Bible Commentary Relevant For Today

All Things Work Together For Good

2009-04-30T06:20:00.000-07:00

This is an interesting verse:

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

We as Christians are often comforted by the verse, because it gives us hope and meaning to our lives. One thing I think we tend to maybe think in our minds is that ALL things work together for OUR good.

Actually it is not for our Good at all.

The Old English writers used the vernacular of Justice as the "Common Good." "You must do thus and such for the Common Good." The common-good is a system of culture and this is the sense here but on God's level, meaning "The Righteous of God."

What Is the Ultimate Goal Of God?

The ultimate goal of God is to have Righteousness throughout the earth. So the "All things work together for (righteousness) good." is actually what is meant.

So when we are, like Job, pelted with darts for the Kingdom of God we should take comfort as the Psalmist and all the greats in History, that this trial of affliction is for the building of Gods Kingdom.

In that light Christ's words of "Blessed are they that are persecuted for my names sake, for their's is the Kingdom of God" makes more sense.

Compare Those Who Were Afflicted...

Compare those who were afflicted and persecuted for the Kingdom and you will see their lasting impact on Civilization as we know it today. The axiom of "before honor comes humility" rings true in the halls of history.

A few examples are:

Ambrose of Milan: He stood up against the emperor of his day and established seperation of Powers, vital for the wellbeing of the church. The basis for constitutional seperation of powers and rights sprung from this conflict.

Martin Luther: Stood up against the mightiest king in the empire, and could have lost his life. He went into hiding for a couple of years to get away from the persecuting hand of the emperor. His work brought the Reformation, which brought the Technological impetus to our culture. Work ethic sprang out of Christianity, namely the Puritan Reformation. A good work ethic brings wealth.

John Elliot: Wrote the petition of Right, which is foundational to our constitutional rights. Rights are vital for Justice. Justice is necessary for Free Trade and wealth accumulation. No Justice, No Wealth. John Elliot DIED in the tower for his stand on rights against the Tyrannical King of England.

We feel these Kingdom Building works in our lives today. They may have not felt like they were doing much. They may have felt like they were bungling it. But I am sure they took heart when they realized that God is not the God of foolishness but of power and strength.

So in essence what Christ is saying "God uses the weak things of the world to confound the wise."

Take Heart...

In our lives today, we should take heart, that what we do is being used to build the great kingdom of God ON EARTH (as it is already done in heaven: Lord's prayer.)

Learn the Hebrew Alphabet in 3 days flat. Visit the HebrewScholar.com

Is God Acting Today? Deuteronomy 28

2007-05-07T20:26:00.000-07:00

Scripture Text: Deuteronomy 28

Topic: Is God Acting Today?

The question for today is:

Is God dead?
Does He really have any power?
If God is to be feared, how come nobody does fear Him?

I would draw you to the Bible verses contained in Deuteronomy 28. Just read the chapter. It will become quite apparent that there is a cause and effect scenario being set up.

First of all the first fourteen verses are about being blessed by God. The verses are talking about a civilization:

Starting with the city, the major industrial center of commerce.
Then the fields: the productive capacity of the civilization.
Back to the city (the fruit of thy body) again, the industrial center, where skilled workers are developed: ie entrenpenuers.
Then to tools, the fruit of thy cattle, kine etc…
The savings of the people will also not be depleted: the basket and store will be plentiful. (As a side note, the word savings comes from being saved in the future by the funds or monies that have been stored away. They are used to “save” you in the day of calamity, or in the future, when you cannot work. Obviously savings are also a buffer, or a cushion, that “saves” you from the bumpy ride of anxious “day to day, paycheck to paycheck” living.)
The civilization will also be at peace with the enemies round about.
If there are enemies, they will be scattered.

There are some key statements that are not to be taken lightly and they should give encouragement to any Christian: Duet 28:8 and 28:9 : ”The Lord shall command blessing….” “The Lord shall establish thee an Holy people…”

There is also a “Great Commission” statement (verse 10) “And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee.”

The nations of the earth will be afraid to touch “The Lord's anointed.”

To sum up the blessing section of fourteen verses, economical statements of the Civilization are made. God will bless the nation so much that they shall lend to many nations. They shall be the Head, and not the tail. This civilization will rule the world in economic endeavor.

The whole 14 verse section however is framed in an interweaving theme:

If thou shalt obey ALL the Commandments and turn not to the right hand or to the left, then thou shalt be blessed.

(Now the modern Christian may be putting up shields and be saying “wait a minute: we do not live under the law, but under grace!” No one can obey the law, where are you going with this?!”
Correct, we do not live under the law. We are not living under the sanctions of the law. Christ has bought our sin. He has taken the sanctions of the law to himself. However, and this is a big however, Christ expects us to perform. In fact, Christ is our master now, and is working a work in us, called Grace, that enables us to perform. {We will be discussing grace in the future, but it is just sufficient at this time to understand, that grace is the power given by God to perform His will in the earth. In short a Christian does not live under the condemning power of the law, but is empowered by God to use the Law unto righteousness.})

To get back on track here, the first 14 verses are basically saying this:

If you obey and apply God’s Law to build a righteous civilization, then God will see to it that the righteous civilization is put it place and planted.

