Author Archives: prophetson
A Christians Heart 4 – 7 – 2014
Building the LORD’s House of Obedience
Read Haggai 1: 2 – 11.
In this passage, the people of Israel had returned from captivity, but the LORD’s house lay in ruins because they had refused to rebuild it. This displeased the LORD. Because of their disobedience He thwarted their plans and rained hardship down on them: Though they expected much, it turned out to be little; what they brought home, the LORD blew away; they had planted much, but harvested little. He even called down a drought and ruined their crops. This was to get their attention. Why? Because they were busy building their own houses, while His lay in ruins.
Don’t we often do the same thing in our own lives? We diligently build our own houses: our jobs, our activities, our desires – our will and our ways. This might include being very busy doing churchy things, tithing, even reading the Word and praying, and generally going through the motions of righteousness. Now doing these things is fine, if we are doing them for the right reason, which is to please our LORD. But what if this isn’t the case. What if we’re not doing what God wants us to do? What if we forget to build into our lives God’s house: His desires, His will for us, His ways?
If we seek God’s blessing, but are not willing to do what it takes to please Him, is it any wonder why things don’t go well? Why our ministries are languishing. Why our spiritual life is arid and why our personal walk with the LORD isn’t bearing fruit.
God commanded the people to carefully consider their ways. We ought to do the same.
“Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the LORD.
This is our mountain: seeking God’s will with the intention of doing it.
This is our timber: considering our ways; changing our attitudes; bearing the pain of delving into the depths of our souls, letting God’s light shine there, so that we can see us as He sees us; and being willing to consider what He’s shown us so that we might change our ways.
And this is His house: obeying the LORD and walking in His ways.
This building process is hard.
But here’s the really good news (gospel): we don’t have to do this on our own. In fact we cannot. We must depend solely on God for our strength.
Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders that build it labor in vain. (Psalm 127:1, my paraphrase)
The Lord Himself wants to build His house, a “spiritual house” (1 Peter 2: 5), in us. It is the LORD who works in us to will and to act according to His good pleasure. (Phil 2:13). And we must trust Him to provide the strength and wisdom we need to allow it.
For those who hope in the LORD will never be put to shame (Psalm 25:3)
Seeking God’s strength and depending on Him is a major theme in the Scriptures. But another theme is that those who try to do the hard things in their own strength will fail miserably. Here, for example, is a warning and a promise given through Jeremiah:
This is what the LORD says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD.
He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes.
He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,in a salt land where no one lives.
“But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.
He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”(Jeremiah: 17: 5 – 8.)
If we truly want to change our ways, we can take it to the LORD, and He will provide the determination, wisdom, knowledge, and strength we need to obey.
… for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. (Philippians 2:13)
Paul also says, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.” (Phil 4:13). We can do all things too, if we are devoted to building God’s house in our lives.
A Christian’s Heart 9 16 2013
The Spirit of the Tithe
Here’s what the Lord said to the rebellious house of Israel, who were not supporting the work of God’s Ministry by tithing as directed in the Levitical Law:
“In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the Lord Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.” (Malachi 3:9 – 12.)
This passage makes clear, as do others in Scripture, that tithing is not an option for the saints of God. It is a command that God expects us to obey. Note how angry the words of God are here toward Israel. Not tithing is, therefore, a sin against God. I believe it is a grave sin. Note also that He does not say: “If you think you can afford it; or if you find it convenient; or if it won’t get in the way of enjoying the fruits of your labors.” No indeed! The tithe of our wealth should come before all other financial considerations.
Some years ago, as I sat in the pews when the preacher preached on this text, the Spirit of God convicted me that I needed to tithe. Until then, I was putting a dollar or two in the plate every week and feeling pretty good about myself. But after that day, I knew I needed to repent. I realized that if I did not change my ways, my spiritual growth would be stunted. I was convinced also that God would be displeased with me, and I feared the consequences of God’s displeasure. (See Exodus 20:20 and 2 Chronicles 19:9 – 10.) And by God’s wonderful grace I did repent, and that very afternoon, I vowed to honor God’s command and started tithing.
Now the question became, what should I tithe? Of course, the first thing that came to mind was my money. Here’s what Scripture says about this: “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.” (Proverbs 3: 9 – 10.) I took this to heart and interpreted this to mean that when I tithed – from a paycheck, say – I took a portion of my gross pay, before any deductions for taxes, and gave this amount to God. (This means, of course, that the tithe comes before any personal expenses such as mortgage payments, medical bills, etc.)
How did I determine how much to tithe? Well, it’s pretty clear to me that Scripture states that one tenth is the appropriate amount. See for example Genesis 14:20, where Abraham gives one tenth of everything to Melchizedek; or Genesis 28:22 where Jacob has just had his vision of God on the heavenly staircase and vows to give God a tenth of everything God gives him; or Deuteronomy 14:22 where God explicitly says to set aside one tenth of your harvest each year (again not after any deductions for food, or the other necessities of life). But the clincher for me was this exhortation from Jesus, Himself:
“ ‘Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices — mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law — justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.’ ” (Matthew 23:23.)
(Now it has also been made clear to me by the Holy Spirit that this tenth is the bare minimum we are expected to give; and that not only money is involved. I will leave that thought with you until another time, however.)
But most importantly, I had to determine with what spirit I was going to tithe. Was my gift to the Lord going to be made grudgingly—out of fear because I sinning by not tithing—because I “was robbing the Lord” and that He might zap me or do something awful to me if I continued in my sin? (See John 5:14.)
Or was I going to do it because the Lord made a personal vow to me to “open the floodgates of heaven” so that “[my] barns [would] be filled to overflowing, and [my] vats [would] brim over with new wine”? In other words, was I going to tithe because the Lord would personally reward me; because I wanted something from Him?
