Pitfalls and Brick Walls :: By Candy Austin

Published on: January 22, 2021 by RR7 Category:General Articles

1 Chronicles 29:11 “Thine, O LORD is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.”

Apparently, before I was born, there was something called ‘The Jesus Movement,’ which was a type of Revolution in pursuit of a ‘spiritual awakening’ in lieu of attending the Conventional Christian Church. That statement alone should speak volumes in and of itself about the spiritual state of the church even during that time. Unfortunately, this movement and ‘evangelistic fervor’ spawned many of the pitfalls that we face today throughout our modern-day worship. Got Questions has more information concerning the ‘overall outcome’ of this Revolutionary Movement. Sadly, even in the 60s and 70s, the youth were looking for ‘something more’ aside from the ‘lackluster and spiritless’ houses of worship in their day.

Just for clarity and as a ‘stark reminder,’ the true Church are the Believers in Jesus Christ who are indwelt by God’s Holy Spirit. Therefore, this does not comprise of a physical ‘brick and mortar building’ as being the only place where God will meet with His Beloved Bride. Recently, a Special Sister in Christ and I emailed each other about the pitfalls that we have come to find among our modern-day churches – issues which are in essence leading droves into the ‘End Times Apostasy’ spoken of in the Bible! I also shared with her how our quest in finding a ‘sound church’ has been like encountering one frustrating brick wall after another due to this Apostasy!

There was a time, though, before this ‘Age of Grace,’ when Abba Father designated a place where He would meet and commune with His people. Such was His first Habitation on Earth, which was the Old Testament Tabernacle — a ‘Tent of Meeting’ in the wilderness (a picture of Christ) containing God’s Presence in the midst of the Israelite’s camp, one which was illuminated by God’s Presence at night and which was covered by God’s Glory Cloud by day!

Exodus 25:21-22 “And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.”

Abba gave ‘precise instructions’ to Moses to build His Dwelling Place, which was inside the Tabernacle behind the curtain into the Holy of Holies. In this ‘innermost place,’ the presence of God would hover over above the Mercy Seat (a beautiful seat with 2 cherubim which was overlaid in pure gold), also known as the Ark of the Covenant. Only once a year could the High Priest enter into the Holy of Holies (at his peril of possible mishap) while carrying blood from a ‘sacrificial animal’ (picture of Christ) to sprinkle onto the Mercy Seat. Meanwhile, all of Israel was standing around outside with ‘bated breath,’ anticipating the atonement of their sins.

Hebrews 9:7 “But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people.”

Back to the ‘increasingly widespread spurn’ for Modern-Day Organized Religion. This comes from the fact that many churches are not even sound in their Doctrine anymore, much less pure in their Theology, or even sacred in their Worship practices! To take something Consecrated or Holy and to make it ‘common’ is to make it profane! Thereby taking the Lord’s Name in Vain by ‘mixing darkness with light’! This ought not to be!

For example, the evident Apostasy within the Christian Contemporary Music Industry, the irreverent communion practices of some denominations, the assimilation of overtly pagan holidays (the Church from 200-300 years ago would no doubt be ‘utterly appalled’ at how widely accepted these practices are today). Not to mention the false cults, the heretical teachings, and worst of all, the Modern Bible Versions that omit most if not all of the verses stating the Deity of Christ! All of this has no ‘discerning reverence’ for the Thrice Holy God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob!

Leviticus 16:2 “And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.”

2 Samuel 6:6-7 “And when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.”

1 Samuel 6:19 “And he smote the men of Bethshemesh because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.”

These are just some of the verses stating how serious Almighty God is about our coming into His Presence! Not only are we to approach God as significant, but we are to enter into His Holy Presence in the most reverential way we can! More importantly, we are to do so according to His’ precise instructions’ in His Holy Word! The people who ‘knowingly, mistakenly, or haphazardly’ stumbled onto the things of God without full regard or awareness of His Presence and Holiness were immediately struck dead!

Take that in for just a moment, and then reflect on all of the ‘Apostasy’ that is going on within our modern-day churches! Make no mistake, God is not there, He is not in it, He is not pleased, nor is the LORD propitiated with such hypocrisy, falsehood, irreverence, and indulgent revelry! Hence the very reason for the ‘Great Falling Away’ we are seeing now!

