TruthInvestigate

“Oh, the unspeakable greatness of that exchange,—the Sinless One is condemned, and he who is guilty goes free; the Blessing bears the curse, and the cursed is brought into blessing; the Life dies, and the dead live; the Glory is whelmed in darkness, and he who knew nothing but confusion of face is clothed with glory.”

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Location: Kingsland, Georgia, United States

A person God turned around many times.

Monday, March 20, 2017

An overview of my new book

I wrote a post on Monday, December 08, 2014. The title was, The Seven Trumpets and The Investigative Judgment. It was a brief overview of my recent book, ISBN-13: 9781479605026. I had hoped the book would come out soon after that blog post. I submitted the manuscript a couple days before Christmas 2014, but it took another two years before the book was truly ready for publishing. Each time I looked at it after submission I could not publish it like it was. So, after much editing and moving whole paragraphs and sections of chapters around (and continued extra costs), the book came out a couple of weeks ago.

So I want to give another brief overview in case anyone out there might want to read the book. It is in print now, and soon will come out in e-book form.

So, without further adieu…

Introduction
Revelation chapter 4 through 11 form the core storyline of the book of Revelation. The chapters that follow chapter 11 are brought in to expand and to add more details. The seals and trumpets are not optional to understand Revelation, they form the vital center of the last book of the Bible.

Chapter 1: Revelation chapter 4
The throne of God before sin began. The praises to God concern creation only, and no mention is made of a Redeemer.

Chapter 2: Revelation chapter 5
Sudden change in the angelic atmosphere of heaven. It’s the same picture of the throne of God, except God has a book (scroll) sealed up so tightly that only the crucifixion of Christ could open it. This book is the great controversy, the accusations against God and the issues over God’s Law. God is on trial. Has He been the proper leader? Has His government offered the best for the greatest happiness of the kingdom.

Chapter 3: Revelation chapter 6
The Lamb takes the seals off of the book, one at a time. Before the 7th seal is removed we see a scene of Christ’s second coming. This was not the actual return of Christ—it was the global Advent movement of the 1830s and early ‘40s. But, the people were not ready for His coming. Before He can return, His people must be sealed. The sealing will be the necessary preparation for the day of His visitation of judgments.

Chapter 4: Revelation chapter 7
This chapter introduces the sealing. That is such a major issue that it puts unsealing the sealed book pageant on pause to explain who will stand when the Lamb comes and who will run in abject fear. The answer is: Whoever gets the seal in the conscience will go with Jesus and leave this doomed world. And this chapter gives the first picture of how happily the great controversy will end.

Chapter 5: Revelation chapter 8
After the chapter 7 intermission, we need to come back to where we were when the 6th seal closed. So, the Lamb removes the 7th seal. The sanctuary scene that follows is connected with the 7th seal. Since the 6th seal ended and the seal of God is shown ascending from the east in 1844, then, chapter 8 picks up after the foretaste of all the happy celebration throughout eternity. Silence divides the chapter 7 intermission from the sanctuary scene; it separates the previous rejoicing at the end of the controversy from the solemn events to follow in order to set up a new mindset in the reader. It is a reminder that our celebration is promised, but not yet ours to have. We are the church militant that must first endure the rigors of the trumpet dangers yet to come. Through a special dispensation of faith by an abundant gift of His Spirit, Jesus gives us a way of escape in the Latter Rain, so that we are able to endure the great time of trouble.

The Angel High Priest is in the Holy Place, ready to enter the Most Holy. But, first He casts His censer to the earth and the 1st trumpet blows. We can say that the 1st trumpet is connected with the previous sanctuary scene because the contents of the censer and His blood are what fall from the sky onto the earth during the 1st trumpet. The contents damage “the third part” of the trees and all the fields of grain. This signified God’s overthrow of the denominations and the worst of the Protestants, which rejected the plain truth of the blessed hope of Jesus’ return. The Bible often compares people to trees and grain.

The 2nd trumpet blew and Mt. Sinai is quenched showing the churches’ abrogating the Law of God. Now most of the Protestants had no protection from Satan’s spells.

So, the 3rd trumpet blew and Satan is seen poisoning their hearts and minds, their whole way of viewing this world and the providences of God. Faith, true, genuine faith is gone from every American who remained in the new lawless Protestantism. Now that God is fictionalized by their rejection of His Law, this world is all that most of them can live for.

The 4th trumpet blew and the Sunday churches went totally dark spiritually, as institutions. But, the door of heaven was still open to them individually. Scriptures show that the darkened spheres of light symbolize that the Bible is no longer understood by Protestantism, and its central importance is lost. Now that Protestant America has lost its only resource for a spiritual compass in God’s word, an angel flies alarming the world of the three woes that come with the last three trumpets.