The rest of the chapter, however, deals with the DETAILS of not endeavoring to apply God’s Laws to build a righteous civilization.

The result is as Christ puts it “Weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth.”

The details are awful.

They seem incredible.

However, if you read them, and then look at your newspaper, you may start to see a correlate, a congruency, a pattern which you can relate to this chapter.

Death
Disease
Famine
Drought
War
Plague
Inflamation
Diseases you never heard of
Kidnapping
Oppressive slavery
Children dying
Foreigners taking over
New foreign laws
New foreign kings

I have not even begun to make a comprehensive list.

It is just, again, sufficient to say, that the American Civilization as a whole is being cut off, being disinherited, being put to death.

The question may you may be wanting to ask is:

“Why? Why is God doing this? Why is he taking away all their blessings?”

The answer really is quite practical:

Man was put here on earth to build a civilization (Gen 1:26).
When man does not build this civilization, then he builds wreckage, and carnage.
God cannot allow carnage and wreckage to continue, if God’s prime goal is Righteousness, or a God Loving, Just and Equitable Civilization.

Man must be reminded, additionally, that there are consequences for bad building practices.

In Tacoma Narrows a suspension bridge was made in 1940. The bridge that was jostled by a 40 mph wind and it started to oscillate. Before the day was out, the bridge had oscillated itself to pieces. Quite literally it was shaken like a jumping rope until all the pieces just fell off. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacoma_Narrows_Bridge)

In retrospect we would call that bridge “poorly designed.” Any bridge that cannot withstand the elements ought not to exist: it is dangerous.

I bet most people do not realize this, but the Golden Gate Bridge had the same propensity, until the bridge was fixed with a boxy undersection to bring the oscillations down to a safe level.

The point I am making is that, we as a people will not tolerate things that are unsafe. We have terms for unsafe behavior or designs: reckless, careless.

God is the same way.

We being made in the image of God, picture God by not tolerating poor design practices:

People get hurt
People could die.

God looks at civilizations that way:

A Poorly Designed (as in “not designed well”) Civilization Hurts people; Kills people.

You may say:

“Wait a minute. How can a poorly designed civilization kill people, hurt people?”

Very, very easily.

God has a terms for it:

Poor
Widows
Fatherless
Foreigners.

The poor, the widow, the fatherless and the foreigner are at a disadvantage. They do not know the ways of civilization, and thus are handicapped in their ability to build civilization.

A wicked, or an idolatrous civilization, will pick on the “less useful elements of society.”

Euthanasia and abortion are means towards eliminating the “less useful elements of society.”

In practical terms, Socialism requires the elimination of Cost and unproductive elements to succeed. Unfortunately, they end up oppressing and killing everyone in the civilization.

Socialisim in short is a Hate Mongering, Hate thy neighbor culture that preys and acts as a beast (like the beasts in the Bible) and devours all in its path.

A civilization that is not directed towards Righteousness will devour its inhabitants. They will die in their idolatries, or will be deeply hampered in their effects on the world in a positive light.

Deuteronomy 28 is the passage that most prophets hail to. Christ even hails to it in the “pay unto Ceasar that which is Ceasar and unto God that which is God’s.”

You may say: “How? Now you are off in the deep end again!”

The ultimate in curses by God on a culture are delineated in Deuteronomy 28 vs 36 “ The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.”

Christ was tying the following, Deuteronomy 4:30-31 with Deuteronomy 28:26

Deu 4:30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; Deu 4:31 (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.

Christ basically said

“ The foreign tonque called Caesar is upon you because you have rejected God and His Laws. Repent and you will be restored.”

They marveled because Christ hit the target.

They wanted to say they were being oppressed for no reason, Christ said,

“Repent of your sin, and oppression will leave.”

Deuteronomy 28 can be summated as the following:

God is in control and he will make sure that a righteous civilization is rooted in the earth with his Soveriegn Judgements.

The judgements being:

A Rooting (blessing) of a righteous civilization
And the Uprooting (Cursing) of the unrighteous civilization in the earth.

Is God Dead?

No. The nation we live in is being judged.

The trouble is that many believe that America is being judged, but they believe that Christ will be coming soon to save us from this problem.

The Bible does not hold to this view of life.

Christ is not going to come and take away all pain and suffering. In fact Christ basically says that “ I must needs go away, but none of you asks why?”

The why, is because we would rather have Christ solve all our problems. The fact that Christ had to leave in a ship to get away from the Mulititude of 5000 that were just fed bares testament to the fact that Christ was NOT here to feed the mulititudes Permanantly.

The Holy Spirit was being sent to Convict the world that there is a building program to be completed. Christ and the Holy Spirit work together to accomplish this work.

Psalm 2 demonstrates what the Lord – Christ is doing with the nations:

Kiss the Son lest he be angry and ye perish from the way, when His anger is kindled but a little.
Christ is serious about planting a Righteous Civilization in the earth.

So is God dead?

Certainly not, Christ’s Resurrection secures that He has the rightful Kingly authority to rule mankind, and Christ does rule through His adopted sons in the earth.

Namely, Christians represent Christ in the earth and Bind Satan and Plant Righteousness.

Righteousness: Why Christ Died, Why You Live

2007-04-12T15:56:00.000-07:00

Righteousness = ?????

