Humility

I Pet.5:5 - ...Yea, all of you be subject one to another and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble.
Clothed with humility. What a phrase and what an exhortation. Not just humble but clothed with humility. How many of us are actually "clothed with humility" which is tangible to those around us? The word in the Greek is a combination that doesn't easily translate, suffice to say it full indicates the spirit of Phil.2:3 - ...but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.". This is very difficult when you consider our preference for ourselves, both overt and hidden. We are such despicable creatures to think anything of ourselves in the light of God's grace. But I have discovered something as I've perused the internet during the last year.
There seem to be such distinct pockets of Christian thought and truth. Not just slight differences of insignificant doctrine, no, these are major differences that impact the very dogma of the gospel itself. And I, being an old fashioned Armenian(if you don't know what that means don't worry about it) am drawn to most of the reformed writings because these new breed Armenians have long since discarded Wesley for a hedonistic, humanistic Biblical interpretation of the Christian life and the gospel itself. The falling away of the church has broken my heart and I not only do not feel comfortable with them, as you can tell from some of my writings I speak out against this worldly and selfish spirit. What we see today is a complete departure from most of church history and the study and meditation on the Scriptures is a thing of the past as well as any deep, meaningful prayer life. We have become Babylonians that reject the God of the Bible while still using lightly some of His vocabulary.
But I want to address something that has become more and more evident among the reformed(et. al.) group with which I feel so much more Scriptural kinship in spite of the free will difference. In these circles there is some wonderful and poignant warnings and Scriptural alarms that God is using to bring some sheep to rethink their positions and lifestyles. I have been so edified by the pleading about humanistic preaching, worldly music, compromised evangelism, careless lifestyles, unscriptural affiliations, and doctrinal tolerance of even heretical gospels and non-Christian religions. Most of what is addressed is so needed for millions to hear.
But one thing that seems to be missing in all of us is a substantive sense of humility. Being used of God as a "watchman" doesn't absolve us from realizing our own need of a deep and searching revival and surrender. When you visit many blogs you will notice that any devotional posts get the very least among of comments while the most vitriolic garner comments hot and heavy. Why? The despising of certain issues about the falling away elicit the deepest and most energetic reactions, while seeking the very face of the Savior through brokenness, prayer, and fasting are only rarely addressed. And so many seem to have it completely figured out even going so far as to disparage great men of God such as Wesley, Moody, Torey, Ravenhill, and their absolute favorite whipping boy Finney. Now there is no room for a "be careful of this theology", no, it is a complete and utter dismissal of all their ministries usually based on their unreformed theology. When one reads the incredible accounts of revival under Charles Finney they are either lies or wonderful moves of God's Spirit. Oh yes, when Finney left revivalism and delved into theology he was out of his calling and morphed into some crazy teaching, but that doesn't discount his ministry in the northeast that still bears fruit today. And his call to discipleship was one of complete surrender that at times was thoroughly legalistic, surely not liberal and bears no resemblance to today's evangelical world. This is one example of the exclusive spirit that sometimes prevails among some circles.
So OK, you can still retain Finney for your convenient figure of a heretic but let me ask you is there much addressing of the powerless state of the reformed movement? Why has this seeker/purpose/emergent spirit spread like wild fire? Where is the power in those of us who grieve over this departure from God's Word? We can hide behind our theology but the truth is who spends hours a day on our face before our Lord begging Him for power to intercede on His behalf? Where are the corporate prayer meetings that substantiate the fact that we really believe that God is our only hope? Why is there more announcements than prayer even on Sunday mornings? Where are the elongated seasons of fasting both personally and as believers together? We pat ourselves on our theological backs with our "high view of God" but that doesn't translate to a high view of prayer and fasting. Who among us is so disturbed by what is happening that we rise early and cannot fall asleep at night due to intercession. When was the last time you noticed someone (the preacher?) weeping uncontrollably over the sins of the people as well as theirs? Private tears of repentance? The entire world lies in the wicked one, headed for an eternal torture of unfathomable proportions, and we are tearless? And if we spent as much time in prayer as we do researching the internet would revival be possible? And in many, many ways we who by the grace of God have been awakened to the Spiritual departure, we are the most culpable. To whom much is given much is required and the creative, purpose driven, seeker sensitive, relevant, and culturally persuasive ministries seem to have more power (however human) than those who hold the truth. Do we have no brokenness? Are we so smug that the Spirit cannot hold the mirror of His convicting Word to our faces and instead of seeing Rick Warren we sometimes see us? Do we glory in the complete sovereignty of Almighty God or do we sometimes glory in the fact that WE believe in His sovereignty?
Much talk, and true, but little prayer. Is it time to call a solemn assembly? If our brothers were thrown in jail would the church find the power to begin to pray day and night as in Acts? Walk around the Biblical schoolhouse and visit the classrooms. Grace IV - full. Sovereignty IV - full. The Falling Away IV - full. What is Wrong with Anything IV - full. Biographies IV - full. Prayer 101 - there is plenty of room, it is an elective. Fasting 101 - you can audit this. Humility 101 - We no longer offer this course due to lack of interest.

Even in the face of obeying the calling of your Spirit...never let us stop seeking you preeminently to turn the bit in our own hearts to follow hard after you clothed in humility and energized by your grace alone.

The Covenant Scars

II Sam.9:3 - And the king said, Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may show kindness of God unto him?


The story of Mephibosheth does not begin with King David and his compassionate invitation to this crippled son of Jonathan. As Saul watched David head out toward Goliath in the power of the Lord, he saw David slay that uncircumcised Philistine to the glory of God, and as David cuts off Goliath's head Saul inquires, "whose son is this youth?'.(I Sam.17:55) So Abner took David before Saul with Goliath's head still dripping in his hand and asks, "Whose son art thou?', and David still covered in blood and the anointing of God's Spirit replies, "I am the son of thy servant Jesse, the Bethlehemite". Now not long after David, by the power of God's might, had slain Goliath, Saul had heard people singing "Saul has slain his thousands but David his ten thousands" and envy had risen in his heart. From that moment on Saul sought David's life. But nothing happens by chance and nothing, I mean nothing, happens outside the watchful eyes of the Shepherd of the Universe. We surely don't know fully what will happen but we are commanded to keep our eyes on our Guide, our Shepherd, He has everything in His care and control. Saul is no match for the Heavenly Father and David is well taken care of under His shadow.

As Saul ordered everyone to seek David's (I Sam.19:1) life the Lord stirred up the love He had put in Saul's son, Jonathan, for David. Jonathan went to David and informed him of his father's plot. Oh yes, our allegiance is to God Almighty but sometimes Jesus Himself told us that there comes a sword in the midst of our families. When I came to Jesus, my family had major issues with my conversion. I attempted to be gracious, but my loyalty was totally to my Lord and Savior and not my family who I still loved. Jonathan, moved by God's Spirit, had befriended David and not only told him of the death plan, but Jonathan would watch his father and continue to communicate with David. Jonathan even convinced his father to give up his plan which would be temporary. So when Saul resumed his evil plan, Jonathan called his friend David into a field and it was there that Jonathan made a covenant with David. Now the Hebrew ceremony of covenant involved cutting the right wrist of both men and as they joined their wrists and mingled their blood the covenant was sealed.

