"Easter or Resurrection Day"?

Thursday, April 1. 2010
Reprint of the two year's before. I will reprint this every year at this time.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Reprint of last year's "Easter or Resurrection Day"?
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Easter or Resurrection Day?

The most important act that Jesus was to do, that proved and proves He was the Messiah was to be dead, as Jonah was in the belly of the whale, 3 days and 3 nights and then to be raised from the dead after this time period. Matthew 12:39-40

Now how could we ever arrive that Jesus was crucified on "Good Friday and raised on Sunday morning for this would be only 2 nights and one day. The significance of Jesus doing exactly as He said cannot be washed away by the traditions of men, for without him doing exactly as He said, He would not be the Messiah, He stated this was the only proof sign He would give Israel that He was who He said He was. All attempts to explain away, His statement are false. Good Friday and Sunday as 'the day of Resurrection' are the inventions and traditions of men,.

This time period, of 3 days and 3 nights was to be factual and historical.

How did we ever get to where we are today?

Jesus knows exactly how long a day and a night is. In John 11:9-10 He said, is there not 12 hours in a day -but if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth. In Genesis 1:4,
Jesus declares, he divided the light from the darkness, and He called the light day and the darkness he called night. and the evening (darkness) and the morning (light) were the first day..., and the evening and the morning were the second day...and the evening and the morning were the third day" The Word of God conclusivley proves the time needed to fulfill the 3rd day. It should be conclusive to all, that it was impossible for Christ to have been crucified on Friday and raised Sunday.

It is merely traditions of men that created this time period of Friday to Sunday, which if it were true would disapprove Christ as the Messiah.

The time period Jesus gave was as important as the fact that He was to be raised from the dead, less He not be the Messiah, and the sign not be true to Israel.

In Mark 8:31, Jesus, "began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things ...and be killed, and AFTER 3 days rise again". And in Mark 9:31; "they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day". And in Matthew 27:63 "After 3 days I will rise again". And in John 2:19-21; "destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up". This day ended at sunset according to Bible reckoning - Lev. 23:32. Jesus cried out soon after the "ninth hour" or 3 o'clock in the afternoon on the preparation day - Matt. 27:46-50, Mark 15:34-37, Luke 23:44-46. Jesus was laid in the tomb just before this same day ended - just before sunset - Matt. 27:57-60. And John 19:42 adds, "There laid they Jesus Therefore because of the Jew's preparation day". The Jewish custom was all dead bodies had to be buried before the beginning of a new day, and, according to the Bible He was - just barely before sunset as the scriptures prove. This leads to an intriguing conclusion. Three full nights and three full days after that preparation day sunset, brings us to sunset. Which means the resurrection occurred at sunset not sunrise! If Jesus rose at any other time of day He could not have been 3 days and 3 nights in the grave and He would have failed to prove by the sign He gave, His Messiahship. The "preparation day" for the Sabbath is defined by John 19:14,31: "...for that Sabbath day was a high day...It was the preparation of the Passover". Any Jew can tell you what a "high day" is. There are seven each year - all called Sabbaths, and each year they fall on different days of the week. (Leviticus 16:31, 23:24, 26-32 and 39 refers to all these annual holy days as Sabbaths.) Matthew 26:2; "Ye know that after 2 days is the feast of the Passover and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified". All Bible texts say Jesus was crucified on the Passover. The Bible in Num.28:16-17, defines the Passover; "And in the 14th day of the first month [called Abib] is the Passover of Yahweh. And in the fifteenth day of the month is the Feast". The Hebrew calendar shows that in A.D. 31, the year Jesus was crucified, the 14th of ABIB which was the Passover, which is always the preparation day for the annual high day Sabbath, was on Wednesday, and the High Sabbath was on Thursday.

There were 2 Sabbaths that week - the annual high Sabbath, and the weekly Sabbath which was the day of the resurrection. (Saturday using standard weekly Roman traditions.)

Jesus rose from the dead as He said He would in John 2:19, 3 days and 3 nights later, at or near sunset on the 2nd Sabbath of that week - to bring light into darkness. It was Saturday night, not Sunday morning.

I Corinthians 15:3-4; "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that the Messiah died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures".

If we look at a calendar for that year, it is quite easy to figure out that the preparation day; the crucifixion day was on Wednesday, and that 3 days and 3 nights after that, was near sunset on Saturday. It is also significant that as Daniel's prophecy in 9:24-27 says, Jesus was to be cut off "in the midst of the week". This prophecy uses the day for a year symbolism so that the "70 weeks" became a literal 7 years, with the Messiah being "cut off in the midst", (after only 3 1/2 years of teaching) and also in the middle day of a literal week.

There is one more final proof in the Bible.

In Mark 16:1, Mary Magdalene and her companions did not buy their spices to anoint Jesus until after the Sabbath was past. They could not prepare them until after this, yet after preparing the spices they rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment (Luke 23:56). These scriptures seem to contradict themselves unless you accept the possible explanation: After the annual high Sabbath, which was Thursday, the women purchased and prepared the spices on Friday, and then they rested on Saturday - the weekly Sabbath.

This fact would make it Jesus was crucified on a Wednesday (14th of ABIB, A.D. 31) and was resurrected on a Saturday (17TH of ABIB, A.D. 31), placed in the tomb near sunset, and rose out of the tomb near sunset on Saturday.

"Good Friday" and Easter Sunday, then must be pagan myths; traditions of men, adopted by the early Roman Christian church and accepted as "okay" by almost all Christians today.

Centuries old documents exist that evidence the Wednesday crucifixion and Saturday resurrection. A document entitled the "Didascalia Apostolorum", dating from around the year 200 A.D., mentions the last Passover Supper of Jesus and His disciples was on a Tuesday evening. It should be noted that the timing mentioned in the document also corresponds with the Biblical method of reckoning the week as starting with Sunday as the first day with the days beginning at sunset. The document states: "For when we had eaten the Passover on the third day of the week at even [Tuesday evening], we went forth to the Mount of Olives; and in the night they seized our Lord Yah'shua. And the next day, which was the fourth [day] of the week [Wednesday], He remained in the house [arrest] of Caiaphas the high priest".

From this one would conclude that He clearly was crucified that following Passover day of Wednesday.

The Hebrews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, (for that Sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away." John 19:31. This verse establishes that the day following (or beginning the sunset of) our Messiah's crucifixion was a "high day." That in turn established that it was Nisan fifteenth, the great Passover Sabbath, the day that God had designated as "the first day of unleavened bread." The Passover Sabbath was the greatest Hebrew Sabbath of the year. It was not only a day of rest and worship like Saturday, the seventh-day Sabbath; but, unlike that day, this Thursday Passover Sabbath was a "high day." The fifteenth of Nisan fell on a different day each year, and that particular year it fell on Thursday as the Scriptural "time-points" clearly affirm.

I am not writing this to say that we must celebrate the Holy Days that are given, the many festivals, etc. exactly as they are. I am not a Sabbatarian, nor am I Judaic. I am not writing any of these things to call those that do what they do as far as the day they recognize makes them pagans. It doesn't, but it can surely be seen as honoring paganistic ideas of days and times.

What I do is write these things that truth may be the foundation of all our understanding of the Word and as a believer in the death and resurrection for us to realize these things as truth.

I believe it is very important for Christians to understand what they believe and why they believe it and what truth of God's word is versus the traditions of men. It is of most importance that we see how easily it is for men, the first church-state union Constantine's reign, later the ruler Theosidus and the developing Catholic church changed truth to encompass paganism into the church and how men have changed most of what is true to a lie.

We have typically stated the day of resurrection as Sunday because of verses like Mark 16:2-4

Simply because Mary Magdelene and Mary didn't discover that the tomb was empty until that Sunday morning, that He must have risen that morning, but the scripture doesnt say Sunday he arose, it just says that they found the tomb empty on this day.