Well, I got the answer from the Holy Spirit, and it was neither of these, and it came into play in a big way recently. As I was balancing my checking account, I noticed that I’d gotten a payment for some work I had done a few months ago, and that I hadn’t tithed my tenth. Then I started looking through my bank records going to the first of the year and found that there were about six or seven such items of income I had neglected to tithe. Adding up all the income, I found that I owed the Lord over $800! Gulp. It was not intentional, as far as I know, it was not a failure of faith, or of love, but simply came from sloppiness on my part. Nevertheless, there it was staring me in the face: $800.
I’m retired now, and I live mostly on Social Security payments and a small pension, making but a fraction of the income I made when I was working full time. So the thought ran through my mind that I could just ignore these occurrences of inattention, and vow (again!) to get better going forward. But that didn’t work, of course, because that certain Spirit posed this question to me: “Well, now, what are we going to do? Are we going to take the easy way out, or are we going to honor our vow to the Lord God Almighty?” Then He brought to my mind this passage of Scripture:
“Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, … who keeps his oath even when it hurts …” (Proverbs 15: 1, 2a, and 4b. See also how serious the Lord takes the fulfillment of vows in Ecclesiastes 5:4 – 7.)
The reasons to tithe given above flashed into my mind, but, by His grace I rejected them both as motivation for honoring my vow. Here’s why:
An image came to my mind of a certain spectacular beach on the Oregon Coast where I go when I’m troubled or just need a spiritual or emotional lift. This place is one of the best kept secrets in Oregon, I think, because it lies next to a small town that, by its very serious intention, is not a tourist destination. Even Oregonians don’t go there much, it seems. So the beach is never crowded. Also it is spectacularly beautiful, bounded one mile to the north of the village by a huge forested promontory, and stretching as far as the eye can see to the south. As you stand there drinking in the magnificence of it all, including the ocean waves pounding mightily at the shore, you are filled with awe at its beauty. Many times because of the glorious sunlight reflecting off the clouds and the ocean, mixed with the spray from the waves, you get the impression that you are experiencing a misty glowing dream.Now imagine if you can how many grains of sand there are on this beach.
Here’s what came to me. Neither of the above reasons for tithing takes into account what the Lord has already done for me or will do in the glorious eternal future He has promised me. I realized also that the things God has already given to me and done for me over the sixty plus years of life He’s graciously allowed me, could I even count them, would probably number more than the grains of sand on that beach. (See Psalms 40:5.) Why then could I not give Him one little grain in return?
So I wrote the check with joy and great gratitude. This is the spirit of the tithe.
A Chistian’s Heart 7-1-2013
More About God
The Human Jesus
(This blog follows and incorporates information provided in this blog and this blog. You may want to read these two before you continue reading this one, as I will assume that the reader is familiar with what was said there and therefore will not repeat that here.)
The very foundation of the Christian faith is based on this one truth: that the Lord Jesus Christ was, when He walked among us, God in the flesh. As John says, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge [the humanity of ] Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. “ (1 John 4:1-3, my emphasis. This is from the 1984 version of the NIV, which does not capitalize the words “He” and “Him” when referring to Jesus, the Holy Spirit, or God the Father. All following quotes are from this version of the NIV translation. Since internet links to this version no longer exist, I cannot cross-link to these verses.)
The point of this blog is to make sure everyone understands that the Lord Jesus Christ—as He is referred to in the all of the Apostles’ letters, as for example in 1 Corinthians 1:3: “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”—is still God incarnate, God in the flesh; that He is still a human being, though now in a glorified body. As Paul says in 1 Tim 2:5-6: “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men — the testimony given in its proper time.” (My emphasis.) Note that Paul refers to the human Jesus in the present tense. (Note also that since there is one God (Deuteronomy 6:4), and that that one God’s name is Jehovah (“I AM”) (Ex 3:14), then Jesus must be Jehovah God in the flesh.) It took me years of study to realize the very obvious truth concerning Jesus’ present humanity and to begin to understand its implications about how we interpret the Lord Jesus Christ’s (the Son of Man’s and Son of God’s) relationship to His Father, Jehovah God.
How do we know that Jesus is still a flesh-and-bone human being? He Himself testifies as to His current humanity when He says:
“For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”(Matt 16:27-28, my emphasis.)
Jesus refers to Himself as the Son of Man about 83 times in the New Testament. This is clearly Jesus’ reference to His human existence. And from the evidence of Scripture, we will be able to touch Him when we see Him in heaven because He has flesh and bones (Luke 24:39.) And we will eat with Him because He eats food and drinks wine (Matthew 26: 29, Luke 24:41 – 42 and John 21:12 – 15).
Here’s one mystery that is Christ: since He is a glorified human being, does He still have a human mind which generates thoughts that are not generated by God’s mind; or are His thoughts always identical with God’s thoughts? While Jesus walked the earth it is clear from Scripture that His human mind generated its own thoughts, which were, of course, constantly informed by the Spirit (the Person of the Father) who lived within Him (John 14:10). For example, He says He had His own will that He had to put aside to do His Father’s will (Luke 22:42 and John 6:38). It’s certainly impossible for the transcendent God of whom Jesus is the incarnation to have two wills. God is not schizophrenic: He can only have one mind, one will, and one set of thoughts. Therefore the will that Jesus calls His own will must be the will generated by His human brain with its human thoughts resulting from His human experiences and perspectives and His human body’s needs.
The reason this question arises is that it seems clear from Scripture that when we who are saved are raised from the dead, we will retain our earthly identities. It will be our individual souls along with all our memories and our sense of self that will be raised to life everlasting and clothed with an imperishable body (1 Corinthians 15: 42 – 44). Nowhere does Scripture suggest that our souls will be merged into a gestalt being where we lose our individual identities. And in the judgment, we will be addressed individually by name because our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life, which is how we will gain passage into Heaven. Since Jesus was the first human being to undergo this process (“the firstborn over all creation” (Colossians 1:15)) it seems reasonable to assume that He too as a human being has retained His strictly human identity. If this be true, then the distinction of Person that the various ancient creeds refer to (which I discussed in a previous blog) must be the distinction between the human Person, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Person of Jehovah God, of whom Jesus is still the incarnation (John 14:10).