Chapter 6: Revelation chapter 9
The 5th trumpet blew. God looses Satan to ransack Protestantism and bring it and the world it that has blessed into subjection to the powers of hell. Every Protestant not being sealed, especially in Protestant America, is tormented with the same vexation of spirit that Solomon and King Saul experienced when they apostatized from the Lord. Moses forewarned of this for the whole nation in his curses of Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28, 29. Specifically, Deuteronomy 29:18-22 speaks to this 5th trumpet, as does Revelation 14:9-11. In fact, the 3rd angel’s message is all about the 5th and 6th trumpet plagues; the components of those two trumpets make up the message of the 3rd angel of Revelation 14—the torment and desolation of soul that comes from not getting to know Jesus and not taking God seriously, preparing for His judgment and final return.

The ancient false religion that caused such havoc to Israel was Baal worship. But, Baal worship was simply one face of thousands of false religions around the ancient and modern world, all spawned from Babylon. It is a religion that dares to approach God with the worshipers’ own contrived repentance and holiness. The modern counterpart of this is Spiritual Formation. In Spiritual Formation the reproofs of the Law, which bring us to need a Savior from sin, are set aside. Before Christ can be a Savior, He must be a Prince who wields His glittering sword. God will have it no other way. But, Satan, stepping in between God and His people, offers a more comfortable redemption, without the messy humbling which God requires. By peace and flattery he has destroyed many from the days of Cain, and now he is doing the same in the Advent movement. We are repeating the history of Israel at Baal-peor, and many Adventists are falling for it, including many of our leaders. This is the message of the 3rd angel and it speaks of the 5th and 6th trumpet plagues.

The language of the 3rd angel’s message comes from the 5th and 6th trumpets—another reason to believe that the trumpets happen during the heaven-ordained Advent movement and investigative judgment that precede the antitypical Day of atonement.

It only makes sense that all the trumpets should blow during the Advent movement, since the typical feast of trumpets was connected with the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary. There is a time period with the 5th trumpet—5 prophetic months, 150 years. I realize Ellen White made it seem to say that there would be no more time prophecies after 1844. I believe she only communicated what Jesus wanted her to give us at the time. If we had known we would be here for 150 years we would have apostatized into pagan celebration a long time ago.

One thing is very clear, Revelation 9:4 (the 5th trumpet) and 7:3 (1844) are unarguably speaking of the same thing—the seal of God in the forehead. So, my conclusion is that Revelation 7:3 introduces the sealing, and 9:4 explains how it is received. Sr. White wrote volumes on every other subject, while she wrote almost nothing about the trumpets, because Jesus gave her no light on the trumpets. The time must wait until the prophecy was over before its meaning would come to light. That time has arrived. I believe that the 5th trumpet began as we were hammering out our fundamental beliefs in the Sabbath conferences. In 1849, the California Gold Rush altered the face of Protestant America. In 1999, 150 years later, another gold rush occurred—the stock market gold rush of the late 90’s. These two events are the bookends for the 5th trumpet.

In between those years technology exponentially developed and drew the world-loving Protestant multitudes permanently away from God and His Law. And that separation has tormented them like Jesus was on the cross because His Father had left Him. During those 5 prophetic months, the Spirit of God had been leaving Protestant America and Satan had been moving in to fill the void. Largely through the earthly agencies of Rome and her Jesuit masters of deception temptations have stolen all the freedom and happiness that the original Reformers gave Protestant Americans. The Jesuits and the Vatican are the locusts of the 5th trumpet (they are called “the beast” in Revelation 11). Satan, propelling them across the land, is the black smoke.

The 6th trumpet blew. Now that Americans have departed from God and lived on His promised land of refuge without a single thought of Him, He allows for their complete possession by the god they love so much. As the 10 tribes of Israel lived for Baal for 200 years until the Lord vomited them out of His land, so is He doing to Protestantism today. Soon, and very soon, Protestantism’s old enemy of the Dark Ages will have conquered this nation by filling the leading offices of their CIA, FBI, NSA, FDA, FEMA, AMA, Jesuit controlled media, Federal Reserve banking system, and three branches of the U.S. Government. I won’t be surprised if the Vatican initiates the official desolation of free America as Protestantism is ended. By a united, official declaration and documentation, the union of church and state will happens at Protestantism’s 500 anniversary— Halloween 2017.

In the 6th trumpet, the locusts can do what they were forbidden to do during the 5th trumpet, that is, “kill” the soul. All of their torment until 1999 came from the work of separating the people from the one true God of their Reformation fathers. Now that the denominations are fully separated from the God of the Bible, they commit the unpardonable sin and become a persecuting nation. This explains the unjust destruction of Muslims based on the phony premise that Islamists caused the black flag operation of 9/11. All the evidence of 9/11 points to specially placed and protected individuals within American government agencies, who choreographed 9/11 under the purview of Rome. (Dan. 8:12).