Which also makes sense, as travel was limited on Saturday the normal Sabbath. Thus this is why they didn't find the tomb empty on Saturday, because they would not have walked to the tomb on a Saturday Sabbath. They were at rest, while Jesus was rising from the dead. This showing as well to the Jewish Sabbatarians with all their ridiculous rules and regulations of the Talmud, "that the Sabbath was created by Yahweh for men and not men for the Sabbath", this in my opinion is another reason I accept Saturday evening. For he didn't remain at rest, he was alive, risen from the grave as He promised come the ending of the Sabbath day, Saturday, the beginning of the evening before Sunday. He arose but it wasn't until the next morning that they found the tomb was empty.

So, taking the time periods as laid out by scripture, he must have had to stay in the grave 3 days, 3 nights just as He said he would as a sign, the only sign he would give to the Jews that proved he was Messiah and to us our Saviour.

So Saturday evening really had to be the time of His resurrection. Sunday, was the day it was discovered he had risen as promised.

It's not a significant importance what day "we choose to recognize" he was raised in that our salvation might depend on the day we honor, as much as we recognize how much the Catholic church changed things to fit the Roman calendar and Roman times and Roman days of importance. Constantine and Theosidus made significant changes to things eternal, the traditions of the Apostles laid on the foundation of Christ, to the traditions of men, just as the Jews did with creating the Talmud and all it's traditions above the Torah.

Men constantly work at trying to distort the Gospel. I have known men that couldnt accept the story of Christ crucifixion and resurrrection just because the recognized days traditionally do not fit the story or his promise of 3 days and 3 nights. So though it may not mean our salvation if we accept the traditions of men account over the truth, but it could mean the salvation of someone else, because of the inaccuracy of time these traditions have created.

It is significant that we recognize just what RESURRECTION DAY is versus EASTER.

So let me lay down the facts about how the EASTER thing came about.

Now let us look at the true origins of the day and time we call Easter.

Origin of Easter - A Christian Commemoration
The origin of Easter, a holiday associated with the observance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is actually based on an ancient pagan celebration. Christians recognize this day as commemorating the culminating event of their faith, but like so many other "Christian" holidays, Easter has become commercialized and mixed with non-christian traditions like the Easter Bunny, Easter parades and hunting for Easter eggs.

How did this happen?

Origin of Easter - Its Pagan Roots
The origin of Easter dates back to ancient times, not long after the global Flood recorded in Genesis 6-9 of the Bible. Nimrod, a grandson of Noah, had turned from following his grandfather's God and had become a tyrannical ruler. According to the biblical record, as king, Nimrod created Babel, Ninevah, Asshur, Calla and other cities, all known for lifestyles that promoted unspeakable evil and perversion. When Nimrod died, his wife, Queen Semiramis, deified him as the Sun-god, or Life Giver. Later he would become known as Baal, and those who followed the religion Semiramis created in his name would be called Baal worshippers. They became associated with idolatry, demon worship, human sacrifice and other practices regarded as evil.

The origin of Easter involves the birth of Semiramis' illegitimate son, Tammuz. Somehow, Semiramis convinced the people that Tammuz was actually Nimrod reborn. Since people had been looking for the promised savior since the beginning of mankind (see Genesis 3:15), they were persuaded by Semiramis to believe that Tammuz was that savior, even that he had been supernaturally conceived. Before long, in addition to worshipping Tammuz (or Nimrod reborn), the people also worshipped Semiramis herself as the goddess of fertility. In other cultures, she has been called Ishtar, Ashtur and yes, Easter.

The origin of Easter goes back to the springtime ritual instituted by Semiramis following the death of Tammuz, who, according to tradition, was killed by a wild boar. Legend has it that through the power of his mother's tears, Tammuz was "resurrected" in the form of the new vegetation that appeared on the earth.

According to the Bible, it was in the city of Babel that the people created a tower in order to defy God. Up until that time, all the people on the earth spoke one language. The building of the tower led God, as recorded in Genesis 11:7, to confuse their tongues to keep them from being further unified in their false beliefs. As the people moved into other lands, many of them took their pagan practices with them.

Contemporary traditions such as the Easter Bunny and the Easter egg can also be traced back to the practices established by Semiramis. Because of their prolific nature, rabbits have long been associated with fertility and its goddess, Ishtar. Ancient Babylonians believed in a fable about an egg that fell into the Euphrates River from heaven and from which Queen Astarte (another name for Ishtar or Semiramis) was "hatched."

Origin of Easter - Resurrection Day for Christians
For Christians, the origin of Easter is simply the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ about 2,000 years ago. According to the Gospel accounts, Jesus Christ, the true Messiah promised in the Old Testament, was crucified and resurrected at the time of the Jewish Passover. Since that awesome event took place, those who believe Christ is their Messiah have honored that day and often celebrated it with the traditional Passover. As the Gospel of Christ spread throughout non-jewish nations, among people who did not have a history of celebrating the Passover, the pagan rites of Easter gradually became assimilated into what the Christian church called "Resurrection Day." Compromising the commandments of God with the comfort of the world is as old as the nation of Israel itself.

So we see that the named day Easter is pagan in nature, and has all the roots of paganism, and ancient pagan worship. Thus, I too do not recognize the term Easter for the Day of Resurrection nor do I recognize the traditions associated with it. We are called to be separate from the world, in it but not of it. Thus it is important for us to understand the significance of the celebration and what it's true origins are. The word of God tells us to abstain from even the appearance of evil. To know the difference. To know truth from error. Surely Easter is evil and the Day of Resurrection is good.

The two must be separated for the Ekklesia so that truth will stand out like a light to a fallen world.

Jesus didn't die and raised again so the commercial marketers of the Babylonian system worldwide could obtain wealth off the purchases of Christians for Easter Eggs, and Bunny Rabbits and all that pagan garbage. It has lessened the significance of the resurrected King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So, for me, I abstain, you decide what to do with it.

Actually, American history teaches us that Easter was dismissed as a pagan holiday by the nation's founding Puritans and did not begin to be widely observed until just after the Civil War.

Now that you know the "rest of the story" and after reading the above which would you prefer?

Easter or Resurrrection Day?

Dr. J.
Posted by Dr. J. at 1:42 PM 0 comments Links to this post
Labels: Christ Raised from the dead, Easter or Resurrection Day, Paganism
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Our Sinful Desire For Leaders
"Thou hast tasted of prosperity and adversity; thou knowest what it is to be banished thy native country, to be overruled as well as to rule, and set upon the throne; and being oppressed thou hast reason to know now hateful the oppressor is both to God and man: If after all these warnings and advertisements, thou dost not turn unto the Lord with all thy heart, but forget him who remembered thee in thy distress, and give up thyself to follow lust and vanity, surely great will be thy condemnation. Against which snare, as well as the temptation of those who may or do feed thee, and prompt thee to evil, the most excellent and prevalent remedy will be, to apply thyself to that light of Christ which shineth in thy conscience and which neither can, nor will flatter thee, nor suffer thee to be at ease in thy sins."

-Barclay's Address to Charles II

How oft our leaders today have not known because of their wealth and their prosperity born into families of wealth and prosperity, given the highest of educations that only the rich can obtain, provided their food and their goods, by silver spoons while sitting in silver mansions, driving golden cars, with unknown quantities of cash, how oft they have not known poverty and oppression, and the pain of suffering need. How can they be anything more than oppressors and dictators, for compassion is not learned through ease but learned through the acquisition of suffering the pains and sorrows shared by others as well. To not know these things, to never have suffered with the least, but to only have lived as the elite, how can we expect much more than the mere pennies they throw our way, while robbing us of our sweat daily we bear in labor under their oppressive rulership. Common sense tells us a man selected to rule who has not known these things, cannot truly rule at all in fairness or justly. Yet, we seem desirous as humans for reasons unknown on selecting those to rule that are more apt to oppress than those who have known oppression – Dr. Joseph Wayne Black

The first quote can be found in Thomas Paine's famous writing "Common Sense".

