30 Aug 2021

Ruination Escalation

EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS

Hurricane Ida will hit Louisiana coast in the early hours of Sunday (August 29) as major hurricane (Category 3 or higher). Central and eastern Louisiana (including New Orleans) will get the highest impact. Ida is expected to dump up to 20 inches of rain through Monday morning. Sunday is the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

Tennessee: Catastrophic flooding; record rainfall on August 21, leaving at least 22 people dead and dozens missing. This is the state’s deadliest flood event ever.

California: Caldor Fire Threatening Iconic Lake Tahoe and Surrounding Area. The fire, which broke out on Aug. 14, has now burned over 126,000 acres (some 197 square miles) in El Dorado County and was only 11% contained as of Wednesday.

Venezuela: Searches for landslide survivors as more rains fall. Over a dozen people are missing in Mérida. With 10 more days of rain forecast, rescuers are racing to reach those feared buried before new mudslides are triggered. Twenty are confirmed dead, and emergency workers have yet to reach some of the worst-hit areas. Over 8,000 homes have been destroyed.

Middle East running out of water; parts becoming uninhabitable. Of course, Godless globalists and their lamestream media blame manmade climate change for the drought – and extreme rainfall. They say it doesn’t help with the drought.

Sudan: At least 43 dead, 3,838 homes destroyed by torrential rains and flooding since late July when the rainy season began. Another 8,514 homes have been damaged.

Niger: Thousands of homes destroyed by floods; many deaths. Heavy rains and floods since the start of the rainy season in June have killed over 60 people and affected over 100,000. An outbreak of cholera following the floods caused an additional 68 fatalities.

Russia: Wildfires Near Nuclear Research Center Spark State of Emergency. The research center makes nuclear warheads and is believed to be developing Russia’s strategic missiles. Russia has been hit hard by an unprecedented wildfire season fueled by historic heatwaves and drought, particularly in Siberia.

Cooling Planet?Three reasons why global surface temperatures will probably see continued cooling over the coming year: La Nina, Soot and haze of smoke from Forest Fires, Sunspot Activity.

Despite the global warming whiners constantly wagging their tongues, we’ve had extremes of both cold and hot, drought and flooding. It’s ALL under God’s control. And He uses weather for blessing or punishment (Job 37:1-13). And this wicked world is certainly ripe for punishment.

Bible Verses Showing Weather as God’s Judgment at this link.

FOOD INSECURITY AS THE WORLD NEARS THE TRIBULATION HOUR

Soaring Cost of Food. Extreme weather, shortages due to the planned-demic, and inflation are the causes. In the Tribulation for those left behind, breaking of the third seal judgment in Revelation 6:5-6 causes famine. The cost of food will be mind-boggling.

Empty Shelves Plague Grocery Stores as Supply and Staff Shortages Continue. Stores across the U.S. are experiencing shortages of every variety. In short supply are bottled water, bread, chicken, and dog food, as well as car parts. Experts advise parents to start shopping for toys for Christmas now.

Fighting, flooding, and donor fatigue: Unpacking South Sudan’s food crisis. 7.2 million are enduring severe hunger across South Sudan. Of those, tens of thousands are thought to be in famine.

ANIMAL ATTACKS

Strange coyote behavior in Canada. Vancouver coyotes attack people in Stanley Park, constantly bite their own tails, and biologists don’t know why. There’ve been dozens of coyote attacks in 8 months, even though there are likely not more than a dozen coyotes in the 4-square-mile park. Rabies is not the cause. Shelley Alexander, professor at University of Calgary who specializes in coyotes and wolves, said, “Coyotes are a barometer. When this kind of stuff goes awry, they’re telling us there’s something really wrong in that situation.”

THE PLANNED-DEMIC AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

Ruination of the Nation Escalated Even More Due to Planned-Demic. Extra $300/Week Unemployment Benefits Encouraged Many to Not Work: Details about “Labor Shortage” Pile Up. In the 27 states that have ended the extra $300 a week in federal unemployment benefits paid on top of regular state unemployment insurance, people are returning to work at a much faster rate than in states where the extra $300 a week is still paid. Paying people as much or more to not work than they made while working encourages them to not work, even though the pay is now higher than it was before.