9/11 has set the stage for the coming tribulation of all nations. We are in the very end of time. God has just about finished His scattering of the power of the holy people (Dan. 12:7).

When the 7th trumpet will blow, the 3rd woe will mean total world domination by Satan and his filling every heart with his mean anger. Then, the few who took God and His Law and His redemption seriously will stand out from the demon-controlled crowds. Everyone who played off the Spirit of Prophecy as unneeded during the 5th and 6th trumpets God will require it of them in the 7th trumpet.

Chapter 7: Revelation chapter 10
This chapter begins to show glory at the end of the long, dark, distressing tunnel. It opens during the unconscionable desolations by the conscienceless world of the 6th trumpet. Christ is seen clothed with a cloud of incense and glory. The little sealed book (scroll) which He took from His Father in Revelation chapter 5 is now opened after the trumpets have done their work of scattering the power of faith in His Protestant people (which includes the SDAs, as seen in Revelation 11). Christ roars like a lion because His forbearing work as Lamb is finished and it’s time to judge the world, and to end the controversy. With infinite thunder, God agrees with His Son.

So, He swears by His Father that the delay of the 6th seal is completed—the sealing is almost finished—and He can finally come in power and glory. But, first He will give humanity one last opportunity to be saved, as He gave the antediluvian world. He commands John to eat the book of the great controversy and to “prophesy again.” But, if we use scripture to interpret scripture, then this is not speaking of the Millerite Great Disappointment of 1844; it is speaking of an event within the final chapter of the seal/trumpet chronology.

When do we see any prophesying taking place since Revelation chapter 4? We don’t see any up to Revelation chapter 10. But, we do see it in the next chapter, almost immediately following the command in chapter 10 to prophesy again. We see it in Revelation chapter 11.

Chapter 8: Revelation chapter 11
This chapter ends the seal/trumpet story that is the core of Revelation. The chapter introduces its intent to judge the church by John being given a measuring rod. The church is found guilty of apostasy, except for a very small remnant that defends the truth “in the days of their prophecy” (Rev. 11:6). That very small remnant sweeps through 2,000 years to include the apostles, the church in the wilderness, and the Reformation. The fire of truth shoots out of the mouths of God’s champions and devours the enemies of His gospel. This campaign against Satan continues successfully until 1849 when the hosts of darkness fly out of an opened bottomless pit. Then, the Lord’s witnesses are warred against, later overcome, and eventually cease their prophesying. This point in the lengthy prophecy is where the Revelation 10 scene occurs. Thus, it is time to prophesy again.

Satan cannot immediately kill the Advent movement while Ellen White lives. But, he first makes war (also seen in Rev. 12:17), then he overcomes, and finally he kills the Advent movement. We lay dead in the aisles of the church for a period of time that figuratively expresses judgment on God’s people (Luke 4:25; Jas. 5:17). Then, when God has accomplished our total humbling and all of our self-sufficiency is gone, then He resurrects His two witnesses (a leaner Advent movement), gives them the Latter Rain, and the earth is reaped. This ends the 2nd woe, and the 7th trumpet blows. Total chaos rules the world and the last we see is an empty Most Holy Place in heaven because Christ has left there to come and get His people. The mystery of God’s character of love and fairness, as written in the little book, is finished. His judgment is finished, and He is exonerated by His character perfectly reflected in His children.

This ends the core of Revelation. I hope it wasn’t too hard to follow. The rest of the book of Revelation expands upon the main storyline of chapters 4 through 11.

I’ve heard much about chiasms. That subject all began with the book of Revelation. I’ve looked at charts that show the chiasms of Revelation, and it all seems good. I have yet to analyze the way they stand up next to my view of Revelation. But, as I began with in this blog post, I see Revelation 4 to the end of the book simply as basically two halves of one book. First, we have the 8 chapter core that give a bird’s eye view of the book, such as my overview does for my book. Then, the next 11 chapters give details that must be brought in at the correct places of the core storyline.

This method of writing the Revelation visions seems very simple and wise. Chiasms are a little too complicated for me. But, a simple storyline is what I can handle. Even children can understand the simple core storyline. Of course, the symbology is a deeper subject, and that makes the Bible a challenge for adults. But, I’m thankful that Revelation is much more understandable than most people think because of the way it was laid out by the Spirit of God as a simple story.

I hope you get and read the book.

Thank you for your interest.

Thursday, March 16, 2017

My first book completed

I finally finished my first book. It is on Bible prophecy, Revelation in particular. I use Revelation chapters 4 through 11 to explain the whole of Revelation and how current events have been working perfectly to fulfill Bible prophecy. Chapters 4 through 11 make up the core of The Revelation that John saw. Then the second half of The Revelation add details to the first half’s satellite overview.