Now Jonathan had a son named Mephibosheth who had been dropped by his nurse as she fled during a time of war and he had been made lame. After Jonathan's death David asks his servant if there are any heirs of Jonathan's and his servant informs him of Mephibosheth. David immediately calls for him and as Mephibosheth bows before him David proclaims "he shall eat at my table". The King's table? Lowly Mephibosheth? Why? Maybe the kindness of David and maybe because his heart was after God. But there is a stronger reason. Picture Mephibosheth sitting down at David's side struck with awe and humility, he had never been in David's house much less eating at his table. King David looks deep into Jonathan's eyes and says, "Welcome my son, the son of my friend Jonathan, here, eat and be full from my hand". As David lifts the bowl and extends it to Mephibosheth his right wrist peeks out from his sleeve and there it is, the scar. What scar? The scar that remembers the covenant that was made with Jonathan by blood and an oath. It was this covenant that King David remembered when he called for Jonathan's son. Not just to feed him out the back stoop with the leftovers, oh no, he eats at that King's table. Because David had given his word and his blood and he was eternally in a covenant relationship with Jonathan and his descendants.

I want you to picture a King's table, not an earthly King, but a Royal King of Kings. Now this King has called for the lowly descendants of Adam who had been irrevocably crippled through their father's fall. He calls for them and those that hear His voice come and like Mephibosheth they bow in humility and unworthiness. Why would this King call for us? We are worthless and rebellious dogs who don't even deserve scraps, what does this King want with us? The King, with the voice of many waters, says, "Come and dine at My table!". How can it be? We cannot imagine such unbridled grace, glorious and without earthly reason. To be in His presence is unthinkable, but to dine at His table is past finding out. As we sit as His invited guests an angel loudly proclaims,

"Blessed are they which are called unto the Marriage Supper of the Lamb!".

The King looks at us and says, "Welcome my sons, I have desired to eat this supper with you from before the foundations of the world. And I, the Royal Bridegroom, take you as My Bride - Forever. Eat and be full from My hand." And as King Jesus hands the bowl to us his wrists peek out from the brightest of robes, and all of heaven look in wonder and amazement. The angels, the seraphim, the cherubim, Michael the Archangel, Gabriel the Archangel, and most of all us. You and I now see in person the scars that purchased this very Marriage Supper for us. There they are, our righteousness; our entrance way; our redemption; our only glory! I have a difficult time not thinking that at that moment the entire table will fall to its knees in worship before the Passover Wounds, scarlet and crimson, embedded forever in the Lamb so that forever we will remember that

ALL THE GLORY HAS BEEN, IS NOW, AND ALWAYS WILL BE HIS AND HIS ALONE!!! HALLELUIAH!!!

The Betrayal

Lk.22:47-48 - And while He yet spoke, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss Him. But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?

Now no one believes Judas was a true believer. He is even called the "son of perdition" and after he committed suicide he wound up separated from God forever. What a tragic disgrace. Jesus had shown Judas amazing love and compassion. Judas had seen miracles and ridicule, and he had seen Jesus endure persecution without sin. He had heard deep and moving messages from God by God in the flesh. He had lived with the Son of God for almost three years and had felt His powerful love and His words of redemption, but in the end, Judas betrayed Jesus. Leading a mob he had led them to where Jesus prayed and had forever symbolically betrayed the Christ and sealed it with a kiss.
Betrayal is a deep wound of the heart. Many a person has known the emotional savagery that accompanies betrayal. A husband or wife. A son or daughter. A friend, a brother, a father, a mother, a preacher, a relative, someone that was trusted and even loved. It is one thing to feel the sting of someone's sin and even someone who we know and love. But betrayal is when someone sins directly against a person or persons who have loved and trusted them and most times they've sinned specifically with the treasure, whether emotional or material, that was given to them as a token of love and trust. What makes Judas' betrayal so striking is that he did it to the Lord Jesus Himself, delivering his shocking betrayal in person upon the stage of Christ's final prayer closet, and capturing its evil in an outward act of love, a kiss.
Let's remember, though, that Judas was never a true believer. His following of Jesus was based on a power trip mixed with a monetary self aggrandizement. To put it succinctly, Judas followed Jesus for what Jesus could do for him but he had never met Jesus Spiritually and in essence his whole life had been a betrayal.

But today there is an unfolding revelation of a monstrous betrayal that eclipses what Judas has done.

Judas never received eternal life. He never was filled with the precious Spirit of God; he never felt the infinite grace of God; he never had God's Holy Word in its totality; he never allowed God's redemptive love to gently capture him; he never was powerfully changed into a new creation; Judas never saw the cross as the complete sacrifice for his sins; Judas never experienced any of these, the most precious treasures of our Heavenly Father,...but we have.
We, the Bride of Jesus our Bridegroom, beautiful in His sight as He waits in heaven's glory for the Father's blessed direction to come and bring us to His eternal dwelling place, we are committing a monstrous betrayal. How could we? How could we walk away from our Beloved and go whoring after this wretched world? How can we have no time for Him and claim we're followers. Followers of what? Sports? TV? Careers? Houses? And here it comes, bow down in reverence, money - the Queen of earth. Give her our time, robe her with our joy, honor her with our thoughts, adorn her with our appetite, divorce in her absence, exalt her with our buildings, worship her in daycares, bless her with our worry, and now watch her as she regally strolls down the church aisle, ascends to the platform, and reigns from the pulpit in all her splendor. She knows exactly what her subjects want to hear and she doesn't disappoint their anxious ears. "God wants to bless you, it is why He exists", she begins. "So ask this rich jesus into your heart, clean out your baskets, and get ready for material blessings that will satisfy all your lusts". She continues as the congregation is riveted, "God wants all of you to be Abraham, not Paul. Joseph of Arimathea, not Stephen. Solomon, not Jesus. God wants to collect a small entrance fee and then all of you can have me and I will make you happy".
The evangelical church that lives in America is actively and openly betraying her wonderful Savior. Cults by the hundreds. Mormons, Jehovah's Witness, Christian Science - birthed right here. But the monstrous betrayal that is unfolding before our eyes is the taking of the cross of Christ, and like ravenous vultures, picking what we want from His suffering frame and leaving the rest. We don't want sacrifice, we don't even want moderation. We don't want hours of agonizing prayer meetings as if someone was bound for hell. Throw about a half an hour of worship on Sunday at the Savior and shout, "Take it or leave it!". We have not just secretly and discreetly committed adultery against our Lord, no, we have brought our harlot into our Lord's house, dressed her in religious clothes, carried her into the bedroom, and told ourselves "This is what God wants, He gave me this cultural whore to enjoy! Praise His name!". And pimps by the thousands stand behind pulpits, take your money, and give you the whore of your choosing. You want success? Take her, she's yours. You want health? She is dying to meet your needs. You want self esteem? Go ahead, ravage her. You want purpose? Undress her where you stand. You want a makeover? She's ready when you are. You want financial blessing? Look no further than the cross. You've mistaken it for a place of sacrifice, but look a little further and see it's a Christmas tree ornamented with as many $100 bills as you can pick off, try to avoid the blood stained ones, they're a little tacky.
A little strong? You wait until we all stand before the absolute Holy glory of the Risen Lamb of God Almighty and at that first moment my words will seem tepid, and I myself will feel as if I was watering it down. I already know I'm not completely surrendered. We will immediately realize we had been playing games with our Lord and King for our own comfort and pleasure.
Revival, please Lord, revival. For your glory alone.