During this Easter Season the remembrance of the resurrection of Christ brings to mind the deliverance from death we as Christians have in death. But I wonder do we truly understand the impact of the resurrection and how the resurrection has moved Christians to change the world.

This commentary today is about Righteousness.

You may ask, why righteousness?

Why not something more relevant like salvation, or heaven?

Why righteousness?

Righteousness is the most important pivotal point in Scripture, aside that of Christ Himself. Righteousness is the central theme of why Christ came.

In fact Christ came to secure righteousness. That means he came to make sure righteousness would continue and would abound in the earth.

That really begs the question:

What is Righteousness?

To answer that question we need to dig into how the Bible treats righteousness.

The predominant word for Righteousness in the Bible is (Strongs #H6666 ) צדקה
(tsed-aw-kaw') In a simplistic sense it means “rightness.” That by definition means that there is a system of “Rightness.”

For example, there is a proper and an improper way to live.

Thou shalt not kill, means that it is not “right” to kill your neighbor. The inverse would mean, that the “right” thing to do is make your neighbor live better. Do all in your power to help your neighbor, to get him to live more, or better.

We would say this is right. If we would sum up all the ten commandments we would say that these ten commandments represent a system of “right living.”

It is interesting to note that the Hebrew Letter Tzaddi represents the righteous ones or pursuers of justice. In fact the Psalm 119 section underneath the Tzaddi has as its predominant theme “Righteousness.”

צ TZADDI.
Psa 119:137 Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments.
Psa 119:138 Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful.
Psa 119:139 My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words.
Psa 119:140 Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it.
Psa 119:141 I am small and despised: yet do not I forget thy precepts.
Psa 119:142 Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.
Psa 119:143 Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights.
Psa 119:144 The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live.

The Psalmist denotes that “Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness” and that “the righteousness of they testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live”

The Psalmists life is characterized by understanding righteousness. When he understands righteousness, his life is fruitful.

This is key. Righteousness defines a correct way of living.

All of God’s Laws work in concert together to frame a system called Righteousness. Hence the Psalmist saying “Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful.”

Christ has an interesting way of putting righteousness in John 16 when he is talking about the Holy Spirit.

First Christ says “It is necessary that I go away…none of you asks why?”

Then Christ says “I will send you a comforter.” We know that the comforter is the Holy Spirit.

This comforter, however, will convict the world of three things:

-Sin
-Righteousness
-Judgement

If you notice, the world is going to be convicted, that means made very aware of that a change is needed in these three areas.

Righteousness, is second on the list.

Christ is going through a tally list of the three things that are needed for change both in an individual and a culture.

For a culture to change, it needs preaching. The foolishness of preaching ( I Corinthians) is the power of God (See the discussion of Power for more commentary). The preaching will convict, (or should convict because preaching is to do that), of SIN.

Sin, as the Westminster Shorter Catechism states:

“Sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the Law of God.”

The Law of God must be preached with power to convict of sin. There is no neutral ground.
- Sin is sin.

- Abortion is murder.

- Stealing is murder on the installment plan.

- Sex outside of marriage is sin. It wrecks families and people.

- Homosexuality is sin. It destroys your soul and questions God’s upright and clean system of the family.

- Taking God’s Name in vain assumes God’s System of Righteousness is ridiculous and worthy or ridicule. God will judge.

Righteousness then “Is a way of living so precious, so beautiful, so wise, so wonderful” that Christ came and Died to pay to have this system restored. (John 3:16)

The Holy Spirit is thus sent to convict the world of the missing: righteousness.

The world must be convicted that they are NOT living righteousness, they are living idolatry, or wickedness.

Judgment (See the section of judgment for a clearer understanding of judgment) is the implementation of Righteousness in the earth.

So to recap what the Holy Spirit is doing in the earth is the following:

-The Holy Spirit is sent to the world to convict the world of Sin.
-The Holy Spirit is sent to convict of righteousness.
-The Holy Spirit is sent to convict of Judgement: prince of this world is judged.

The question of the hour is HOW?

How does the spirit convict?

- Through the two swords: preaching and good works (Culture Carriers and Economic Endeavor).

This discussion however is righteousness….

Righteousness……….

What is it?

What does it mean when Christ says to John the Baptist:

Mat 3:14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?
Mat 3:15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.

What is the Psalmist contending below?

Psa 119:142 Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.

And:

Psa 119:144 The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live.

- Righteousness Exhalteth a Nation, Proverbs 14:34, but sin is a reproach to any people.

- Righteousness establishes thrones: Proverbs 16:12

- Righteousness is a very important word in the Bible. In fact Paul makes the fact that Christ died that Righteousness may be fulfilled and we are to reign here on earth in righteousness representing the will of Christ Jesus in the earth.

Rom 5:17 For if by one man's offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.

Righteousness is a word that represents the Comprehensive System of God applied to a culture. Or a Civilization that Follows Christ’s Just, Equitable, and Wise Commands, Laws and Statutes.

When Christ was saying to John the Baptist “He must needs be baptized to fulfill (mature) all righteousness”: then Christ is confirming, and establishing the need for Himself to go to the Cross.

He must needs take on the burden of the “Redeemer”, the “Christ”, so that the System of Righteousness may be matured, or brought to maturation.

This really begs the question again.

Why did Christ come?

Why did Christ die?