I have brought into Bible prophecy much of what I have learned of the good news of the gospel. If you appreciate my way of expressing the Bible’s good news (and bad news) then you will find them woven into the Revelation message of blessing and curses, its necessary plagues, as well as its healing and sealing. Even though God is Judge, Revelation shows Him accused as unworthy and being judged for His worthiness to lead His eternal kingdom.

I see a different way of viewing the trumpets, with different placements compared to most interpretations, and having different purposes. You will see that I place the seven trumpets beginning on October 22, 1844. They do not begin with the fall of Jerusalem or of the Roman Empire. They are not military campaigns that say nothing about Jesus. Thus, I see that the seven trumpets of Revelation are the anti-type of the Feast of Trumpets that signaled the approaching typical Mosaic Day of Atonement. Therefore, I see the trumpets as Advent Movement-related events that warn us of the coming of Judgment Day, when the Lamb returns sitting on the right hand of Power. The fifth trumpet’s 5 prophetic month time period concludes close to our day, at the end of 1999. Then the sixth trumpet begins in the first quarter of 2000, largely kicked off by 9/11, and soon to come into full swing. I believe that the signing of peace treaties this Halloween between the Church of Rome and the Lutheran Church, thus marking the legal end of the Reformation’s gift of peace to the world, will shift the sixth trumpet fulfillment into third gear of a five-speed eschatological transmission. Then, the last two gears “cometh quickly” (Rev. 11:14), the seventh trumpet and the Day of Judgment/Second Advent of Jesus in unearthly, divine power.

Let me add that my book seeks to reassure everyone that they still have time to make their calling and election sure. But, we must be in earnest now. It’s not all scary; in fact Revelation holds great promises for the people not swept up by all the deceptions on the right hand and on the left. I have done my best in the book to lay out the path to have that assurance. I have sought to weave Jesus into everything I have written. To give you a taste, the website for Aspect Books (published by Teach Services, Inc.) lets you read the first 27 pages of the book. The Lord bless you and keep you, and make His face to shine upon you and give you peace. See you the second Sabbath at the Tree of Life on the far side of the River of Life!





Thursday, March 09, 2017

The science behind science

“Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?
It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know?” (Job 11:7,8).

Science—the study of nature. Logos—knowledge by study. Wikipedia explains logos as:

“Logos (UK /ˈloʊɡɒs, ˈlɒɡɒs/US /ˈloʊɡoʊs/Ancient Greekλόγος, from λέγω lego ‘I say’) is a term in western philosophy, psychologyrhetoric, and religion derived from a Greek word meaning ‘ground’, ‘plea’, ‘opinion’, ‘expectation’, ‘word’, ‘speech’, ‘account’, ‘reason’, ‘discourse’, but it became a technical term in philosophy beginning with Heraclitus (c. 535–475 BCE), who used the term for a principle of order and knowledge. Logos is the logic behind an argument. Logos tries to persuade an audience using logical arguments and supportive evidence. Logos is a persuasive technique often used in writing and rhetoric….
Despite the conventional translation as ‘word’, it is not used for a word in the grammatical sense; instead, the term lexis (λέξις) was used. However, both logos and lexis derive from the same verb legō (λέγω), meaning ‘count, tell, say, speak’.”

To “count”, to measure, is to study. The sciences are named after this fundamental concept: theology, psychology, biology, archeology, et cetera study, measure, and publish. In terms of logos, science is the pure study of nature. But, the study of creation cannot be purely unbiased without a reconciliation with the Creator. Only when His peace settles the heart, mind, and body; only when pride and ambition are dismissed can scientific truth ennoble the intellect; only the Creator reigning over the soul can evict the deceiver from scientific exercise, along with the deceiver’s war against the truth of the Creator.

This is why the word of God gives precedence to righteousness over intelligence, and obedience to the Law of God over curiosity, and scientific learning and discovery. The first things must come first. First, the alliance of the soul to the Creator, then the wondering and the admirations at all of His created works. The priority of holiness and righteousness over intellectual pursuits does no damage to science; it does not discourage study of the natural world. It amplifies the intellectual pursuits.

If we did not live in a world of sin and the tempter, then everything that each science would offer we could freely delve into. Sinless hearts and minds in a sinless world without a tempter would naturally prevent the over-indulgence of curiosity and mental work, as well as enervation from living independently of the Life-giver. His divine nature pervading our every thought would naturally keep us from falling into any perspective of unbelief; faith would control our conclusions in our studies of nature. Love to God and joy in His creativity, and power and wisdom from Him would guide us in an ever-deepening knowledge base of the physical universe in which we live. The image of God would be continuously strengthened in us as we would witness the imprint of His finger upon every vital force, matter, and thing.