We also see that Jesus as a human entity is distinct from the purely spiritual God entity of whom He is the incarnation. We can see this distinctness most clearly in John’s Revelation:
Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb.” (Rev 5:6-8.)
There can be no question that this lamb is a symbolic representation of the human Jesus. Note that you see two distinct entities in this scene: one standing in the midst of the throne and one seated on the throne.
Scripture also suggests that as King of Creation, the Lord Jesus Christ’s relationship to the Father is like that of a prime minister to a sovereign king, as, for example, was Joseph’s relationship to Pharaoh:
So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his finger and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. He had him ride in a chariot as his second-in-command, and men shouted before him, “Make way!” Thus he put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh said to Joseph , “I am Pharaoh, but without your word no one will lift hand or foot in all Egypt.” (Gen 41:41-45.)
Simply put, Joseph was exalted to Pharaoh’s right hand and he ruled Egypt in Pharaoh’s place.
This appears to be true of the Lord Jesus Christ. For example Scripture says:
God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, “The Lord said to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ ” (Acts 2:31-35. Peter quotes Psalms 110:1, which has the capitalization presented here. The difference in the two words “Lord” and “Lord” is very significant in this context!)
And what happens to Jesus’ ‘prime minister hood’ when all His enemies have been defeated? Here’s what the Spirit tells us through the Apostle Paul:
For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For he “has put everything under his feet.” Now when it says that “everything” has been put under him, it is clear that this does not include God himself, who put everything under Christ. When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:22-28. My emphasis.)
Note that Paul refers to the human Jesus here. He refers to Him as the first fruits of those who are to be raised from the dead, which was pointed out above. Then His reign as prime minister will apparently cease when the conditions of Psalms 110:1 have been met, namely, that all His enemies are put under His feet.
This is another mystery: what will this look like? How will the human Jesus relate to the transcendent God, Jehovah, of whom He will still be the incarnation?
That Jesus is both God and Man, there can be no question: Scripture is clear on this. But there are a million questions surrounding the mystery that is Christ.
A Chistian’s Heart 6-11-2013
More thoughts about the Godhead Theology
“The Old Testament constantly insists that there is only one God, the self-revealed Creator who must be worshiped and loved exclusively. The New Testament agrees but speaks of three personal agents, Father Son, and Holy Spirit, working together in the manner of a team to bring salvation” (J.I Packer, Concise Theology: A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs, Tyndale House, Carol Stream, Illinois, 1993, p.40. My emphasis.)
In my previous blog titled “About God: The Godhead Theology” I demonstrated that according to this theology, the inescapable conclusion one must reach about the nature and being of the Godhead is that neither the Father (Jehovah = “I AM”), nor the Son (Jesus) nor the Holy Spirit can be fully God in themselves because they are “distinct” persons. Packer confirms this conclusion in the statement quoted above: the Godhead is a team. In other books I’ve seen references to the “persons” of this “team” as members of the Godhead. Since the Godhead is also often characterized as demonstrating the close personal relationship of its three “members,” one might therefore conclude that the Godhead operates as a type of committee where these three Persons talk to each other and then decide on how to behave as God.
Here is a statement typical of the apologetics for the Godhead theology involving the divine Person of Jesus Christ (as opposed to the distinctly human, flesh and bone, Jesus, the Son of Man): “In the New Testament, the words and actions of Jesus, the incarnate Son, constitute the full revelation of the mind, outlook, ways, plans, and purposes of God the Father…” (Packer, p.25. My emphasis. Packer also speaks of Jesus as “the Son of God Incarnate” on p. 113. Interesting note: the phrase “God the Son” is never used in the Bible whereas the phrase “God the Father” is used 18 times: once in John’s gospel and the rest in the N.T. letters.)
I believe the statement is absolutely true as far as the Person of Jesus Christ constituting the full revelation of God. There is no other Person by whom the divine Being, Person and nature of God can be or has been revealed because the transcendent spirit being, Jesus Christ, is Jehovah God in His own Person. But I take exception to the description of Jesus as “the incarnate Son.”
For, the very idea that the Son is incarnate means that there must be a distinct spiritual entity in heaven called “The Son of God” that has taken on human flesh. Since this must be a spiritual entity, it cannot be the same entity as the flesh and bone (Luke 24:39) human entity, the Lord Jesus Christ (as referred to Paul’s letters, for example), who while He was with us referred to Himself as the Son of Man about 83 times in the four Gospels plus the Acts of the Apostles. This must mean that in the Godhead theology, this distinct spiritual entity is not the spiritual entity who has revealed Himself as Jehovah or “I AM” (Ex: 3:14). Packer makes it clear over and over in Concise Theology that the Father, Son and Spirit are distinct Persons of the Godhead.They must therefore be distinct spiritual entities.
Now, I realize that Scripture can be interpreted in such a way as to deduce that this distinct spiritual entity called “the Son of God” does exist. Here, for example, is a verse that many will point to as evidence for this: “ ‘All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’ ” (Matt 11:27, NIV 1984 version. All biblical quotes below are from this translation.). Is Jesus referring to Himself as a divine being here? Well, to answer that we must look at what else He says about “the Son?”
- “Jesus gave them this answer: ‘I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.’ ” (John 5:19.)
Clearly “the Son” does not instigate any actions on His own nor can He, but only “what He sees the Father” doing. Many times the Persons of the Godhead are said to be coequal. The statement by Jesus just quoted is certainly NOT consistent with that characterization of the “members” of the Godhead.
- “ ‘Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door … No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son , but only the Father. ’ ” (Mark 13:28-32, my emphasis.).