“For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat” (2 Thessalonians 10). This goes for those who are capable of working, but won’t.

Pfizer Just Got ‘Full FDA Approval’ For Its COVID Vaccine. There’s Just One Thing… Moderna and Pfizer vaccine tests were conducted, as customary, with a control group; a group within the trial who were given a placebo, not the test vaccine. However, during the trial – and after the untested vaccines were given emergency use authorization – the vaccine companies conducting the trial decided to break protocol and notify the control group they were not vaccinated.  Almost all the control group were then given the vaccine. Purposefully dissolving the placebo group violates the scientific purpose to test whether the vaccine has any efficacy; any actual benefit and/or safety issues. Without a control group, there’s nothing to compare the vaccinated group against.  According to NPR, the doctors lost the control group in the Johnson County Clinicial Trial (Lexena, Kansas) on purpose.

“The Time Has Come. Enough Is Enough” – Fauci Dismisses “Freedom” In Call for Vaccine Mandates. After the FDA fully approved the Pfizer COVID vaccine, Anthony [Faux] Fauci immediately issued a decree via his permanent CNN propaganda platform that it is time for nationwide vaccine mandates.

“Elitist Authoritarians” Are Intent on Making Us All “Shut Up and Obey.” From Tucker Carlson: “We now have two groups of Americans, not a broad middle: the favored and the unfavored; the saved and the damned; the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. That’s how the architects of all this see the country.”

Ruling Class Increasingly Calls Upon Private Sector to Make Lives of the “Unvaccinated” Difficult.

Colombian officials accidentally reveal contract with Big Pharma, saying Big Pharma won’t be held liable for adverse reactions to COVID vaccines.

From Yahoo News: Delta Variant Just Peaked in Southern US States, Virus Expert Says. By September, hopefully you’ll see the other side of that curve in the South very clearly, but cases will be picking up in the Northeast, the Great Lakes region, maybe the Pacific Northwest,” Scott Gottlieb predicted. He added that it’s likely the Delta surge will move across the country throughout September and October. “Hopefully we’ll be on the other side of it or coming on the other side of it sometime in November, and we won’t see a big surge of infection after this on the other side of this Delta wave,” he said.

From Zero Hedge: It Finally Peaked: Delta Turns Negative. Evidence such as University of Washington’s IHME model suggests “the US is now past the peak level of daily COVID infections caused primarily by the Delta variant.” The IHME model forecasts a 50% decline from peak level daily infections by Oct 11th, and by Sept 22 – predicted decline is nearly 40%. For US society, media and politicians will no longer be able to scaremonger with the Delta variant, but we fully expect media to quickly shift focus to the “unexpected” emergence of lambda or some other even “deadlier” variant, which politicians will immediately weaponize in their neverending quest to convert the US into one giant authoritarian nanny-state.

California: San Francisco moves to suspend police, fire and sheriff’s employees who refuse to report vaccination status.

Australia, New South Wales: COVID Lockdown Insanity – Australian Rescue Dogs Shot to Prevent Volunteers from Traveling To Get Them. “Australia lost its mind over Covid; now it’s lost its soul.” A shelter in New South Wales killed the dogs to prevent volunteers at another animal shelter from traveling to pick up the animals, claiming the volunteers could possibly spread Covid. 10 of the 15 dogs were puppies; another had just given birth to a litter.

“A righteous man takes care of his animal, but the wicked? Even his compassion is cruel” (Proverbs 12:10).

Australia: In the Name of ‘Public Safety’ Australia Descends Into a Nightmarish Orwellian Police State. The land Down Under appears to be reverting back to its original status as a penal colony as government officials, looking more like prison wardens than servants of the people, clamp down on demonstrators weary of more Covid lockdowns. A heavy police presence in major Australian cities didn’t stop thousands of protesters from taking to the streets in what many saw as a last-ditch effort to protect their severely threatened liberties and freedoms.

France: Although banning those without proof of Covid vaccinations from many places, they’re supposedly not banned from supermarkets. But videos have surfaced of people without vaccine passports denied entrance to what appear to be supermarkets. In the second video, a man repeatedly uses the French word for food (alimentaire) to the hired men blocking the entrance.