In this writing of Thomas Paine, he is not only arguing against the monarchy of England or it's King but making an argument why America must succeed from British rule. If you have not read this famous historical book of 1776, I would invite you to.

My argument I wish to present here, is that for whatever reason men and women, have a desire to always have a human powering over them, rather than being just a child of the Father and only subject to God and His kingdom. The jews of the Old Testament made this same error in sin, and even today from the time of the Apostles deaths, man who once served no one but Christ begin to give what once was their allegiance to Christ their high priest, began to seek again men among themselves. They sought men to be their priest, their ruler, their special man, speaking the oracles of God, laying out the rules to life, etc. The letter from Ignatius to the Magnesians, makes this very clear. Ignatius someone who apparently served in some capacity of eldership either in the already formulation of an institution of Christianity other than the Ekklesia that the Apostles laid down that was built on the foundation of Christ began to set forth the error that would for all time even unto the present, distract those who would know Christ and him alone as their King. These men of the early rise of the clergy/lay system decided to put humans in the position that of a shepard, priest or pastor which belongs to Christ alone. Popery was born out of the words of Ignatius, and popery it has been since. The odd thing is that man so often desires to have human leaders, who are but human themselves. The temple and the priesthood of old was replaced by Christ the high priest, and His creation of the Ekklesia, His called out one's which is the only Temple God will dwell in both individually and corporately. For we are the His Temple, Christ being the true temple of God, and we are joined with Him, if we are His.
Christ did not die on a cross, and suffer shame to build a new religion, with priest and Temples. Judaism already had that, all the pagan religions have that, why in God's name would men seek other men to power over them rather than God himself to be their Father, Christ their King, and High Priest and the Holy Spirit their Pastor?

It is the sinfulness of men, that seeks this, for as long as a human can be some sort of representative of God, then God is made into the image of men, rather than the truth which is Man is to be the image of God. Men always choose to worship the creation rather then the Creator. The book of Romans and the first chapter makes this very clear.

Thus when Christ died the Temple veil was torn into, for now the sinless priest had entered the Holy of Holies, once and for all, for all sinners. No longer would there be a need for a priest to enter, and make sacrifice for sin, no more. This is spelled out very clearly in the book of Hebrews. This explains the lack of need of anymore earthly priest to represent God's spokesman, God's leader or God's man.
For only one man is worthy of leadership, only one person who ever walked this earth, His name is Yeshua- Jesus- Lord of Lords, and King of Kings! It is here we see that Jesus not only is the better rest, replacing Sabbatarianism, where Jesus is the better King, replacing earthly Kings, where Jesus is the better priest, replacing all earthly priest, where Jesus is the better sacrifice, replacing all earthly sacrifices, where Jesus is the only Pastor, Priest that men will ever need.
Where God the Father appoints his children a place with the King, that all who cry upon His name, and have placed their faith and trust in Him have been declared as kings and priest unto Him, as His Holy Spirit the very Spirit of the risen Saviour and King has come to dwell within men, that is all men that have recieved Him as their only priest and king. Anything other than this, is "paganism".
Anything other than Christ as King, who knows your temptations, your pain, your agony, your struggle against sin, He who overcame sin, who knew no sin, is the one that has come to reside in the believer. It is the Holy Spirit who is to lead you into all truth. Anything other than the Holy Spirit as your teacher is not only anti-biblical but anti-Christ.
Thus John writes,in chapter two verse 27:
"And as for you, the anointing which you recieved from Him abides in you, and you have NO NEED for ANYONE to teach YOU: but as His anointing teaches you about ALL THINGS,and is TRUE and is not a LIE, and just as it has been taught you, you ABIDE IN HIM!"

Paul knew and John knew that the clergy/lay system would come about, they warned that there were wolves among the sheep just waiting until they were gone, that would jump on the sheep, and seek to draw them from Christ, to once again, a religious system made up of men, "acting as God, standing in the temple of God".
Men have been doing this since the death of the Apostles, developing and creating an organization that once was organic and not an institution. Out of it was born POPERY, and no matter what PROTESTANTS say, they have chosen to be in that very system, by their honor to a human called the Pastor. The Pastor simply replaced the priest and the church hierarchy and it's denominational Presidents, and so forth simply replaced the Pope and his cardinals. Men has still fallen to the sin of desiring men to rule over them, fallen sinful men to stand in the place of God, speaking as if he was God, and ruling as if he was a god. Men sinned in Christianity as quickly as ancient Israel did in their desire for a King rather than God as their King. I close this with Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" quote of this ancient story from the Old Testament. A nice summation of even Israel's desire to have a man to rule over them just like the pagan's had, and God's response to it all. Here it is:

Government by kings was first introduced into the world by the Heathens, from whom the children of Israel copied the custom. It was the most prosperous invention the Devil ever set on foot for the promotion of idolatry. The Heathens paid divine honors to their deceased kings, and the christian world hath improved on the plan by doing the same to their living ones. How impious is the title of sacred majesty applied to a worm, who in the midst of his splendor is crumbling into dust.
As the exalting one man so greatly above the rest cannot be justified on the equal rights of nature, so neither can it be defended on the authority of scripture; for the will of the Almighty, as declared by Gideon and the prophet Samuel, expressly disapproves of government by kings. All anti-monarchial parts of scripture have been very smoothly glossed over in monarchial governments, but they undoubtedly merit the attention of countries, which have their governments yet to form. 'Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's' is the scriptural doctrine of courts, yet it is no support of monarchial government, for the jews at that time were without a king, and in a state of vassalage to the Romans.
Near three thousand years passed away from the Mosaic account of the creation, till the Jews under a national delusion requested a king. Till then their form of government (except in extraordinary cases, where the Almighty interposed) was a kind of republic administered by a judge and the elders of the tribes. Kings they had none, and it was held sinful to acknowledge any being under that title but the Lords of Hosts. And when a man seriously reflects on the idolatrous homage which is paid to the persons of Kings, he need not wonder, that the Almighty, ever jealous of his honor, should disapprove of a form of government which so impiously invades the prerogative of heaven. Monarchy is ranked in scripture as one of the sins of the jews, for which a curse in reserve is denounced against them. The history of that transaction is worth attending to.The children of Israel being oppressed by the Midianites, Gideon marched against them with a small army, and victory, thro' the divine interposition, decided in his favor. The Jews elate with success, and attributing it to the generalship of Gideon, proposed making him a king, saying, Rule thou over us, thou and thy son and thy son's son. Here was temptation
in its fullest extent; not a kingdom only, but an hereditary one, but Gideon in the piety of his soul replied, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you, THE LORD SHALL
RULE OVER YOU. Words need not be more explicit; Gideon doth not decline the honor
but denieth their right to give it; neither doth be compliment them with invented
declarations of his thanks, but in the positive stile of a prophet charges them with
disaffection to their proper sovereign, the King of Heaven.
About one hundred and thirty years after this, they fell again into the same error. The hankering which the jews had for the idolatrous customs of the Heathens, is something exceedingly unaccountable; but so it was, that laying hold of the misconduct of Samuel's two sons, who were entrusted with some secular concerns, they came in an abrupt and clamorous manner to Samuel, saying, Behold thou art old and thy sons walk not in thy ways, now make us a king to judge us like all the other nations. And here we cannot but observe that their motives were bad, viz. that they might be like unto other nations, i. e. the Heathens, whereas their true glory laid in being as much unlike them as possible. But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, give us a king to judge us; and Samuel prayed unto the Lord, and the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee, for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, THAT I SHOULD NOT REIGN OVER THEM. According to all the works which have done since the day; wherewith they brought them up out of Egypt, even unto this day; wherewith they have forsaken me and served other Gods; so do they also unto thee. Now therefore hearken unto their voice, howbeit, protest solemnly unto them and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them, i. e. not of any particular king, but the general manner of the kings of the earth, whom Israel was so eagerly copying after. And notwithstanding the great distance of time and difference of manners, the character is still in fashion, And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people, that asked of him a king. And he said, This shall be the manner of the king that shall reign over you; he will take your sons and appoint them for himself for his chariots, and to be his horsemen, and some shall run before his chariots (this description agrees with the present mode of impressing men) and he will appoint him captains over thousands and captains over fifties, and will set them to ear his ground and to read his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots; and he will take your daughters to be confectioneries and to be cooks and to be bakers (this describes the expense and luxury as well as the
oppression of kings) and he will take your fields and your olive yards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants; and he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give them to his officers and to his servants (by which we see that bribery,corruption, and favoritism are the standing vices of kings) and he will take the tenth of your men servants, and your maid servants, and your goodliest young men and your asses, and put them to his work; and he will take the tenth of your sheep, and ye shall be his servants, and ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen, AND THE LORD WILL NOT HEAR YOU IN THAT DAY. This accounts for the continuation of monarchy; neither do the characters of the few good kings which have lived since, either sanctify the title, or blot out the sinfulness of the origin; the high encomium given of David takes no notice of him officially as a king, but only as a man after God's own heart.
Nevertheless the People refused to obey the voice of Samuel, and they said. Nay, but we will have a king over us, that we may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us and fight our battles. Samuel continued to reason with them, but to no purpose; he set before them their ingratitude, but all would not avail; and seeing them fully bent on their folly, he cried out, I will call unto the Lord, and he shall sent thunder and rain (which then was a punishment, being the time of wheat harvest) that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great which ye have done in the sight of the Lord, IN ASKING YOU A KING. So Samuel called unto the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day, and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the Lord thy God that we die not,for WE HAVE ADDED UNTO OUR SINS THIS EVIL, TO ASK A KING. These portions of scripture are direct and positive. They admit of no equivocal construction. That the Almighty hath here entered his protest against monarchial government is true, or the scripture is false. And a man hath good reason to believe that there is as much of kingcraft,as priest-craft in withholding the scripture from the public in Popish countries. For monarchy in every instance is the Popery of government.
-End of quote