The Messenger - Saved From Hell

Joseph's eyes were already opened when he at once began to see through them. The harmonic sound of a wonderful worship song filled his ears and immediately he was acclimated to his surroundings, he was in the middle of a Sunday morning church service and they were singing "Worthy is the Lamb" as an offering of praise to Jesus. Suddenly all the hours, days, months, and years of torture came up before him and he was overwhelmed with a sense of the presence of his Lord and Savior Jesus Himself who had just moments before delivered him, saved him, and placed him among this gathering of believers. The song went along, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain" and as he sung that chorus over and over he began to enter further into an uncontrollable gratefulness which led him to start to openly and loudly shout "halleluiah's" toward heaven and directed at the Lord Jesus Himself. Images like an out of control slide show were passing through his mind and heart - the darkness of hell against the light of heaven; the hideousness of Satan against the beauty of Jesus; pain indescribable against joy unspeakable; eternal damnation against eternal life; despair, despair, despair verses hope, hope, hope. He fell to his knees in the church aisle just as the ushers reached him, and as they attempted to escort him from the service he just kept shouting "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain for me! Worthy is the Lamb that was slain for me!".
It was like a blur as he ended up being led into the parking lot. But every time Joseph tried to regain some composure the open torture of the Lamb of God on the cross would again crystallize in his heart and mind and he would fall to his knees beside his car crying out in brokenness and adoration, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain for me!". As the ushers threatened to call for an ambulance he finally assured them he was alright, it is just that "You wouldn't understand". As he drove away he pulled around the corner, parked the car, and began to sob uncontrollable tears of joy and freedom. Only he could ever know what he was experiencing having been set free from the deepest and darkest captivity a soul could ever know. A Scripture burst into his heart, "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter and our tongue with singing, then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them". Through tear filled eyes he lifted his head and sang "Praise God from whom all blessing flow, Praise Him all people here below, Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts, Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost".
It took about two hours before Joseph finally could calm down and stop shouting praises to his Savior, but after all didn't the heathen once shout, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians" for two hours? This was no dumb idol, this was the King of Kings! The Lord had arranged everything for Joseph and he somehow knew where his house was and who his friends were. It was if he had stepped back into a life he knew even though it was brand new. As he entered his living room he fell to his knees again in prayer, begging and entreating God for divine direction as he set out to be nothing more and nothing less than God's messenger. He had a personal testimony that would be between him and the Lord, but by God's grace he had some personal experience which God would use to resurrect the eternal truths of His Word that had grown dead and stale to even God's people. As he labored in prayer it became clear that even though he had experienced the fires of hell, he was just beginning his relationship with the Lord Jesus. He had a lot to learn and much studying to do in God's Word in order for him to be most effective and glorify his Deliverer on earth. Fasting and prayer, fasting and prayer, and as the day closed Joseph put his head on his pillow and drifted off into a much needed rest.
In the morning, as Joseph opened his eyes, he again acquainted himself with the Spiritual reality of his escape from hell and the message he wanted desperately to spread as quickly as possible. He once again spent some time in prayer and adoration, and he felt led to start memorizing this Word. It was Monday morning, where should he begin to share the unction he had burning inside him? The church, that's where he would begin. As he pulled up to the same parking lot he had left just yesterday he noticed several cars already there. They must be here for prayer, he thought, but as he walked toward the office doors he could see some activity inside the church building.
"Good morning", said the cheery receptionist. "Hello, I would like to see the Pastor".
"Oh, I'm sorry, the Pastor usually doesn't come in on Mondays, is there something I could help you with? Perhaps the Associate Pastor?"
"Sure, OK. Thank you".
Joseph was led down the hall to the Associate's office and he introduced himself. He was very friendly and even recognized Joseph as the man that had to be escorted from yesterday's service.
"Well, I'm sorry about that but you have to understand I just became overwhelmed with praise for the Savior that has saved me from hell. Do you really understand what hell is and the everlasting punishment that is taking place as we speak?".
"Of course", said the Associate.
"Well excuse me for saying this but how can you be so subdued if you really know what Jesus delivered you from and what others are facing? Is the burning building across the street more real than hell to you and me, and if it is, how do we know we really believe it?
"Well", said the Pastor, "I believe the Bible teaches it, it is clear from the New Testament".
"You know what, sir", observed Joseph, "I believe you do believe the Bible teaches it. But do YOU believe it?"
"Yes, I do".
"Then prove it to me. Prove it by your actions that you believe that there is a literal, burning hell where people right this second are being tortured beyond our ability to fully comprehend, and that there are people, friends, relatives, and strangers all over this town that are on their way to that place forever - FOREVER - never able to escape. Now what have you done this past week that someone could say your behavior approaches substantiating your belief in that place?"
"I witnessed once", he replied almost apologetically.
"You witnesses once, that's it? So if the burning building across the street still had six people inside you would feel that telling one of them in a calm, systematic, and non-confrontational approach would prove you believed that house was on fire and there were precious people inside who needed to run for their lives, after all, you shared that with one of them? And do you think that kind of behavior would convince those inside who were still unaware of their predicament that what you said was true?"
"I guess not, if you put that way".
"Well how else should I put it? There is no other way to put it! Don't you see, the millions of Christians that stream into worship centers like yours DON'T ACTUALLY BELIEVE IT EITHER - AND IT IS HORRIBLY - HORRIBLY TRUE!! My advice to you, sir, is take your Bible, get alone with God, and ask Him to light a fire of true faith that will actually show the glory of God in your life. Don't let Him go until HE CHANGES YOU!!!"

TO BE CONTINUED...

The Messenger - I

I would like to preface this next series of writings with an explanation. For several years I have from time to time been prompted by the Holy Spirit concerning a question that the Lord used in my own life as well as give a perspective on the Spiritual condition of His church. I do not claim to have any apostolic insight, nor do I claim, God forbid, to be anything special aside from the grace of God. But this is a serious fictional story based on Biblical truth but incorporating a hypothetical that I believe will impact those of us who dare to meditate on its implications.

