UNDERSTANDING THE NEW WORLD ORDER AND ALICE BAILEY

New World Order is a term used to describe the uniting of the world’s superpowers to secure and maintain global peace, safety, and security. Synonymous with the term New World Order are the terms one world government, global governance, and globalization. All these terms are used interchangeably and at different times to communicate to different audiences. Make no mistake – they all basically mean the same thing.As the 21st-century idols of atheism,humanism, and communism have become mainstream and now accepted by most, we are now moving to a contest for the souls and minds of Americans where we now face formidable opponents in godless liberal collectivists, globalists, New Age religion, Islam and Satanism.

No longer are we only threatened from without by a group of balding hard-line Communists – we are now threatened from within – by a group of intelligent, well-dressed globalists who are convincing America and the nations of the world that the only way to lasting world peace is the establishment of a …
“New World Order.”

While many people dismiss the New World Order as a conspiracy theory, it is neither a conspiracy nor a theory. It may be true there are many conspirators working within the New World Order, in it’s broader application, the New World Order is really more of an agenda by a group of international elites that control and manipulate governments, industry and media organizations worldwide. Any intelligent person examining history and events occurring today cannot describe it as a theory either, rather the New World Order is clearly documented in historical documents in both the words and actions of world leaders.

World leaders are excited at the prospects for peace and there has been much talk about entering a “new era” and about the establishment of a “New World Order.”

 

 

In recent years, we have seen an alarming rise of ecumenism and moral relativity in the western world.  In an age where evangelical Christianity – and for that matter, Judaism – is seen as too “intolerant” or “divisive” for a civilized world, interfaith movements, the New Age Movement, and Unitarian Universalism are gaining in popularity.  Nowhere is that more evident than within the United Nations.  In researching this article, I have become convinced that influential powers at the United Nations are now paving the way for the Antichrist.  What you will read in this article will be but a sampling of some of the most insidious evil I have ever read.  If you are a Christian, you may find this article unsettling.  However, I feel very strongly that it is imperative to make Christians aware of the powerful New Age influence at the United Nations.  One other important point – I did not base this article on research performed by so-called “conspiracy theorists”.  The reams of documentation from which this article is based came from official sources – the horse’s mouth, so to speak.

Daniel 8:23-24 “And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.

And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.”

Alice bailey and the plan published in 1948.

In her autobiography, bailey related that as a child she was unhappy and did not find life worth living and bse of this she attempted to commit suicide three times; the first at the age of 5, the second at the age  of 11, and the 3^rd at an unspecified time prior to age 15

At 15, on june 30/1895, Bailey was visited by a stranger, “..a tall man, dressed in European clothes and wearing a turban” who told her she needed to develop self-control to prepare for certain work planned for her to do. She supposed this individual was Jesus, but later she identified him as master Koot Hoomi (a Tibetan spirit)

She said the problems of poverty and income divisions at the time were cause by “the present order”. She wrote a book called the plan on how to acieve “the new world order”. The plan is a 10 point program on how to introduce  the NOW outlined below.

Her paln which she called the Lucifer trust has been fully adopted by the UN (called the lucis trust)

1. Take God and prayer out of Education system

Chance the curriculum to ensure that children are freed from bondage of Christianity. If you take God out of education, children will unconsciously form a resolve that God is not necessary to face life.

Today, they introduce transcendental mediation(TM)in schools which take Children to altered states of consciousness to meet spirits.

 

2. Reduce Parental authority over children.

She said; Break the communication between parent and child (Why?). So that parents do not pass on their Christian traditions to their children, liberate children from the bondage of their parent traditions (how?)

 

a)      Promote excessive child rights; (1997-1998 South Africa introduced Child rights legislation – UNICEF Charter; Today a child is able to say to parent ‘I do not want to hear that, I don’t want to do what you are telling me. Teachers cannot talk to children, children step up and say I have my rights, you cannot talk to me like that).

b)      Abolish corporal punishment; (this has been made law). On the other hand the Bible says ‘Do not withhold correction from a child, for if you beat him with a rod, he will not die. You shall beat him with a rod and deliver his soul from hell.’ (Proverbs 23: 13-14)

N.B.  Jesus said in the last days – wickedness will increase, there will be

rebellion and children will not obey their parents. It is not a trend,

It is organized.

c)      Teachers are the agents of implementation – from workshops, teachers tell children ‘your parent has no right to force you to pray or read the Bible, you are yourself, have a right of your own, you need to discover yourself, self expression, self realization, self fulfillment are all buzz words.

In the West when the child is 7 yrs, the teachers begin to say to the child ‘you have a right to choose whether you want to follow the faith of your parents or not, parents are not allowed to enforce their faith upon you.’ Question is, what type of decision can a 7 year old make?

 

3. Destroy the Judeo-Christian family structure

OR THE TRADITIONAL CHRISTIAN FAMILY STRUCTURE (Why?).

 

It is oppressive and that the family is the core of the nation. If you break the family, you break the nation. Liberate the people from the confines of this structure (How?)

a)      Promote sexual promiscuity – free young people to the concept of premarital sex, let them have free sex, lift it so high that the joy of enjoying it(sex) is the highest joy in life, fantasize it, that everybody will feel proud to be seen to be sexually active, even those outside of marriage. This is contrary to the word of God which says “… But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints… for this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.” (Ephesians 5: 3-5)

b)      Use advertising industry, media – T.V., magazines, film industry to promote sexual enjoyment as the highest pleasure in humanity.

Have they succeeded? Have they done it? If you want to see whether they have succeeded or not, go to the advertising industry, it does everything to catch your attention and today almost no advert comes out without a sexual connotation. Even when they advertise ice cream, they must show you a thigh of a woman and a bikini, they must do something to set off a trail of thoughts. They will show you more thighs than ice cream. Why? Because, that is what must be in the minds of the people.

N.B. Advertising industry pops out so much money towards their advertisements to the T.V. and radio.

4.      IF SEX IS FREE, THEN MAKE ABORTION LEGAL AND MAKE IT EASY

Build clinics for abortion – even in schools. If people are going to enjoy the joy of sexual relationships, they need to be free of unnecessary fears. If the teenagers don’t want pregnancy, no sweat. Just walk in and out of the clinic.

‘Abortion as told by Christians is oppressive and denies our rights, we have a right to choose whether we want to have a child or not. If a woman does not want the pregnancy, she should have the freedom to get rid of that pregnancy painless and as easy as possible’. Today it is not only accessible, it is forced. Today abortion is a strategy to curb population control together with the use of condoms and ‘pill’.

*In 1965, all 50 states in America held abortion as illegal, except under very rare circumstances. In 1073, the supreme court ruled that all anti-abortion laws were unconstitutional and made it legal. The devil moved to kill the generation of people who were to preach the end time message.

5.      MAKE DIVORCE EASY AND LEGAL, FREE PEOPLE FROM THE CONCEPT OF MARRIAGE FOR LIFE.

 

Alice  said that love has got a mysterious link called the love bond. It is like an ovum that comes out of the ovary, as it travels through your system, it clicks a love favor in you and there’s one other person in the world who can respond to that love bond, when you see that person, everything within you clicks, that is your man/woman, if you miss him, you’ll never be happy until that love bond cycles past, for many years, so for you to be happy get that person at whatever cost, if it means getting him/her out of that marriage, get him/her that is your man/woman. It’s a mistake for him/her to be elsewhere. And if you go together for sometime and find that love has died, don’t be held in bondage by the Christian values it will never come back, what you need is an easily arranged divorce and allow another love bond to come forth, just like an ovum comes up, and when it comes forth you’ll enjoy life again. On the contrary God’s word says in Malachi 2: 16; “For the Lord God of Israel says that He hates divorce…”

 

N.B. People enter into marriage having signed contracts of how they will share their things after divorce. People enter with one foot and another behind. 50 years ago divorce was unthinkable. It is one thing for a marriage to fail but it is another thing for people to enter marriage with an intention to enjoy as long as it was enjoyable and to walk out of it.

6.      MAKE HOMOSEXUALITY AN ALTERNATIVE LIFESTYLE

 

Alice Bailey preached (50 yrs ago) that sexual enjoyment is the highest pleasure in humanity, no one must be denied and no one must be restricted how to enjoy themselves. People should be allowed in which ever way they chose they want, whether it is homosexuality or in incest or bestiality, as long as the two agree.

A law was passed in our nation, South Africa. Parliament has passed it on 26/01/2000 and the President gave it his signature on 4/02/2000 – giving so much freedom to gay rights, that a time will come when it is illegal for a preacher to mention homosexuality as an abomination in the eyes of God, or to read scriptures publicly that talk about homosexuality. In Mozambique 1994, an agenda was drawn targeting to fill the police force, the judicial system (judges), the education system and everywhere else with gays, so that when a case comes up, they are there to defend the cause. Today the church is expected to marry gays/lesbians.

According to the Bible, this is an abomination before the eyes of God

(Leviticus 18:22; 20:13)

7.      DEBASE ART, MAKE IT RUN MAD

 

How? Promote new forms of art which will corrupt and defile the imagination of people because art is the language of the spirit, that which is inside, you can bring out in painting, music, drama etc. Look at the quality of the music that is coming out, the films out of Holywood.

 

 

8.      USE MEDIA TO PROMOTE AND CHANGE MINDSET

 

the greatest channel you need to use to change human attitude is media. Use the press, the radio, T.V, cinema. You can tell today how successful they have been in implementing the plan over 50 years via media as well as advertising agencies, billboards, magazines. Who controls media? (New Age); So much money is pumped into media and advertising spreading of pornographic material and other sources. Sex outside of marriage is thrown on your face 80-90 times than sex in marriage. Promiscuity is being promoted as natural, you watch gay sex on T.V. in homes where children’s minds are being neutralized to sensitivity to these things. You wonder why newspapers, T.V, etc do not record anything about Christian activities.