Why was Christ Baptized?

All sorts of questions pop out of this issue with righteousness. It is just essential at this time (we shall discuss in further details in the months ahead, Baptisms, Redemption etc..,) but today it is essential we understand Righteousness.

Righteousness is a Civilization. An upright, God Loving, God’s Law’s Loving, civilization, where neighbors love neighbors, and no one learns war anymore.

Instead of killing your neighbor, you love your neighbor, as Christ says” Love your neighbor as yourself.”

The end all be all of life is Righteousness. The Goal of Life is establishing Righteousness.

If you get up in the morning and ask the question “Why am I here?” The answer is Righteousness. I am here to establish righteousness.

As a Father, I am here to train my Children in Righteousness, and have them train their children in righteousness.

We are to understand that it is more than just mere rules. More than just being saved in Christ. Our salvation has a purpose.

Righteousness is a Civilization that must be erected in the Earth in the “Presence of my enemies (Psalm 23)”

Justice is at the heart of this Civilization, that is why Righteousness and Justice are mentioned so many times in the Psalms and throughout scripture.

Christ Rose again from the dead to show the world that He has the rightful thrown and has EARNED the right to judge the nations in righteousness. As the Song Joy to the World says “He rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove, the glories of His Righteousness, and wonders of His love.”

As Christ said “All power is given unto me: Go ye therefore and Baptise ALL nations..”

And finally Paul states in Romans

Rom 1:5 By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name.

Righteousness is the Goal. All else is Idolitry.

Swords of The Christian Culture

2007-03-21T19:16:00.000-07:00

Question:
Boy the economy is tanking. I wonder if this will lead to the one world currency? Bound to happen sooner or later.

Answer:
Our money is already controlled anyway. The Central Bank is basically a glorified mafia system.

That begs the question. Do you work with mafia types anyway?

Of course. Daniel had to work with the Mafia Types.

The rub comes when they try to push God’s system out of you.

Dan 6:5 Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the Law of his God.

The pivotal point in any Christian’s life is when they try to push the Law, or the Modus Operendie out of your life. God promises to come to your aid when this occurs.

The Christian has two swords:

The Spiritual
And the Temporal

The two are interrelated in that they both have the Law of God as the pivot point for their function.

(As a side note: the two and three structure is typical of the Two or Three witnesses the the Bible talks about. There are Two witnesses, but with in the two is a third called the Law of God)

The Spiritual Sword is Preaching.

As Paul says in Corinthians,” The Foolishness of Preaching is the Power of God.”

God is pleased to Change the world through preaching.

That is why the 10th commandment, which Paul comments on in Romans 7, is so critical.

Out of the Heart comes performance.

More in terms that you and I could understand readily:

A team full of mediocre players that has a great Team Attitude will wallop a team of professionals that are not in harmony together. Teams only work if harmony or unity is present.

God is pleased to work with the heart.
Then out of the heart comes performance.

As individuals network together, they form teams, or a unity. This unity then rises up in the face of Tyranny and forces Kings to Bend the Knee.

But that leads into the next sword: the Temporal.

Our Temporal swords are not fleshly swords.

They are the Isaiah swords beaten into plowshares. They are a well equipped, well tooled, people that manhandle those tools into productivity.

Those Oxen under the Brazen Sea are given strength, and they pull in all four directions tilling the earth as they go, preparing a field of productivity.

More specifically, the Homeschool movement is more than just people educating their kids at home. It is parents tooling their kids up to be the best productive units in society.

Wickedness cannot compete with righteousness when it comes to working. Examples of this in History are when the French government expelled the Huguenots out. The Huguenots were the MOST product MIDDLE class that France had. When they were expelled, the economy fell to the ground.

Governments all over Europe, Austria for example, IMPORTED Christians because they knew they were the most productive, and stable people in the World. The Christians helped stabilize their economy and build it up.

Many people give Constantine a hard wrap, but Constantine was educated well by his father Constantious. Constantious told Constantine that if he would STOP persecuting Christians, if he would give them protection that they would make Constantine’s Kingdom prosper.

Constantious was right. Economic prosperity and civil stability came to the Roman Empire.

And another, this time with the combined effect of both swords:

The puritan reformation in England changed the globe. The puritans became wealthy merchants (temporal swords) and forced a King to bow the knee to God.

The king wanted money.

The Puritans said, like Jacob of Old to Esau, you can have money on these conditions.

This enraged the king, and he forced a civil war. Of course he lost, and he lost his head in the process.

The point being, that the Spiritual Sword of Preaching had taken root in the Puritans. They had changed hearts.
They loved God deeply and sought to root deeply in the Earth Christ’s Kingdom Temporally speaking.
They built businesses, schools, inventors (Isaac Newton of Calculus fame was backed and put into position by Puritans), supported righteous government, they built whole new countries in America, in short, they founded a new culture.

The propelling influence that forced the Kings hand the most, was the Temporal sword, the economic prosperity of the Puritans.

If I were to say any words of comfort to you, it would be this:

God’s word does not return void. A true Christian wrestles with the will of the Lord in the Earth and seeks to implement righteousness DESPITE the curses about him.

That is the point of the whirling sea:

“Carest thou not that we parish, How can’st thou lie asleep?!”

