liberate us from that same “selfish nature”. Essentially we are being liberated from our own selves. When we begin to grasp this, we can see how “neither death, nor life”…etc can “separate us from the love of God”, because all these are God’s salvific agents in delivering us from ourselves. In this we can see that it is we who are conquered in Christ’s victory, which he has bestowed upon us as a gift. In other words the basis of our victiory is in that we have been in our “defeatedness”.

Conclusion

To summarise, when my enemy is myself, my defeat becomes my victory, and I am “more than a conqueror” but when self wins, my victory becomes my defeat and I become “more than vanquished”.

Mat 16:24-25 “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross , and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”

©2006 Aaron Ireland – Non-commercial (free) distribution is both permitted and encouraged provided this notice appears.

Most of the world’s great souls have been lonely. Loneliness seems to be one price the saint must pay for his saintliness.

In the morning of the world (or should we say, in that strange darkness that came soon after the dawn of man’s creation), that pious soul, Enoch, walked with God and was not, for God took him; and while it is not stated in so many words, a fair inference is that Enoch walked a path quite apart from his contemporaries.

Another lonely man was Noah who, of all the antediluvians, found grace in the sight of God; and every shred of evidence points to the aloneness of his life even while surrounded by his people.

Again, Abraham had Sarah and Lot, as well as many servants and herdsmen, but who can read his story and the apostolic comment upon it without sensing instantly that he was a man “whose soul was alike a star and dwelt apart”? As far as we know not one word did God ever speak to him in the company of men. Face down he communed with his God, and the innate dignity of the man forbade that he assume this posture in the presence of others. How sweet and solemn was the scene that night of the sacrifice when he saw the lamps of fire moving between the pieces of offering. There, alone with a horror of great darkness upon him, he heard the voice of God and knew that he was a man marked for divine favor.

Moses also was a man apart. While yet attached to the court of Pharaoh he took long walks alone, and during one of these walks while far removed from the crowds he saw an Egyptian and a Hebrew fighting and came to the rescue of his countryman. After the resultant break with Egypt he dwelt in almost complete seclusion in the desert. There, while he watched his sheep alone, the wonder of the burning bush appeared to him, and later on the peak of Sinai he crouched alone to gaze in fascinated awe at the Presence, partly hidden, partly disclosed, within the cloud and fire.

The prophets of pre-Christian times differed widely from each other, but one mark they bore in common was their enforced loneliness. They loved their people and gloried in the religion of the fathers, but their loyalty to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and their zeal for the welfare of the nation of Israel drove them away from the crowd and into long periods of heaviness. “I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children,” cried one and unwittingly spoke for all the rest.

Most revealing of all is the sight of that One of whom Moses and all the prophets did write, treading His lonely way to the cross. His deep loneliness was unrelieved by the presence of the multitudes.

‘Tis midnight, and on Olive’s brow
The star is dimmed that lately shone;
‘Tis midnight; in the garden now,
The suffering Savior prays alone.
‘Tis midnight, and from all removed
The Savior wrestles lone with fears;
E’en the disciple whom He loved
Heeds not his Master’s grief and tears.
- William B. Tappan

He died alone in the darkness hidden from the sight of mortal man and no one saw Him when He arose triumphant and walked out of the tomb, though many saw Him afterward and bore witness to what they saw. There are some things too sacred for any eye but God’s to look upon. The curiosity, the clamor, the well-meant but blundering effort to help can only hinder the waiting soul and make unlikely if not impossible the communication of the secret message of God to the worshiping heart.

Sometimes we react by a kind of religious reflex and repeat dutifully the proper words and phrases even though they fail to express our real feelings and lack the authenticity of personal experience. Right now is such a time. A certain conventional loyalty may lead some who hear this unfamiliar truth expressed for the first time to say brightly, “Oh, I am never lonely. Christ said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you,’ and ‘Lo, I am with you always.’ How can I be lonely when Jesus is with me?”