.

9.      CREATE AN INTERFAITH MOVEMENT

 

Promote other faiths to be at par with Christianity, and break this thing about Christianity as being the only way to heaven, by that Christianity will be pulled down and other faiths promoted. She said promote the importance of man in determining his own future and destiny – HUMANISM. She said tell man he has the right to choose what he wants to be and he can make it happen, he has the right to determine his cause – This takes God off His throne. We have seen in our nation, South Africa hosting a meeting of the Interfaith Movement in Cape Town led by Dalai Lama.

 

.

10. get the government to make these into laws and the church to endorse them.

The church must change its doctrine and accommodate the people by accepting these. The new age movement is based on the theory that: “if it doesn’t hurt any one, go ahead and do it.”

Speaking to military graduates in may 2010, US president Obama spoke of the need for a new world order.

“ the international order we seek is one that can resolve the challenges of our times” remarked Obama. He went ahead and said “Countering violent extremetism and insurgency; stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and securing nuclear materials; combating a a changing climate and sustaining grobal growth; helping countries feed themselves and care for their sick; preventing conflict and healing its wounds.”

 

Have they succeeded?

Today you wonder why our governments are legislating laws contrary to the Bible and why the church is compromising the Word of God. It is a process of implementing Thee Plan – A 50 year strategy of the New Age Movement to fulfill its ultimate goal to establish a One World Government, a One World Economic system and a One World Religion. Today the strategy almost in its entirety has been adopted by the United Nations and today a lot of it is already law in many nations. This deception has crept up unobserved on so many people. It can best be demonstrated through the well-known analogy of the frog in the pot of water. If you put a frog in a pot of boiling water, it is smart enough to know that it is in terrible danger and will immediately jump out to safety. But if you turn up the heat very slowly, a little at a time, it doesn’t notice the changes that are taking place and will slowly cook to death. Many people today are slowly cooking to death and don’t seem to realize how far they have come from where they once were.

 

Today the Western World is not struggling to resist these because the New Age Movement focused primarily on the West because that was the Christian world in the 19^th century. The New Age Movement has a school called the Akanni School, which is the school of all the leaders of the Western world. They subscribe to it. It is recorded that they say they have succeeded the task in the West but suddenly they realize Christianity has migrated to the rest of the world, so they have now to use every resource in the West to deal with the rest of the world. In Africa, South Africa is the number one state, it is changing at such a rapid speed. They are saying give to African States a financial package with conditions to:

v  Legalize abortion

v  Take God and prayer out of school

Governments are so attracted to this package, they can’t say no to it, they need the money, they ask the church to find an answer. These are done secretly. Christianity is 5%, the rest is Hinduism, Buddhism, Spiritism. New Age is being taught to teachers, they are being taught to teach this in schools.

 

It is interesting to note that Blavatsky, Besant and Alice Bailey were well known Masonic leaders of the day. Albert Pike referred to Freemasonry as the ‘custodian’ or special guardian of these occult secrets and revealed the hidden agenda of his institution, the forming of a Luciferic One World Government.

 

UN alliance of Civilization

This was set up in 2005 to reduce tensions across cultural divides, especially between Muslim and western civilizations, that threaten to inflame existing political conflicts or trigger new ones.

According to their website, their mission statement is “to amplify voices of moderation” enemies of AOC are 1). Those with exclusivist ideology— defined as those who feed on exclusion and claim sole ownership of the truth, i.e. Christians.

In 2009, Obama is his historic speech in Cairo said, “Faith should bring us together. And that is why we are forging service projects in America to bring together Christians, Muslims, and Jews. That is why we welcome efforts like Saudi Arabian king Abdullah’s interfaith dialogue and Turkey’s leadership in the alliance of civilizations. Around the world, we can turn dialogue into interfaith service so bridges between peoples lead to action, whether it is combating malaria in Africa, or providing relief after natural disaster.”

Mathew 10:34.

Obama continues, “ this truth transcends nations and peoples, a belief that isn’t new, that isn’t black or white or brown, that isn’t Christian or Muslim or Jew. It is a faith in other people. And that is what brought me here today. The people of the world can live together in peace.”

1Thessalonians 5:3  “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”

 

So is the world ready to worship the beast?

 

THE POWER AND PRACTICE OF PRAISE

THE POWER OF PRAISE AND WORSHIP  –  By Pr Atukwatse Onesmus.

Acts 16:23-26 –  “And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
“Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
“And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.”

This Bible story begins the unjust arrest of Paul and Silas.  Because they had cast a spirit of divination out of a girl, the local Philippian authorities beat them and then threw them into a jail cell. Besides the trauma of the severe beating, they were fastened in stocks which clamped their arms and legs in an immobile position, causing cramps and loss of circulation.

The atmosphere there was depressing. According to the standards of that day, a prison was more like the resemblance of a dungeon. A dark, damp, stench-ridden place, with no facility for waste or comforts of any kind.

Yet, in spite of the throbbing pain in their bodies and the disheartening atmosphere, at midnight Paul and Silas were heard praying and singing praises to God! What a strange sound this must have been to the other prisoners, who were used to only hearing the groans or cursings of those who had been beaten.

Then suddenly, there was an earthquake that shook the prison! The doors flung open, and amazingly, the bonds of Paul, Silas, and every other prisoner were released! What caused this mighty discharge of power?

Praise Elevates us into God’s Presence and Power

Paul and Silas knew the secret of how to lift their hearts above their troubles and enter into God’s presence and power. Through praise and worship their hearts were raised into the joyous presence and peace of God, and provided God a channel for his power to operate in their circumstances.

The Bible says that God inhabits in the praises of His people (Psalms 22:3).  In other words, God “dwells” in the atmosphere of His praise. This means that praise is not merely a reaction from coming into His presence – Praise is a vehicle of faith which brings us into the presence and power of God! Praise and worship is the “gate-pass” which allows us to enter the sacredness of His glory. The psalmist writes, “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name” (Psalms 100:4).

This corresponds with Jesus’ teaching, that His presence will inhabit the gathering of believers who congregate in His name: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). A “gathering in His name” means that Jesus must be the focus, the center of the assemblage. He must be the one preached about, sung about — the one praised and worshiped. “I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee” (Hebrews 2:12). Consequently, Christ’s presence, along with His virtue and anointing, is manifested in this type of gathering.

Have you ever noticed when “gifts of the Spirit” operate in a church service? The power and anointing of the Holy Spirit usually becomes evident, subsequent to a time of worship and praise. Some think that worship is a response after the Holy Spirit moves upon them. However, it’s the other way around. God’s presence responds when we move upon Him with worship! Lifting up Jesus Christ through praise and worship invokes the Lord’s presence and power to flow in our midst.

What is Praise?

Praise means “to commend, to applaud or magnify.” For the Christian, praise to God is an expression of worship, lifting-up and glorifying the Lord. It is an expression of humbling ourselves and centering our attention upon the Lord with heart-felt expressions of love, adoration and thanksgiving. High praises bring our spirit into a pinnacle of fellowship and intimacy between ourselves and God — it magnifies our awareness of our spiritual union with the most high God. Praise transports us into the realm of the supernatural and into the power of God. “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance” (Psalms 89:15).

There are many actions involved with praise to God — verbal expressions of adoration and thanksgiving, singing, playing instruments, shouting, dancing, lifting or clapping our hands. But true praise is not “merely” going through these motions. Jesus spoke about the hypocrisy of the pharisees, whose worship was only an outward show and not from the heart. “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8). Genuine praise to God is a matter of humility and sincere devotion to the Lord from within.

Unpretentious praise and worship pleases the Lord. He delights in the love and devotion of His children. According to the scriptures, the various expressions of praise bring blessing to the Lord. He eagerly awaits the fragrance of our affections, desiring to manifest His sweet presence and power in our midst. “…the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him” (John 4:23).

Praise to God is a Lifestyle

All too often, praise to God is something that many people leave at church, an event that happens only when they come together with other Christians. However, praise should be a part of a believers lifestyle, inter-mingled as a part of their daily prayer-life. At work, in the car, at home in bed, or anywhere; praise to the Lord brings the refreshing of the Lord’s presence, along with His power and anointing. “…I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalms 34:1).

Praise is an expression of faith, and a declaration of victory! It declares that we believe God is with us and is in control of the outcome of all our circumstances (Romans 8:28). Praise is a “sacrifice,” something that we offer to God sacrificially, not just because we feel like it, but because we believe in Him and wish to please Him. “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name” (Hebrews 13:15).

Praise Sends the Enemy Running

Since praise manifests God’s presence, we also realize that praise repels the presence of the enemy, Satan. An atmosphere which is filled with sincere worship and praise to God by humble and contrite hearts is disgusting to the Devil. He fears the power in the name of Jesus, and flees from the Lord’s habitation in praise. “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God” (Psalms 50:23).

When the children of Judah found themselves outnumbered by the hostile armies of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, King Jehoshophat and all the people sought the Lord for His help. The Lord assured the people that this would be His battle. He told them to go out against them, and He would do the fighting for them. So what did the children of Judah do? Being the people of “praise” (Judah actually means Praise), and knowing that God manifests His power through praise, they sent their army against their enemies, led by the praisers!

So on they went, ahead of the army declaring, “Praise the Lord, for His mercy endureth forever!” And the scripture says, “…when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten” (2 Chronicles 20:22).

When God’s people begin to praise His name, it sends the enemy running! I challenge you to become a person of praise, and you will experience the release of the power of God!