Jesus is speaking here of His return. According to this, “the Son” is not fully omniscient since He does not know the day or hour of this glorious event.
- “She said, ‘Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.’ [Jesus replied,] “ ‘You don’t know what you are asking, … to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.’ ” (Matt 20:21 – 23 excerpts.)
Clearly “the incarnate Son” is not fully omnipotent, according to His own testimony because He does not have the authority in question, but only the Father (another denial of the co-equality of the “members” of the Godhead).
I simply don’t see how any of these statements are a consistent characterizations of an omnipotent, omniscient, transcendent God, also represented as a distinct spiritual entity called “the Son.”
Consider, however, another explanation. We know that when Jehovah God came to earth as the Son of Man, He placed limitations on that human man consistent with His humanity. For example, He got hungry, thirsty, tired, and could be tempted, whereas as He exists as a Transcendent Almighty Spirit, He experiences none of these things. So, it seems reasonable to conclude that Jesus here is talking as any human son might, given the limitations we all face as human beings. It seems reasonable that He is talking of Himself as a human man, rather than as a divine being.
Note also that the Lord Jesus Christ is, even now, God incarnate in human flesh. For example, He says of Himself:
“For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”(Matt 16:27-28.)
Clearly Jesus is referring to the coming time of judgment. He refers to Himself as the Son of Man to emphasize that He is still a human being; that He is still God incarnate.
And again:
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.” (Matt 19:28-30)
Clearly Jesus is referring to that glorious future when we will all be with Him. Referring to Himself as the Son of Man emphasizes that He will still be God incarnate at this time. In fact, the Lord Jesus Christ will be God incarnate for all eternity.
Then again, Paul refers to Him in the present tense as “the Man, Jesus Christ” in 1 Tim 2:5 – 6 as follows: “ For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men — the testimony given in its proper time.” Clearly Jesus acts as mediator now in Heaven in subjection to His Father (John 5:19, quoted above). Clearly He is still a human being.
Finally Jesus testifies that as He exists right now in heaven, He has a flesh and bone body (Luke 24:39).
So if there is a distinction of person in Scripture between the Father (Jehovah) and the Son, it must be the distinction between the human person, the God incarnate Jesus, and His divine self, Jehovah God. I will write more about this in a future blog.
Here is another statement by Jesus that can logically be construed as indicating that Jesus, as He existed before the world began, was a distinct spiritual entity from the Almighty Spirit Jehovah. In His prayer in John 17, Jesus says: “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” (John 17:4-5.)
We can interpret this truth from two perspectives: an earthly perspective where we are looking up to heaven, and a heavenly perspective where we are looking from God’s throne down into creation. We have interpreted this passage from the perspective of earth, looking up into heaven. Since it seems to me that the oneness of God demands that there be only one Spiritual God entity in heaven, I’m wondering if we change our perspective on this statement we might see something consistent with this clear truth. To understand this concept, consider the following testimony of the Spirit:
On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel: “O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.” So the sun stood still , and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar.
The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a man. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel! (Josh 10:12-14.)
From earth, looking up into the heavens, the sun did in fact stop moving through the sky. For well over a thousand years this event was interpreted to mean that the sun revolved around the earth. (Called the geocentric theory.) In fact Martin Luther used this very passage to justify the geocentric theory as official church doctrine. Anyone who suggested that this doctrine was not true was put out of the church; some were even murdered. But if you look at this event from God’ perspective, it was not the sun that stopped moving. It was the earth that stopped spinning. Since the truth is that the earth is not the center of the solar system, it is clear that the Holy Spirit did not intend to suggest that it was at the center in recording this passage. What seemed obvious from Scripture, that the son moved around the earth (making earth the center of the solar system) was not true. That did not make Scripture untrue; it made man’s perspective of what Scripture said untrue.
So, I think if somehow we can find a way to look at Jesus’s statement from heaven’s perspective we might find that it does not mean to say that before the creation of the world a separate and distinct spiritual Jesus existed in addition to the Almighty Transcendent Spirit that is God the Father. I’m thinking this perspective might have something to do with the distinction between the unknowable, incomprehensible transcendent being that is Jehovah God as He exists in an incomprehensible state outside of the timeline of creation, and His revealed Person within the timeline of creation. The distinction is between the knowable and unknowable (to any created being) aspects of God’s Being and Nature. Jesus, by His vary nature, is the revelation of God to man (as Packer asserts in the quoted passage above). The mystery that is Christ, then, must involve this relationship of God between the Himself as a transcendent Being outside of creation and His revealed self to creation.
I wish I could do better at resolving this. But my basis for raising these issues is that there can only be One God. This we all agree on. But what does this “oneness” mean? I don’t see how it can mean anything other than there is only one spiritual God entity in heaven. There is indeed another God entity in heaven: that is Jehovah’s incarnation as the Lord Jesus Christ, an entity who is a human being with flesh and bones. This is the true mystery: how can God exist as both man and God? As I said before, I will talk more about the human Jesus in a future blog.
A Christian’s Heart 4-15-2013
About God
The Godhead Theology
I don’t get the Godhead theology. See, for example, Charles Stanley’s message broadcast February 11, entitled Our Constant Companion and available here.
The reason I don’t get it is that when the Bible says that the LORD is one God (Deuteronomy 6:4 NIV 1984), it must by definition mean that there can be only one God entity in heaven: one God being with God’s mind, God’s will, God’s thoughts and powers and nature (Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent etc.); and that God’s Personality and Identity are unique. But if you read the statement of the Godhead theology below (taken from the Athanasian Creed), you get the clear impression that there must be three God entities in heaven. (I’m speaking of the spiritual entity, not of the distinct human entity that is Jesus Christ, the incarnation of the transcendent spiritual entity that is God.)