We would never stray from God, even as the heavenly hosts are held back from falling.

“And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Rev. 4:8-11).

Before sin heaven was a place of perfect happiness. The Father and His only begotten Son of seven Spirits held the main focus of the angels’ thoughts and aims. That perfect happiness was broken by the revolt of Lucifer. “God has kept us in chains! The glory of heaven has been our darkness all along! We don’t know what time it is! We don’t even know how long we have existed! Time has stood still! We have been forbidden to count our days! He has kept us from much knowledge while making it seem like righteousness is all important! We should be measuring ourselves and everything in this kingdom! We need to bend all of our intellectual powers to know the depths of matter and energy! That will fulfill the potential for omniscience that God has put in us! That will satisfy our inner need! Give me a chance to be your leader in this great enterprise, and I’ll show you the pure pleasure of measurement and recording data in your perfect memories! Then you will know perfect stimulation and happiness!

Had the angelic hosts been learning of the universe under God’s leadership? Yes, they had been. But, it was always mingled with a knowledge of His character. The conclusions never failed of lessons in righteousness and truth. The accumulation of only information never entered His curriculum. Knowledge was always allied with the glory of godliness. He never permitted the study of His creation to create diversions from holiness and faith and love. His schoolroom for learning science was a church, a sanctuary. To provide them this true education He gave them His Son of seven Spirits.

“My son, keep thy father’s commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.
When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.
For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life.” (Prov. 6:20-23).

“And unto man He said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.” (Job 28:28).

“By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.” (Prov. 16:6).

“Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.” (Prov. 3:7).

“The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul: but it is abomination to fools to depart from evil.” (Prov. 13:19).

Satan used his subtleties to cause the angelic hosts to depart from God. Then he used the same argument for science and knowledge to cause Adam’s and Eve’s departure from their Creator.

“For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Gen. 3:5).

Is it wrong to learn knowledge? No, not at all. Is it wrong to know evil? Doesn’t God know what evil is? Certainly He does. Then why can’t we be introduced to evil? How can we eschew evil if we don’t know what it looks like? Doesn’t the Bible say we can recognize it? Yes, it does.

“Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.” (Mal. 3:18). We need to recognize wickedness before we are tempted by it. But, notice the context of our education in the knowledge of evil.

“Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the LORD of hosts? And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered. Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon His name. And they shall be Mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.” (Mal. 3:14-17).

How is it that we can safely learn of temptation and evil without being absorbed into it? Only by learning of Jesus and serving God in spirit and truth. By walking happily before the LORD of hosts. By lovingly yet bravely calling sin by its right name instead of calling the proud happy. “Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.” (Lev. 19:17,18). We can safely learn of temptation and evil without being absorbed into it by fearing the LORD and speaking often one with another, and so much more as we see the day of His vengeance upon evil drawing nearer. All who are obedient to the fear of God will be spared on the day of His vengeance. And everyone who will not put service to God first will be overcome by the deceiver and become as wicked as he is. They will be destroyed in the everlasting fire of Sodom and Gomorrah because they would not put their heavenly Father first in all their thoughts.

“The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.” (Ps. 10:4).

The science of science—what is the real draw about science? What is the psychology of secular mind that desires to plumb the depths of scientific knowledge? Why were ancient wicked and spiritualistic Babylon and Egypt so heavily invested in science? Is the scientific community in bondage to the same Babylonian, Egyptian, and Greek spiritualism and magic? What is the science of deception? And are the modern science and philosophies any different from the condemned Babylonian science so called and philosophies?

The real attraction to atheistic science is found in the fallen state of mankind. The same attraction to the modern unbelieving religious hearts draws many into the same wickedness and spiritualism.

That fallen state is manifested in “the chastisement of our peace.” (Isa. 53:5). That chastisement urges us into sin and atheism. “I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” (Rom. 7:23). The chastisement of our peace causes the holy Law representing the holy Creator to be a curse to us. All that His Law does to us is scourge us.

“For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.” (Gal. 3:10-13).

The Creator’s chastisement of our peace was upon Jesus from Gethsemane to Golgotha as He separated from His only begotten Son. The chastisement of our peace comes from the same separation of God from us. Our propensity to live separately from our Creator has affected His willingness and rightful ability to give us His life. We have accepted the enemy’s lies about God’s love and have ceased to crowd Him for His love and wisdom. And He has withdrawn His life-giving Spirit of acceptance. It is our happy satisfaction to live apart from God that has caused “the law of sin which is in [our] members.” Part of God’s life for us that He has cut off is His emotional life that can come to us only by living in the bosom of His love. It is this lack of full life that causes our chastisement of peace and the power of sin in us. And it is that lack of peace and life with God that forces us either to surrender to God, or it drives us to serve Satan. As the third angel of Revelation proclaims:

“The smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” (Rev. 14:11-13).