Canada: Tens of Thousands March in Montreal Against Vaccine Passports Ahead of Sept. 1 Rollout. Protesters want the government to hold an emergency public debate to reverse the Soviet-style mandate because it’s discriminatory and infringes on their civil rights.

Israel: has one of the world’s highest daily COVID infection rates, despite high vaccine uptake. Israel’s COVID infection rate has doubled in the past two weeks, seeing a new surge in cases despite early success with the Pfizer vaccine. The claim is that protection afforded by vaccines may wane over time, especially for older groups.

Scotland: Government proposes emergency COVID powers be made permanent.

Switzerland: Group of Swiss Police Reject ‘Great Reset,’ refusing to enforce government-imposed restrictions on general public. ‘We Work for the People, Not the Elite.’

Italy: Student, 22, who tattooed Covid certificate barcode on arm becomes Tik Tok star after scanning into McDonalds. Preparing people’s minds to accept what’s to come in the Tribulation. This is not the mark of the beast, but people are being desensitized to accept it when the mark is mandated that confirms worship of the Antichrist (Revelation 13:16-18) in order to buy and sell, hold a job… or live.

US Investigates Moderna Jab After Data Show 2.5x Higher Risk of Heart Inflammation. Washington Post published a report claiming the Moderna vaccine may be associated with a higher risk of myocarditis in younger adults than previously believed, according to new data from a Canadian study yet to be released.

Actress Sally Kirkland after Moderna vaccine: In my 79 years, I’ve never experienced this level of pain. Almost immediately after the second shot, she experienced excruciating headaches, vertigo, nausea and joint pain. Five months later, she remains in almost constant pain, and takes multiple prescriptions for these conditions. Some doctors refused to blame the vaccine. But three told her the vaccine caused this. She also has “terrible heart pain,” making her feel like she’s having a heart attack. Recently, she had to be rushed to a hospital where a doctor said, “We’ve had other people who got the Moderna vaccine, which attacked the nerve in the brain, causing all these symptoms.”

Preprint paper by the prestigious Oxford University Clinical Research Group found vaccinated individuals carry 251 times the load of COVID viruses in their nostrils compared to the unvaccinated.

EXPOSING THESE LAST DAYS TRAITORS

As usual, in the Left’s projection tactics, Puppet Biden and his handlers refuse to take full responsibility for the disgusting debacle in Afghanistan. President Trump never intended to handle things this way.

The US is now an embarrassment to the world. ‘God help you, America!’ Fears for future of US as Biden’s presidency in doubt. The healthy long-term future of the US has been brought into serious question by UK readers, with concerns over Biden’s handling of the crisis in Afghanistan. They’ve also raised serious doubts over the ability of Kamala Harris to replace him. One Express.co.uk reader raged: Biden is bad, but Harris will be worse yet. And don’t forget, if Harris moves up to POTUS, that harridan [dragon lady; odious old woman; a vixenish woman] Pelosi becomes VP. God help America.

Biden administration gave Taliban a list of American and Afghan names for evacuation. Seriously? That’s the same as giving the Taliban a kill list.

Globalist Goblins: Overnight, Nancy Pelosi Changes House Rules in Order to Ram Through $3.5 Trillion Green New Deal and Forever Change America into Failed Marxist State.

Fmr. UK commander in Afghanistan says Biden ‘should be court-martialed.’ Biden is also commander in chief of U.S. armed forces. For obvious reasons, he never should be president. Let’s allow scripture to do the talking (in plain language for us to share with those who can’t seem to use reason)! “How long, you simpletons, will you insist on being simpleminded? How long will you mockers relish your mocking? How long will you fools hate knowledge?” (Proverbs 1:22). “But an empty man will get understanding when a wild ass’s colt is born a man” (Job 11:2).

INIQUITY (LAWLESSNESS; WICKEDNESS) SHALL ABOUND

France: City of Marseille battles ‘explosion’ of drug-related gang violence that has seen four people killed in the last week.

DAYS OF LOT RETURNED

UN Women’s Group Says It’s Sexist to Call Women “Women.” The UN agency tasked with elevating the status of women around the world is promoting the use of gender-neutral language, including the elimination of “binary” terms like “women or men,” as part of its strategy to advance gender equality. According to educational materials published by UN Women, taboo words include “women” and “female,” which is surprising considering that UN Women has the word “women” in its name.