Lk.16:30 - ...but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

In Luke 16 the Lord Jesus tells of a story about a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus. Lazarus ends up in Abraham's bosom which we understand to mean heaven, and Lazarus winds up in a place of torment which we understand to mean hell. Now the rich man's desire and petition to Abraham was to send Lazarus to his house and witness to his five brothers so they would not wind up in hell. After Abraham tells him that his brothers have Moses and the prophets, the rich man despairs because his brothers obviously won't listen to them. The rich man then says something both prophetic and revealing, he tells Abraham that they would believe someone who resurrected from the dead, an obvious reference to the Risen Jesus. Abraham rightly explains that they won't even believe that witness.
Now I have wondered what would a person be like in this earth if he was allowed to come back from the dead. Take this vision a little further, what would someone be like if after he had spent 50 years in hell, God pulled him out and gave him another chance? And upon the first moment free from hell this person immediately placed his faith entirely on the Lord Jesus and became a follower of Christ, but he retained his memory of the place called hell. I want to explore the convicting possibilities about what this person would be like here on earth after being given a chance to escape hell after enduring it for 50 years not expecting to ever be released.
Think about what his life would consist of in light of the memory of this unimaginable place of torment. Would these relevant sermons that appeal to the fleshly desires of this life minister to him? How would he feel about the cross of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? So consider this little fictional narrative as a sort of a parable surrounding the life of a man called Joseph.
It was July 19, 1956 and Joseph passed away at 9:18 P.M. due to a sudden and massive heart attack. Without a mental process and without any conscious transition, Joseph's awareness was instantaneously transferred from the natural to the world of eternity. Now without adequate correlating senses and experiences that are easily translated into human communication, his journey must be described with earthly terms, but let no one be misled, his 50 year passage to the second death was more real than anyone can go through on this earth. The instant Joseph opened his eyes after being separated from his body of flesh he instinctively recognized where he was - hell. It seemed he had unlimited recollection and recognition which far surpassed his capacity on earth and he quickly felt an unorganized myriad of emotions. Fear, hopelessness, helplessness, and a perfect sense of pain that kept him on the edge of unconsciousness yet he never could pass out. Writhing in a supernatural distress which brought about voluntary and involuntary screams, foreign to his memory but seemed native to this environment, but delivered absolutely no comfort and, in fact, those around him screeching out the same desperate howls only added to the entire atmosphere of tangible panic. Two thoughts intertwined his mind - this cannot go on forever - and - this will last forever. The ever present sense of falling kept him reaching out for something, anything to stabilize him, and yet it was absolutely black. Burning, burning, burning. How could he keep burning with such intensity without being consumed?
He could make out billions of different voices in the pitch black torment with each and every damned soul screaming with vibrating intensity no matter how timid they may have been in life. Some were yelling with remorse and some were calling for mercy. Some hollered that there must have been some mistake and some were calling on God. Many millions were cursing and blaspheming and billions called on Allah to save them while tormented demons laughed in wicked taunting. Millions cried out that they had a chance and others cursed their relatives who never warned them. He heard demons preaching mock sermons about a thousand different earthly subjects and then they would laugh and remind them where those sermons got them. "You all are great successes and very prosperous now, aren't you", yelled out Lucifer himself. All the while Joseph himself was in such pain and fear he could hardly remain attentive to what was happening because of the total panic and distress pulsating through this new cursed body he now had. And the overarching and inescapable reality that was present with him at every moment was that he was here FOREVER.
He wished a thousand times a second for his death but it only added to his hopelessness, and the futility of everything permeated every single moment as it did everyone else. Filled with the most unsatisfied and vicious hatred for everything he writhed inside and out. And after all these experiences and a million other horrors, he was excruciatingly teased by one demon who reminded him that "You've only been here five minutes!". Now this revolving cycle of torture, pain, and anguish continued unabated for fifty years. For fifty eternity filled years Joseph experienced the death bed of God's wrath and punishment - without dying. Relentless. Powerful. Damnable. The ever burning fires of God's wrath continually stoked to insure there was no vacillation in the intensity of the glorious retribution from the Everlasting Holiness of the Lawgiver and profoundly executed upon the "vessels of wrath".
Now after fifty years had passed with Joseph tormented beyond what could have ever been believable to men still in the world, God decide to allow this one man to have one more chance to place his faith on the Lord Jesus Christ, be rescued from this awful place, and return to earth for ten more years as a witness before being taken to heaven forever. Of course, given the slightest opportunity, Joseph immediately placed his entire life upon the Lord Jesus Christ and he was born again. It is against this personal history that we now join Joseph as he is given ten more earthly years, born again now, but retaining the memory of the last fifty years in the place we know as hell but he once knew as home.

TO BE CONTINUED...

The Year of Jubilee

Lk.4:18-19 - The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

THIS DAY IS THIS SCRIPTURE FULFILLED IN YOUR EARS.

If we could study for a billion years about the Spiritual correlation between the earthly Year of Jubilee given to Israel in Leviticus 25 and the Spiritual Year of Jubilee embedded in the person of Jesus our Lord we would only scratch the surface of the glories of His eternal grace. Every seventh year Israel was commanded not to plant or harvest or do any work for their earthly sustenance, and God promised that what they would harvest on the sixth year would cover them for two years by His provision alone. Just as they had not been allowed to gather manna on the seventh day and God still was faithful in His provision, here they would be taken care of by Jehovah-Jireh without even the help of man. The Lord God would prove over and over to them, their children, their enemies, and the whole world that there "is no God like Jehovah".

Can you imagine the conversations around the table of Godly families during that seventh year? The father might ask his oldest son, Son, who provided this bread that we are eating tonight. We did not harvest any grain, where did it come from?". And the oldest son would answer with confidence in front of all his siblings, "The Lord God has provided for all of us, Father". The Father turns to his youngest son and inquires, "Son, why did God provide for us in this way?". The youngest son straightens up and says with a squeaky voice, "The Lord provided for us because we obeyed His Word that we should not work on this seventh year". And the Father goes on, "So when Abraham went to sacrifice his son Isaac, did he know God would provide a ram instead?". "No", said the Father's daughter. "But God knew and Abraham trusted God", she testified. "Last question", said the Father, "So do we have to see the seventh year's harvest before we know the Lord God will provide?".
"No!", shouted the entire table, "We can trust the Lord our God to always provide for us!". "Amen", finished the Father.

Now the cycle of the seventh year was observed for seven times until the 49th year. On the 48th year God had promised to bring a harvest that would provide for two more consecutive years, the 49th and the 50th. This 50th year was called the Year of Jubilee and sometimes referred to as the Acceptable Year of the Lord. In this year not only would God provide food for the family miraculously from His mighty Hand, but He commanded other things to be observed. On that 50th year all property that had been purchased during the previous 50 years was returned to its previous owner. All the debtor's prisons were opened and the captives set free. All loans that were not paid off were to be forgiven. The principle was that all bondages were to be broken and there would go throughout the nation a permeating sense of liberty that cause great joy and thankfulness.