“… we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance, for there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit, but the Godhead of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is all one, the glory equal, the majesty co-eternal.” (quoted from The Agony of Deceit, Horton et. al., Moody Press, Chicago, Il, 1990, pp. 251 – 252.)
The statement, “not confounding the persons” above is interpreted today to say that the Godhead consists of three distinct persons. So what do the words “distinct” and “person” mean? Here are definitions:
A. Definition of distinct [in part, I’ve omitted parts that are not applicable to this topic]:
1 : distinguishable to the eye or mind as discrete : separate <a distinct cultural group> <teaching as distinct from research>
B. Definition of person [in part, I’ve omitted parts that are not applicable to this topic]:
1. A human being, whether man, woman, or child. [Not applicable to God as a spirit, but certainly applicable to the incarnate God, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Man.]
3. Sociology. An individual human being, especially with reference to his or her social relationships and behavioral patterns as conditioned by the culture. [This somewhat describes God who is a spirit. My italics.]
4. Philosophy. A self-conscious or rational being. [This seems most apropos.]
5. The actual self or individual personality of a human being. [The Transcendent God certainly has a personality: He has his own thoughts (Isa 55), feels anger, love, wrath, joy, etc.]
13. Theology any of the three hypostases or modes of being in the Trinity, namely the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
C. Definition of hypostases[Used in item 13 above as it applies to theology.]:
2. Theology.
a. one of the three real and distinct substances in the one undivided substance or essence of God. [My emphasis]
b. a person of the Trinity.
c. the one personality of Christ in which His two natures, human and divine, are united.
So if the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, I don’t see how any one of them can be fully God in Himself.
If, for example the person of the God the Father be distinct from the persons of the God the Spirit and God the Son, the Father must have an attribute we’ll call F that distinguishes His person from the others, though we might not know exactly what F is. F could be, for example, a single thought or set of thoughts that neither the Son nor the Spirit share. Or F could be an attribute of being unique to the Father, such as omniscience.
(In this vein, note that Jesus as the Son of Man, the “One God” entity incarnate in a human being, confesses that He does not know the day and hour of His coming. See Mark 13:32 in this context. Note also that in Charles Stanley’s sermon referenced above, he tellingly does not answer the question, which he poses, “What makes these three different.” I don’t believe he can answer it, quite frankly.)
In the same way let H be the point of distinction for the person of God the Holy Spirit from that of the Father or the Son. And similarly for God the Son, S.
(I’m speaking of Jesus as the from-everlasting-to-everlasting spiritual being, the “I AM” of John 8:58, rather than as the God Incarnate human being or Son of Man, whose lack of knowledge has been pointed out above and whose existence as a human man began in the timeline of Creation with His incarnation. “Today I have become your Father” says the Divine spiritual Jesus of the incarnate man. See Psalms 2:6 – 8.)
So the person of the Father has neither the distinct Holy Spirit attribute, H, nor that of the Son, S. Likewise the person of the Son possesses neither the F nor H attributes. And the person of the Holy Spirit possesses neither the F nor S attributes. Since “God” the Father possesses neither the H nor S attributes He in Himself cannot be fully God, because He’s missing these two God-related attributes. Similarly for the Holy Spirit and the Son. So the Godhead must consist of three distinct beings which share all the attributes of God except that which is unique to each: the Father does not have attributes H and S, the Son does not have attributes F and H, and the Spirit has neither the F or S attributes. (This Godhead theology reminds me of particle physics where various sub-atomic particles called hadrons like the proton or neutron are said to be made up of three quarks.)
Can this really be true? Do we really mean to say that God the Father (who is also the God of the Old Testament) is not fully God in Himself? That the everlasting I-AM Jesus (John 8:58), who is the revelation to Creation of this transcendental, unknowable, everlasting God, is not fully God in Himself? I can’t imagine that we do.
But if this is not true, how then can God be three distinct persons? How can there be a Godhead at all? How can the word “person” as used in the various ancient creeds have any real meaning at all? How can these creeds as regards the Godhead be anything but a statement of theology that is really empty of meaning?
The other thing I don’t get is why one has to accept the Godhead theology or be branded a heretic; that is that one must accept the Godhead theology to believe that Jesus Christ is both Man and God.
Jesus Himself has said that “… before Abraham was born, I AM.” It seems clear to me that He was identifying himself as the incarnate spiritual being we identify as the God of the Old Testament, who spoke to Moses out of the burning bush. We know for a fact that at the time He spoke to Moses, the human Jesus, the Son of Man, had not yet been born, so the Son of Man, the human man, Jesus Christ did not yet exist. (There is no Scripture that I know of that claims any human being exists before he is born.) That is part of Jesus’ human nature: the God of the Old Testament coming into the timeline of creation as a man to save us from our sins. And the Lord Jesus Christ, as referred to by Paul in his letters, is even now God incarnate as well as God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who created all things.
The apology for the Godhead theology is that the church has believed it for over 1,700 years, so it must be true. Well, the church believed that Scripture itself taught that the earth was the center of the solar system (Geocentric theory) for over 1,000 years. See a quote from Martin Luther in article IV of this paper claiming that Scripture, and by implication the Holy Spirit Himself, backed this theory. Yet this was proved wrong by simple observation.
Just wondering.
As I’ve considered this perspective on the nature and being of God, I’ve come to believe that because we have divided God, the body of Christ itself has been riven with division over the centuries.
A Christian’s Heart 3-25-2013
About God
A God To Fear
Note: In past blogs, I have given internet links through New Bible Gateway to the verses I have referred to, which are from the NIV 1984 version. But that version of the NIV translation of the Bible appears to be no longer available on the web. Since I detest the 2011 NIV which is gender neutral and has many other distortions of the original documents, I will not link you to that.