Some Biblical Expressions of Praise

Declaring of thanks (Heb. 13:15)
Clapping hands and shouting (Psalms 47:1)
Musical instruments and dancing (Psm. 150:4)
Singing praise songs (Psalms 9:11)
Psalms, hymns, & spiritual songs (Eph. 5:19-20)
Making a joyful noise (Psalms 98:4)
By lifting our hands (Psalms 134:2)
By being still (Psalms 4:3-5, 46:10)
By being loud (Psalms 33:3, 95:1-6)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here are 3 simple ways you can support this ministry and keep Pastor Onesmus online:

1. Share this message with at least 5 friends (and even 5 enemies?).
2. Make a one-time DONATION. May God shower His blessings on you!
3. Become a MINISTRY PARTNER.

ANY QUESTIONS? – Send us an Email

Everything happens for a reason

God has the perfect plan for my life, but I have the free will to follow his plan or follow my plan. I met Pastor Onesmus Atukwatse about a year ago through Facebook.  I friend of mine asked me to add Onesmus as a friend.  I looked at his profile & liked what I saw- an honest, good, Christian man.  Onesmus has asked me to post some thoughts.  I have on my fb profile page, “Everything happens for a reason”.  I truly believe this & have thought this for most of my life.  I think “the Master has the plan ,but we just need to choose to follow it”. I do not think it was by anything I did that Onesmus & I met… it was in the plan.  Now we just need to wait & see what will be revealed to us. 

God’s word says: “All of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord [JesusChrist] as though reflected in a mirror, are being TRANSFORMED into the same image

from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit”

(2 Corinthians 3:18)

Please add Onesmus Atukwatse or add this link http://repemuint.org/

Sincerely,

Brenda Baum

IS THE VINE BLOSSOMING PART 2

Jesus knew there were no figs on the tree even at a great distance away, and indeed everyone of the disciples knew that the season for figs was still early a little early. So, in essence Jesus was exposing the disciples to the fact that their nation of Israel was not yet ready to produce fruit for the Lord either. But alas, remember, a fig tree produces not one harvest, but two harvests in a growing season.

The fig tree normally produces a crop of figs in late June, and then again another crop comes along in early September. That first crop is produced on the branch grown the previous season.

The first crop produced by the Branch is symbolic of the harvest of the Church. It was to the Gentile world that Jesus turned his attention, after Israel had bypassed its time of visitation.

Acts 15:19 says: Simeon hath declared how God at first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.

Israel did indeed produce the righteous Branch, but the first crop of good figs has been cultivated from the nations of the rest of the world, instead of Israel.

Israel, by failing to acknowledge the timely visit of their Messiah, was thus subjected to the soil ( world ) of the earth, and became dried up and dispersed from its originally planted spot, to await yet another visitation, or season of harvest.

Make no mistake about it though, Gods promises to the prophet Jeremiah concerning the good basket of figs still remains intact. God still intends to glean a second harvest from the fig tree of Israel, but only after that fig tree ( Israel ) has again put forth its leaves; and produces another budding of the fig tree later on in the growing season.

Why has this taken place, and when will the rebudding season of the fig tree take place?

Romans 11:25, For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, till the “Fullness of the Gentiles” be come in.

The church is grafted onto the righteous “Branch” (Jesus ) of Israel, and Israel is indeed our tree of heritage, with the God of Israel being the root of it all.

For nearly 2000 years, Israel had lain dormant, like that old barren fig tree that Jesus cursed. Like the old fig tree, Israel was uprooted from the land, and left in desolation, while the Gentile nations have tread across the land of Israel. Jesus said this condition would persist until the Times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. ( Luke 21:24)

Jeremiah prophesied that Israel would be fruitless at the time of their initial visitation, and would lose their land at the first seasonal opportunity.

Jeremiah 8:13, I will surely consume them, saith the Lord: there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor “figs on the fig tree” and leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them.

The fading leaf of the fig tree is a prophetic foreglimpse of the apostate condition of the church in the Last Days when the fig tree of Israel shall indeed begin to rebud for its season of finally producing good figs.

The word “Gentile”, is a translation of the Hebrew word, “Goy”, with “Goyim” being the plural form of the word for Gentile Nations. The phrase that Jesus used, “Times of the Gentiles”, is a term which is synonymous with the Biblical concept of Gentile history; based on the two-fold relationship of the nations of the world with God, and his relationship with his selected nation, Israel. It could more aptly be termed as “the Times of the Nations”.

The times of the Nations historically and Biblically commenced with Israel’s demise at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, as has already been pointed out, and those times of the Gentiles have continued right on up to the present day.

Thence, we come to the specific point of the usage by Jesus of the analogy he used in comparing Israel with his parable of the fig tree. Again he said:

“Now learn a parable of the fig tree; when his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:”

The command to “learn” is invoked in this usage. What have we learned from the fig tree? We know that Israel was the good figs that God promised to restore a kingdom to; and that when God sent forth HIS Branch, ( Jesus ) that while it was still yet “tender”, that the branch ?( Jesus ) would be “cut off”; ( killed ) but not to worry, the Branch would sprout forth “leaves”, ( church ) and that those leaves would be a grafting addition to the branch; and then afterward, that fig tree ( Israel ) would rebud, or blossom, and then the second crop of good figs would be harvested. (Israel’s salvation )

Israel is the natural branch of the fig tree, while the church, or Christians, are the grafted on branches.

The Church does not replace Israel, it was simply included into the productivity or fruitfulness of the tree.

Romans 11:21: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.

This is a point of emphasis to the Gentile world, that if the nations-church does not heed the lesson of the fig tree, then likewise; the curse of death will overtake all who reject Christ.

Paul’s prayer in Romans 1:1; was that Israel might be saved and it is Gods desire that ALL be saved; Jew and Gentile alike.

During Jesus first visitation to Jerusalem, he was questioned by the Pharisees and Sadducees, desiring that Jesus would simply show them a sign, so as to verify that Jesus was indeed the anticipated Messiah.

Now Jesus could have given them any sign that they might have required of him, or performed some tantilizing miracle, but he chose did not do so. Why not? God does not play games, or seek to entertain men with mindboggling magical wonders. He does not need the approval or popularity of mankind. The Lord does not bend to temptation, nor to the confidence of public opinion. Ironically, Satan does entertain men with such exploits, performing seemingly miraculous things, all for the express purpose of self-gloirification and deceit.

Matthew 16:4: A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and no sign shall be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonah.

Jesus didn’t need to give the Sadducees any more signs than those already that were already foretold of his coming. They had the prophetic information of the Old Testament detailing fully his visitation. God does not repeat himself, just to hear himself be doubted by the agnostic. The problem here was not verification, it was simply unbelief.

What was the sign of Jonah that Jesus referred to?

Just as Jonah had spent 3 days and 3 nights within the belly of the great fish; Jesus also would spend three days and nights in the belly of the earth, rising out on the third, just as Jonah came out of the belly of the fish on the third day. Jesus was here predicting that he would arise the third day after they had destroyed the temple which he himself embodied.

John 2:19: Destroy this temple, and in three days, I will raise it up.

This is the only sign that Israel would get. They already had rejected numerous signs.

Jesus used the parable of fig tree to display to the disciples, and then to whole house of Israel that although they would reject their Messiah, still he would come back unto them a second time, but only after they had learned to cry out to for him, as one mourneth for his only son.

The old testament prophet Hosea had hit upon this very delay in Israel’s restorative seasonal rebudding:

Hosea 6:1-2; Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten. and He will bind us up.

      After two days will He revive us: in the third day He will raise us ( Israel )up, and we shall live in his sight.

The fig tree of Israel was destined to be scattered among all the nations of the world for two complete days of God’s timetable, ( 1000 years/ one day ) but on the third day, Israel would be providentially returned to its land, and begin the rebirth process.

So then, Jesus very death and resurrection served as a paradigm for the restoration, and the rebudding of the fig tree which is national Israel.

What a tremendous SIGN that is! What could God have done any better to prove his love and genuine desire for Israel, and indeed the whole world?

      Have you ever thought about Satan preserving a nation unto himself with such a precise prophetic analogy? It would be preposterous to think of. Satan can’t do such a thing, because he is not alpha and omega. He can only destroy nations. The miracle of Israel is the divine proof of the supremacy of the God of Israel.

      Is it any wonder then, why Satan, the Great Red Dragon will pursue Israel with an all out vengeance during the Tribulational era?

      The reemergence of the state of Israel has always been a prerequisite for the fulfillment of prophetic destiny for all nations. The nations of this world are afflicted with a demonic disease that ultimately points to the acute pecularity of the peculiar people, Israel. 

      The leaves that sprouted forth from the Branch of the fig tree could have been for the healing process to be instilled in the souls of all the nations of this world. Had the church so conquered the nations in total, as did the preaching of Jonah to the Ninevites, Israel may have been spared the onslaught of Anti-Semitism. 

      But alas, the church has not brought peace, but it has brought separation. The nations are all at enmity with the God of Israel, and its grafted Christians!

      Perhaps this is the basis for the nations healing in the Post Millennial Kingdom of Israel. 

      Revelation 22:2: In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river of life, which bare twelve manner of Fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and “The Leaves” of the Tree were for the healing of the Nations. 

      God says in Ezekiel 28:25-26, that when He has gathered the house of Israel from among all those nations to where they were scattered, that He will execute His judgements upon all those nations that despised Israel; and that they will know that the “I AM” of Israel is indeed God. 

      From Isaiah 4:2 In that day shall the Branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the Fruit of the earth shall be excellant and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.

      Without question, the rebudding of national Israel 52 years ago now, is the most powerful message that God has sent to the nations-peoples in the last 20 centuries, since the first visitation of the Branch. In restoring Israel once again in their homeland, God is raising up an ensign, or banner, which the nations of the world cannot ignore.

      To the nations, God says from Ezekiel 36:23: 

      And I will sanctify My great name, which was profaned among all the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them, and the heathen shall know that I AM the Lord, when I shall be sanctified in you ( Israel ) before their ( nations ) eyes.

