Jesus

Troubleshooting Christianity

Ken

“That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth” (Philippians 2:10 KJV). Evangelical Christianity still believes Jesus is the essence of all True Religion, and “no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6). Sinners are still repenting. Disciples are being baptized. But, converts are leaving through the back door, when the motions of social church life become a disciplined but slow grind of attempting to live life in the face of all the pressures any person has, coupled with the special demands of disciples trying to propagate their faith. 

Just as insects develop a resistance to pesticides, Professed Christianity seems to have developed a resistance to Jesus. Is that really possible? Actually, no, but our understanding and presentation of Jesus as the answer to everything necessitates a Spirit taught awareness of… 

Who is Jesus? 

First, the Spirit of God has the unique place of revealing Jesus to everyone, especially to His disciples. “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me” (John 15:26). “Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come” (16:13). 

Second, the centrality of Christ to both our physical and spiritual existence, gives us absolute dependence upon Him. Our physical existence: “And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist” (Colossians 1:17). Our physical sustenance: “But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). Our spiritual sustenance: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13). 

Third, our necessity of Spirit inspired action is not well known, understood, or appropriated. Disciples have been commanded to make disciples of all nations “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19). And, we have been commanded to teach others to obey Christ. “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:20). However, if we simply assume, we will obey because we choose to obey, then we are likely to assume our obedience is due to our good intentions resulting in our obedience. Yet, we have been plainly made aware, our obedience is due to God inspiring us to obey, i.e., “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). 

A- The whole purpose of the New Covenant was to give us God’s Spirit to indwell us to inspire us to obey Him. “And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them” (Ezekiel 36:27).

B-  The first sermon of the New Covenant was Peter explaining what we must do to receive God’s Spirit. “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38). 

C- We were then reminded, The Holy Spirit is given to them that obey Him, i.e., obedience to the command to repent and be baptized (2:38). “And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey Him” (Acts 5:32).

Fourth, we should obey God and require others to obey God; but, our complete expectation of anyone’s obedience — self included — is God’s faithfulness through His Spirit. “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain” (Psalm 127:1). Again, our expectation is of God. “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from Him” (Psalm 62:5). 

Fifth, Christ is our Preeminent Paradoxical Example as Almighty God, yet truly the Son of Man. “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps” (1Peter 2:21). Christ’s perfection is to be imitated, though we are too often prone to sinning. “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Thessalonians 5:23). Faith is required (John 3:18; 1John 3:23), yet faith is a gift (Ephesians 2:8). Repentance is required (Acts 26:20 NIV), yet repentance is a gift (2Timothy 2:25). “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work” (John 5:17). 

Sixth, Jesus is our All-In-All Salvation. “God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Thessalonians 5:9). He is our Justification (Romans 3:24). He is our Sanctification (Acts 26:18). He is our Glorification (1John 3:2). Significantly, all the different relations of Christ to the Believer are also proofs of His Divinity and essential unity with the Almighty.  

A- Good Shepherd. Yahweh is not simply a shepherd for His people, but He is the Shepherd of Israel. “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1). Christ’s claim to be the keeper of His sheep made Him the keeper of my soul. Anyone claiming this priority makes Himself God and becomes responsible for my spiritual preservation. “11 I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth His life for the sheep. 28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. 29 My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father’s hand. 30 I and My Father are one” (John 10:11, 28-30). Guidance and shepherding are ours, if we are His sheep. 

B- Door. The point of entry into the Kingdom of God is Jesus. Whatever is the entry controls who is allowed entrance. God is the Gatekeeper. “I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture” (John 10:9). We forget that entry is a privilege and can be denied — for our own good. “All that ever came before Me are thieves [by night] and robbers [by day]: but the sheep did not hear them” (10:8). Entry and protection are ours, if we are numbered among those who trust Him. 

C- Way of Salvation. Christians were early known as followers of the Way (Acts 19:28), since Jesus declared Himself “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). The definite article “the” identifies Jesus as the unique way to God. Giving Jesus the saving attributes belonging only to Yahweh makes Jesus God — and, necessitates our understanding of the Trinity. Understanding Jesus’ uniqueness makes our clinging to Him in faith a single mindedness toward our salvation. 