We have always been taught, and rightly so, that our God is a God of love (1 John 4:8) and life (John 1:4). If this were not true, I would not be writing this blog. But what we have not been taught, unfortunately, is that He is also a terrifying God, a consuming fire (Deut 4:24; Heb 12:29), who will readily destroy evil and those who bring it into the world at a time that suits His righteous purposes. This chilling truth is one that God’s people have forgotten to our great peril. It is this terrifying aspect of God’s nature that I want to talk about here.
Ancient Israel refused to fear God. In their arrogance they thought that being sons of Abraham exempted them from the horrors of God’s righteous judgment. “He will never do anything to us,” they claimed. “No harm will come to us. Our prophets are prophesying wind.” (Paraphrase of 5:12—13, NIV 1984.) God reminds them of this through Jeremiah when we says, “‘Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear: Should you not fear me?’ declares the LORD. ‘Should you not tremble in my presence?’” (Jer 5:22a.) Those of you who know the history of Israel, know that God eventually did destroy both the northern and southern kingdoms, resulting in the deaths of many hundreds of thousands of God’s people.
Here is a close up and personal example of God’s terrifying judgment—on the one hand and of His grace and love on the other—at work in one man, Abimilech king of Gerar. (See Genesis 20 for the story.) On entering Gerar, Abraham had lied to the king about his wife Sarah, telling him she was his sister. So the king sent for Sarah and took her into his household. Now the king had made God angry by doing this, for God came to him in a dream and said, “‘You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman, … if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all yours will die.’” (Gen 20:3, 7b. My emphasis.) God promised not only to take Abimelech’s life, He promised also to take the lives of his family; even, apparently, to the point of destroying all of Gerar!
But Abimilech, who had not had any relations with Sarah, correctly replied, “‘Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? Did [Abraham] not say to me, “She is my sister,” and didn’t [Sarah] also say, “He is my brother”? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.” (Gen 20:4—5.) This is how our gracious and just God replied: “‘Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her.’” (Gen 20:6.) Note that our just and righteous God had proactively intervened in the king’s life to keep him from being destroyed and to give him a chance to repent and live.
At this point Abimilech had two choices: take God seriously and repent or ignore God’s warning and bring great disaster on his country. God gave the same choices to Israel. (See Deut 30:19.) But unlike Israel and Judah (see 2 Kings 17; see also the Lamentations), the king wisely chose life and not death. Not only did the king repent of his sin and return Sarah to Abraham, the Abimilech also showered Abraham with wealth and opened up his country to Abraham to live wherever he wanted. (Gen 20:14—15).
We in this country have not been so wise. Among the many other horrific evils that we have allowed to take over this country, we have allowed abortion on demand—the murder of innocent children—and sexual immorality to flourish. We stand under the same judgment that Gerar did, which will be much worse because America was founded in his Name, and we have His word and still we have knowingly turned our backs on Him.
A Christian’s Heart 2 26 18
Satan’s Favorite Bible Verse
I believe Satan loves the following verse more than any other in the Bible: “ ‘Do not judge , or you too will be judged.’ ” (Matt 7:1 NIV 1984.)
This command has become the instrument which the Adversary has used very successfully to weaken the Christian community in America, if not the whole world. It turns against us our desire to be kind to others, and its misapplication can render the children of God defenseless against the evil acts of others by short-circuiting a child of God’s willingness and capability to judge between good and evil, as directed by the indwelling Holy Spirit. I’m always appalled at the inability of people who profess to know the Lord Jesus Christ to make such a distinction.
Exercising godly judgment is crucial to living an obedient Christian life. A competent adult makes thousands of choices each day. Each of these choices is based on his judgment of what’s good or true or right in his own mind. How much more should we who know the Lord be able to judge, for example, whether to read certain books, or see certain movies, or with whom to associate spiritually based on our understanding of what God considers good and right for us.
In writing this I do not mean that we are not to associate with unbelievers who profess no knowledge of the Lord. They present themselves clearly and should pose no threat to us spiritually. It is by befriending an unbeliever that God can use us to lead them into the Kingdom. What I’m talking about here are those who profess to know the Lord but who do not. Here’s clear direction from the Apostle Paul in this matter:
I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat. What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.” (1 Cor 5:9-13.)
I can’t emphasize how important it is that we be able to judge the character of people who say they know the Lord: godly judgment must, it simply must, extend to these people who would lead us astray. For as Paul writes to the church in Corinth “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’ Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God — I say this to your shame.” (1 Cor 15:33-34.) It appears that the Corinthian church was afflicted with the same “non-judgmental” foolishness as the modern American church. Paul has clearly presumed that the child of God will be able to discern those who are “bad company” from a spiritual point of view. Since we have the Holy Spirit in us, he would be right, if we are willing to exercise the discernment God wants us to.
Jesus also requires that we be able to judge who would harm us spiritually and who would not: “‘Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them.’” (Matt 7:15-16). We are commanded to be able to determine who among us are the “wolves in sheep’s clothing.” It is clear from this passage that we must be able discern through a person’s actions and words whether he is truly a child of God or an agent of the Evil One. (Many foolish people are unwitting agents of evil. But whether conscious of this or not, all such people mock God, His ways and His people and will be held accountable in the Judgment.)
Finally, Jude also warns us to be on our guard against evil people who have been sent to us by Satan to destroy the church of Christ: “For certain men [and women] whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord … dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings … [men/women] who speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals.” (Jude 4, 8, 10.)
How then would we ever be able to spot such evil among us if we were not able to judge evil men “by their works?” Here is an example of Paul executing godly judgment against men who have rejected the truths of his message:
Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme. (1 Tim 1:18-20. My emphasis)
To preserve our own spiritual health and that of the church, we too, who are called according to the will of God to be holy and blameless in His sight, should be able to make godly judgments of the works of those among us. Such works, for example, would surely include profession of heretical or ungodly doctrine; or the promotion of detestable things that God hates such as abortion on demand and/or the support of detestable sexual practices and lifestyles such as homosexuality and homosexual marriage.