But here in Luke Jesus opens the Scripture and proclaims that the Acceptable Year of the Lord is fulfilled in THEIR ears on THAT day. They must have wondered what could He have possibly meant. Jesus not only came to bring in the year of jubilee, He WAS the Year of Jubilee. As a side note, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Liberty"(II Cor.3:17). The Holy Spirit brings liberty in Jesus Christ and the Scripture declares that "the Lord IS that Spirit"(II Cor.3:17). By the way, how many days after the resurrection did the Holy Spirit come? Fifty.

When a person believes on the Lord Jesus Christ and becomes His follower he is immediately inhabited by the Holy Spirit. The Scripture plainly declares that "he who has not the Spirit" is none of His, so all true believers are inhabited by the Spirit Himself which in a eternal mystery is Jesus Himself. This means freedom from the justice of an angry God. Our debt has been paid, our crimes forgiven and we are set free from sin's eternal prison. We get so callous sometimes that we lose the "Christmas morning" joy that should grip our souls every time we pause to again realize we have been made free. And "He who the son sets free is FREE INDEED!". Have you ever seen a movie where a prisoner who has spent the better part of his life behind bars takes his first step through the gates to freedom and he draws a deep breath of exhilaration and exclaims "I'm free!". It's the same air but it's a different spirit in his mind and heart. Take a deep breath, if you are in Christ you are free from the penalty of sin - FOREVER. None of this purgatory nonsense, God doesn't play games with the power of His Son's blood, we are eternally free!

And we are not free because we craftily found a way around our sentence. We didn't talk our way out of it or plead ignorance, oh no, we were caught absolutely dead to rights with all the evidence for the entire universe to examine and we felt ourselves justified in our actions. The vilest of creatures who trampled on the holiness of God, we deserved a billion hells. The angels probably thought us to be the worst of all God's creations, after all, we were made in the Father God's image and we had taken His image and dragged it through the filthy rags of our own disgusting self righteousness and as a race did open despite unto the Spirit of grace. But now as believers we were free. I said as "believers". Not climbing up St. Peters on our knees; not by feeding the poor; not by giving money; not by obeying the ten commandments; not by Baptism, fasting, communion, church membership, not by self flagellation, not by a trillion of the most self sacrificing, loving, and well intentioned good works. No, simply by repenting of all that and bowing our hearts and placing our entire faith on the Lord Jesus Christ we are now free.

And now I am a debtor of love. All my sins have been paid for through the complete sacrifice by God's own Son and I owe nothing. I will never owe anything...EXCEPT...I willingly owe Jesus Christ my life and I am a prisoner of His love to me and my love for Him. It is a love that the world can never understand and they sometimes mock. It is a prison without bars and without a warden. Actually it is a prison unlike anything the devil can ever offer. Sumptuous meals, heavenly accommodations, warm in winter, cool in summer, open sunlight, clothes of white, enjoyable labor, divine reading material, and a death sentence followed by a life sentence. The door is never shut but I would never think of leaving, for I am His forever and grateful to be His prisoner. And oh yes, there is one thing about my cellblock that surpasses all else:

He is here with me always, even unto the end of the world.

You Must Be Born Again

Jn.3:3 - ...Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.

A definite and non-compromising statement straight from the lips of the Incarnate Word of God Himself. Jesus did not say you must be white, or you must be black, or you must be red, or you must be yellow. He did not say you must be intelligent, or you must be uneducated, or you must be heavy, or you must be skinny. The Lord did not say you must be Baptist, or you must be Catholic, or you must be Hindu, or you must be Muslim. He did not insist that you must be rich, or you must be poor, or you must be successful, or you must have a great heritage, or you must have a humble beginning. Jesus did not insist that you must be an American, or you must be an African, or you must be a Jew, or you must be a Gentile. He did not say you must be a Democrat, or you must be a Republican, or you must be an independent. He did not say you must be good, or you must follow the law, or you must have a good heart. He didn't say you must know Greek, or you must know Hebrew, or you must be a Biblical scholar. He did not say any of those things as an indispensable qualification for seeing the kingdom of God.

But He DID say that you MUST be BORN AGAIN. He did not say that being born again is the best way, or the easiest way, or the hardest way. It is the only way to see the kingdom of God. Of course Nicodemus asked in disbelief, "How can a man be born when he is old?". Jesus then makes the distinction between the fleshly, earthly birth and the Spiritual, heavenly birth. The sinful and prideful heart of man has a hard time understanding the difference between the works of man and the work of God. The church over the last two millennia has attempted to mesh and blend the two. Some have said, "You must be baptized to be saved". Others, "You must speak in tongues to be saved". "You must be good to be saved". "You must join the church to be saved". And on and on go the list of grave clothes disguised as "good works" that man has used to try and please God enough to let us into the kingdom of God, all of which are nothing more than outward proofs of our sinful depravity that have kept us from entering God's kingdom since the moment Adam put the forbidden fruit to his lips. Feed the poor, assist the sick, care for the widows, take in the orphans, and all the other stereotypical boy scout badge achievements not only do not qualify anyone to enter the glorious kingdom of Almighty God, they do not even help in any way. There are NO good works of man at all when it comes to pleasing God. You cannot go around what the Savior Himself proclaimed, "You must be born again.".

So, if we must be born again to get to heaven, the kingdom of God, would it not seem imperative that the followers of Jesus Christ, who have been born again, teach and preach this truth boldly, clearly, and without compromise? Then why has this term and teaching been relegated as a fringe issue in ecclesiastical circles? Ask the average church member what does "born again" mean and listen to what people will tell you. You will get a array of earthly answers that usually center on "accepting" Jesus as Savior, and usually the "sinner's prayer" is the vehicle that people will claim got them born again. OK, now I recognize that by God's grace He can and does sometimes use less than theologically perfect presentations of the gospel message, and there are people who do get born again when responding to an "accept Jesus into your life" invitation. Nowadays He almost has to since the born again message is a Biblical museum piece, outdated and non-relevant. But there is something that should concern us all that is in concert with the continuing slide of the clear gospel message, and that is the incredible changeless and fruitless professions that are routinely accepted as genuine "born again" experiences.