Could it be that we have so been fleshly men in our desires to have a mere man rule over us, not only in the body of Christ, that we now as Americans so wished to have a King rule over us, verses a Constitution by the people, and for the people, that now the sins of America are being seen in the punishment we have to bear now. Is America about to face the judgement of God, as it has forsaken the very Constitution formed to protect us from one man tyrants. Is the "institutional church" finally facing it's judgement, as they are condemned by government, and ruled by government because they were so foolish to desire to be nothing more than another organization run by men, for the sake of untrighteous mammon, and there desire to be ruled by the State by incorportation? I beleive so.
Even Herod died a quick untimely death for he too decided not to honor God and honor only himself. Wake up American's and wake up Christians. God will have no one other than His Son Jesus as King. For far too long we disregarded the words of Jesus, when He said, you can not love God and Mammon.
America has far too long enjoyed it's riches, worshipped them, and even formulated their "churches" around them. JUDGEMENT BEGINS WITH THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD!
We are about to face judgement. We have chosen men over God, pastors instead of Christ, buildings instead of the temple of God- your body which is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, and Presidents as kings, rather than Christ, and a land here on earth as our kingdom rather than the Kingdom of God which is not of this world.
Judgement is at hand!
The burps in the economyheading us to the worst depression this country has ever known, the destruction of civil liberties, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the prosecution of mega church preachers and their rich kingdoms falling into judgement under the State they chose to be their god, are all just pains of childbirth just before the child is born. It is the storm that is soon to come in this country that will rattle the mind set of America, and will shake it's very core. The time is short to give honor unto honor is due- God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
Let God's Kingdom be the only kingdom that you bow your knee to. For far too long you have thought of America as God's chosen nation- it is not, and will never be, but it can be a nation whereby it's people, change, have a paradigm shift of thinking and are no longer conformed to this world. It is time to humble ourselves, before the King of Kings. Bow your knee to Him who is king, for in the end, it will not be the kingdom of America that will stand nor will it be the kingdom of Israel, it will be God's kingdom, His true Ekklesia (His called out one's) who will reign with Christ for all eternity. Forget your bank acounts, they won't matter tommorrow, throw away your dollars they will be mere paper soon, forget your 401 K plans they will be worthless in the coming days, but your heart, for God will be all that matters. Make sure that is where your heart is, Let us repent of our sinful desire for leaders, as kings, both in the church and in government and seek only Christ and Him alone! Do we honestly believe in this time of election any MAN or WOMAN can provide for us for that which Christ can only provide and that is true justice, tempered with compassion and a kingdom that is truly a kingdom where all men are equal and their king seeks not to power over them but to lift them up to reside with Him and not for a short term but for all eternity? To God be the glory and honor forever! Amen

The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men

Just a little history for the day after the Fourth of July in America. Most individuals know I do not beleive in violence or war, or rebellion as a Christian. I do beleive we are to pray for leaders and peace so that we may live out our Christian faith peacefully, tend to our families, feed them and ourselves and clothe and house them and ourselves. However, what shall we do when government becomes so oppresive as that believers cannot enjoy our God given right to peace, and freedom without license.
I dont' believe that God wants us to sit back silently, as I beleive very strongly that we live in the Kingdom of God, as a Preterist, however I also believe it is our duty as Christians to support freedom in ways that are neither violent or zealous beyond Biblical reason and the life of Christ within us.
I found it of interest that the belief system of the days of our forefathers in this country, that people thought very differently other than the Quakers who think more like myself. I make no oath to no one, no institution or nation, but to serve it in Christ, however, even Paul and Peter once it got down to obedience towards God or men, chose God- and thus when commanded to cease from preaching Jesus Christ or proclaiming Ceasar a god, they did rebel against authority and did what they were told not to do anyway. They never lifted a weapon or fought back ,they simply followed their King Jesus in the same manner He did, they suffered and died at the hands of their persecutors. They practiced civil disobedience not for the affairs of men but for God. Even as Paul said, he was compelled to preach Christ.

Though I do not agree with what follows it is a large part of American History and bears repeating as a reminder, to those that always seek to power over others, there will be others who rebel many times it will be the religious and lead by the religious.
Though the following is an outline of just such a man who was both a preacher and a statesman, it is to remind us, that it is easy to be caught up in the moment of resistance against oppression, to often turn to religious justifications as this sermon delivered by John Witherspoon on May 17, 1776 just a month before the Declaration of Independence was signed in July 1776 and finally completed in it's signing in August of 1776. Here is a little background into the Scottish preacher John Witherspoon and then I have presented his sermon as preached in May 1776, that gave great religious fervor to the Revolution in 1776.

John Witherspoon (1723–1794). Born in Scotland and educated at Edinburgh, Witherspoon came to America in 1768 to be president of the College of New Jersey (Princeton), a position he held until 1792, when blindness forced his retirement. He had led the Popular Party among Scottish Presbyterians before his emigration, and he was prominent among ecclesiastical leaders in America. In the pre-Revolutionary years, the college at Princeton prospered under Witherspoon; with the Scotch-Irish influx into America, the Presbyterian church enjoyed great popularity and prosperity in the country, especially in the middle Atlantic colonies and on the frontier, where by 1776 there were many ministers who had been Witherspoon’s students. He closed the schism among the Presbyterians, and he made alliance with Ezra Stiles (president of Yale) to forge strong ties with the Congregationalists of New England as the Revolution bore down on the country. With Stiles he shared a distaste for the New Divinity and revivalism generally. He introduced into American thought the Scottish Common Sense philosophy of Thomas Reid and Dugald Stewart, which dominated the young nation’s thought for a century.