      God is about to undertake a great shaking in the land of Israel. The Fig Tree has been planted, but just as in the vision of the “Valley of Dry Bones”, Israel still is not spiritually alive; but that blossoming will take place upon the return visit of Jesus Christ to ISRAEL.

      The second crop of good figs is already budding on the Branch. The Satanic hosts which are staged to pursue Israel will lead the nations to their fates; when God shakes the Fig Tree.

      Revelation 6:13: And the stars of Heaven fell unto the earth, even as a “fig tree” casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

      The parable of the fig tree carries with it a like promise as the one which was made to Simeon. As Simeon was promised to not see death until he had seen the Messiah, also the rebudded generation of regathered Israel will see all things fulfilled before it passes. ( Matt 24:34 ) 

      “Now learn a parable of the fig tree; when his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:”

      The Fig Tree is planted once again in its natural homeland, it is ALIVE, and the blossoms are budding forth, and it signifies that the Branch shall returneth soon!

IS THE FIG TREE BLOSSOMING?

In Matthew 24 : 32; Jesus used the descriptive analogy of a “fig tree”, to instruct his disciples about how we could discern the timeliness of his return to Israel.

“Now learn a parable of the fig tree; when his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:”

The fig trees of the middle east region are a fruit- producing tree or shrub. The size of the tree, and the capacity to produce figs depends mainly on the soil that the tree is rooted in.

Typically, the fig tree blooms before sprouting forth its leaves in the spring, and normally would produce, not one, but two crops of figs each year.

In Mark 11:13 Jesus, after leaving Bethany, which is just to the east of Jerusalem; saw a fig tree off in the distance, and noticed the leaves that were thereon; and eagerly

looked forward to partaking of the fruit of it as he neared it; yet when finally arriving at the tree, he found there was no fruit upon it; for the time for figs was not yet in season.

Upon seeing that the fig tree produced no fruit, Jesus cursed the tree, with the disciples standing by observing.

He then proceeded on down to the city of Jerusalem, and into the Temple, whereupon he flew into a rage, chasing out the moneychangers, and calling the holy place nothing more than a den of thieves.

The disciples must have thought these actions were the actions of a madman. Afterall, what sane person talks to a tree and pronounces a curse upon it for heaven’s sake?

I believe that everything in the Bible, and in the entire life of Jesus has an divinely intended purpose or message. I don’t think God wastes his words, nor would Jesus have behaved in such a manner without it having some meritorious meaning.

But, try to imagine the disciples astonishment, when out on the same road back to Bethany, they pass right by that very same fig tree, and lo and behold, it has already withered up and dried. Why would Jesus curse a fig tree?

During the first dispersion of Israel, God sent a vision to the old prophet Jeremiah, of two baskets full of figs. One of the baskets had good figs while the other basket contained bad figs.

Jeremiah 24:5-7: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for their good.

For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down, and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.

And I will give them an heart to know me, that “I AM” the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.

Here, in these verses, God likens the captive exiles of Israel to the those good figs in the basket. The Jewish remnant which was still left in Jerusalem, God likens to the bad, or evil figs retained in the second basket.

I should point out that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon rose up against Israel and took captive all the children of Israel except those princes who were left as mere puppet rulers in the holy city. The year of Israel’s defeat by Babylon was 606 B.C. Then nineteen years later in 587 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar returned back to Jerusalem and destroyed the city and executed King Zedekiah.

Remember those dates and the differential of the years as you read further in this newsletter. I have a point that I want to make clear later concerning that time interval.

Anyway, God promised through Jeremiah that he would return Israel once again into the land, and afterwards that Israel shall no more be uprooted from the promised land; and that He would write his law in their hearts.

This promised of course dream has never been fulfilled during the long history of Israel. It is still a future eventuality. But the fact has been historically established that Israel has forever become prophetically typecast, in a figurative sense, as a fig tree.

When Jesus came strolling down Bethany Road to the city of Jerusalem on that day, he wasn’t simply looking for something to eat off the fig tree to satisfy his bodily appetite; but rather, He was looking for “Good Figs”. It is national Israel that God has planted in the midst of the garden of nations to portray himself to all the rest of the nations of this world. God has historically longed for Israel to bear fruit (figs), but unfortunately, Israel has never acknowledged the true “Branch”; for which she has been a vehicle to bring fruit from the world.

In Jeremiah 23:5; God says:

“Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise to David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and also prosper, and shall execute judgement and justice in the earth.

This scripture continues on to say that in the days of the rule of the righteous Branch, that Judah itself shall be saved, and Israel will dwell safely in their land.

Of course Jesus was the righteous Branch that was born from out of the stem of Jesse; as Isaiah 11:1 foretold. In the strictest definition, God is in reality the fig tree; with the righteous branch being Jesus; while the figs are the fruit of the tree. Israel is symbolically represented as the early blooms on the fig tree, while the church is typified by the leaves that are on the branch. Later in Romans chapter 11 we find that the Gentiles have been grafted into the branch.

So, when Jesus found no figs upon the fig tree, on that afternoon, and cursed the tree; He was displaying to the openly disciples in a figurative way, that national Israel still as yet had not bore any fruit from the branch; by the mere fact that their immediate generation still simply did not recognize the epic “time of visitation” by their Messiah.

In Luke 18:31-33; Jesus had already instructed the disciples that he was going down into Jerusalem, and while there all the things prophesied concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. He informed them that he would be mocked, scourged, and put to death; and yet rise up again on the third day.

The symbolic paradigm acted out at the roadside fig tree was simply a public display of the rejection of Israel’s king, and that “ISRAEL”, would suffer the a historical curse in like manner as the fig tree that the disciples saw.

I recall in Luke 12:56, that Jesus took to task the Scribes and Pharisees for not being able to discern the signs of the times. Israel should have anticipated that the season for the Messiahs appearance was at hand, and that the time for the harvest of good figs was nigh at hand.

In Daniel 9:25-26; the prophet Daniel had foretold that the Messiah would make an appearance in the rebuilt city of Jerusalem exactly 483 years of the Hebrew calendar; after the commandment went forth from the Persian King Artaxerxes Longimangus, which was issued on March 14, in the year of 445 B.C. This commandment is recorded within the Bible in the book of Ezra 7:12-13, and again in most of the book of Nehemiah.

So then, on Palm Sunday, in the year of 32 A.D., every single Jewish believer should have been down at the Eastern Gate in anxious anticipation of giving a rousing welcome to the expected King of the Jews.

Although there was a moderate crowd assembled to welcome Jesus into the city, spreading some palm branches before him; by and large, Israel was very unimpressed with Jesus appearance.

Even the disciples were not altogether sure as to who Jesus was. In Luke 10:23-24, Jesus said to them: “For I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye have seen, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.”

Many people throughout Israel’s history had desired to see the Deliverer, or the Messiah King; but to no avail. They were never been afforded that wonderful opportunity. However, a particular generation was providentially destined to be witnesses of the Kings timely presentation.

Even today, there is a generation that has a divine destiny to not see death, but to be transported away by the returning King; much in the same manner that Old Testament Enoch was ushered up into Heaven.

The Bible is accurate, right down to the very minutest detail. God expresses everything in a carefully designed pattern. Every single word, phrase, jot or tittle, has purpose. It is absolutely foolhearty to alter any of it, or to not consider any portion as intensely significant.

Consider Galations 4 : 4, for example:

But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

Notice the phrase, (“The fullness of The Time”). It is an indication that Jesus birth wassynchronised to occur at a definite and prearranged point in human history, an event which God foretold (prophecy), so that there would be absolutely no confusion about who the son of God, the seed of the woman, really and truly was.

All of Israel should have been on hand that Palm Sunday to thank God for being faithful to his word.

There indeed was a very devout man, who had discerned that the Messiah would come during his lifetime, and he had been individually promised via the Holy Spirit that he would see Jesus arrival before his death.

Luke 2 : 25; And, behold there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.

And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

Simeon had a direct promise from God of seeing the Messiah before he ever passed away. Simeon was not simply lucky, or rewarded for good behavior; Simeon was an old man by the time of the affixed timely event of the Virgin Birth; and he recognized fully that the anticipated date of the Messiah’s mission was only 3 short decades away; and therefore, he was afforded the opportunity to live to see the time of Israel’s promised visitation by God.

Simeon probably believed that Israel would accept their long awaited King. He had no idea that Israel would kill the very one that was the lifeblood of the kingdom of Israel. He most likely died comforted in the notion that Israel was rejoined to their King. He did apparently know that sorrow would be associated with his life, because he informed Mary about a future heartbreak for her.

The generation that immediately followed Simeon should have expected Jesus. Jesus very own generation should have had great expectation from among its own ranks that someone special from God would emerge.

Alas, that generation would fail to recognize him; and would cut him off, and then endure later in life to see the total destruction of the beloved rebuilt city of Jerusalem.

In Luke 19:41-44; Jesus approached the city, and on a high overlook, viewed out upon the city, and wept over it.

Luke 19 : 42: Jesus said, If thou hadst known, even thou at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto your peace! but now they are hid from your eyes.

Even at this late date, Jerusalem could have received its King, and enjoyed the promised Kingdom of God, but still their eyes were not opened to the reality of his imminent visit.

Saddened because of Israel’s ignorance, Jesus went on to proclaim that Jerusalem would undergo the loss of its national homeland, including the Holy City, and Temple.

Luke 19:44; And they shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee, and they shall not leave in you one stone upon another; because “thou knewest not the TIME OF THY VISITATION!”

The season for Israel’s blossoming had arrived, and good figs were anticipated, but although the fig tree had blossomed forth, the time for figs was premature.

Mark 11:13 expresses thusly: And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing on it, and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.

REMEMBER THE POOR THAT LIVE AMONGEST YOU

Matthew 5.42″Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.”