APOSTASY AND DOCTRINES OF DEMONS

Evolution accepted by majority of Americans, according to a new study published by University of Michigan. The study identified levels of education as the strongest factors in determining the opinion of the theory of evolution.

“Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself” (Isaiah 44:24).

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:18:22).

HATRED OF CHRISTIANS

Evil Communism: Chinese authorities paying citizens to spy on neighbors, report ‘illegal’ Christian activities, including preaching and religious house gatherings. Informants will be rewarded with $150 for each tip.

ISLAMIC TERRORISM

Afghanistan suicide attacks by ISIS: 13 US service members killed in Kabul airport blast, more wounded. A suicide bomb attack Thursday at Kabul’s airport killed 13 U.S. service members and injured at least 18 more in the deadliest day for U.S. troops in 10 years. Dozens of other people were killed or injured (some say over 100). A second attack occurred at Baron Hotel where Americans have gathered in the past for rescue and evacuation. Two suicide bombers were assessed to be ISIS fighters. There are currently 5,200 U.S. troops at the airport and thousands of Afghan evacuees still on the tarmac waiting to be evacuated. A source briefed on the situation said there are hundreds of Islamic State (ISIS) fighters in the vicinity and warned that attacks are “likely to continue.” Now we hear reports of a third suicide that was averted.

As Biden Continues Obama’s Plan to Close Gitmo, Hundreds of Former Detainees Have Returned to Terrorism. A total of 229 “rehabbed” radical extremists have been released over the past few years and have returned to terrorism; some have killed Americans.

Thousands of the most dangerous terrorists set free in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control of the former American base at Bagram and the prison known as Afghanistan’s Guantanamo Bay. Bagram prison contained the 5,000 “highest value” Taliban, al-Qaeda and ISIS fighters captured.

Canada’s Muslim ‘Minister for Women and Gender Equality’ refers to Taliban as ‘our brothers.’ After the outrage, she insulted people’s intelligence by saying it was a “cultural reference.” Monsef knows full well what the Taliban represents for women and gender rights, which she has the responsibility to represent in Canada. The Taliban’s regulations for women will send chills down your spine. They include: killing women for not wearing a burqa, gouging out the eyes of a pregnant woman because she had a job, setting a woman on fire for “bad cooking,” and going door-to-door, forcibly marrying girls as young as 12, and forcing them into sex slavery.

WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS

Biden’s Failure with The Taliban in Afghanistan Has Emboldened Iran to Hold War Games with Russia and China as Iran Enriches Weapons Grade Uranium.

Iran Goes on Offensive as U.S. Retreats from Afghanistan and Elsewhere. Iran’s proxies unleash violence on several fronts in the Mideast as it senses weakness in adversaries.

Russian Military Hails Syria’s Successful Intercepts Of 22 Of 24 Israeli Missiles last week launched in and around Damascus and in Homs. Russia has lent support to strengthen Syrian military’s air defense systems to offer protection against Israeli airstrikes. Israel does not intend to allow Iran to strengthen its presence in Syria and continue to get weapons shipments from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon. This can’t end well.

Iran two months away from nuclear bomb. Israel’s Defense Minister Gantz called for the international community to create a new prevention plan that doesn’t involve reviving the 2015 Iran deal.

Israel is accelerating operational plans to take action against Iran. “The progress of the Iranian nuclear program has led the IDF to accelerate its operational plans and the recently approved defense budget is earmarked for that,” said IDF chief Kohavi. Kohavi commented as Prime Minister Bennett landed in the US ahead of a visit with Biden and other senior officials. Bennett is expected to push Biden to harden his approach to Iran and drop efforts to revive the 2015 bogus nuclear deal.

10 fires were sparked in Israel by incendiary balloons launched from Hamas in Gaza on Monday. Israel’s IDF responded by striking Hamas targets in Gaza. IDF fighter jets struck a weapons production site, terrorist tunnel, and rocket-launching platform that Hamas terrorists deliberately had in a civilian area located near a school. Hamas again launched incendiary balloons into Israel on Tuesday.