Because Witherspoon had been captured and imprisoned in Scotland during the Highlander uprising in 1745–46, his critics called him a Jacobite. Witherspoon eschewed politics in America until 1774, but after that he steadily participated, directly and indirectly, in the leading events of the day. In 1776 he was elected to the Continental Congress in time to urge adoption of the Declaration of Independence and to be the only clergyman to sign it. To the assertion that America was not ripe for independence he retorted: “In my judgment, sir, we are not only ripe, but rotting.”

Witherspoon served intermittently in Congress until 1782 and was a member of over a hundred legislative committees, including two vital standing committees, the Board of War and the Committee on Foreign Affairs. In the latter role, he took a leading part in drawing up the instructions for the American peace commissioners who concluded the Treaty of Paris, which ended the war in September 1783. He later served in the New Jersey legislature and was a member of that state’s ratifying convention for the Constitution in 1787.

Witherspoon has been called the most influential professor in American history, not only because of his powerful writing and speaking style—and he was carefully attended to on all subjects, both here and abroad—but also because of his long tenure at Princeton. His teaching and the reforms he made there radiated his influence across the country. He trained not only a substantial segment of the leadership among Presbyterians but a number of political leaders as well. Nine of the fifty-five participants in the Federal Convention in 1787 were Princeton graduates, chief among them James Madison (who, among other things, spent an extra year studying Hebrew and philosophy with Witherspoon after his graduation in 1771). Moreover, his pupils included a president and a vice-president of the United States, twenty-one senators, twenty-nine representatives, fifty-six state legislators, and thirty-three judges, three of whom were appointed to the Supreme Court. During the Revolution, his pupils were everywhere in positions of command in the American forces.

Witherspoon’s The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men caused a great stir when it was first preached in Princeton and published in Philadelphia in 1776, about a month before he was elected to the Continental Congress on June 22. He reminds his auditors that the sermon is his first address on political matters from the pulpit: ministers of the Gospel have more important business to attend to than secular crises, but, of course, liberty is more than a merely secular matter.

Surely the Wrath of Man shall praise thee; the remainder of Wrath shalt thou restrain.

(How the final statement of his can fit into what both Jesus and Paul taught is beyond me, but religious men believed it and fought the war under it's religious justifications to formulate this country which we live in now) - Dr. J.
Here is the sermon as he preached it back then in May 1776

The Dominion of Providence Over the Passions of Men

John Witherspoon
May 17, 1775
Print this Page.

In the first place, I would take the opportunity on this occasion, and from this subject, to press every hearer to a sincere concern for his own soul’s salvation. There are times when the mind may be expected to be more awake to divine truth, and the conscience more open to the arrows of conviction than at others. A season of public judgment is of this kind. Can you have a clearer view of the sinfulness of your nature, than when the rod of the oppressor is lifted up, and when you see men putting on the habit of the warrior, and collecting on every hand the weapons of hostility and instruments of death? I do not blame your ardour in preparing for the resolute defense of your temporal rights; but consider, I beseech you, the truly infinite importance of the salvation of your souls. Is it of much moment whether you and your children shall be rich or poor, at liberty or in bonds? Is it of much moment whether this beautiful country shall increase in fruitfulness from year to year, being cultivated by active industry, and possessed by independent freemen, or the scanty produce of the neglected fields shall be eaten up by hungry publicans, while the timid owner trembles at the tax-gatherer’s approach? And is it of less moment, my brethren, whether you shall be the heirs of glory, or the heirs of hell? Is your state on earth for a few fleeting years, of so much moment? And is it of less moment what shall be your state through endless ages? Have you assembled together willingly to hear what shall be said on public affairs, and to join in imploring the blessing of God on the counsels and arms of the United Colonies, and can you be unconcerned what shall become of you for ever, when all the monuments of human greatness shall be laid in ashes, for "the earth itself, and all the works that are therein shall be burnt up."

Wherefore, my beloved hearers, as the ministry of reconciliation is committed to me, I beseech you in the most earnest manner, to attend to "the things that belong to your peace, before they are hid from your eyes". How soon, and in what manner a seal shall be set upon the character and state of every person here present, it is impossible to know. But you may rest assured, that there is no time more suitable, and there is none so safe as that which is present, since it is wholy uncertain whether any other shall be yours. Those who shall first fall in battle, have not many more warnings to receive. There are some few daring and hardened sinners, who despise eternity itself, and set their Maker at defiance; but the far greater number, by staving off their convictions to a more convenient season, have been taken unprepared, and thus eternally lost. I would therefore earnestly press the apostle’s exhortation, 2 Cor 6: 1-2... "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

Suffer me to beseech you, or rather to give you warning, not to rest satisfied with a form of godliness, denying the power thereof. There can be no true religion, till there be a discovery of your lost state by nature and practice, and an unfeigned acceptance of Christ Jesus, as he is offered in the gospel. Unhappy are they who either despise his mercy, or are ashamed of his cross. Believe it, "There is no salvation in any other." "There is no other name under heaven given amongst men by which we must be saved." Unless you are united to him by a lively faith, not the resentment of a haughty monarch, the sword of divine justice hangs over you, and the fulness of divine vengeance shall speedily overtake you. I do not speak this only to the heaven-daring profligate or grovelling sensualist, but to every insensible, secure sinner; to all those, however decent and orderly in their civil deportment, who live to themselves, and have their part and portion in this life; in fine, to all who are yet in a state of nature, for "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God". The fear of man may make you hide your profanity; prudence and experience may make you abhor intemperance and riot; as you advance in life one vice may supplant another and hold its place; but nothing less than the sovereign grace of God can produce a saving change of heart and temper, or fit you for his immediate presence.

While we give praise to God, the supreme Disposer of all events, for his interposition in our behalf, let us guard against the dangerous error of trusting in, or boasting of an arm of flesh. I could earnestly wish, that while our arms are crowned with success, we might content ourselves with a modest ascription of it to the power of the Highest. It has given me great uneasiness to read some ostentatious, vaunting expressions in our newspapers, though happily, I think, much restrained of late. Let us not return to them again. If I am not mistaken, not only the Holy Scriptures in general, and the truths of the glorious gospel in particular, but the whole course of providence, seem intended to abase the pride of man, and lay the vain-glorious in the dust.

From what has been said you may learn what encouragement you have to put your trust in God, and hope for his assistance in the present important conflict. He is the Lord of hosts, great in might, and strong in battle. Whoever hath his countenance and approbation, shall have the best at last. I do not mean to speak prophetically, but agreeably to the analogy of faith, and the principles of God’s moral government. I leave this as a matter rather of conjecture than certainty, but observe, that if your conduct is prudent, you need not fear the multitude of opposing hosts.

If your cause is just, you may look with confidence to the Lord, and intreat him to plead it as his own. You are all my witnesses, that this is the first time of my introducing any political subject into the pulpit. At this season, however, it is not only lawful but necessary, and I willingly embrace the opportunity of declaring my opinion without any hesitation, that the cause in which America is now in arms, is the cause of justice, of liberty, and of human nature. So far as we have hitherto proceeded, I am satisfied that the confederacy of the colonies has not been the effect of pride, resentment, or sedition, but of a deep and general conviction that our civil and religious liberties, and consequently in a great measure the temporal and eternal happiness of us and our posterity, depended on the issue. The knowledge of God and his truths have from the beginning of the world been chiefly, if not entirely confined to those parts of the earth where some degree of liberty and political justice were to be seen, and great were the difficulties with which they had to struggle, from the imperfection of human society, and the unjust decisions of unsurped authority. There is not a single instance in history, in which civil liberty was lost, and religious liberty preserved entire. If therefore we yield up our temporal property, we at the same time deliver the conscience into bondage.