D- The Truth. The tendency for everything to point to Jesus as the equal of the Almighty was understood by the Son of Man. “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me” (John 5:39). And, of course then, Jesus is “the truth” (14:6), to the aggravation of the skeptic. Either, everything points to Jesus as God, who is our Truth, or nothing does. 

E- The True Light. God is the essence of True Light. “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). Even physical light has a connection to God, who is a spiritual, non-material being. “This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all” (1John 1:5). Everything we identify with physical light corresponds to the True Spiritual Light, e.g., illumination, clarity, discernment. The Creator is the only being capable of manifesting all the essential characteristics of light. Humanity’s capacity to sense God’s spiritual presence results from God’s illumination of all mankind, so that we “are without excuse” (Romans 1:20) for rejecting Him. “That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9). When we come into the New Birth, we are in the presence of the True Light. “Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in Him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth” (1John 2:8). 

Seventh, being led by the Spirit is not optional, but Is a characteristic of the Children of God. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14). Tenderness or sensitivity to the leading of God’s Spirit is an unavoidable consequence of True Godliness, which separates Mainstream Christianity from New Testament Christianity. 

What happens when we are instructed, “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Romans 8:13)? 

A- We make up our mind to “mortify the deeds of the body” (8:13), which is understandable.  

B- We pray that God’s Spirit would indeed “mortify the deeds of the body” (8:13), which is appropriate. 

C- We expect that the Holy Spirit will “mortify the deeds of the body” (8:13), which He must. 

D- We, too often, do not wait upon the LORD to fulfill His Word to “mortify the deeds of the body” (8:13), which is impatient, shortsighted, and tragic. 

E- We, run the risk of becoming shipwrecked in our walk, if the Spirit of God does not “mortify the deeds of the body” (8:13). 

F- We, however, have the potential of achieving the satisfying consistency of living the life of Christ because the Holy Spirit does “mortify the deeds of the body” (8:13). 

G- We may actually achieve the Spiritual Ecstasy of a Normal Christian Life, when the Holy Spirit does “mortify the deeds of the body” (8:13). “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out” (Romans 11:33). 

Heavenly Father, everything we do is under Your watch care. We can see how You have been developing our understanding of how we are to live the life of Christ here below, while we wait for His soon appearing. Grant to us the understanding, faith, patience, and overcoming that gives You the glory for everything achieved in our lives. Teach us to wait on You. Grant Jerusalem Your peace. Lord Jesus, return quickly. In Your name, we pray. Amen and amen.

Ordinary People

Ken

What does “ordinary people” mean? We want the happiness of people needing people, but we fall prey to enshrining the needs of someone other than God as the bedrock of our happiness. “Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD” (Psalm 144:15 KJV). We live in exceptional times, or as Charles Dickens wrote, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” in A Tale of Two Cities (1859). Our sense of “happiness” and “ordinary people” must be tied to the LORD, for Hollywood’s “Ordinary People” (1980) or Broadway’s “People” (1964) [“needing people”] are only a facsimile of the truly blessed people Jesus described. “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). These are the ordinary people, who are the happiest people on earth. Only when our heartfelt sympathy is defined by the LORD, then Charles Dickens’ Sydney Carton’s sacrifice for the happiness of another becomes at all significant. “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done.” LORD, may our motivation and aspiration be of Thee, and may the world receive the benefit. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

False Prophet: Beast Out of the Earth (Revelation 13:11)

Ken

Appearing with the religious character of a lamb, the False Prophet (Revelation 19:20) speaks like the devil, and he is no different from the Antichrist. “And I beheld another [Greek, allos, another of the same kind] beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon” (Revelation 13:11 KJV). He purposely directs the worship toward the Antichrist (13:12), who the world knows is empowered by the dragon (13:4). How could religion be used so zealously against the righteous? Christianity began with the martyrdom of Jesus at the hands of the unbelieving Jews. Yet, Judaism continues to be the root of the tree. “For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?” (Romans 11:15). Typically, a prophet comes before in order to introduce the one appointed to receive the attention, just as John the Baptist came before Jesus of Nazareth. It should not surprise us to find a religious figure prior to the Tribulation with deep ties to historic anti-christianity, which especially depicts the adulteress character of the Thyatiran Church Age (representative of the center and bulk of Church History), who could answer to the description, the False Prophet (Revelation 16:13). This False Prophet would be active long before the Antichrist ascends to the throne of the World Temple in the middle of the Tribulation Week. Father, Your Son taught us to be “wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16). Cause us to be those doves, as we advocate for Your Son. Cause the sting of the enemy’s objection to be thwarted by the power of Your Spirit blessing the message, preserving the messenger, but, most of all, justifying You. Return quickly, in Jesus’ name, we pray, amen. 