IDF prepared for war in Gaza, Hamas bears responsibility for what happens. Chief of Staff General Aviv Kochavi says the IDF is accelerating plans in light of progress of the Iranian nuclear program.

SIGNS IN THE SKY

Asteroid double the size of the Empire State Building to pass Earth. 2010 RJ53 spans roughly 2540ft (774m) and should fly past on September 9. This comes days after it was announced that 2021 PT, a massive asteroid up to twice the size of Big Ben will pass Earth on August 29. One the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza flew past July 25, and another the size of the US Pentagon did similarly this month. Though these giant asteroids haven’t yet posed a threat to Earth, that won’t be the case in the Tribulation.

The word star found in the New Testament is translated from the Greek word astēr.

Revelation 8:8-9: “And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.”

Revelation 8:10-11: “And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.”

Matthew 24:29-34: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.”

CONCLUSION

The world needs to pay attention because not long after the rapture, the 21 Tribulation judgments begin. The first cycle of 7 are the seal judgments. “And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth” (Revelation 6:7-8).

 

Letter to the Ephesians: Commentary, Part 9 :: By Dr. Donald Whitchard

Ephesians, Chapter 5 (continued):

Spirit-Filled Living

Walk in Spiritual Wisdom (vv.15-21)

15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of God.”

Paul continues to instruct the Ephesians on the nature, character, and attitude a genuine follower of Jesus Christ is to emulate. We are to keep our eyes on Jesus and imitate Him in our journey of life. To do so is to build trust, faith, and assurance in His Word and example and to aid us in maturity concerning the things of the Spirit and will of the Father. Jesus Christ is Lord, Savior, and God Incarnate who has walked among us and has been one of us. He died publicly upon a cross, beaten, ripped to shreds by whips, bleeding and bruised by hands that hated and despised Him, representing all of us throughout the course of time (Romans 5:6-11).

He willingly took this upon Himself, not because we deserve any kind of mercy or rescue, but because of His love for us. The gift of eternal life and forgiveness of our sins is too wonderful to comprehend at times, but as Holy God, Sinless Savior and Creator (Isaiah 53; John 1:1-4; Colossians 1:16-18), and if what the Scriptures declare are true and of His hand (John 17:17; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:19-21), as our Creator, we can trust Him to guide us and assist us in the decisions and trials of life.

If we are serious about allowing the LORD to guide us, we need to keep focused on doing those things that are pleasing in His sight (1 John 3:22). We are not to give any place in our lives to anything or any person who would take our eyes off the LORD and have us rely on our own faulty sense of direction and thinking, including food, drink, and amusements that are questionable at best and destructive at worst, especially in terms of how they could ruin your testimony and effectiveness for Christ. The devil would love nothing more than to trip you up and catch you off guard (2 Corinthians 11:12-15; 1 Peter 5:8).

We are instructed to be filled, not with wine (Hard liquor), but to be filled with the Spirit of God, who guides us into all truth (John 16:13; Acts 8:39), controls our behavior fitting a true believer (Acts 10:19-20), directs the selection of godly leaders (Acts 13:2), and chooses our fields of operation (Acts 16:6). The Lord Jesus taught us about the work and person of the Holy Spirit throughout His ministry and in the Upper Room with His disciples the night before His crucifixion.

The Holy Spirit dwells in us as believers in Christ (John 14:17). He is our Comforter and Teacher as He aided the Apostles in the preaching of the Gospel without error or contradiction (John 14:26; Galatians 1:8-9, 2:2). He testifies of Christ (John 15:26), warns sinners of judgment, and blesses righteousness (John 16:5-15). Being filled with the Spirit of God is not a dramatic emotional experience of energy and accelerated spirituality nor a stoic attempt at doing God’s will where we act in the flesh and hope God approves of it. It is not the same as possession, which is what we have as believers at salvation, and is not a repetitive reception of Him in degrees of spiritual development.

When we are filled with the Spirit, we are to give up all self-centered will, intellect, body, time, talent, possessions, and desires to follow Christ, to let our thoughts be His thoughts, our work His work, and our will His will, and to be in step with His ideas and standards. Our worship of Him is to be from the heart and the depths of our souls through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Psalm 150). We are to have a continual attitude of gratefulness and thanks for all things in His name and for His glory, all under His Sovereign authority. This is not just the pattern for us as individual believers but is also the foundation for a successful marriage, which will be our next area of study in this letter.