Destruction is coming to America. It’s time for the church in America to wake up before it’s too late and we be swept away along with it.
A Christian’s Heart 2 18 13
About God
(From my 2 18 13 Facebook Post)
The Bible states clearly that God is love. Therefore we always say, God loves the sinner but hates the sin. When we say this, we are often referring to those who have rejected God’s Son, and His salvation for our souls.
I’m not so sure that this is a totally accurate way to characterize God’s love. God says in another Scripture that “The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked[a] and those who love violence his soul hates.” The “wicked” here are those who refuse to accept God’s truth and salvation and refuse to submit to His authority over them. Another way of putting this is that we know that those who have the Son have life “but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” Wrath is not the product of love; it is the product of God’s hatred of sin and evil.
I certainly believe that God’s hand of love is extended to all because when we were His enemies He died for us. Yet if one continues to reject His salvation, the blessings of God’s love do not rest on him, but the judgment fueled by wrath (born of His hatred of sin and evil) does. I think we’ve got to get clear on who God is and take these warnings seriously. Then we’ve got to see clearly enough to relay these warnings accurately to unbelievers to show them how much trouble they are in if they continue to slap God’s hand of love away.
One thing is sure to me, because we who know the LORD are supposed to be the pillar and foundation of the truth, it is an act of criminal negligence our part to tell a homosexual that his lifestyle is okay or to give aid and comfort to those who do; or to support abortion on demand, or any other depraved notion that has gripped our society.
A Christian’s Heart 1 – 7 – 2013 (Update 1 – 10 – 2013)
The Dark Truth Update 2 (1 – 10 – 2013)
This update does not qualify as a “dark truth” but rather as a wonderful ray of light in the moral, ethical and intellectual darkness that has taken hold of this country and is destroying it, brick by brick. One of the foundational “bricks” of our freedom is the right to keep and bear arms. In the this article, The right to Shoot Tyrants, not Deer Andrew Napolitano of the Washington Times gives an excellent analysis of why the Founding Fathers gave us the 2nd Amendment.
Once we lose the right to bear arms—which was given for our self-defense, not only against criminals but against tyrannical rulers—the leftist tyrants will be able to do any horrible thing to us they want to and we will be powerless to stop them. (See how Stalin and other bloodthirsty tyrants used this power in the Black Book of Communism referenced below.) This is the reason for the title of the article. It does not sanction violence for any other purpose than to allow us to defend ourselves against criminals and against the stormtroopers when they come to our homes to take those of us who oppose them to the gulags that will surely spring up once they have complete control. If the tyrant knows that we can and will defend ourselves, it’s unlikely that he would send the stormtroopers in the first place.
The Dark Truth Update (1 – 7 – 2013)
Lest some of you think my warning is for the birds, here’s the warning of a trained psychiatrist concerning our society:
Watch for an epidemic of depression and suicidality, not to mention homicidality, as the real self-loathing and hatred of others that lies beneath all this narcissism rises to the surface. I see it happening and, no doubt, many of you do, too.
We had better get a plan together to combat this greatest epidemic as it takes shape. Because it will dwarf the toll of any epidemic we have ever known. And it will be the hardest to defeat. Because, by the time we see the scope and destructiveness of this enemy clearly, we will also realize, as the saying goes, that it is us.
The Dark Truth
I recently saw a movie called The Dark Truth that was typical Hollywood garbage. In the movie a private corporation, engaged by the Ecuadorean government to provide fresh water to the countryside, messes up. One of their filtering systems goes bad and allows a typhus epidemic to break out in a remote village. Since, in Hollywood, all corporations are corrupt, venal, and murderous (like most of the “entertainment” that spews out of that diseased place), we are not too surprised to find that the corporation bribed corrupt Ecuadorean soldiers to put the village to the torch, killing everyone, to prevent the epidemic from spreading. Of course the CEO and part owner of the corporation understands that if word of the mess-up and the ensuing atrocity spreads, it would ruin his company, which than had a multi-billion dollar water-rights deal pending with the South African government.
But there was a witness, and one of the corporate owners (the CEO’s sister, also an owner) has an attack of conscience. She seeks out that witness to bring the sins of her corporation to light. She eventually finds him and, after a lot of murder and destruction (are we surprised?), justice is done.
At the end of the movie, the witness, played by Forest Whitaker, says that water rights (or anything else the public uses, presumably) should never reside in private hands, because the government can more justly distribute them. And, presumably, the atrocities that occurred at the hands of this evil (of course) private company would (presumably) never have happened if the government controlled the water rights. And, I would guess, knowing the socialist predilection of just about every Hollywood denizen, it goes without saying that everything would be sweetness and light if the government (controlled, presumably, by these same enlightened actors or by politicians they approve of) owned everything else under the sun. Now, you can see the deadly results of the government owning and controlling everything in Stalinist Russia, North Korea and Cuba, and China. Read The Black Book of Communism, (Panné, Andrzej Paczkowski, Karel Bartosek and Jean-Louis Margolin (Oct 15, 1999) available here.
This is, of course, a load of bull roar. The naivete expressed in this last statement would be touching if it weren’t so delusional and full of nonsense, and ultimately tragic. Let’s think of the ways.
It was the government of Ecuador that sold off the water rights in the first place. It was the all powerful corrupt government officials who allowed the water company to prosper, and who helped carry out the destruction of the village. Were there corrupt men/women in the water company? Yes. Are there corrupt men/women in government? Just smell the roses. Were their men/women in the company willing to commit murder to protect their interests? Yes. Are there corrupt men/women in governments around the world willing to do the same? Think, for example, of any government in the third world, or the Middle East, or most anywhere else for that matter. (Under the socialist tyrants that now rule this country, our government is not far behind.)