The Biblical models of the born again conversions are people like Peter, John, Matthew, and Paul. Sinners whose eternities were miraculously changed, and the change was substantiated by the outward revolutionary changes that happened to their outward lives. And what was the reason for these changes? When a person is convinced that they are sinful and will not see God's kingdom, and when by the Spirit of God they are awakened to the fact the Jesus paid for their sins upon a cross, and through God's gift they believe that Jesus is their Lord and Savior and they set out to follow, obey, and worship Him forever, they are at that moment inhabited by God Himself in the person of the Holy Spirit. Now usually this new born believer does not understand all the theological truths of what has happened to him, but one thing he does know is that "once I was blind but now I see!". When I was born again in 1975 I could not have explained to you in precise Biblical terms what had happened, but I knew that Jesus was my Lord and Savior and that I would never be the same again. Yes, I knew that I was going to heaven one day, but the immediate reality was that I was not the same, I was changed. I was not going to a church at that time. I had become a follower watching television and subsequently committing to follow Christ on a mountain overlooking New York City.

I suddenly wanted to read the Bible, and since I had no guide I bought a King James Bible and would read the words in red because I knew they were the words of Jesus. I started to pray and especially for the lost relatives I lived with. I wanted to listen to Christian radio, and back then I would listen to a man just read the Scriptures. I wanted to know other Christians and find a church. Not long after my conversion I gave up smoking, I stopped going to the movies(can you imagine?), no cursing, of course no drugs or immorality, and I became consumed with testifying about Jesus and what had happened to me. I was by no means perfect, just as I am far from perfect now, but what I am saying is I was changed, I was born again.

Someone once asked D.L. Moody if he could only preach on one verse what would it be? He replied, "You must be born again". They asked him why and he said "Because you must be born again!". Where is the desire for God's Word in the lives of people that claim they are saved. It has to be an organized, creative, relevant, and an exciting discussion of a part of the Bible for some to even stay awake. The days of people reading and meditating on His precious Word in private are for the most part in the past. And the church has to have a big, widespread "Baptism Day" in order to entice people to come and be baptized camouflaged by a host of others so they won't feel embarrassed. Prayer? The average church doesn't even have a weekly prayer meeting but they have a class on finances. Most of the new "converts" hardly pass the "turn over a new leaf" test, much less being born again. Oh there was a time in the church when a person's life was dramatically changed when he became a follower of Jesus Christ. There was a time when a preacher would call for a person to "forsake all and follow Christ".

The numbers are growing, the commitment is dwindling. I can only say to those "evangelical" mobs that live in pleasure, love questionable entertainment, enjoy the upbeat, flesh stroking "messages", but never weep, never read, never pray, never witness, never sacrifice, never fast, and whose lives are absolutely consumed with being an American earthling -

TO THEM I PLEAD...

YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN!!!

The Spirits of Antichrist

II Jn.7 - For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This a deceiver and an ANTICHRIST.
I Jn.4:3 - And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is the spirit of ANTICHRIST, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
I Jn.2:18 - Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many ANTICHRISTS; whereby we know that it is the last time.

There is coming, and maybe is alive today, a man who is called the Antichrist. But never think that until he comes the spirits of antichrist do not roam the earth deceiving millions, who deceive others, who all lose their souls. I believe that when the Antichrist(man of sin, son of perdition) reveals himself, he will be inhabited by Lucifer himself, who actually is THE Antichrist.
Antichrists are spirits. They are strong and deceptive spirits that emanate directly from Lucifer himself. These spirits are not sent to tempt men to lust, or steal, or lie, or any other sins of the flesh. No, these demonic spirits are sent to attack the core of our faith. They blaspheme the Son of God Himself, and they attempt to subtly lead men to embrace a loving, caring, wise, rich, but false christ. They are intelligent and love to seduce the mind of men, which man idolizes. If they can't get men to outright reject the true Jesus, they lead them to create, from their own well meaning designs, new oxcarts in which to present the true Christ. In so doing we have created a host of followers of the oxcart and not followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now if you are wondering about the oxcart reference, read II Samuel chapter 6 and see that God had commanded His ark to be carried by the Levites with stakes, above the earth, not on an oxcart no matter how well intentioned. The obvious analogy is that we must present the Lord Jesus with the stakes of His own Word, and not the earthly oxcart of "enticing words of man's wisdom"(I Cor.2:4).
Let us not kid ourselves, these spirits are extremely vicious and their goal is to spread a theological venom that kills the soul and enlarges the mouth of hell. They operate without much opposition in this present world, and since the church by and large has long since stopped "trying the spirits" they have infiltrated the church. Like a chess match gambit they sacrifice activities, buildings, growth, popularity, and other facets of many evangelical churches to concentrate on their primary target - THE MESSAGE! They present themselves as conservative politicians, relevant preachers, ecumenical priests, false prophets of the health and wealth movements, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Christian Scientists, Moonies, and thousands of other insidious movements that unknowingly espouse "doctrines of devils". Many of whom "promise them liberty", but in so doing we now have an incredible mixture of professing believers whose love for the things of this world engulfs any real Spiritual appetite for cross bearing sacrifice, and whose time is spent primarily on getting and enjoying things at the expense of getting alone with the Master and Savior they verbally profess. Most professing believers spend more time going to the bathroom than with Jesus. And to add to the heart breaking scenario, Jesus still waits and calls for us with an unrequited love.

I Tim.3:13 - But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.

When you examine all the categories I mentioned concerning these spirits of antichrist, what common thread emerges? They all have changed or watered down the Scriptures and furthermore they don't even realize it. That's the nature of deception. They are deceived and are deceiving others, teaches the apostle Paul. And immediately following that statement Paul teaches Timothy(and us) the preeminence of Scripture in verses 15-17.