The whirling unrest of the Cursed World about us overwhelms us.

We look at the Giants and say “No way! We are grasshoppers in their sight!”

A remnant says like Caleb of old “How can you think so wickedly. God will pave the way for us. They are bread for us! Be faithful, take the land!”

That is right, they are bread for us.

Even if their currency is One World. The problem is not them.

The problem is us.

The problem in Israel’s time was not the Giants, or the high walls. The problem was them. They would not believe God. They would not believe God and trust God enough to put His law in place.

Today the Church is in the same boat.

We do not believe God.

We prefer a theology of ease.

Christ will deliver us from this problem, just be patient.

Satan is so good at deception.

A fine line of “God will deliver us” is targeted at “No work for us to do.”

There is much work for us to do.

We have been redeemed so that we can work. Christ empowers us so that we can work. The wonder of it all is that God is pleased to use a Humble Church to blast down a massive giant.

The prophecy of Daniel comes alive when we see that Christ smashed the humanist man when he ushered in the New Covenant. The Humanist Idolatrous man is being made into powder.

His thought battle is losing, even as we speak.

The mountain, the Kingdom of God, is growing in the earth, and will fill the whole earth.

To those in Christ’s Church:

Remain faithful.
Dig back into His Law.
Read Dueteronomy 28.
Take the Law of God and Bind it about your whole ethic, as in Duet 6.
Take a bath in God’s Law, Day and Night (Psm 1).

Your whole being is consumed in following, implementing, building Righteousness, and wrecking Wickedness.

The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Knowledge: Conviction of Sin

The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom: Righteousness: The Spiritual/Temporal Civilization

The Fear of the Lord is to Hate Evil: Judgement: The King (Satan) of this world is judged: implement Christ’s civilization in the Earth.

(Derived from Proverbs and John 16)

The two swords were given to us (the Church Corporate) to use.

The sword being given to restrain evil and propel forward righteousness.

Psalm 149 Bind their Kings: this honor have all HIS saints! Praise ye the Lord!

Romans 13: Fear the power, for he beareth not the sword in vain. He is a Minister of Wrath to thee for Good!

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The Pilgrims, What Exactly Were They?

2007-03-21T16:36:00.000-07:00

The following is a commentary on the relavance of the Pilgrims and how they suffered so that we could have freedoms.

The saying of Christ comes true in the Pilgrims: "Blessed are they that are persecuted for my names sake, for theirs is the Kindgom of God."

Mayflower Compact

1620
"In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord, King James, by the Grace of God, of England, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, e&.
Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia; do by these presents, solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid; And by Virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the General good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.
In Witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord, King James of England, France and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth. Anno Domini, 1620."

The celebration of Thanksgiving Day has been lost to American Culture today. Many speak of Turkey Day, or a nice day off, especially since it falls on a Thursday, and for most makes a long weekend. The Pilgrims would be ashamed of the Culture we have today, for they sought to lay a New Culture, a culture “for our better Ordering and Preservation.”

“For our better Ordering and Preservation” was not just a bland statement of “Lets not get off the boat until we are agreed to be governed”, but a solemn Covenant between God, the King and Man. The question should be, why make such a Covenant, why go to such extremes?

To understand the answer to this question the Historical pretext of the Pilgrims should be understood.

Ever since 1517 when Martin Luther nailed the 95 Theses on the Church door, there was a power struggle between the Papacy, the Catholic Church, and Kings of all nations.

Kings had a vested interest in keeping Papal power in place because it insured the position of the King on the throne. As I Timothy 6:10 says “The Love of money is the root of all evil.” The Kings security was at stake when the Papal system was coming apart.

As a result a fire storm or as the Bible puts it in Revelation, a Thunder Clap or Thunderstorm erupted (Revelation 11:19) These thunderings, voices and earthquakes being the world shaken at its foundations by the word of God and the wars and persecutions being raged against the separation or cleansing of Christ’s Church.

This time was called the Reformation.

During the Reformation many men were raised up by God to lead the Church. Most notably Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox and others.

Because of the intense persecution from separating oneself from the Catholic Church a system of protection immerged inside of the Church. It was called Church Government.

This Church Government helped form chains of command inside the Church where people could be shuffled from one place to another, or be warned of impending doom and escape without being destroyed.

The force behind forming this Governmental System was a book, a book that sold like wildfire. In fact if one were found with this book they would be put to death.

What was this book?

The Bible?

No.

One of Martin Luther’s writings?

No.

How about John Knox?

No.

The book that shook the world and is the building stone for current governmental thought was The Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin. This book had such a profound effect on the culture at large that the French people were spearheaded into economic prosperity due to the Huguenots.

Many of the Huguenots fled to America and had descendants that impacted greatly our American Culture of the 1700’s, Paul Revere being one of them.

Because of this Book, John Knox came to Geneva and learned under John Calvin. Out of John Knox came a great revival in Scotland.

England also was penetrated with the Gospel and was reformed in her thinking. Because of the Reformation, Henry VIII caused a rift in the Catholic Church by proclaiming himself the head of the New Church, the Anglican Church or the Church of England. The Puritans were glad that the persecution of the Catholic Church was gone, but now the King was himself a persecutor. The Puritans of this era sought to purify the church, and others sought to be separated.