Marriage- Christ and the Church (vv.22-33)

22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones.

31 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”

If every couple, who is serious about getting married and staying that way, would take the time to read these verses together and abide by them in the strength and name of the LORD, they could save a lot of money and heartache on counselors and lawyers in the future. Now, can we keep these standards with perfection and without fault? Not without the guiding hand of the LORD, a serious attitude and goal to commit to one another, and taking the vows of marriage as an act of both love and determination.

The role of the Christian wife is to be an example of godliness to her husband (Proverbs 31:12), to be faithful to her husband (1 Cor. 7:10), to recognize the dual authority of both her husband and the LORD in the home (Colossians 3:18), and to have a faithfulness and reverence to the LORD (1 Tim. 3:11). The Scriptures also speak of the act of submission, and modern humanity cringes and rebels against the entire concept. It brings up the picture of male chauvinism, domination, or abuse to some women who have suffered through such hardship. And to men, it is a picture of a dominating, nagging shrew who will not let him have a moment’s peace and finds fault with everything he says and does.

Submission is for both sexes a voluntary response to the Sovereign will of Almighty God, and to set aside all independent thinking and actions before other believers and ordained authority.

There must be a chain of command and a sense of order and responsibility in the body of Christ. It cannot be a “free-for-all” as there had been in Corinth.

I had a ministerial colleague tell me one time that he was going to “step back one Sunday and let the Spirit take control of the service.” That might have sounded holy and wondrous but could also be a recipe for disaster and a foundation for chaos and confusion over what is to be done.

Scripture commands us to do everything decently and in order (1 Cor. 14:40). Submission is a part of a disciplined life and a comfort in that we know what is going on, who is in charge, and our specific duty or chore in order to have the household, our business, and the church run smoothly and in harmony with the will of God. It is the spiritual equivalent of a well-running machine.

The Christian husband is the head of the household and submits to the authority of Christ, as does his wife. He is to be the protector of his wife and family and to be side by side with each other as partners in marriage. He is to establish a home for his bride (in other words, have all your events in order, and be mature enough to handle the responsibility) and to enjoy her pleasures in every way (Genesis 2:23-24; Proverbs 5:18). He is to honor her and be an example of a godly man before her and his family (1 Peter 3:7). Husbands are to love their wives just as Jesus loves His church and gave Himself for her. In other words, a good husband will sacrifice his life and well-being for the sake of his wife if needed.

The bride of Christ is His church, and He has made us clean and justified, spotless and pure before Him. Likewise, husbands should desire the best and greatest for our wives. We are to place her interests and needs before ours. In other words, act like the gentlemen the LORD expects us to be with them and as a witness before the world of commitment and true love. The welfare of our wives comes first in any God-centered marriage, but we need to take care of ourselves as well physically, mentally, and keep a time of prayer and Bible reading open every day in order to get spiritually charged and prepared for what may come down the line.

Jesus Christ and His church are united as a groom is to his bride. They are no longer two separate individuals but one flesh forever. This unity was a mystery to Paul, but he used it as the best means of illustrating the love Christ has for His church and that husbands and wives should abide by this example. When I mean marriage, I mean the biblical standard of a biological man and a biological woman and nothing and no one else. There are no third options or changing of genders for the sake of a daily whim of fickle emotions or from the beratement of a deviant society and a dishonest media who could not care less about you but only want to push a trendy agenda.

The devil, his demons, and his willing minions throughout history have done their level best to destroy, pervert, or redefine the institution of marriage that had been created and blessed by God Himself in the Garden of Eden between Adam and Eve. The LORD takes marriages and families seriously and does not and has never looked the other way when they are compromised, deterred, or ruined by the acts and words of despicable individuals and families who are not satisfied with the order and function of life that God has established for His creation.

Christian families are being pummeled every day with the world’s persecutions and derisions, and we must not give in or compromise our standards for any reason. If our brethren in the past could get through their dark times, so can we until that day when our LORD returns to take us home.

Donaldwhitchard@gmail.com

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