I Tim.3:15-17 - And that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

Tampering with the Scriptures, and by connection Jesus who IS the Word, is the spirit of antichrist. These spirits go throughout the world whispering the serpent's question "Hath God said?". Now we have seen the obvious work of these seducing spirits in the cults and the denominations that have wandered from believing the Word of God, but there is an emerging group of believers who are becoming alarmed at the deception that now has a foothold in evangelical churches. Some of these people and preachers love Jesus, but they have been deceived into believing that you bring God's Word down to your life instead of your life up to God's Word. They take "their audience" into focus as they prepare their message, contouring their words to go out in the parameters of the culture, rather than adhering to the only admonition they have from the Lord - PREACH THE WORD. This movement in its many shapes is mostly heralded by young preachers who have little or no historical reference points by which to compare and test the Scriptural direction of their method, however sincere. In today's ecclesiastical community, Moody, Finney, Calvin, Wesley, and most of the former men of God would never be called to pastor one of these churches. Their messages would not minister to our American culture.
Let me humbly explain generally how it works. Hypothetically a lost person asks " Do you mean Jesus is the only way to heaven? I don't believe that.". The relevant preacher answers, "Yes, but you don't see the whole picture. Jesus can help you with your life. Money problems, marriage problems, addictions, Jesus can help you with all those problems in your life. Now, do you want to accept him into your life?" And many times the lost person replies "OK", and then is led in a prayer. No mention of sin, repentance, judgment, hell, followship, or count the cost. And to top it all off, after the man mumbles a "sinner's prayer", we immediate assure him of his eternal destiny. On the basis of a few repeated sentences we speak for the Holy Spirit and pronounce him "saved". Wow. And we criticize the priest for pronouncing the person "forgiven" in the confession booth. I know because I am guilty of it, and I know I will see people at the Great White Throne judgment who, as they are cast into the lake of fire, will be able to look at me and say "You told me I was saved!".
Now I know that is an oversimplification, but I believe it accurately depicts much of the way Jesus and His salvation is presented. And we are so used to it we do not even recognize the breathtaking deception inherent in such a witness. I have many, many times used a similar presentation to lost people both one on one and in the pulpit for the expressed purpose of getting people to "get saved". I have come to believe that this is the spirit of antichrist at work and I also reject any spirit of self righteousness that Lucifer wants me to embrace. The only, and I mean THE ONLY, reason I see any truth is by God's grace. Left to my own devices I would have, in the words of the father in Mary Poppins, "a ghastly mess!".
My heart is heavy both for the growing deception I see and the indictable disproportion between what I see and the dearth of appropriate Spiritual repentance on my part. I really believe the massive, attractive, insidious, and organized deception of the spirits of antichrist cannot be overstated. They have been dispatched to cover the earth with the admonition from Lucifer "Hurry, our time is short". You might think that this is some kind of melodramatic fiction, but it is more real than you and I could ever imagine, and these spirits by the tens of millions are everywhere. They will be in the church you go to this Sunday no matter where you go. "How come I never hear about them"? Because preachers don't even know they are there! Charismatics see demons under every rock and Baptists don't see any, all while the inconspicuous angels of light move around undetected. I also contend that no one can see the full extent of what is happening, and we are all under some of the unseen influence of this last days assault. Here is what I believe these spirits are trying to accomplish in those who DO see a Scriptural shift:

They try and create a spirit of superiority. There are being somewhat successful.
They get us to talk a lot more than pray. They are being enormously successful.
They get us to feel antagonistic to other believers. They are being successful.
They get us to disproportionately look at others and not ourselves. They are being enormously successful.
They get us to read the Scriptures looking for more evidence to substantiate our contentions rather than for personal reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness. They are being enormously successful.
They get us to sacrifice the love of God on the altar of truth. They are being successful.

Oh yes, these spirits of antichrist are working ever minute of every hour of every day. How many hours of every day are we praying? You don't think you are deceived? That in and of itself is a layered deception. Here is a challenge that I have agreed to let the Lord do in my life. For the first month of 2006 I want the Holy Spirit to completely cleanse me of "all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord"(II Cor.7:1). There are four things that must happen for the Lord to be able to do that in my life. First, I must sacrificially set aside hours to pray. Early, late, whatever time. It has to be daily and sacrificially(which means cutting way down on entertainment, etc.). Secondly, I must consume the Word, sacrificially. I have read the entire book of Philippians in less than 1/2 hour and so can you. That's just a glimpse into what I should be able to consume daily. Thirdly, I must fast. Jesus, OUR MASTER, said that after He went back to His Father we should fast. We should - we must - I must. Can you guess what the fourth thing is? My tongue. The Scripture clearly teaches that whoever doesn't control his tongue, his religion is useless. Hopefully the first three will give the needed power to accomplish the fourth.
I never want to get to the place that as God opens my eyes to the deception of the spirits of antichrist in others, I neglect to see that in me! So let us continue to expose these wicked spirits as they infiltrate the church, but at the same time let us lay ourselves on the altar of Almighty God and under the mighty Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, may we die to anything that is not Christ and daily rise to newness of life.

May our Savior break open the alabaster box of our lives and permeate the kingdom of this darkness with the saving fragrance of His Dear Son!

Spiritual Astronomy

I watched a PBS program on TV the other night. It was from the 90's and the panel included Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawkings, and one other scientist. Most of the discussion centered on the material universe, but there was a segment that dealt with the existence of God.

Of course none of the men were religious, much less believers in Jesus. They dealt with the existence of God in the abstract, and pretty much just philosophically mused over the prospect. They all agreed that, like Einstein believed, God was the sum total of all the laws governing the universe. In other words, whatever could be observed and understood about the universe was God. A form of pantheism.

It was nice to hear none of them deny the existence of God. By the very definition of "creation", there has to be a "creator". But the existence of God is a no-brainer(I'm sure they would strongly object to that description). The Bible calls the person who denies God's existence a fool. The elephant in the room that they all ignored is that the observable universe is only observable because it reveals itself to us.

Being an amateur astronomer myself I have seen people misunderstand the nature of the observation of the material universe. We cannot observe anything unless it comes to the earth. The telescope only collects the light that has made its way to earth, it cannot go out from earth to observe. All the rays, waves, and light are only observable as they reach us. If an object does not give off or reflect light we cannot know it exits except by observing objects around it that do.

Well, there you have it. The principle was right in front of them and they did not make the connection. We could never know God unless He reveals Himself to us. Furthermore, He must reveal Himself to us on a level that we can understand; that our "Spiritual telescope" can observe. Not just so the left-brained intellect can understand, but that the uneducated can grasp also. Somehow the Creator was going to have to take the infinite complexity of His own nature and reveal it in the most simplistic way, and without compromising His intrinsic essence.

I realize that is a little heavy, but I hope you won't miss this glorious truth. How was the Creator going to condescend to reveal Himself to an incredibly primitive and sinfully blind creation? The most unimaginable and eternal mystery of all, GOD WOULD REVEAL HIMSELF TO US AS ONE OF US!! We could never Spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, or materially ascend to God, so God came down to us. But how do we collect all that revelation and observe it?

All of us can observe the moon, several planets, and approximately 2500 stars just with the naked eye. Many Christians go through life in the Spiritual universe just observing whatever they can see as they go. But when an astronomer wants to observe distant stars and galaxies, he must pinpoint his telescope in a certain direction, offset the rotation of the earth, and leave it in that direction for several hours. The correlation between astronomical observation and Spiritual observation is obvious.

Pinpoint your Spiritual telescope toward Jesus, through the lense of His Word, collected(understood) by His Spirit, and experience the knowledge of Him. Not just a cold, scientific knowledge of Christ, but an accompanying intimacy that transcends the senses and the intellect into a Spiritual revelation that not only brings us into a closer relationship, but changes us into the very likeness that we are observing - HIM. Jesus said,"Learn of me". Paul prayed,"that God would grant you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him". Paul again,"To know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings...". The writer of Hebrews, "Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith".

By the way, if you really begin to take this Spiritual astronomy seriously, make sure you offset the rotation of this world. It will blur your view! PTL-Rick

Where is the Lord God of Elijah?

II Ki.2: - And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah?