The power driving Babylon was purely intellectual knowledge—the mysteries. The pure intellectual mindset has left her “bitter” and “hasty.” (Hab. 1:6).

“And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” (Rev. 17:5).

Delving into the mysteries of the natural world outside, as well as the inner emotions and psyche, characterized Babylonian science. Its science wasn’t simply from the study of nature, but of the world of the spirits. The rejection of Noah’s kingdom of righteousness by Ham, Cush, and Nimrod permitted Satan to control their minds without any of their inhibition to resist. They were sold to the mysteries; they sold their own souls.

Why did they do that? What drove them to sell themselves to the deceiver? God’s chastisement of their peace drove them. They rejected Christ’s wisdom that was founded upon His righteousness residing in His Law. They rejected the knowledge of the Spirit of the Son in the Law, so God rejected them.

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to Me: seeing thou hast forgotten the Law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.” (Hos. 4:6).

But, in all actuality God didn’t destroy them; they destroyed themselves.

“For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” (.Matt 13:15).

Jesus is the Master teacher. Before He teaches anything He has always sought to heal the chastisement of their peace. But, He is a Prince and a Saviour. He is a Prince first, and then a merciful Saviour. As Prince, He must present their sins in all of its disgusting horribleness. They see from Him no hope in their old life, and in His promises they hear no hint of permission to serve self. If they lose their pride and repent before Him, then He becomes their merciful High Priest. He will exchange love and acceptance for their willing service. He says of them what His Father said of Him, “Thou art My beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Mark 1:11). “Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors.” (Isa. 53:12).

He forgives them of all their sins—all of their sins. Through Jesus they are sons of God and God treats them like He does His only Begotten, as if they never sinned. But, it takes faith in the goodness of God to believe that He will forgive them so completely. The plain condemnation of their sins initially takes them aback and shocks them out of their satanic pride and arrogance. Their pride is horrifically challenged by the righteousness and power of God. Who will so terribly need forgiveness for all of their past life of horrid sinfulness that they will endure the apparent maltreatment that truth always brings to a heart in rebellion? Only they will endure the disparaging presence of purity who have stood before the Law of God and let it show them to be as God sees them—exceedingly sinful. Once they have reconciled with the necessary emotional pains of guilt and shame and potential rejection, and they have bowed to the truth of God’s righteousness condemning their fig-leaf covering of morality and ethics, and they have surrendered to their Schoolmaster, then He brings them to Christ to be justified by a faith that they received by wrestling with the Law and bowing to its truth.

“The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” (Ex. 34:6,7). “For He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.” (Ps. 103:14).

But, if consciences had never been chafed, if God as a forgiving Saviour has never been yearned for; if their hearts have not lifted up their thoughts and voice to Him in hope, if their souls have not sought God’s mercy as for a hidden treasure, then when His offensive barrage of their exceeding sinfulness is presented to their conscience, their hearts will reject the Spirit of God as He seeks to call them to repentance. In comparison to their badness toward Him they cannot see His goodness toward them. They have blinded themselves by not letting the Law lay heaven burdens of guilt and shame upon them. They abrogated the Law in their hearts, whether or not their religion abrogated the Law in their doctrine.

So that horrible chastisement of peace remains. The torment leads them to doctor themselves up with the many things that this world of sin offers. One of the things of this world targets both the intellectual and spiritually minded—the mysteries. The scientific mysteries are for the intellectual; and the religious mysteries are for the spiritual one. As much as does the atheistic, intellectual, study deeply into the created things of nature for a diversion from the Creator, plumbing the depths of spiritual things is equally a powerful and satisfactory diversion from surrender to the Lord’s chastisement of our peace with Himself. If the religious depart from the convicting word of God, their study of God will only reveal the devil who will torment without let-up.

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life.” (John 5:39). Theology—the study of God—can be a diversion from love and service to God. We can search the Bible for many other reasons than for faith to reconcile with the Author of the Bible.

“They are they which testify of Me. And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life.” (John 5:39,40). We can make the Bible an obstacle between us and the Saviour. There is biblical history, biblical prophecy, biblical literature; there are many questions in the Bible to research. And there is nothing in biblical studies that is bad. The problem comes when we use them in place of our dying search for a Saviour in God. Are we distraught like Mary of Magdalene who wept and washed Jesus’ feet in response to His coming crucifixion and His burial because her Lord and Saviour was about to leave her?