--
Comment: I can only say when men take scripture and things that are meant clearly to be spiritual in context then revert them to the carnal affairs of men, it is easy to see how in the religious mind, all kinds of justifications are found for all kinds of acts that any man can find solace in his action, though totally unscriptural and anti-biblical just as those who turn our Lord Jesus into G.I. Jesus, or like the anti-abortionist who seek to kill those who perform abortions. They have left the context of scripture, which Jesus reminds us, that life can't be found in it, neither is it a book of rules whereby we live our carnal lives, they are that which speak of Him, Jesus Christ who is KING OVER ALL THE AFFAIRS OF MEN, for it was He who said, "All Authority has been given unto me, in heaven and on earth". The affairs of government, and others lives, are not our affair but His, and His alone, and it is He who is judge, and will judge others, not we ourselves. How we forget so easily that Christ didnt come to establish an earthly kingdom of government among all people but an inward one in the hearts of His people who are here on earth being prepared for heaven, where there is no war, no death, no sin or men and their governments which will rise and fall always. Rome fell, and yes, sad to say as an American we are seeing the last vestiges of freedom in our country coming to a close as well. Is a revolution in store, probably and perhaps but should Christians lead it, my answer and I having the Spirit of Christ believe the answer for us is still, "No". Leave the affairs of men to men, there will be governments arise that are for individual freedom as history reveals, and there will be governments fall of despotism, like Rome and now America. Yes, we have a heritage but it is not our heritage of Americans that we need recall, it is our heritage and first most of being subjects, and not just subjects of the King but brothers to Christ, and Son's of the Father which must always guard our hearts against the idea's of any sort of justified violence against any of the kingdoms of this world. They will always be there, and they will always oppose God and the freedoms of Christ people, as they did Him, but our answer should remain...."Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord", and not ours, even at cost of our own individual lives under the oppression and hands of the persecutor, whoever that may be, another government or our own. We are to remain at peace with the Prince of peace..

Dr. J.

The Psychologizing of the Faith

The Psychologizing of the Faith

Self-exaltation and the idea that one could become a god, the lie Satan told Adam and Eve brought about the first appearance of sin in the universe (see Isaiah 14:12-14). Eventually, Jesus would identify man's fundamental obstacle in knowing Him as this same self-centered perspective on life (see Mark 8:34). The most radical consequences of "the Exaltation of Self" can be seen in the "Psychologizing of the Faith" taking place within the “church” world today.

Our American culture, like much of the rest of the world, has become deeply and extensively psychological. This psychologizing has entered into the “churches”, the foundational truths of "the faith once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude v. 3) is being redefined.
This tragic process, as well as the many “traditions of men” is replacing the Christ-centered perspective of the Word of God with a new man-centered approach to life.

One of the areas of “church” life which is being clearly impacted by this psychologizing trend is the “ministry of counseling”.
The word of God declares the Lord Jesus Christ to be our "Wonderful Counselor" (Isaiah 9:6). Jesus is such a Wonderful Counselor that in Him "are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3). The Lord wants to get His wonderful counsel to us through His LIVING word via the Written Word. "Your testimonies also are my delight and my counselors" (Psalm 119:24). If the church is ever to be any real example of what the true Ekklesia is of Jesus Christ it will be teaching and “practicing” the Word of God -- not secularized humanistic psychology.
Instead of ministering the Word of God personally to hurting and needy people, many “churches” refer them to Christian therapists or to Christian counseling clinics. Those truly called out “ The Ekklesia” will need no source of help for others outside of He who is in them- the resurrected Christ.
The deadly danger in this approach by the “churches” is that these so called “professional Christian counselors” have typically been trained in the same humanistic theories that worldly therapists use. They simply have come up with a way, much like the churches to mix, Christianity with Paganism.

Consequently, troubled believers are being taught by godless men like Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung and Abraham Maslow, instead of by godly Apostles like Paul and Peter and John through the Word of God.
Many Pastors and “churches” have found themselves in this situation because the “church” being joined to the State by incorporation as an institution, find themselves a part to lawsuits when a “Pastor’s” counseling has resulted in tragic events of the people they have talked to often committing suicide or committing violent crimes after receiving counseling from a “professional PASTOR”, whereas if the “Ekklesia” made up of all of God’s chosen one’s would and should be coming alongside troubled believers and discipling them and leading others to Christ instead of the “profession” of religion to handle all the problems that one will encounter in this world, these "laymen" could not face any such charges for no one has ever been sued as a friend for providing advice in a non-professional status.
I find it intriguing that this same lawsuit harassment has not followed the industry of psychology as it does the “church”.
I have a dear friend who would still probably more than likely have his wife and child still, but for the deception of psychology and their pharmaceutical (Gr. PHARMA= SORCERY) cures, he has now lost both.

It is all about where we place our trust, is where we will reap the consequences.
As the Word of God says, "if you sow to the flesh, you will reap the flesh, but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap the Spirit". For far too long now the “church” has been about men, rather than God. It has been about improving the self. One half of the Gospel is presented, and then it becomes contradictory telling you, now you are on your own to live the Christian life. As if self can ever improve self just because of forgiveness, for Satan will do his very best to point out so many sins in your life, to make you never realize that forgiveness, for he will keep you from the power of God over sin, which is Christ in you- not a better you!
Satan will drive a sin consciousness into the believer, rather than a Christ consciousness, that frees you. He will do this using the very “professionals” that led you to the idea of forgiveness at the cross, but never showed you the indentification in that, that Christ died, we died, that Christ lives, we live and it’s all ABOUT HIM! I say again, now this isn’t true of all “leadership” for there are those who are coming to realize they are "no leaders at all", that Christ is the answer, and they are on their knees seeking what God wants, searching the scriptures for not only the life He intended for His people to have but the expression of that life in practice and in worship and for when they are drawn together as believers in fellowship, for Christ to be the Head, the High Priest, so that it will be all about Him, and not the exaltation of self, or the powering over others.

There are scriptural truths that are far more vital than the “ministry of counseling” that are being redefined by psychological and legal influences in the churches. The problem of sin is one of those. "Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned" (Romans 5:12).

Man's basic problem is sin, which is self-serving rebellion against God.

God's remedy is grace. "For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:17). This is what we should be proclaiming as Christians. This grace to be known must often be offered first with “nouethetical” counseling (bringing the Word of God to bear on an individual as the law (the Commandments of God) to tutor the individual to see their need of Christ). This is how one evangelizes, by first telling of the absolute inability of an individual outside of Jesus Christ within them to change them, and getting them to admit that they as "ALL MEN have fallen short of the glory of God", that they are not alone in this, and that they will always live a destructive life, of sinful habits, or sinful actions, without the life of Christ within them. That living the Christian life is about Christ in them, through them and as them.
Christ must be portrayed as the only solution above all of man’s solutions whether legal, psychological or religious.
This solution is one of GRACE! Therefore even in telling it, we cannot lay claim (good or bad results) to what the person does with it. For it is God that calls an individual, and the person to which the Holy Spirit must reveal the Word to, and then their response is to be one of acceptance or rejection. Only God knows the heart and that individual. So we must envelope them with the Word of Truth- Jesus Christ.
Jesus made it clear that no one “comes to the Father, unless He draws him”.