Because of the Purifying nature and the Separating Nature of the Christian church, Kings and queens did not look at dissenters from the True Church of England lightly. Many would have their tongue awled for preaching truth. Others would have their ears cut off for hearing truth. During the Era of Bloody Mary, Mary I, she sought to restore England back to Catholicism by putting to death over 300 good Christian men and women.

To the Puritans and the Separatists, England was no place to be. England in fact in their eyes was like Egypt. Records of this Era depict those that were fleeing to America as crossing the Red Sea to the Land given to them by God.

The Pilgrims were Separatists, and viewed the World as one that should be cleaned up. They took the Bible verse John 3:16 differently than most would today:

“For God so loved the world that he sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

To them the World was not just people. The World was all that was in it, including people, animals, governments, land and so forth. A culture is what they were seeking to erect, a culture that was governed by God’s Laws. A culture that was self-governed, a concept straight out of the Law of the Lord, with Elders who represented the will of the people, and made sure that this will was in-line with God and his intended Law-Word.

The Pilgrims thus formed the Mayflower Compact or Covenant. As our little ones learn in shorter Catechism class, “A covenant is an agreement between two or more people.” Agreements, Covenants, are what makes a Culture work together and produce.

The Pilgrims understood this concept and did not want people off running around and doing their own thing. They were to be together as a people, to be sanctioned by God as a people, and to prosper as a people.

They took Deuteronomy 28 very seriously, realizing that God would bless or sanction depending on their corporate obedience. The Mayflower Compact insured that this government would be put in place.

The Pilgrims are just one little sect of Christian people that suffered greatly through their first year. What is singularly important is that they Trusted God for their Deliverance and Guidance. They had a job to do: transform the howling wilderness into a habitable civilization, and to bring the Gospel of God to all and show that it Works. It was tough on the Pilgrims to have over 50 people die before the year was out. Tough to have the ground be as rock and not produce.

The marvel of the Pilgrims is that they Represent persistence, and endurance despite all odds. People respect that in others. That is why the Pilgrims are remembered. As Christ says ”Blessed are those that are not ashamed in me.” They were indeed Thankful when the Lord bestowed his blessing upon them by sending Squanto an English speaking Indian and giving the prosperity needed to establish a community.

The Pilgrims ran into many hardships. A good place to read more about their economic impoverishment due to bad covenants between the Shipping company and themselves can be found in a book entitled “Puritan Economic Experiments” by Gary North. This is a short book that tells in details the problems the early Puritans had when facing reality: trying to build a civilization.

And a final note, it is interesting that the Compact is also a Charter document, acknowledging that the King of England owned the land that they were going to be inhabiting. The Charter issue would foment into civil war as the King later in the 1700’s tightened the noose of control as he was trying to use the colonies, as they became, as slave institutions for the fueling of the British Empire.

Again in 1776 the Christian Church by being called the “Black Regiment” spearheaded :

The “ binding of their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;
To execute upon them the judgment written: this honor have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD. “ Psalm 149

By writing the Declaration of Independence, a document freeing themselves from the tyrannical rule of the kingdom of England.

In conclusion, do we really understand our Church History, and do we really appreciate the golden nuggets laid down by our forefathers? Do we sing “ Faith of our Fathers” on this day? Or do we relish sitting next to the fireplace eating a nice peace of pumpkin pie and saying “, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.“ Duet 8 :17

Deut 8:11 Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:
Deu 8:12 Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
Deu 8:13 And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;
Deu 8:14 Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage;
Deu 8:15 Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
Deu 8:16 Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;
Deu 8:17 And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
Deu 8:18 But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he swore unto thy fathers, as it is this day.
Deu 8:19 And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.

Theology of Earthquakes

2007-03-17T09:23:00.000-07:00

I was going over this with my kids the other night so it is relatively fresh in my mind….

Earthquakes when they show up in the Bible are designed principally as a judgement. Judgement being, according to the Hebrew word Mishphat, means to root and up root. To rip up one position and plant another.

When earthquakes show up in the Bible they are uprooting one position and planting another. A classic example is when the Lord sends an earthquake* during a battle and discomfits the enemy and roots the Israelites in victory.

The Mountain of Mount Sinai quaked and smoked. The assurance of other gods was being shredded to pieces and the new system of righteousness was being planted with the Laws of God.

When the earth quaked when Christ died on the Cross, and the curtain between the Holy of Holies was rent in two, God was displacing the Jewish system and replacing with the Messianic/Christolic system.

When the earth quaked and Paul and Silas were set free from prison, Christianity as a system was shaking the assurance of the whole jail. They were singing and praising God and suddenly an earthquake rent the whole jail to pieces. That day the jailer and his family were baptized and became part of the kingdom of God.

When Wycliffe was before the interrogating Catholic council and was about to be pronounced to be burnt at the stake, God sent an earthquake and shook the whole assembly. The council fled the building and John Wycliff was acquitted and set free.

Earthquakes are designed to shake the false systems of thought and idolatry, and provide a path for the righteous to walk through.

Just as the walls of Jericho fell, it has been determined by John Garstang, that the walls fell outward in an earthquake. Even close inspection of the ruins reveals that the foundations became top heavy and fell over. This phenomenon is the result of Liquifaction, a condition where the soil becomes like liquid due to severe shaking during an earthquake.