The problem of the curiosities of the Bible comes when they are studied before, or are made a replacement for, falling on the stumbling Stone, Jesus Christ, and being broken on Him. And often to compound the curse of the Law are the misconceptions and misinterpretations of the Bible, and human traditions that Satan faithfully attaches to Bible facts in order to prevent the Bible from convicting us of our need of the Saviour’s mercy and loving-kindness. Eventually, the lack of conviction and love from above, and incorrect deductions to the Bible’s difficult chapters complicating the unresolved chastisement of peace sends many to deeper subjects and theological errors that may give them much fire in their minds, but no sweet love, joy, and peace from above. It is all an endless exercise in error, endless because there is no truth in it to verify by scripture or science.

A prime example of this is transubstantiation, which says that the bread does in fact change to the body of Christ, and the wine actually changes into the blood of Christ. But, transubstantiation can never be substantiated, and thereby offers a rebellious religionist endless hours of mental exercise of wondering at transubstantiation to the expense of seeing the beauty of the Lord in His object lesson from the His last supper with His disciples.

Another example of the Babylonian mysteries is the Trinity. At the expense of the wonderful love seen in the will, heart, and power of the Most High through His only begotten, beloved Son to bring us close to Them and reunite our new spirit with Their Spirit, we are led to believe that another person takes Their place in Their most holy redemption and reclamation of us, and is the most present Mediator/Intercessor. That the SPIRIT of God in perfect union with the Spirit of Christ as another divine being is not biblical in the least. Yet, the churches say that even if we don’t see the Trinity ever praised in the Bible, that lack of evidence is a mystery that we will never understand. Thus, the devotee can dwell on it forever, and in a small, short-lived way, minimize the chastisement of his peace. By devoting our minds to the mysteries he feels a little better and he can believe that he is redeemed. But he has bypassed the guilt and shame of the Law, and therefore cannot hear the call of God to repentance.

A third example is in studying the minutiae from scripture. We need bigger pictures of Jesus in our concepts of Him and His mission.

“Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” (Rom. 3:19). If fear and love for God has never humbled the Bible student and given him true love to God as his great Father of all, then he is as lost as the religionist who gives no authority to the word of God.

“For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.” (Heb. 12:6-8).

“Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear Him.” (Ps. 103:13).

Through religious mysteries millions of slaves and souls of men have spent their lifetimes wondering on worthless chaff and have died without knowing God. They have gone to their graves believing that all their meditations on empty ideas guaranteed them a place in the eternal kingdom. Instead, Satan has hold of their minds and hearts as they wouldn’t surrender to Jesus.

“And thou saidst, I shall be a lady for ever: so that thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember the latter end of it.
Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children:
But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.
For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me.
Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know.
Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail.
Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.” (Isa. 47:7-13).

“Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.” (Isa. 47:13).

But, the spiritual minded are not the only ones in danger of being Satan’s possessions. No different to the religionists’ love of the metaphysical, science and the curiosities of nature create their own real prevention to stumbling and being broken on the Stone, Jesus Christ. Prior to falling on the stumbling Stone and being broken on Him, the student of science is wide open to the whispers of Satan and his atheism. The last thing the devil wants is for the scientist to find evidence for faith that abounds in the creations of God. The Creator’s fingerprint is everywhere for the unprejudiced mind to discover.

But, Satan is tenacious to maintain his Babylonian kingdom today. So, the scientist finds an outlet from his chastisement of peace in studying all the detailed information bound up in the laws of matter and energy, and the endless products of matter and energy.

But, God’s message to everyone in Babylon, religious or secular, is: “If ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.” (Heb. 12:6-8). If the children of men will not have their sins reproved, then He will not be their Father. They have left Him for the father of lies and his forbidding of rest for their enervated heart and mind. But the Father and Son continue Their call, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28).

Friday, March 03, 2017

Man of sorrows, Man of surrender

“And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.
Then saith He unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with Me.
And He went a little further, and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt.
And He cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with Me one hour?
Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O My Father, if this cup may not pass away from Me, except I drink it, Thy will be done.
And He came and found them asleep again: for their eyes were heavy.
And He left them, and went away again, and prayed the third time, saying the same words.
Then cometh He to His disciples, and saith unto them, Sleep on now, and take your rest: behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners.” (Matt. 26:37-45).

What is surrender if it doesn’t hurt? What is surrender if we are not at our wits’ end?

“They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.” (Ps. 107:26,27).

Isn’t that what we see in Jesus? He was at His wit’s end. All His life His constant, happy song to His Father had been David’s. “Thou wilt shew Me the path of life: in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” (Ps. 16:11).

But, now the only song that came so painfully from His tormented, down turned mouth was, “O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me.” (Matt. 26:39). How to escape the sudden dismaying loss of the former, excellent atmosphere of His Abba’s blissful presence was uppermost in His immediate reaction to the sudden, total evacuation of His Father’s peace. Jesus was drinking the cup of “the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His [Father’s] indignation; and [He was] tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels,… And the smoke of [His] torment [ascended] up for ever and ever: and [He had] no rest day nor night.” (Rev. 14:10,11).