How many times have I walked past a homeless person who asked for some change? This is a direct command of the Messiah in the Sermon on the Mount. If I am to name Christ as my Lord then I must do as he says (Luke 6.46). Once John Wesley was walking down the road on a snowy day and he passed by a woman who was wearing only a very thin piece of cloth. He reached into his pocket and found only a couple of pennies. Suddenly, a realization hit him as he recalled buying a painting earlier that day: the money that would have clothed this poor creature of God is adorning the wall in my house. He never made that mistake again. He made sure he had money on him to give to him who asked. Do you have extra money on you so that you can “give to him who asks of you?”

Matthew 6.3 “But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing”

Jesus said, WHEN you give to the poor. This is not an optional activity. This is standard operating procedure. Giving to the poor is supposed to be normal. Do you regularly give to the poor?

Matthew 25.31-46 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him; and he will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and he will put the sheep on his right, and the goats on the left.Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ‘For I was hungry, and you gave me {something} to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me {something} to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited me in; naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you, or thirsty, and give you {something} to drink? ‘And when did we see you a stranger, and invite you in, or naked, and clothe you? ‘When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?’ “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, {even} the least {of them,} you did it to me.’

Then he will also say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave me {nothing} to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite me in; naked, and you did not clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit me.’ “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ “Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Imagine a college professor giving his students the exact questions that were going to be on the test the next day. Imagine if he gave both the questions and the answers. Wouldn’t it be bizarre if one of the students said, “I know he said these are questions and answers but I’m not sure if I really believe him. Does he really expect us to take him literally?” Jesus has already told us what he is going to say on Judgment Day. He is going to divide the people into two categories based on how they treated the hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, and imprisoned. I am not implying that if we do this one thing then we can “earn” our way into the kingdom but I’m sure of one thing: if we don’t do this we will be thrown into the “eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.” Do you seek out the hungry, thirsty, sick, strangers, naked, and imprisoned in order to minister to Jesus by providing for their needs?

Luke 6.20, 24 “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God…but woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.”

When is the last time you visited a poor Christian’s house and thought to yourself, “God must really be blessing this person, look how poor they are.” It is just the opposite. We enter a wealthy Christian’s house and they show us all of their “blessings” from God (big screen TV, Play Station 3, stylish curtains, fancy woodwork, rare paintings, etc.). How did we ever get so confused? Jesus is in the business of flipping everything upside down and we need to adjust our mindset to match his words. He said, “Blessed are the poor” that means the poor are blessed, simple as that. [Note: I am not saying that the poor who live in a constant state of covetousness are blessed. The ones who have to have the most stylish clothes, live above their means, play lotto incessantly, and have satellite hookups to watch worldly entertainment, have not “died to self” and need to repent. I am talking about followers of Christ who are poor]. Do you consider the poor blessed?

Luke 14.12-14″When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Have you ever done this? Have you ever, even once, thought to yourself, “Who should I have over for dinner tonight, hmm… the Jones are pretty poor, they can’t even afford a car, I think I’ll invite them because they can’t repay me.” Of course not, we think to ourselves, “I’d like to have the Browns over because I enjoy their company and I’ll have a good time.” Perhaps we need to make a mental change here. Will you invite over the lame, blind, crippled even if it makes you uncomfortable?

Luke 19.8-9 “Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, ‘Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.”

The specific thing he mentioned to Jesus was that he gave to the poor and didn’t rob anyone through collecting taxes. Jesus response was simple, ‘Today salvation has come to this house.’ He could have eaten with anyone, why did he choose Zaccheus? Isn’t it ironic that we are not as righteous as this tax collector?

Acts 6:1-3Now at this time while the disciples were increasing {in number,} a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic {Jews} against the {native} Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.} So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve
tables. “Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.

The early church took care of widows as part of their daily ministry. In fact, this issue was so important to them that they searched to find seven men who were “of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom.” This was an important job that needed to be done right and the early church understood that taking care of the poor was crucial. Do we find our top people to take care of our poor, or is the care of the poor an afterthought?

Acts 10.3-4″About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had {just} come in and said to him, ‘Cornelius!’ And fixing his gaze on him and being much alarmed, he said, ‘What is it, Lord?’ And he said to him, ‘Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God.’”

Why did God send Peter to Cornelius? I’m sure there were plenty of others around that needed to hear the life-saving gospel of the kingdom. However, Cornelius was “a devout man and one who feared God with all his house-hold, and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually” (Acts 10.1). Nonetheless, when the angel spoke to Cornelius he mentioned his prayers and alms had ascended to God and that is why men from Joppa are coming to give you a message. Do your prayers AND alms ascend to God?

1 Corinthians 13.3 “And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.”

Giving to the poor needs to be the expression of love not some mechanical, heartless endeavor. There is no profit in God’s eyes for grudgingly giving out of obligation. Is your giving to feed the poor done out of love?

Galatians 2.9-10And recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we {might} {go} to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. {They} only {asked} us to remember the poor–the very thing I also was eager to do.

The only thing James and the apostles were concerned with was giving to the poor. It is remarkable that taking care of the poor was such a priority for the early Church. Paul is delighted to hear this request because giving to the poor was “the very thing I also was eager to do.” Are you eager to give to the poor?

James 1.27 “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world”

Is your Christianity pure and undefiled? If so then you visit the less fortunate and you are not conformed to the world. Giving to the poor is a central part of being a disciple of Christ. May God grant us repentance in this area of our Christian walk. What excuse can I bring to the Lord of Lords on the Day of Judgment? When he says to me, “Why didn’t you care for the hungry, sick, thirsty, lame, downtrodden, widows, orphans, social outcasts, and imprisoned?” Will I say to him, “they were the lazy poor” or “they would have gotten drunk with the money” or “they would have gambled with it” or “it’s better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish” or “welfare takes care of them” or “I didn’t know.” Then he will say, “‘Depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave me {nothing} to eat…” There are plenty of Christians in third world countries slowly starving to death. We need to get outside of our little box and really seek to do what our Lord has commanded.

The Mystery of the anti Christ.

“And now I have told you before it comes to pass, that when it comes to pass, you may believe.” John 14:29 (NAS)

The Devil’s ulterior motive is to deceive Christians, Jews and all creation to worship him. Since the final destination of Christians is with the Father in heaven, he tries to minimise the number by deception. It looks like he will be very successful for many will be deceived by him. Once they worship the Antichrist (the Devil himself or his incarnate), they will immediately lose their salvation. Therefore, the Antichrist together with his antichrists or agents (false christs and false prophets) will go forth to mislead the Christians. With the many signs and wonders they perform, all mankind will be amazed, and many Christians and Jews will be misled by him into damnation.

“And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their fullness, a king shall arise, having fierce features, who understands sinister schemes. His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; he shall destroy fearfully, and shall prosper and thrive; he shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people. Through his cunning he shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule; and he shall exalt himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in their prosperity. He shall even rise against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without human means.” Dan 8:23-25

The Antichrist is the incarnate of the angel of light (the Devil). He is extremely cunning and has great knowledge of sinister schemes in deceiving Christians. During his rule on earth, deception of Christians abounds and prevails. He wants to deceive all Christians if possible, for he is the enemy of our Lord. He exalts himself to be the messiah; thus he goes forth with signs and wonders to deceive mankind (especially Christians) to worship him. His sinister schemes of deception are extremely effective and these will enable him to deceive many Christians including the very elect. He comes as our Lord’s imitation, thus blaspheming Him. He will be killed by the glorious appearing of our Lord at Rapture.

The Conquerors of the Promised Land

“There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seventh, and is going to perdition. The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast.” Rev 17:10-13

After God had showed Abraham the Promised land of Canaan, He said that it will belong to his descendants as an eternal inheritance, the followings nations were past conquerors of the Promosed land until the days of John at Patmos around 100 AD.

“There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is,

The sixth conqueror, at the time of John’s writing, then, was the Romans, who ruled Israel under the name of Syria Palestine until the Mohammaden’s rule in 638 AD.

and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time

The seventh Ruler is the Mohammadens, who possessed the Promised Land until 1948AD with some breaks in between.

After 1948AD, Israel became a nation and rules the Pormised land for the first time since they were carried away to Babylon by king Nebechednezzar almost 2,500 years ago.

And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seventh, and is going to perdition.

Israel will once again be conquered and this time by the beast, the 8th conqueror of the Pormised land. This beast is of the seventh conqueror, meaning that he will be a Mohammedan. But his rule will be very short and he will be cast to hell.

Interestingly enough, the 7th. conquerors of the Promised Land (Israel or Palestine) were all Mohammedans (clay – Religious) from Arabs (Political) and then from Turks (Political) and also from Egyptians (Political) spanning a period of almost 1500 years.

From the chart above, the Antichrist must be a Mohammeddan.

Where will the Antichrist come from ?

So I asked, “What is it?” And he said, “It is a basket that is going forth.” He also said, “This is their resemblance throughout the earth: Here is a lead disc lifted up, and this is a woman sitting inside the basket”; then he said, “This is Wickedness!” And he thrust her down into the basket, and threw the lead cover over its mouth. Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were two women, coming with the wind in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. So I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they carrying the basket?” And he said to me, “To build a house for it in the land of Shinar; when it is ready, the basket will be set there on its base.” Zech 5:6-11 (NKJ)

From the above scripture, Wickedness represents `that Wicked’ (2 Thess 2:8) or the great dragon, the serpent of old, the Devil or Satan, whose ulterior motive is to deceive mankind and especially Christians so that they too will not enter into the kingdom of God.

And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:  II Th 2:8 (KJV)

So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Rev 12:9 (NKJ)

The land of Shinar in Iraq is now occupied by the Shia Muslims. The land of the Shia Muslims covers  the land of Shinar, the banks of lower part of the River Euphates and Iran.

Thus, the Antichrist will be a Shia Muslim from Iraq or Iran.