Now I do not want to reflect on the sincerity of any Christian soul, but this stock testimony is too neat to be real. It is obviously what the speaker thinks should be true rather than what he has proved to be true by the test of experience. This cheerful denial of loneliness proves only that the speaker has never walked with God without the support and encouragement afforded him by society. The sense of companionship which he mistakenly attributes to the presence of Christ may and probably does arise from the presence of friendly people. Always remember: you cannot carry a cross in company. Though a man were surrounded by a vast crowd, his cross is his alone and his carrying of it marks him as a man apart. Society has turned against him; otherwise he would have no cross. No one is a friend to the man with a cross. “They all forsook Him, and fled.”

The pain of loneliness arises from the constitution of our nature. God made us for each other. The desire for human companionship is completely natural and right. The loneliness of the Christian results from his walk with God in an ungodly world, a walk that must often take him away from the fellowship of good Christians as well as from that of the unregenerate world. His God-given instincts cry out for companionship with others of his kind, others who can understand his longings, his aspirations, his absorption in the love of Christ; and because within his circle of friends there are so few who share inner experiences, he is forced to walk alone. The unsatisfied longings of the prophets for human understanding caused them to cry out in their complaint, and even our Lord Himself suffered in the same way.

The man who has passed on into the divine Presence in actual inner experience will not find many who understand him. A certain amount of social fellowship will of course be his as he mingles with religious persons in the regular activities of the church, but true spiritual fellowship will be hard to find. But he should not expect things to be otherwise. After all he is a stranger and a pilgrim, and the journey he takes is not on his feet but in his heart. He walks with God in the garden of his own soul – and who but God can walk there with him? He is of another spirit from the multitudes that tread the courts of the Lord’s house. He has seen that of which they have only heard, and he walks among them somewhat as Zacharias walked after his return from the altar when the people whispered, “He has seen a vision.”

The truly spiritual man is indeed something of an oddity. He lives not for himself but to promote the interests of Another. He seeks to persuade people to give all to his Lord and asks no portion or share for himself. He delights not to be honored but to see his Savior glorified in the eyes of men. His joy is to see his Lord promoted and himself neglected. He finds few who care to talk about that which is the supreme object of his interest, so he is often silent and preoccupied in the midst of noisy religious shoptalk. For this he earns the reputation of being dull and overserious, so he is avoided and the gulf between him and society widens. He searches for friends upon whose garments he can detect the smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces, and finding few or none, he, like Mary of old, keeps these things in his heart.

It is this very loneliness that throws him back upon God. “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.” His inability to find human companionship drives him to seek in God what he can find nowhere else. He learns in inner solitude what he could not have learned in the crowd – that Christ is All in All, that He is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption, that in Him we have and possess life’s summum bonum.

Two things remain to be said. One, that the lonely man of whom we speak is not a haughty man, nor is he the holier-than-thou, austere saint so bitterly satirized in popular literature. He is likely to feel that he is the least of all men and is sure to blame himself for his very loneliness. He wants to share his feelings with others and to open his heart to some like-minded soul who will understand him, but the spiritual climate around him does not encourage it, so he remains silent and tells his griefs to God alone.

The second thing is that the lonely saint is not the withdrawn man who hardens himself against human suffering and spends his days contemplating the heavens. Just the opposite is true. His loneliness makes him sympathetic to the approach of the brokenhearted and the fallen and the sin-bruised. Because he is detached from the world, he is all the more able to help it. Meister Eckhart taught his followers that if they should find themselves in prayer and happen to remember that a poor widow needed food, they should break off the prayer instantly and go care for the widow. “God will not suffer you to lose anything by it,” he told them. “You can take up again in prayer where you left off and the Lord will make it up to you.” This is typical of the great mystics and masters of the interior life from Paul to the present day.

The weakness of so many modern Christians is that they feel too much at home in the world. In their effort to achieve restful “adjustment” to unregenerate society they have lost their pilgrim character and become an essential part of the very moral order against which they are sent to protest. The world recognizes them and accepts them for what they are. And this is the saddest thing that can be said about them. They are not lonely, but neither are they saints.