Explanation: Name of Jesus

Ken

The name of Jesus is powerful because Jesus saves us from the sin separating us from God, whose holiness frees us from the sin separating us from Jesus. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12 KJV). The adversary hates the name of Jesus both because he loses followers, and he can no longer be saved from his own sins. Jesus, meaning ‘Jehovah is salvation,’ seeks to “save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). OT Israel had a limited view of salvation for the gentile world, just as the NT church has a limited view of salvation as only delivering us from the penalty of sin, but not from the necessity of having to sin. “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1Thessalonians 5:23). The “name of Jesus”: (1) is essential to “receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38), (2) was used for a lame man to “rise up and walk” (3:6), (3) was proclaimed, taught, spoken, and “preached boldly” by early disciples (4:10, 18; 5:40; 8:12; 9:27), and (4) was used to command a demon out of a fortune teller, “in the name of” (16:18). Why such critical importance for the “name of Jesus”?  Because Jesus is the tip of the spear, the point of the arrow, the edge of the knife that defeats our true “adversary the devil” (1Peter 5:8), who tempts us to sin. But, of more importance, Jesus has promised to save us from ourselves. “He will turn again, He will have compassion upon us; He will subdue our iniquities; and Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19). Either sin separates us from God or God separates us from sin. LORD, You are the God of Salvation, who is able to save “to the uttermost” them that come to You through the name of Jesus (Hebrews 7:25). We do not want to waste our time with gods many and lords many, but only You. “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11). In Jesus name, we pray. Amen and amen. 

With Malice Toward None

Ken

“With charity toward all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nations wounds.” During the American Civil War, these were the words of President Abraham Lincoln in his March 4, 1865 Second Inaugural Address, about a month before Lee’s surrender at Appomattox and 41 days before his assassination. Charitable love must be the foundation of civilization and law, or we will descend into tyranny and despotism. “Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked Him a question, tempting Him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:35-40 KJV).

Asking God As Friend

Ken

We come to God in the first place because He is our Father, but we are emboldened to pray because He is our Friend. Friends help friends. “And He said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves” (Luke 11:5 KJV). We know that our Friend is well able to give us what we need because He is God Almighty. Even Jesus made it clear we are His friends. “Ye are My friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:14). Here, prayer graduates to intercession for others. 

It Really Is All About Jesus

Ken

Everyone needs Jesus. “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” (1Timothy 1:15 KJV). But, only the Holy Spirit will ever truly convince us that we really do need Jesus. “When He [Holy Spirit] comes, He will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because people do not believe in Me [Jesus]; about righteousness, because I am going [ascending back] to the Father, where you can see Me no longer” (John 16:8-10 NIV). 

Happiness Is A Choice

Ken

Happiness is a personal choice, but only Yahweh can persuade and aid us at being so blessed. “Kiss the Son [Messiah, Christ], 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” (Psalm 2:12 KJV). In both Hebrew and Christian Scriptures “blessed” and “happy” are translation equivalents. Bless us, O LORD, and we shall be blessed. Amen and amen. 

Vindication of Wisdom

Ken

“Wisdom is justified of all her children” (Luke 7:35 KJV). When Solomon proposed cutting an infant in half to satisfy the parental claims of two prostitutes (1Kings 3) or Jesus answered the resurrection denying Sadducees (Matthew 22), we miss the point, if we credit skill, diplomacy, or astute knowledge to their success. Wisdom flowing only from God can answer all of humanity’s unanswerable questions. “Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God” (Matthew 22:29 KJV).

A Reasonable God

Ken

“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18 KJV). We are relieved to hear God announce His willingness to reason with us. If He was more harshly inclined, we wouldn’t be able to enjoy this opportunity to seek His better side. Just as gravity pulls our bodies down, our selfish actions push us away from God. Thank God, Jesus invited us, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28 KJV).