Here is the key difference between allowing private companies to provide vital public services and keeping them in government hands. It’s possible to control private companies. Governments can revoke their rights to do business; managers can be arrested and imprisoned if found guilty of wrongdoing; shareholders can depose corrupt and/or incompetent management; and profits and losses are a powerful motivating factor to get companies to operate in the best interests of everyone including their owners and their customers. If private companies run out of control, it’s only because governments and politicians look the other way.
But there is no way to effectively control murderous, greedy, corrupt government bureaucrats. History is replete with examples of this truth: Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, Hugo Chavez, almost any Islamic ruler and the list goes on and on. In fact the movie Les Mis, just released, shows how a corrupt government oppresses its people. See also how the Benghazi fiasco, an example of wanton criminal negligence by the White House, was covered up its propaganda arm, the mainstream media, and washed away during the last election. (I wonder if Joseph Goebbels is looking up from the pit of Hell, wishing his own propaganda ministry in Germany had been as effective.)
Our own government, once a democracy, but now a tyranny of the left, aided and abetted by a this very effective left-wing propaganda mill, is headed in this direction. (I claim that we are no longer a real democracy. For if the citizens of any country are not provided with the information they need to make informed choices—like our press’s refusal to get to the bottom of the causes of the Benghazi fiasco and of the many other criminal failings of the current administration—the voters are effectively neutered. The reelection of Barack Obama, despite his being the most miserable and intellectually and ethically corrupt president we’ve had in the last hundred years, is testimony to this dark truth.)
Step by step, the left and their media lackeys are doing away with our freedoms. Now under attack are the guarantees of the second amendment, which was written for the very purpose of insuring that the government could not abuse its citizens by force of arms. We long ago lost the right to receive just compensation for property expropriated for “public” (read that “some politician’s”) use. And this president is determined to bypass Congress to rule this land according to his enlightened, radical socialist left-wing vision for America.
So now, as the all-powerful left wing moves us to bigger and bigger government, we become less and less free. When the thought police are able to effectively control all conversation they find objectionable (as has already happened on many major college campuses), when government controls every significant thing in our economy (and those on the left are working their hardest to get to this point), we will look around and wonder how we got to this awful place. Then it will be too late to reverse this atrocity. I believe social strife will increase and inevitably lead to violence: class against class and race against race. (There have already been hints of such sentiments percolating on the web. See here for example.)
Why is this happening? We have rejected God and His moral values. I’m deeply afraid that He has given us over to the depravity that now defines our society, which includes abortion-on-demand, homosexuality and all other types of sexual immorality, ethical corruption, truth being turned on its head by the mainstream media, and the politics of character assassination. I also believe this will ultimately destroy the America we loved.
A Christian’s Heart 12-22-12
Sandy Hook Elementary School: Tragedy of Many Tragedies
Horrendous! A tragedy of unthinkable proportions struck America at the Sandy Hook Elementary School this last Friday, December 14. Adam Lanza, clearly harboring a demonic spirit, murdered 20 little children and six adults including his own mother. I cannot imagine what terrible pain and grief the parents of those children must be feeling. How awful for them! How many bitter tears have we all wept in sympathy with them!
Here is a profile of killer:
A 20-year-old man grows up in America with every luxury imaginable. He is incapable, we are told, of feeling any pain. He is excruciatingly shy and utterly isolated. He is not able to fathom that other people around him have emotions and feelings. Computers and modern technology are his most treasured haven. He plays, we are told, vividly lifelike and violent video games that coach perfect muscle memory for quickly killing large numbers of people without a hint of remorse. Then someone — reportedly, his mother — teaches this unstable sociopath how to shoot guns and then leaves the guns so they somehow become available to him. And then, emerging from his isolation, he lashes out and kills at random 20 small children in retaliation for his own miserable life. (My emphasis)
Seeing what this poor man filled his mind with, it is clear that this awful crime was a product of a society distorted by evil; a society that is spiritually dead; a society where every kind of filth imaginable is produced and disseminated by the main stream media. This crime did not originate because of our second amendment right to carry guns. It came about due to the complete moral and spiritual degeneracy of American society.
America has been sowing the seeds of destruction for many decades now. And these poor little children are the victims of the fruit that these seeds have borne. Grief fills me as I predict that this is not the last such horrendous incident we will experience. All the gun control laws in the world will not stop determined wicked people from carrying out their evil schemes. (See the stabbing deaths on the very same day of twenty-two children in China, which has very strict gun control laws, on the same day! Deadly assaults on children in China are not unusual, according to this article.)
We have to restore the moral and spiritual values in our society that will turn people away from filling their minds with the filth that fills our airwaves, movies, literature, and political and other public discourse. Values that will turn people away from committing the daily atrocities that are committed against American children each day in the form of abortion on demand.
Let’s talk about grief. I said I can’t imagine the pain and grief the parents of these little children are feeling. How much less can I imagine the pain and grief—and wrath—that the LORD our God must be feeling as He watches America embrace the utter darkness that fills our society. I know one man who’s going to reap the horrible fruit of God’s grief: Adam Lanza; for now he will stand in the presence of the LORD our God and experience His wrath in all its horrendous totality.
But there were approximately 2200 other little children murdered the same day as those twenty at Sandy Hill. (See graph here. Latest data are for 2009 in which about 800,000 abortions took place.) They were legally murdered while still in their mother’s wombs by the abortion factories of this country. Where is the grief for them? We have this demonic abortion horror creeping among us every day, and we do nothing about it.
But God will certainly do something about it if we do not repent and turn away from it. If God will vent his wrath on the shooter at that school, how much more do you think He will vent his wrath on a nation that legally murders its most innocent citizens? How much more will those who kill the unborn and who profit from the killing of the unborn also experience God’s wrath, if not in this life, certainly in the next?
We are a nation in deep trouble. We are seeing America’s death throes now. Unless we return to God, the America we knew and loved will be destroyed, mostly by the hands of its own inhabitants.
How sad!
A Christian's Heart 