John Garstang (1876-1956, The Story of Jericho)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Garstang

Another site on Jericho:

http://www.varchive.org/ce/jericho.htm

Proof Texts:

Hag 2:6 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;

Hag 2:7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.

Heb 12:27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Heb 12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

Heb 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.

In the text below from Samuel, the Lord sent them a GREAT Thunder. Thunders shake the earth much like earthquakes.

1Sa 7:10 And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel.

You may wonder what that has to do with you and me?

The Christian should be encouraged when he ponders the God of Scripture and realize that God is by you and with you in your walk in the earth.

It may seem that the walk is perilous.

It may seem that the Giants are just too big.

It may seem that the evil in the world is just too overwhelming. But, God promises to stand by those who stand by him: I will not leave you or forsake you.

The Theology of Earthquakes should encourage us that God is shaking the nations. He is shaking their assurance system. He is shaking them to winnow out the good from the bad.

Despite ourselves, God will show his glory in the Earth, using His church as the principle agent, or means of accomplishment. Those who stand for Righteousness (An upright, holy and just civilization and desire to implement this in this earth), God will stand by them, and shake the nations into conformity.

Have a blessed day, and remember, Christ is the King of the Nations, and the desire of all nations shall come to Him.

Merry Christmas?

2005-12-28T07:56:00.000-08:00

Christ: Prophet, Priest, King. What is Christ All About?

As the Christmas season comes upon us, many are concerned we are losing Christ in Christmas. The signs all say X-mas, as if Christ has been cut out of Christmas. Most understand the basics, Christ was born (supposedly) during this season. Wise men came bearing gifts and therefore we give. Or more specifically we give because he gave to us Salvation.

The object of this discussion today is to elevate the vision, to set the sights on the real calling of Christmas.

I have been over the past year studying the Messiah. Handel’s Messiah that is. What an outstanding work! I would Highly recommend listening to every song in details. What a marvel of scripture and music! Words cannot describe in adequate applause the outstanding work done by George Frederick Handel.

The Messiah starts out in the Old Testament hailing the prophets proclaiming the coming of the Messiah. The rest of the work flows through Christs birth, his work, his death, his resurrection and finally his Kingly reign.

Most of us do not realize that the Halleujah Chorus, is not directly related to Christmas, or is it? (We shall discuss this later…) The Hallelujah Chorus is about Christ reigning. It is the finale' of the Psalm 2 oratoria. Examine Psalm 2:

Psa 2:7 I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
Psa 2:8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the
uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Psa 2:9 Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
Psa 2:10 Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
Psa 2:11 Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Psa 2:12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

The confusion today in Christendom is:

What did Christ exactly do?
What is he exactly doing?

The response would be: Christ saved us from our sins. He prays for us in heaven so that we will safely get there.

The question I ask myself is:

If Christ is a King, how does saving us from our sins fit in the picture?
How does praying that we safely get to heaven exactly glorify Christ?

In the Old Testament, there are a lot of pictures that many acknowledge point to Christ.

Sacrifices point to the lamb, Christ.
The Temple points to Christ.
Christ even says the temple is himself.

What does pointing to Christ mean?

We often take for granted the name of something, especially in the Bible. When Adam named the animals, they were not just names, they were reflections of Character. The same goes for Christ.

Jesus means “The Lord Saves.”
Messiah means “The Anointed One.”
Christ (Christos) means “The Anointed one”

What I see at first glance is Jesus Christ is a King and Priest.

When we look in the scriptures (Isaiah 9:6-7) we see Christ is more than just that he is the:
Wonderful Counselor
The Prince of Peace
The Mighty God
The Everlasting Father
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end
Upon the Thrown of David
Upon His Kingdom
To order it
Establish it with judgment and with justice
Forevermore
The Zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this

What most of us get out of Christ is:
That he came,
He died
He rose
Went to heaven
Prays for us so that we get into heaven
Prays that we will not get consumed by the Devil.

History to me tells a different story.

History is something, that most of us grew up with a groan. 1066 Battle of Hastings, so what! 1215 Magna Carta, big deal. 1776 Declaration of Independence, yeah yeah…!

That is a sad commentary when looking at these dates. It may surprise you that Christ is in these dates. Yes, Christ has a hand in these dates.

Christ’s hidden hand facilitated these dates. Not just the date, the details of the dates.

How?

Lets back up the truck into the Old Testament and see what the Messiah was intended to be.

We have already said that the temple pointed to Christ.

What I vaguely said is that “Pointed to Christ” means: it pointed to Christ’s Works or Labors.

The Temple is a picture of Christ’s Final Work. Just as Creation was made in six days by Christ’s words, so the Temple is the picture of what was to occur in History (the rest of the six days). When all is fulfilled, then it will be the final Sabaath: rest in the earth.

The particulars of the Temple in minute details include the following:

Bronze Sea
Two Pillars
Yachin
Boaz
Ark of the Covenant
Gold Shields
Pomegranets
Lampstands

This is just a partial list that I chose to make some points as to a “World View” that the Temple was picturing.

The Bronze Sea is a peculiar vessel. Being quite large, it had four sets of oxen pointing in the four directions of the compass, North, South, East and West. The sea itself because of its nature was like a big calm pool. It was still, not full of waves.