Instead of declaring sin as the problem, man's need is now described as dysfunctionalism or co-dependency or victimization. We speak of sicknesses and disorders, instead of sin and it’s consequences.
Further, man's hope is often held forth as discovering the appropriate recovery group, instead of learning about God's life-giving and life-transforming grace through the indwelling life of Jesus Christ.
Now this is not to say, just because we give them the truth, there will be an immediate change brought forth. This is the call of personal discipleship-true “pastoring” to come alongside individuals, taking personal responsibility to show them the Word of God and Truth, only the Holy Spirit is the teacher, we can never teach anyone ANYTHING, we can only show them something, it takes the divine revelation by the Holy Spirit, to reach a man’s heart to bring him, or her to a dissatisfaction of self, self attempts to morality, works righteousness and more that are all sin. “For whatever is not of FAITH is sin”!
We can share our testimony, we can share verses of scripture that helped us to see “Christ in you, the hope of glory”, and then it is as the Word of God, says, “so shall MY WORD be, that it shall go forth, and do that for which I sent it to do and not return to me void”.
God’s Word never fails, for He is the LIVING WORD, the resurrected Jesus, who will make His abode, in Him who God has revealed Himself to, and they now have the choice to respond in repentance and toward faith, if their hearts are so prepared by God to do so. For it is He that brings revelation of His living Word- Jesus Christ.
The problem is we offer psychology, the most popular methods of counseling as interpreted by the modern “church” and it’s advocates and teachers.
One of the few, so called “Christian Psychologist” that I do respect "somewhat" is Dr. J. Adams, who has for sometime provided “nouthetic” counseling very successfully I might add, instead of a bunch of psychological mumbo jumbo. He has written several books which in general have absolutely been rejected by the community of “scientist” and even the “church”.
It is these books of Dr. J. Adams and one other called the “Tree of Healing” that I gave to a dear friend of mine who is a Psychological Counselor, that helped her to see the necessary transition from humanism to Christian thinking to reach people, where they need help the most, that in the area of sin and Self-exaltation. What she has done with it, only she knows, though she remains in a secular job counseling where the rules can’t be broken, where one may not mention God first, and it must be the patient that does before you can even have dialogue in that area. She does when the opportunity arises, try to get in the testimony of Jesus Christ to the patient without violating the godless humanistic rules set up by the men who rule in it.


In Matthew 28:19, Jesus gave His followers their all-encompassing instructions for the rest of their lives on earth. "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations." Christ living through us, as us, and through us will result in many others coming across our path in life, to which Christ within us will reach out to and give us the words needed and the scriptures needed to come alongside others to “pastor” them. Of course, one must know the Word of God, both in scripture and His life within for this process of making disciples of others. A disciple is one who is taught under the authority of someone else. We are not to make people disciples under us, but to bring them to the place by sharing our life, His love and God’s expression of Himself through us, so that their very lives will soon become under Christ as well. As they see God in you!
This fundamental calling doesn’t belong to the select few, it is ALL OF OUR CALLING TO STUDY AND SHEW OURSELVES APPROVED SO THAT WE CAN PROCLAIM, “The Good News” of Jesus Christ. It is for all who are in that heavenly congregation known as the "EKKLESIA of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The path of discipleship was explained by Jesus in Luke 9:23. "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." Discipleship is not following Jesus (religion), or doing what Jesus would do (self attempts to a better self), but it is the coming to the knowing that “His life” is now yours. That you have died to the old life (this is the only “denying of self” as a Christian is taught in scripture) and that he or she is now a “new Creation in Him” in living this they will be taking up the cross, the same cross He carried, "Not my will but thine be done". The very KINGDOM OF GOD- HIS KINGSHIP!
He simply wants to be our life for us. He isn’t going to make something better of the “old man”. This is an illustration of what He does, He is like a better program written for a computer, but of course in this case the BEST PROGRAM EVER WRITTEN. In this illustration- the YOU software, He will override that old useless program written by Satan, He will delete it, with the best of encrypted erasing programs, so it will never show up again, and then replace it ALL with the biggest and best and only to ever be written program of HIMSELF – The name of this new software that runs YOU is called “ Christ in you, the hope of glory”. It not only changes the software but it begins to build a WHOLE NEW COMPUTER- YOU become HIM expressed in your behaviour and life. Sometimes it takes years for God to give you instructions on how this new software program works because others have been telling you different and wrong on how it runs.
You keep trying to press the same old keys to make the old program work, you keep thinking maybe a few updates is all it needs, so you come up with ways you think to make the old program work better, but for some reason, you just can't figure out why, it just doesn't work and seems to only get worse and worse, more crashes, more failures.
Well it won't work- SEE it's been erased, God has replaced the WHOLE THING with something new- Jesus Christ in you, the hope of glory!
To do so, we must realize that “we” have- (that old self) has been crucified with Christ- (this is the denial of self) and that the life we now live is in the faith that Christ is our life- and yet is becoming our new life in us, as us, and through us.
The terms of discipleship are NO to self and the idea of a “Better You” and the recognizing of our need by faith to come alongside death at the cross along with Jesus at the cross to this so called better self or in truth the worse self. Coming to the knoweldge of the truth in Christ will eliminate any hope YOU can have as one popular preacher proclaims and his best seller book title reads -“BECOME A BETTER YOU”!.
You will NEVER BE A “better you”, you have to recognize that, to which most religious people do not recognize that. They still are trying to make an old program work that is a huge FAILURE. God had to something for all Men and Women in the world that Microsoft and nobody else can do or has the ability to do. He had to trash that old program and write a new one. He did just that!
True repentance is when you come to realize- Our righteousness is as filthy rags before the "Holy One"-God!
That all attempts in the flesh to be good, are simply methods of SELF EXALTATION. That one will swing from good to bad and bad to good on a swinging pendulum of a branch of the tree called “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” all of their physical life. This will be life (which in fact is no life at all) as they know it until they gain the reality of Christ as their REAL life, and that they can say along with Paul, “I am crucified with Christ, yet I live, but not I, but Christ that lives within me”!This should be our central instruction to new believers in the “Ekklesia” and must be to those God places in our path as Christians as we go through this life. Christ when He lives within us, as us and through us, will express himself as He did while here on earth, He will bring healing words and healing touches to those who are hurting and who are willing to cry out, Have mercy on me, Son of David!
One, must often come to the end of the rope of self, before this happens. The sad thing is there are few who come alongside these individuals as a friend and as one who will lead them to Him who can become their life and give them victory in all the areas they have ever struggled in to improve, the only hope for the world- Jesus Christ! The problem with the organized church is that they see this as the "Pastor’s" job, or the calling of the “ministry of counseling” or men and their governments see it as prison, or rehabilitation programs, and psychology sees it as group therapy, drugs, counseling, or other NONSENSE solutions of men. All solutions springing forth from the fleshly ideas of man, that somehow, he can make man to be godlike and have godliness, by simply writing a new update for the old software.
What a tragic misinterpretation of God, and His people, as to who they are in Christ, and who He is within them. Perhaps thousands have died, or suffered needlessly because of our desire to lead them to “church” instead of the living reality, the resurrected Jesus Christ. What we offered was the dry well of religion, when Christ wanted to offer them living water to which they will never thirst again.