The Ten Horns

They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” For they have consulted together with one consent; they form a confederacy against You: The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites; Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also has joined with them; they have helped the children of Lot. Selah Ps 83:4-8 (NKJ)

Note: The Palestinians are mainly the descendents of Lot

The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast.” Rev 17:12-13

The moment Israel attacks Iran, the Antichrist (beast) from Iran will fight back, then all the middle-East nations comprising ot the 10 tribes (see the list above), will fight alongside Iran by attacking and conquering Egypt and Israel.    Read more

The Seven Heads

Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” Rev 13:1-4 (NKJ)

The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.

The beast is the incarnate of the Devil or the Devil himself

And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded,

If one of the head was mortally wounded indicates that this head is a human being (or antichrist).

And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns

The seven heads means seven antichrists will  assist the Antichrist (beast) or Devil incarnate.

The antichrists, who are possibly the incarnates of cohorts of Satan, are the Devil’s agents or enemies of God. A total of seven effective and powerful antichrists (i.e. some Rulers of the rich Arab world, Presidents, Prime ministers of powerful nations, rich individuals and religious leaders) were mentioned in the last days with the `Antichrist’ (man of sin, son of perdition, lawless one, wicked one or Wickedness or the Devil’s incarnate and he is possibly an Iraqi/Iranian ) the most fearful as stated in II Thess 2.

Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. I Jn 2:18

During the end time, when many antichrists appear to mislead Christians to apostasy, then we will know that the Antichrist (Devil’s incarnate) will be appearing soon.

Only the Antichrist from Iraq/Iran is mentioned in Scripture and he will become the most powerful and fearful among them all. He will conquer all the Arab nations and Jerusalem. He will allow the Jews to come back to build the temple of God. There will be peace and prosperity during his short rule. He will then sit in the temple of God proclaiming himself the `messiah’. Many including Christians will be deceived by him. His 7 special antichrists will be very powerful, rich and influential individuals worldwide, and when the Antichrist appears, they will hand over their authorities and powers to him.

However, true disciples (Elect of God) of our Lord Jesus Christ will be rejected by nominal, worldly, carnal and misled Christians. They will be betrayed by these fearful Christians to the authorities to be tortured and killed as radicals and apostates. During their martyrdom viewed by all mankind, the Holy Spirit will use their mouths to preach the everlasting Gospel. Thus all mankind will have the Gospel preached to them prior to Rapture. These faithful Christians (true disciples) were found worthy to be the elect of God and to be taken from this world prior to the Wrath of Satan.

The Wrath of Satan

And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.

The antichrist will be killed by the glorious appearing of the Lord At Rapture.

At Rapture, Satan will be cast down to the earth for good and he will use the dead body of the antichrist for his reincarnation.

So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. Rev 13:5-7 (NKJ)

Hallelujah. Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

Looking for God in the New Year

Entering into God’s Presence Introductory Remarks.

How many times in life have we started a new year wi
thout realizing the goals we had set before us or even taken the time to evaluate why those goals weren’t made? We cannot live on yesterday’s blessings nor should we dwell on yesterday’s failures and disappointments. This is a time to forget the past and move forward into the present and the future.

The Christian life is a life of faith, meaning we must have the ability to see and perceive those things that are in the Heart of God that He desires to release into our lives. When we are walking in an acute sense of His presence we are able to face problems, undertake tasks, meet emergencies and to dedicate ourselves to the opportunities that come our way with a greater degree of fervency and zeal.

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to
God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek
Him.

God desires to be with us in all that we do. He is there for us no matter what it may be. Whether you are facing problems that seem insurmountable, undertaking various tasks, meeting emergencies or taking advantage of opportunities that come your way, God wants you to know He is with you in all that you do.

Isaiah 42:16 (NIV) I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.

Isaiah 46:4 (NIV) Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

With this in mind I would like to share with you some directions you need to be looking in to sense God’s awesome hand at work in your life.

II. Directions to Look for God.

1. Look Back.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy; meditate on these things.

Take the time to look back over the past year and identify those times in which you had evidence of faith in overcoming doubt, sin, unbelief or anything else. Identify those times you saw yourself go from despair to courage in the midst of suffering or situations that seemed insurmountable. As you look back and see how the Hand of God was at work in your deliverance; take the time to give Him thanks for all that He did.

Psalm 105:1 Oh, give thanks to the LORD! Call upon His name; Make known His Deeds among the peoples!

Psalm 140:13 surely the righteous shall give thanks to your name; the upright shall dwell in Your presence.

As you take the time to meditate on these things and give God thanks for His many blessings in your life, you will experience a fresh sense of His presence preparing you for what’s yet ahead in this coming new year.

2. Look Inward.

Psalm 51:6-8 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. {7} Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. {8} Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice.

Take stock of yourself – look at your relationship with God and with others and your stewardship over all that God has given to you. Hold each area of your life alongside God’s standards and pray to grow in faithfulness and holiness.

Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; {24} And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 26:2-3 Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; Try my mind and my heart. {3} For Your loving kindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth.

As you take the time to look inward you will be blessed and encouraged when you see the many areas where you did well and you will sense great hope when you sense God’s help, encouragement and leading in overcoming those areas that you failed in. Be honest with God and yourself and you shall experience a great refreshing from Him that will give you the enthusiasm you need to change.

Acts 3:19 “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord…”

2 Cor 7:10-11 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. {11} For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal,
what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

3. Look To Jesus.

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, {2} looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Since Jesus is the Author and Finisher of our faith, this means He is also at work right now with our lives. As long as we keep looking to Him we will find the sufficiency to move forward in the many areas we are daily being challenged in.

In the midst of temptations, problems, difficulties, sorrows, various tasks and opportunities that will surely come your way during this coming year, stay focused on Jesus, who is the Author and Finisher of your faith. He is there to hope you through any circumstance you may encounter.

Psalm 28:7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him.

As you endeavor to stay focused on Jesus, you will encounter His presence, which will give you that extra added dimension to your faith that will encourage you to boldly move forward in every area of your life.

Hebrews 13:5-6 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” {6} So we may boldly say: “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

Remember He is your sufficiency and you can do all things through Christ, who strengthens you daily.

4. Look To The World.

Look at the world through the eyes of Jesus and serve them with love and compassion. Getting involved in the Lord’s harvest of souls keeps you in the presence of God.

John 4:35 “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!”

Matthew 9:36-38 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. {37} Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. {38} “Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

5. Look Forward.

Philippians 1:6 …being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; Because God will be with us, we can look to each new day with keen anticipation.

Faith calls us to move into this new year – to face problems, undertake tasks, meet emergencies, and dedicate ourselves to the opportunities the year will present. We can go forth with confidence knowing that God is at work in us we are His children who will be led by Him in our journey from day to day.

Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law.

III. Concluding Remarks.

You can enter this new year with a sense of God’s presence if you look to Him in each of these directions. He is there to help you through every trial, temptation and task no matter what it is. He is all-sufficient for you for the coming year. So let each of us resolve to “run with patience the race that is set before us,” looking to Jesus to find the way. He’s there to meet you each and every step of the way.

WHAT A WONDERFUL GIFT!!

Oh what a gift.

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

I love Christmas; it’s a time of magical sparkle – I even love the annual tradition of Christmas shopping and present hunting!

One wisecracker has commented, “Christmas is a time when we exchange a whole lot of gifts we really like – for a load we don’t want!”

I guess we’ve all been in a position when we have received that indescribable gift – then been lost for words when we opened it in front of a doting relative! As someone perceptively said, “Christmas is a season of emotional family ties – especially when you have to wear them!”

I see all this as a challenge and adventure – especially when it comes to shopping for my wife Bashabe.

It hasn’t always been easy, though. There has always been plenty to learn. When we got engaged, I remember trying to buy Bashabe a dress for Christmas. I didn’t know her size so the lady serving me asked if she was bigger or smaller than her…ummm…what could I say…eventually, the shop assistant tried on the dress!

After many years of marriage, however, and many miles spent trawling up and down shopping centres, I have developed four criteria when it comes to buying a gift forBashabe. It’s more of an art form than a precise science, perhaps, but nevertheless, these four things steer me away from the ‘panic buy’ and towards something more soulful and meaningful.

In the process, my four criteria remind me of the gift God has given each of us.

Two millennia ago, the apostle Paul wrote this:

‘Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!’ (2 Corinthians 9:15), or as one translation puts it “a gift too wonderful for words!”

What then are the four aspects of my gift-buying for my wife  at Christmastime?

1) The Personal Gift

First, then, I want to make sure my gift for Bashabe will be personal – I want to find something that she can really appreciate. These days, I’ve stopped buying her what I want; after many years of marriage, I now know what she likes.

After all, it can be very disheartening to receive a present that doesn’t have the magic of that personal touch. Last Christmas a friend of mine received a bag of part-eaten sausages for Christmas that his mother-in-law had left over from a recent visit!

One of the greatest gifts in life that we can receive – especially at Christmas time – is the revelation and realisation that God knows each one of us personally, and wants us to know him personally, too. In the Bible, Psalm 139 is a startling and beautiful reminder of this fact:

‘Lord you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise. You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.’

When you stop to think about it – and it’s important to do just that – then it’s a mind-blowing thought: God knows us intimately. He is not an abstraction or a mystical ‘higher power’. Instead, he relates to us on our level. He couldn’t possibly have made himself bigger to impress us, so instead he made himself smaller to get alongside us.

The Tiny Hand of GodConsider for a moment: Have you ever placed your finger inside the hand of a little baby and felt its grip? If a baby tugs at your finger, it also tugs at your heart.

Christmas is the powerful grip of a tiny hand reaching from a bed of straw. It is love, tugging our hearts back to God. As the Bible says, ‘God, invisible in his own nature, became visible in ours. Beyond our grasp, he chose to come within our grasp.’

And this is the intimately personal nature of Christmas: God gave us his son for our sake. ‘For God so loved the world,’ says John’s Gospel, ‘that he gave his only son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life’ (John 3:16).