The picture of the Sea is the world. In the Psalms it speaks of the wicked nations as being like the troubled sea that kicks up mire and dirt. The sea is calm, much like Christ’s picture in the New Testament of “Peace, be still.” The oxen represent investment or intensive capital investment. Instead of having Horses and Chariots and Warriors underneath the sea, the sea is being supported by intensive capital enterprise.

The two pillars that supported nothing but stood in front of the Temple, prior to your entrance to the temple had names that meant something:

Boaz: Strength
Yachin: It is established

As in the Isaiah 9 passage, the Zeal of the Lord is represented in these Pillars. The Lord is from everlasting to everlasting, He has no beginning and no end. He has established the foundations of the world with wisdom (Job). The coarse of events being portrayed in the Temple were to the mind of the viewer were Established, like a pillar not to be moved, with strength by the hidden hand of the Lord.

I could go into more details about the rest but it is sufficient to say that the Shield represent the kingdoms being converted in Golden splendor to obey in their Sanctioning capacity Christ. All nations will love and obey Christ in their law systems. The Ark of the Covenant represents the means, God’s Law. The pomegrantes represent the abundant blessing attended to the Peace being brought to the Kingdom.

Christ is the King, the Annointed one. In His Priestly office, he has cleaned us up and presents us as living sacrifices to perform the work being represented in the Temple. Namely, cleaning up the world.

The key to cleaning up the world is wrapped up in all three offices, the prophet, the priest and the king.
The Prophet, through the church, reveals the hidden hand of the Lord in All creation and that violation of His Law begets death from God as a Divine sanction. Obedience and application of his Laws with cheerful hearts begets blessing or as Christ states “abundance.”

The priestly office of Christ is peformed by his Church as individuals in the Church clean up the world in economic enterprise. Namely free Market Economics solves peoples problems on magnitude hardly imaginable. (How many solutions to problems exists today which did not exist 100 years ago?) The solutions to problems is the cleaning effect.

The Peace to the world is one that is lost today. What is Peace?

Peace is the abatement of the Curse. The Curse, being a comprehensive judgment from God for the abdication of righteous dominion, by the first Adam. When the angels spoke of “Glory to God in the Highest and on Earth peace good will toward men.”, the peace and good will is the abatement of the Curse and the abundance that come with it.

Peace, however, is only attained by Righteous Dominion. And Righteous Dominion comes only through the comprehensive cleaning of the Culture Carriers. The Prime culture carrier being Christ’s Body, his Church. Out of the Church come precedence or Law Systems that rule society in the rest of the Culture Carriers (to list just a few):

Government
Education
Technology
Media
Arts
Entertainment

The Kingly Rule of Christ comes first in the submission of the shields, the Governments of ALL nations, to the Law of the Lord.

History has been a self fulfilling prophecy of Psalm 149

“To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people
To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron;
To execute upon them the judgment written:
this honor have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD. “

What is 1066 “The Battle of Hastings” have to do with Christ? Everything. Because of the Church’s rejection of Christ’s Law word from Alfred the Great 200 years prior, God sent the foreign tonque written of if Duet 28 to chastise the nation. (Be wise or ye Kings, kiss the Son lest he be angry and ye perish from the way. Psm 2)

It was not until 1215 in Magna Carta that the princes and nobles got together and made a covenant (a binding: covenant means binding in Hebrew) to hold down King John from ravaging the people.

1776 was nothing more than a Covenant of rejection from a King who was Tyranical. A King had a kingdom called America and Lost it to Christ! Be wise or ye Kings!

In the year 2005 we sit in the wrestles sea of turmoil.

War in Iraq
Communist North Koreans threatening the world at large
Muslims threatening the peace of the world
Christ is X- out of Christmas and replaced with an idol called Santa, or as many today are trying, a Happy Holiday.

Again, another day off, a blessing to ride on and enjoy it seems.

What is God doing? Where is Christ in all this?

Psalm 2 Why do the heathen rage? Why do the people imagine a vain
thing? He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall
have them in derision. He shall dash them in peaces like a potters
vessel.

The answer: Our inheritance is being given to another. China looms on the horizon. A foreign tongue whom thou knowest not shall rule over thee. (Duet 28) Thou shalt be the tail and not the head (Duet 28).

Christ is ruling over us. We just will not advance His kingdom. We reject His Law in many churches as being Old Testament. We go to Church to be saved. Saved for What?! Our neighbor lies in the gutter (abortion) and we hang onto Holidays as precious jewels of family life. God will dash these things to pieces if we will not stand up and build something in the earth. If all we are building for ourselves, a nice family, a nice church, a nice business, a nice community, we are lost as a nation. Christ will wipe the slate clean and start with another.

Christmas should be a time of reflection. Why did Christ die? He died that we may have life, and make the world have life through our comprehensive cleansing of the world through Culture Carriers and Economic endeavor.

Are we guiding our Families, our Churches, our Governments, our Nation towards God’s Righteous Civilization or are we riding along for the ride, and hope to stop in the end in heaven?

Beware of Christ’s words in the end

“Well done thou good and faithful servant, enter into eternal rest.”

Will we be doing, or sitting?

If we repent as a nation, all is not lost. We should be up and doing. Not up and sitting!

2Ch 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.