Instead of urging people to this "scriptural denial of self", many “churches” are calling Christians to esteem self. Self-esteem counseling and self-esteem preaching abound in the church world. This self-exalting message is not some "harmless contemporary version" of the message of the Bible. It is a serious error that prevents Christians from progressing as born again believers, since it is a call in the opposite direction of discipleship or coming under the authority of Christ as their life. Discipleship calls us to Christ and away from self. Self-esteem calls us to self, which obstructs our progress after Christ. Thus religion in it’s attempt to swing to the good side of the pendulum on the branch of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, has resulted in the failure of many “New Creations” in Christ, from ever growing beyond some religious ritualistic life which is done through and by the flesh, rather than a turning away from self, and self righteous works, to the living Jesus Christ. I have found, that there are two results to this false teaching that “you can be a better you”, you will either become so blinded by Satan that you can’t see your nose in front of your face to your reinterpreting the Word of God to justify the sin in your life or you will finally become so exasperated with your “self” attempts to live the Christian life, that you will finally return to where you began in FAITH. The mistake made is what Paul corrects using these words in the book of Galatians to those in Christ even back then where the religionist were coming in and disturbing the very faith they had, he said- "AS YOU Received CHRIST SO YE THEREFORE WALK IN HIM"!
If you didn’t receive Christ in faith, then you probably won’t walk in Him by faith either. If you believe it was something YOU did, to be saved, church membership, baptism, good works, tithing or any other work rather than through the death and resurrection of Christ, then you will probably always think it is about YOU for the life of Christ as a Christian. You are headed for a very frustrated life!
WE WOULD NEVER EVEN BELIEVE OR HAVE FAITH, IF IT NOT FOR THE WORK OF WHAT CHRIST DID IN GOING TO THE CROSS, NOR WILL IT EVER BE WHAT HE WANTS TO DO RIGHT NOW IN OUR LIVES BY THAT CONTINUED WORK OF HIS, IF WE EVER THINK WE CAN LIVE THE ‘CHRISTIAN LIFE”.
The fact is ONLY HE CAN LIVE WHAT HE IS!

The Sufficiency is of Christ and IS Christ!

As we walk in the Lord as His "called out one’s" (ekklesia), we will find ourselves sharing with others and learning to live by His sufficiency. Christ's sufficiency is “The Essential Foundation” stone of the Christian faith. Believers will find in Jesus all that they need for a complete, full, abundant walk with the Lord. Colossians 2:9-10 speaks of such truth. "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him." Everything that the Godhead has to offer man for living here on earth is resident in the Lord Jesus Christ. Every believer in Jesus is now in Christ, where all the fullness dwells. Therefore, in Christ, we all have completeness of life available to us. Actually, Christ is our true life. "When Christ who is our life appears . . ." (Colossians 3:4a). As we learn to depend upon the sufficiency of Christ, looking to Him for spiritual life each day, He can then increasingly becomes to us our "all in all" (Colossians 3:11). This is what God's people will be trusting in, as well as proclaiming to others.

Instead, too many so called teachers, preachers and leaders are depending upon and pointing others toward “self-help books” and “self-actualization theories”. Churches are often more interested in self-improvement courses and self-development techniques than in the unlimited spiritual resources found in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Another essential foundational truth that we must be proclaiming and living is the work of the Holy Spirit. "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth . . . He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you" (John 16:13-14). The Holy Spirit is the one who discloses to us real understanding of the truths of the word of God. As that process is unfolding, the Spirit reveals to us the realities of the Lord Jesus, showing us our life in Christ and how to draw upon that by faith resulting in daily Christian growth and service. Furthermore, as the Holy Spirit reveals to us the glories of Christ in the Word and as He expresses Himself through us, He also transforms this new creation , the new spiritual you, which is your spirit joined with His Spirit to be expressed more and more into the very likeness of Christ. "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 3:18). For biblical insight, as well as for spiritual growth, it is critical that God's people would be proclaiming this message about the work of the Spirit.


Instead of putting their hope in these great ministries of the Spirit of Christ within us, many “church leaders” are inferring that the challenges of modern life are too complicated for such an old fashioned approach to ministry. Those who should be calling others to confidence in the ability of God's Spirit to use God's word in the transforming of lives are often pointing us toward theories and speculations formulated by the intellect of man. The proper exercising of the human intellect is in looking to the Spirit of the Lord to unfold for us "the mind of Christ" (1 Corinthians 2:16). That process increasingly enables us to think as God thinks on all the issues of life. For all wisdom and knowledge is in HIM!
Getting to know God our Father and Jesus Christ the Son is the ultimate goal that the EKKLESIA will be calling God's people toward and is the work of the Holy Spirit in us. "But indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord" (Philippians 3:8). A growing acquaintanceship with the Lord Jesus Christ as our life, is the surpassing value of life. It is what eternal life is all about. "And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent" (John 17:3). This prime objective is what the Lord's people are to be living for and showing to all.

Instead, as the faith is being psychologized, the “church” frequently sounds just like the world in calling people to know themselves. Many are led by their churches down the path of personal introspection through the growing interest in temperament analysis profiles and self-evaluation inventories. Such tools may seem helpful. However, all that we need to know about ourselves has already been laid out for us in the scriptures. God will reveal such personal insight to us as we concentrate upon a growing relationship in Christ the Lord and King. Our next and last issue to examine is closely related to this same matter.

Jesus said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment" (Matthew 22:37-38). The most important directive from God to man is that we are to learn to love Him with all of our being. This is to be a fundamental emphasis in the message of any group or individual proclaiming to be Christ’s.
It is a central, strategic tenet of "the faith, once for all delivered to the saints."

Instead of urging God's people to be learning to love the Lord fully and wholeheartedly, believers are frequently exhorted to learn to love themselves properly. This erroneous teaching comes from a twisting of the second commandment to "love your neighbor as yourself." This distorted exposition assumes that we don't already love ourselves. Actually, Jesus was telling us to give the loving attention to others that we all give habitually to ourselves. "For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it" (Ephesians 5:29). Nonetheless, many contemporary leaders in the church world urge Christians to attempt to develop love for themselves. By engaging in such anti-scriptural and anti-Christ teaching, they are sadly helping to fulfill a biblical warning, given in a prophetic instruction from the Apostle Paul. "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves" (2 Timothy 3:1-2). The primary characteristic of rebellious humanity in the last days will be open, flaunted, unashamed self-love. Far from calling us to self-love, the scriptures warn us about such an ungodly perspective.

Conclusion

Multitudes “in the church” and many Christians are becoming as focused on self as the world has become. This is one of the tragic consequences of "the psychologizing of the faith." The Lord has given us many warnings and exhortations in the Word of God which can protect us against being a part of this self-exalting deception now impacting the “churches”.

"Beware lest anyone cheat you (or, take you captive) through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ" (Colossians 2:8). Psychological theories are one of the predominant philosophies in the world today. We must be alert that no one (whether humanistic agnostics or beloved and respected church leaders) - - that no one lead us astray by such theories.
On the other hand, we are to be those who are in Christ to respond to the living Word and the Bible who calls us to Him.
"Guard what was committed to your trust (that is, the word of God and your simple reliance upon Christ in ALL THINGS), avoiding the profane and vain babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge-- by professing it, some have strayed concerning the faith . . . Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed to you (that is, the word of God), keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us." (1 Timothy 6:20-21; 2 Timothy 1:13-14).

The institution of the church is once again not only failing, but failing what it really is to be – The “Ekklesia” – the CALLED OUT ONE’S OF GOD!

“We” if, we are in Him, and He is in us, regardless if we meet corporately or not, are “CALLED OUT” OF THIS WORLD INTO HIS GLORIOUS KINGDOM!
When this is expressed in the Truth of His Life within us, as us, and through us, the psychologizing of His PEOPLE will become of little significance, for WE WILL KNOW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH WILL SET US FREE!
I know, I was a former drug addict, and alcoholic as a young man, it was Christ the truth of who He is and who I am that SET ME FREE, that HE is my life, and there will never be a better OLD ME- the man of the FLESH, but that there is someone who is BETTER THAN ALL- His name is JESUS!
CHRIST IN YOU, THE HOPE OF GLORY!!!
He still delivers me, from that old self, of bad and good, and will continue to do so, as I walk in Faith of Him until He comes and we shall all appear with Him and be like Him! For our lives are hidden in Christ with God now. Isn’t it wonderful to know the GREAT COUNSELOR- JESUS??