2 Timothy 4:2-4 “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

Organized Religion has become just that – ‘lackluster, spiritless, even ritualistic and legalistic’, without any real Biblical Truth or Holy Spirit-filled substance behind it! For example, the latest statements coming from the Southern Baptist Convention Leaders are ‘inappropriately involved politically,’ which, needless to say, has drawn much criticism in recent weeks, even to the point of leading two Prominent Pastors to ‘publicly break’ from the organization!

They, along with many others, are one of many reasons, avenues, and ways that are leading the Last Days Church into ‘Ecumenism’ aka (One- World Religion)! In case one does not know or realize, this is the process of combining all Faiths into one, which is ultimately setting up and preparing the way for the soon to come Antichrist!

It is time for people affiliated with these pitfall denominations to wake up! To awaken to the fact that people are ‘falling away’ because of the troublesome brick walls that are being increasingly manifested among these churches, organizations, and outfits!

2 Chronicles 5:13-14 “It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD; So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.”

Perhaps very soon, we will get to experience this awesome verse in 2 Chronicles where everyone is ‘Praising and Thanking’ the LORD to such an extent that His Glory Cloud fills the whole place because there is finally no longer any Apostasy! Oh, what a Day, what a Glorious Day that will be, when our Jesus we will finally see!

Until next time… Maranatha!

JESUS = THE WAY, THE TRUTH, & THE LIFE!

Jesus Will Come!

———————–

Candy Austin is an Ambassador for Christ/Freelance ASL Interpreter/Writer, just passing through on this Narrow Path with her Beloved Husband and Best Friend Doug, along with their 2 fur baby cats Harley (12) and Dallas (9).

The Gospel According to Luke: Part 61 :: By Dr. Donald Whitchard

Published on: January 22, 2021 by RR7 Category:General Articles, Grant Phillips

An Exposition

Luke 21:20-24: “The Terrifying Future for Jerusalem”

“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Jerusalem flee to the mountains, let those who are amid her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:20-24, NKJV).

Prophecy can be defined as the history of humanity yet to be written but already known to some. If the Sovereign Lord, Who is above all space, time, and limit, set out to design all of what we see and do not see – put into a specific place within the universe and here on Earth, with exact measurement and precision, whether mobile or stable, with the structure, formulas, measurements, logic and rationality that allows for nothing extra nor wasted – to use for our benefit as His gift of mercy, grace, and love for us, then should He not control the progression of history as He knows it could, will, and shall be for the same mercy, grace, and love?

The God Who is There, as the late Dr. Francis Schaeffer (1912-1984) entitled one of his books defending the Christian faith against the tide of skepticism that he observed in his time, is not a mere indifferent spectator Who put everything into place and then left it all up to us to handle. When we read the Scriptures, we read of a God Who is personal, attentive, disciplinary, caring, a defender of His people, a gracious Savior from our sins, One Who comforts, reassures, Who wipes away tears, and has all things under control and will have everything come to a final conclusion for His grace and glory. We are no mere specks or flukes of some cosmological indifference or random shot of extraterrestrial sperm from passing alien forces, as some theorize as a means by which life came to this world.

I attended public schools and took several science courses. I heard about the evolutionary theory of Darwin, and I was also exposed to the story of the Biblical account of the creation, both by reading and listening to teachers and pundits in classrooms, pulpits, and television hammer out their ideas and discoveries. And even when I was not a Christian, I could not put my mind around some of the topics I had heard in terms of “random selection” and the “survival of the fittest.” It seemed so directionless and without purpose or meaning.

To combine Darwinist thought and its disbelief in design with purpose as a prime source for a discipline like history and then believe that the life we live here in this world is nothing more than a game of chance would be sheer madness. Why do anything for anybody for any kind of benefit if it amounts to nothing more than a mere flick of protoplasm that ends up in a grave somewhere, leading to oblivion and nothingness? It does explain why ancient civilizations such as the Greeks developed the philosophies of Stoicism and Epicureanism as a way of coping with the world. Either you took your lumps and dealt with it, or you partied and played until death took you. If there was nothing of which to look forward to such as an afterlife, or rewards, or favor with the deities, then what was the point?