He loved the world so much that he gave us a life-giving gift of such a personal nature that we couldn’t begin to dream such a story or such a gift into being.

In fact, the breadth and depth of God’s love is hard to fathom. A young father, whose wife had just died, took his daughter on a cruise to begin the recovery process. As they huddled together on the deck of the ship, the little girl asked her father, “Daddy, does God love us as much as Mummy did?”

At first, the man didn’t know quite what to say. But he knew he couldn’t sidestep the question. Pointing across the water to the distant horizon, he said, “God’s love reaches farther than you can see in that direction.”

The man then looked up at the sky, and said, “God’s love is higher than the sky, as well.” Finally, he pointed down at the ocean and reflected, “It’s deeper than the ocean, too.”

After hearing her father speak, the girl responded: “Oh, just think, Daddy. We’re right here in the middle of all that love.” It sometimes takes a child to help us understand the nature of the Father’s indescribable gift.

It’s Life – But Not As We Know It

God’s gift to us wasn’t a one-off, which ended when Jesus died for our sins, however. The Bible tells us that Jesus rose from the dead three days later, and opened the way for us all to live forever. When he returned to heaven, he sent God’s Spirit to live within anyone who would receive him – so that everlasting life (and ‘life to the full’, as Jesus described it) could begin now, not just finally when we get to heaven.

In giving us His Spirit, God has drawn us into intimacy with Himself; He is with us and has come to live within us.

One of Jesus’ titles is ‘Emmanuel’ which translates as ‘God with us’. This Jesus has become for all who choose to make room for Him at the Inn of their heart – a gift that could not be more personal.

2) The Practical Gift

When I buy a gift for Bashabe, I want it to be personal. But I also want it to be practical.

Most of us end up receiving at least one or two presents each year that are as much use as a chocolate teapot. Sometimes, people will even give a gift to make a point

It reminds me of the woman who once stuck her Christmas wish list to the fridge for her husband to read. She kept it brilliantly simple, asking only for ‘something that will make me look slim and beautiful’. When Christmas arrived, she looked forward to opening a package with something gorgeously intimate inside. Instead, she got an exercise bike.

Santa might bring us what we deserve; God, however, delivers something we don’t deserve. ‘For the wages of sin is death,’ says the Bible, ‘but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 6:23). God’s practical gift to us, then, is forgiveness.

In the run-up to Christmas, we do lots of tidying, preparing and cleaning – sprucing up our homes, our clothes, even our bodies. Many of us will have a haircut or even go for a manicure to help us look and feel better. But God’s gift goes much farther than Molton Brown hand wash, my favourite soap.

Jesus is more concerned with what’s on the inside. “Blessed are the pure in heart,” he once said, “for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). His practical gift is to cleanse our hearts. This changes us from the inside out, transforming our attitudes and actions.

However, we must want the gift in order to receive it. We need to pray with the writer of Psalm 51, who said, ‘Create in me a pure heart and renew a right spirit within me.’ Consider for a moment, how exciting it is to give a personal present that you’ve put so much thought into, and how crushing it is if the person opens it, and discards it without so much as a look, let alone a ‘thank you’.

Are we hungry for what God has to offer? Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which literally means ‘the House of Bread’. Later in his life, he spoke about himself in picture language, saying, “I am the Bread of Life. Those who come to me will never go hungry, and those who believe in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35).

Bread satisfies and strengthens, and Jesus came into the world to satisfy and strengthen us all. But this isn’t, as we have already seen, a gift to be received passively, end of story. It’s practical by its very nature. When we receive Jesus, we also receive His Spirit, which helps us to live a brand new kind of life – with love, joy, peace, gentleness, patience, self-control and humility.

While your past may be stained with regret, with God you are offered a spotless future. But we all need to respond to the gift God has given. A personal, practical gift from God demands an appropriate reaction. In U2’s No. 1 single ‘Vertigo’, Bono sings to God, “Your love is teaching me how to kneel.” His response to the gift is one of humility and worship. God can do so much more with you than you can do with yourself.

3) The Permanent Gift

So, God’s gift is personal: he gave us his son. And God’s gift is practical, because it helps us to cleanse our lives. Satisfying and strengthening us.

But when I give a gift to Bashabe, I also want, if possible, to give something permanent – something of lasting value, that she will treasure way beyond Christmas Day; something that will not perish.

Sometimes, we can give our children expensive toys, only to find, by the end of Christmas Day, that they prefer to play with the boxes or the wrapping paper. Sometimes, the presents we give them don’t even work, or they break before they’ve had the chance to use them properly.

God’s gift to us, however, is permanent, not perishable. It won’t need to go back to the shop. Remember those immortal words from John’s gospel: ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life’?

I recall explaining to my son Elshadai, when he was about three, that, if he chose to disobey his mum and me, he would have to live with the consequences “Daddy,” he said with a terrified look on his face, “please don’t make me live with the consequences. I want to live with you and Mummy!”

But there are consequences if we don’t obey those who know better. Imagine one of your children playing on the road. You see a fast car approaching, but you know you can’t reach them in time. Running toward them you shout, “Get out of the road!”

It is crucial at that moment that your child trusts you and responds. Are you trying to ruin their fun? No! Instead, you are trying to save their life.

Well, God – our heavenly father – knows that we are all in danger. We’re at risk of spending eternity separated from him. That’s why God sent Jesus – it was to give us the opportunity to go to heaven. “I assure you,” he said, “those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life” (John 5:24). Life without Christ is a hopeless end, but life with Christ is an endless hope.

4) The Purchased Gift

So, God’s gift is personal – he gave us his son. It is practical, through the cleansing of our hearts. And it is permanent, not perishable. But when I find a gift for Bashabe, I also like to purchase it before walking out of the shop!

God’s gift to us was, likewise, purchased. It didn’t come for free – in fact, it came at a huge cost and we should not cheapen it by discarding it lightly. God gave us his only son. We couldn’t save ourselves, so Jesus came to rescue us.

When lifeguards rescue someone who is struggling in the sea, they will swim out to them and tread water. They don’t grab onto someone who is drowning. If you try to save someone who’s frantically trying to save themselves, they will pull you under.

So instead, a lifeguard will wait until the person they are saving has run out of energy. When they’ve given up struggling, the lifeguard can take hold of them and swim back to shore.

Similarly, if we try to save ourselves, God can’t save us. Jesus rescued us by purchasing forgiveness when he died on the cross. The Bible says, “He is the sacrifice for our sins. He takes away not only our sins, but the sins of all the world” (1 John 2:2).

One Christmas a grandmother could not decide what gift to give her three grandchildren. She decided to simply put a cheque for £20 in each card with the message ‘buy your own gift’.

The cards left in the post, then to her surprise the woman found the three cheques under some newspapers – she had omitted to post them.

Her three grandchildren were very perplexed to receive a card, each with the startling message “BUY YOUR OWN GIFT”.

This is the startling truth of the gospel – Jesus Christ has purchased our redemption.

We now have to receive that gift for ourselves, acknowledging that there’s nothing more we can do to attain God’s forgiveness than accepting it through his son Jesus. We are saved by having faith in Jesus to rescue us – not by thrashing around trying to stay afloat through doing good works.

God spent everything He had on us. And the gift is one that we shouldn’t want to exchange for anything else.

For Best Results Follow Maker’s Instructions

My heart sinks when I open a Christmas present only to see three little words printed on the top of it: ‘Some Assembly Required’. I once read about a man who ordered a tree house for his children. It duly arrived, and the time came for him to assemble it. He laid out all the parts on the floor and began reading the instructions.

To his dismay, however, he discovered that, while the instructions for a tree house were there, the parts were for a boat! The next day he sent an angry letter to the company complaining about the mix-up. Back came this reply:

‘We are truly sorry for the error and the inconvenience. However, it might cheer you up to remember that somewhere there is a man out on a lake trying to sail your tree house.’

To put something together, you have to have the right instructions. Thankfully, when it comes to our own lives, God has revealed to us the best way to assemble them. Through the Bible’s wise instruction and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we are free to accept God’s gift of life, and make the most of it.

A Free Gift? You’d Better Believe It!

God doesn’t force himself upon anyone, however. He offers his gift, but he won’t make you take it. He’s already reached out to us through the life and death of his son. It’s up to us to make the next move.

It’s amazingly simple; we can accept God’s gift by simply believing in it. The word ‘believe’ dictates the action on our part. To believe means to ‘commit’ or ‘to rely and depend upon’. It means putting your trust or faith in something or someone.

God’s gift is universal – he freely gives it to ‘the world’ and it’s available to all – but each of us must believe for ourselves that Jesus lived among us, died and rose again. Jesus floods our life with meaning, joy and renewal – but only by our personal invitation. As the Bible says, ‘to all who believed Him and received Him, he gave the right to become children of God’ (John 1:12).

God wants us to redeem his gift to us by believing and receiving Christ.

Experience the love!

A professor of English literature once wrote a book on the subject of love. The only problem was that he had never been in love himself. When he took the manuscript to a proof-reader to have it prepared for publication, she turned out to be a very lovely woman. When their eyes met, something happened to the professor that was not in his book. With love rushing in to fill his heart, he became more joyful in the following five minutes than he had been in the previous 50 years when love lived in his head alone.

Like the professor, we will never experience the love that God wants to show us unless we meet him and look into his eyes.

Receiving the Gift

In 1993, I found myself standing before a minister who asked me a question: “Will you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?” I’m no fool, so I said, “Yes.”

He then turned to my wonderful bride, Bashabe and asked her likewise, whether she would accept the man standing before her. To which, I am glad to say, she also responded with a “Yes”.

At that moment, through the willingness we expressed to commit ourselves to one another, Bashabe and I entered into a special, loving relationship that has forever changed our lives.