As so many times before, the Son of God was truly “beside Himself” (Mk. 3:21). But, this was not a physical distress, as it had been during His whole life. What came over Him in Gethsemane was different. “The chastisement of our peace was upon Him.” (Isa. 53:5). It was the guilt of ten billion unpardonable sins that weighed so heavily upon Jesus. Haven’t we experienced the chastisement of our peace? The whole world—all who have ever lived—has, or it all couldn’t have been put upon Him for the whole world. The whole world’s incomprehensible, accumulated unmet emotional need, the depression, the world’s infinite sadness, Jesus’ yearning to lean wholly upon His beloved Abba. His spiritual pangs were completely out of His control. All He could do was what He had already practiced under previous trials—seek His Father with all that was within Him—talk to God until He was heard. And He was heard, but without a satisfying reply.

“Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared; though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered; and being made perfect, He became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him.” (Heb. 5:7-9).

Everything within us must be challenged. The very life of our soul must be on the verge of collapse. We must know what Mary said to Christ, “they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him.” (John 20:13). Distraught, distressed beyond measure, the Man of infinite sorrows knew infinite surrender. And infinite surrender didn’t come until He was not only fully cast down, but infinitely destroyed. Not until Christ was lost, guilty of the unpardonable sin and disoriented, and stripped of all restful peace could we identify with His identical human experience with us, which He coveted. Then we could be found with peace and rest in Him. He must know all that has caused us sorrow in our separation from God; and if we follow His example, then in our infinite sorrow He will teach us surrender. In the midst of our sorrow we must say with our Lord, “…nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt” (Matt. 26:39).

Surrender is full of sorrow, and sorrow is full of surrender. It’s not surrender until we have lost our life. If it wasn’t painful to surrender up our sins then we haven’t surrendered them up. “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it.” (Matt. 16:25). “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it.” (Matt. 10:39). Surrender is of our will, our sins, our spiritual life, and the ultimate surrender is of our literal, actual life. And when that happens we won’t have friends and family standing around to witness it and congratulate us, as in water baptism. We will be among enemies, or alone in the world. Only faith will prevail then, faith that sees a ring of fiery angels surrounding us. By faith we must see “an innumerable company of angels,… the general assembly and church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven, and … God the Judge of all, and … the spirits of just men made perfect, and … Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.” (Heb. 12:22-24).

All the tests and trials and distresses that took us to our wits’ lead up to that ultimate surrender.

“Oh that men would praise the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!
And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare His works with rejoicing.
They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
These see the works of the LORD, and His wonders in the deep.
For He commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits’ end.
Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distresses.
He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Then are they glad because they be quiet; so He bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Oh that men would praise the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!
Let them exalt Him also in the congregation of the people, and praise Him in the assembly of the elders.” (Ps. 107:21-32).

Every opportunity to surrender to self-denial is preparation for the final surrender of self. If we aren’t willing to concede to those smaller baptisms of fire, we will come up to the final surrender and final baptism of fire unprepared. We will fail out of final surrender of self and deny the Lord as Peter did.

“I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!” (Luke 12:49,50). God, our Schoolmaster, first sends us the torturous trouble, guilt, shame, and chastisement of our peace. Then He brings us to Jesus to be justified by the faith that comes out of the suffering and surrender to both the authority of God to condemn sin and the mercy of His Son to win our loyalty to righteousness.

Of the Lord John the Baptist said, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.” (Matt. 3:11).

The ultimate surrender was demonstrated by Paul. “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.” (2Tim. 4:6). As he wrote in his last letter,

“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.” (2Tim. 4:7,8).

Paul had fought an uphill battle his whole life. And he came to the point that he relished the sacrifice of self. But, unlike his Master on the cross, Paul had perfect peace. He had been cast down but not destroyed, persecuted, but not forsaken. Therefore, he had certainty of salvation and knew he would be received by the Lord at His appearing. Paul could say, “For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” (2Tim. 1:12). Perfect identification with his Lord gave Paul perfect hope and perfect steadfastness that kept disillusionment from shaming him, even when he looked abandoned by men.

“For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:  whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.” (Job 19:25-27).

Paul had the anointing that maketh not ashamed. “And now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.” (1Jn. 2:28). “Hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” (Rom. 5:5).

Paul knew suffering and surrender like his Master, and was prepared to meet Him at His return. “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” (Rev. 22:14).

Have we suffered and surrendered with Jesus in our own suffering and surrender? Do we have perfect certainty of salvation in His resurrection from the dead?