These two pagan philosophies would have suited the Sadducees, the more “liberal” followers of God in Jewish society. They saw no life beyond this one, with no angels, resurrection, or any rewards from God save for what they achieved while they were here. The Pharisees embraced the idea of a resurrection and an afterlife with reward and accountability, but the Scripture lets us see that they were just as earthly-minded in terms of keeping a tight rein on their system and essentially micromanaging the people’s religious patterns and rituals that posed for worship of the living God.

Both sides were missing the big picture in terms of how God was governing the affairs of humanity and how it would end. The people were under a bondage to formality and rank apostate faith. They had become uncertain of what God expected of them and whether He would restore the nation again free from Rome or any other pagan rule. The vices of the Greeks and the Romans had permeated the land with idolatry, perversions, and arrogance from years of conquest and domination.

The men and women who had been following the Lord Jesus up to that point had clung to a remnant of true worship and devotion to God as best as they could understand it. Jesus had made many things clear about the love, grace, and mercy of the Father to them and others hungry for hope and truth. His teachings were a breath of fresh air and free from any self-developed theory or interpretation based on another teacher’s observations and rituals, as was the case with the Pharisees. When Jesus taught, it was on the sure foundation of the Scriptures that He Himself had inspired the prophets and statesmen of Israel to compose and teach to the following generations.

His teaching was not only for the growth of our minds and souls as His children and heirs, but as a hard shot of reality that was to come upon them in the days ahead and to prepare them. There was to be no dreamy idealism or sense of comfort in this world for His followers. There was to be no self-styled Hebrew “utopia” and freedom from Rome as many were expecting from Him and their misguided beliefs in how they saw the role of the “Messiah” as promised in Scripture. The prophecies that Jesus was presenting to His little group were to show His group that Jerusalem was to be invaded and torn apart by the very Romans they desired to see either leave the land or be crushed by God.

Jerusalem had been destroyed by a pagan kingdom before. In 586 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded and destroyed the city. He led the last king of Judah and his people to the Babylonian Empire, where they would stay for seventy years as a punishment for their idolatry, wickedness, and rebellion against God and the prophets who warned them of the judgments to come. God has not and will never tolerate any kind of disobedience and rebellion from anyone or any nation. He merits out punishment and demands accountability from all people, and His chosen nation of Israel was not an exception as we read the Old Testament.

Now, Israel had shut their national eyes and ears to the claims and proof provided by the Lord Jesus that He was and is the Promised Messiah of His people as foretold in the prophets. The hatred and slander thrown at Him by the religious officials and their influence on much of the public had taken effect, and they rejected Him. Once again, God’s chosen people refused to obey Him by deciding to turn their backs on Jesus and the promises of God for no other reason than He did not fit their preconceived ideas and expectations. When Jesus had left the temple for good that day, He closed the door on the apostate religion it now represented and consigned the city and people He loved to another excursion of heartache that would last for over two thousand years and more.

Jesus describes the coming destruction of the city in full detail, sparing nothing in getting His followers to understand that it is not worth one’s life to come back home and get anything. Get out while possible, and do not look back. Pregnant women and new mothers will have a hard time escaping, and many citizens will be brutally executed by the swords of the Roman soldiers who, under the command of Vespasian in A.D. 70, completely eliminate the city of Jerusalem from existence, with the temple burned to the ground and torn apart for the gold and jewels that will be sent back to Rome, along with the surviving Jewish population as slaves. Any Jews who had fled beforehand were now in hiding and without a city or nation for themselves.

The Jewish people will undergo numerous persecutions and be without a home until May 14, 1948, when the nation of Israel is born from the ashes of the Holocaust survivors of Europe and the worldwide Jewish population’s desire to reclaim their land. This establishment of Israel is in itself a sign from God that He will never abandon His chosen people and that their enemies are His. He will be the victor over all of them, with Israel receiving their Messiah Jesus and be the governing nation of the coming New Heavens and Earth as promised by the LORD in His word. The Lord will go on to show that the troubles are just getting underway, but He is on His way as well and will put everything in its final and perfect order for all time. Amen to that.

donaldwhitchard@gmail.com