The Bible tells us that ‘God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us’ (Romans 5:80). Just over 2,000 years ago, God gave an answer to the question of whether or not he was willing to enter into a loving relationship with us. By coming to Earth in the person of Jesus Christ, he gave us a resounding “Yes!”

Now, he puts the question to each of us. And if we answer, “Yes, I am willing to believe and receive Jesus Chris,” we, too, will enter a relationship with the God of the universe that will change our lives forever.

At Christmas, when we receive gifts we often don’t need or want, God offers something of far greater worth that we can’t do without. All it takes is to believe and receive the gift yourself: a personal, practical, permanent and purchased gift that is yours, for life.

These famous words were penned by Phillips Brooks in 1867 and became the last verse of the carol ‘O little town of Bethlehem’:

“O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us, we pray;

Cast out our sin, and enter in, be born in us today.

We hear the Christmas angels the great glad tidings tell;

O come to us, abide with us, our Lord Emmanuel!”

It expresses well what we need to do to receive God’s personal, practical, permanent and purchased gift, who is Christ Jesus.

Why not pray this prayer based on Phillips Brook’s words as a way of receiving God’s indescribable gift?

‘O holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to me, I pray;

I turn from sin, please enter in, be born in me today,

I’ve heard the Christmas message, the great glad tidings tell;

Christ come to me, abide with me, O Lord Emmanuel!’ Amen

*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here are 3 simple ways you can support this ministry and keep Pastor Onesmus online:

1. Share this message with at least 5 friends (and even 5 enemies?).
2. Make a one-time DONATION. May God shower His blessings on you!
3. Become a MINISTRY PARTNER.

ANY QUESTIONS? – Send us an Email

The Foolish Message that Saves Lives!

THE MESSAGE OF THE CROSS IS FOOLISHNESS TO THOSE WHO ARE HEADING FOR DESTRUCTION.
By Pr Atukwatse Onesmus 11th July, 2010.

Bible Reading: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
Text: 1 Corinthians 1:18 – “The Foolishness of the Cross”

Introduction

A disciple of Jesus, congregation, has to accept the cross of Jesus. We can’t sanitize the cross and make it into something clean and sterile. We can’t whitewash it and take off the blood and the suffering. We can’t pad it and make it into something comfortable and non-threatening. As Paul put it, “I preach Christ crucified.”

The twentieth century has forgotten how cruel and hideous crucifixion really was. We have perhaps unwisely and sometimes unconsciously glamorized the cross. Jewelry and steeple alike are often ornamental and attractive but carry nothing of the real story of the crucifixion. It was the most painful method of public death in the first century.

The victim was placed on a wooden cross. Nails, undoubtedly wooden, were driven into the wrists and ankles of the victim, and then the crosspiece was lifted and jarred into the upright, tearing the flesh of the crucified and racking his body with excruciating pain. Historians remind us that even the soldiers could not get used to the horrible sight, and often took strong drink to numb their senses.

Jesus endured 6 hours of such anguish, just for us so that we might be forgiven of all our sin! That’s the message of the cross. “I preach Christ crucified.”

George MacLeod wrote a poem that helps put the cross into perspective:

I simply argue that the cross be raised again
at the center of the market place
as well as on the steeple of the church,
I am recovering the claim that
Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral
between two candles:
But on a cross between two thieves;
on a town garbage heap;
At a crossroad of politics so cosmopolitan
that they had to write His title
in Hebrew and in Latin and in Greek…
At the kind of place where cynics talk smut,
and thieves curse and soldiers gamble.
Because that is where He died,
and that is what He died about.
And that is where Christ’s men ought to be,
and what church people ought to shout.

On this Lord’s Supper Sunday we want to spend some time looking at the cross of Christ. Paul tells us this morning that the message of the cross means either salvation, strength and wisdom or damnation, weakness and foolishness to those who hear it.

I.  Salvation or Damnation

A.  “I preach Christ crucified.”

First, this message of the cross means salvation “to us who are being saved.” That’s the message that is found throughout the New Testament. Think of the Philippian jailer. After an earthquake the prison doors flew open and he was scared his prisoners had escaped. He drew his sword and was about to kill himself. After Paul stopped him he asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Paul and Silas replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31)  They preached “Christ crucified” to the jailer.

For those who believe, the message of the cross means salvation. These people are on the way to glory (2:7). They can look forward to being clothed with the imperishable and with immortality (15:53). In fact, what awaits us who believe the message of the cross is so glorious, so awesome, so wonderful, that “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Cor 2:9)

Paul tells us about the time he was caught up to paradise, what he also calls the third heaven. At that time “he heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.” (2 Cor 12:4).

B. Second, the message of the cross also means damnation. It means damnation “to those who are perishing.”

This message too is found throughout the Bible.  Paul reminds us that those who reject the message of the cross “are coming to nothing.” (2:6) They will not “inherit the kingdom of God.” (6:10)  Hebrews says that those who reject the message of the cross have “only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.” (Heb 10:26)  Anyone “who has trampled the Son of God under foot … deserves to be punished.” (Heb 10:29) We are reminded that “It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Heb 10:31)

Perhaps the best description of what happens to the unbelieving is found in a famous sermon preached by Jonathan Edwards. In very vivid terms he spoke of hell and hell’s misery and how awful it is:

That world of misery, that cake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you. There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell’s wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor anything to take hold of, there is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up.

II.  Strength or Weakness

A. “I preach Christ crucified.”

This message of the cross also means either strength or weakness to those who hear it. Paul says that “to us who are being saved … the message of the cross … is the power of God. “And, Paul can speak of “Christ the power of God.” (vs 24)

Why does the message of the cross mean power? Because it is able to do what nothing else is able to do: it is able to save and cleanse and redeem; it makes holy; it makes righteous; it makes eternally blessed.

Think of the time Peter and John were called before the Sanhedrin. In his defense Peter preached about Christ and said,  “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

Only the power of the cross, of “Christ crucified,” can save souls.

B. For those who don’t believe, the message of the cross shouts weakness.

What can look weaker and more helpless than someone hanging upon a cross? How can such a One be our Savior? “Impossible!” says the world.

We are reminded that God often uses what is weak to accomplish His purposes and to carry out His decrees. As Paul puts it in the verses following our Scripture reading:

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.  He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things–and the things that are not–to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. (1 Cor 1:27-29)

The Old and New Testaments are filled with instances of this sort of thing. God used sick, weakly, scheming Jacob rather than strong, healthy Esau to carry on the covenant. God used Tamar the adulteress, Rahab the prostitute, Ruth the Moabitess, and Bathsheba another adulteress in the family tree of Jesus. God used Gideon and 300 men rather than Gideon and 30,000 men to defeat the Midianites. And, God used a virgin from Nazareth in the conception and birth of His only Son.

God does this deliberately so it is obvious to all that salvation is not by human might, human reason, or human effort but only by the power of God, by “Christ crucified.” That way no one may boast about themselves but only about the Lord and what He has done (vs 29,31).

III. Wisdom or Foolishness

A. “I preach Christ crucified.”

Finally, this message of the cross also means either wisdom or foolishness to those who hear it. In our text Paul says “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.” Paul mentions both Jews and Gentiles. To the Jews the message of the cross was a contradiction: upon the Messiah could rest only divine blessing, whereas on a crucified man could rest only divine curse; so how could the Messiah be crucified? To the Gentiles the message of the cross was also folly: how could anyone accept as Lord and Savior a man who could not save himself from as ghastly a death as crucifixion?

But to those who are being saved the message of the cross is the “wisdom of God” (vs 24). For God in His wisdom is able to accomplish what is now being done – the saving of many souls (Gen 50:20). Again, it isn’t human wisdom, human philosophy, or human scholarship that is able to do this. Rather, souls are saved only by the cross of Jesus, by “Christ crucified.”

B. In the eyes of the world it isn’t only the message of the cross, but also the message from the Savior of the cross that is foolishness.

The city of Corinth was a center for the worship of Aphrodite. Her temple was staffed by 1,000 female prostitutes. Everyone in Corinth enjoyed this kind of worship. Was it foolishness or wisdom that warned the Christians not to indulge (1 Cor 6:18f)?

Everyone knows that in disputes you go to court and sue. Was it foolishness or wisdom that warned Christians to settle disputes among themselves (1 Cor 6:1f)?

It is normal to divide into camps, to have divisions and tensions, to form parties of like-minded brethren. Was it foolishness or wisdom that urged love and unity (1 Cor 1:10f; 3:1f)?

In Corinth you could marry anyone you set your heart upon and could divorce when you find someone better. Was it foolishness or wisdom that urged Christians to marry only believers (2 Cor 6:14f) and to stay married to that person (1 Cor 7:10f)?

Many in Corinth were stingy and miserly and gave only begrudgingly to the less fortunate. Was it foolishness or wisdom that urged Christians to be generous (2 Cor 8:1f)?

It is a rough world out there, a dog eat dog society; you have to look after yourself; and, if necessary, you have to trample over the weak. Was it foolishness or wisdom that urged Christians to do what is best for weaker brothers and sisters (1 Cor 8:1f)?

In all of these things the wisdom of the world is directly opposed to the wisdom from the cross. What is wisdom to one is foolishness to the other.

Conclusion

“I preach Christ crucified.” On this Lord’s Supper Sunday, what do you think, how do you think, of this message of the cross?

In the final analysis it depends upon the grace of God. If God has called you, chosen you, elected you as one of His children (vs 26-31), you recognize the cross for what it is: salvation, strength, and wisdom. If so, then you as a believing member of the church, are welcome to take the Lord’s Supper.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here are 3 simple ways you can support this ministry and keep Pastor Onesmus online:

1. Share this message with at least 5 friends (and even 5 enemies?).
2. Make a one-time DONATION. May God shower His blessings on you!
3. Become a MINISTRY PARTNER.

ANY QUESTIONS? – Send us an Email