The young prophet Elisha had been a witness to the devotion and anointing that had rested upon Elijah and his ministry, and he had requested a double portion. As he watched as a chariot of fire escorted Elijah into the very presence of Jehovah, Elisha caught the mantle of his mentor and cried out "Where is the Lord God of Elijah". He didn't desire Elijah but he hungered after the Lord that had empowered and used Elijah. Today in the midst of gimmicks, how-to books, entertaining programs, slick television presentations, and a general "feel good" gospel does anyone feel like shouting, "Where is the Lord God of Elijah?". Oh how I hunger to see God glorify Himself in the lives of His followers as He has done so often in the past. Powerful, miraculous movings of the Spirit of God that broke open earthen vessels and spread a divine fragrance throughout the church and into a lost and dark world.

Savannarola started as a monk in the Catholic church but soon felt a higher calling as he experienced the grace of God. He became totally dependent upon the ministry of the Holy Spirit and there were times where he would stay seated on Sunday mornings, refusing to preach until he was filled with God's Spirit. It is reported that once he sent word through a deacon to dismiss the Sunday congregation and he locked himself in a room and did not come out for three days. After three days the deacon sent word around the city that Savanarola was coming out and the church was packed as he preached with the power of the Holy Spirit and a local revival broke out that touched the entire city. He was murdered by the Catholic Church.

Where is the Lord God of Savanarola?

John Wesley was a Spirit filled gospel preacher who sacrificed much in order to reach the world for Christ. He and his brother sailed for three and one half months to arrive in Georgia in order to preach the gospel. In his journal he recorded three to four hours of prayer, four hours of meetings, and several hours of personal witness and ministry - every day on the ship! On one occasion as Wesley closed his three hour sermon in England, the people started leaving and there were over 1800 people on the ground overcome by the Holy Spirit's conviction of their sin.

Where is the Lord God of Wesley?

Martin Luther took his life in his hands as he followed the Spirit's leading and stood courageously for the truth of God's Word in the face of the threats of the Roman Church. And because of one young monk's obedience the continent of Europe experienced a massive reformation and revival which resulted in multitudes coming to Christ. Luther once threw an inkwell at the devil, so real was the Spiritual battle to him. The doctrine of justification by faith again was the flagship of the church's armada.

Where is the Lord God of Luther?

Charles Finney was a successful lawyer who came under the convicting power of the Holy Spirit concerning his conversion. After two sleepless nights he was born again and walked into his office and immediately resigned while stating, "I must plead the case of Jesus Christ from now on". There were times that he could not even begin his sermon as people were already crying so loudly about their Spiritual condition no one could hear him anyway. Whole towns came to Christ and the taverns were closed down with the owners offering them as places to pray.

Where is the Lord God of Finney?

Jonathan Edwards preached from notes and did not modulate his voice much with any emotion. His sermons would be considered dry and uninteresting today, but his sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" was so powerful people would grab the back of their pews and cry out for fear of slipping into hell.

Where is the Lord God of Jonathan Edwards?

George Whitefield was called to preach as a teenager. He consumed the Scriptures and became a friend of John and Charles Wesley. He preached to as many as 100,000 people in one open air meeting with 10,000 converts that night. So powerful was the anointing of Whitefield that in many meetings sinners became born again during the message rendering the invitation unnecessary. Some men who came to protest his meetings fell over dead. He was used in an incredible way throughout the colonies to further the "Great Awakening".

Where is the Lord God of Whitefield?

Charles Spurgeon became one of the greatest Biblical orators in church history. He would regularly preach to 10,000 people in the days before amplification. His church grew by the power of his delivery of the Word of God, and he started a Bible college which sent out hundreds of preachers around the world. His messages are so timeless that they are still popular around the world today.

Where is the Lord God of Spurgeon?

D. L. Moody was led to the Lord by a Godly Sunday School teacher and from that day he had a heart to serve Christ. Although Moody did not have much formal education, his preaching reached ever social level. In the middle of his ministry Moody sought a greater anointing and the Holy Spirit gave him a double portion. He later preached great crusades throughout England, and he shook two continents for Christ.

Where is the Lord God of Moody?

The apostle Peter was called from his fishing nets to give the rest of his life spreading the gospel. An unlearned and brash man, he was filled with the Spirit of God on the Day of Pentecost and preached the first gospel message. He saw three thousand people respond to the call to follow Christ that day, and he was martyred for Jesus later in Rome.

Where is the Lord God of Peter?

The apostle Paul persecuted and murdered Christians wherever he could find them but when he became a follower of Jesus Christ he spent the rest of his life preaching the gospel. He was a man of constant prayer even while in jail and on one occasion God opened the prison doors which provided an escape, but instead of running Paul took the opportunity to lead the jailor to faith in Christ. Jews and Gentiles sought to kill him but it would never curtail his zeal for Jesus. God used him to write most of the New Testament and Paul gladly gave his life for the Lord Jesus Christ in Rome.

Where is the Lord God of Paul?

I could give countless more examples of magnificent Christian lives that were used in significant ways to glorify Christ through the ages. Missionaries have sometimes toiled their entire lives with not one convert and yet through their faithfulness the next generation was reached. Believers were crucified, tortured, beheaded, fed to lions, and burned alive in a glorious sacrificial witness of devotion to the Lord Jesus. Revivals took place that shook whole countries. Believers have sold everything to follow the call from above. Jews have been completely disowned by their families after professing Christ. We live today in a contrived atmosphere of entertainment and mental commitment to Christ that results in less sacrifice than following our children's sports events. We have even changed the Word to promote God's desire for us to have it all and enjoy material blessings today and lay up treasures for tomorrow. The only torture we see is what has been done to God's Word.

But where is the power of God working through His surrendered earthen vessels? Where is the unmistakable lifestyle of His peculiar people? Where is the outward sacrifice from the Body of Christ that communicates our devotion to the Savior? Where is the panting hunger to know the Word of God? Where are the nightly prayer gatherings at house of God as believers fall on their face before God for hours and cry out for an unusual move of His Spirit? Where are the humble, loving, modest, and culturally separated lives of the salty followers of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Where is the Lord God of the Bible?
"I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground."
When will we be thirsty enough to clear out our lives and wholly give ourselves to seeking Him alone?

"Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy, break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord till He come and rain righteousness upon you". Hos.10:12

The Grace of God

Eph.1:6 - To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us accepted in the beloved.

God's grace. Every definition is wanting and only "touches the hem of the garment" of what the grace of God is. Unmerited favor? Yes, but that really only puts a file drawer tab on it. The grace of God is not only the everyday earthenware of the believers experience, but it is also the fine china; not just the work clothes, but also the tuxedo; understood by a child and yet confounding the theologian.

A certain Farmer owns 200 acres of land on which he grows corn. His farm is in the middle of an area of very high unemployment, and he hires the entire city to help him with his corn. The Farmer provides food, clothing and housing for his laborers as well as paying them good salaries. The Farmer treats all his laborers very well.

Now the Farmer has one thing that means more to him than all his land, corn, equipment, or all his wealth. The Farmer has a child, a son, who he is completely devoted to and he makes his son the sole heir of his estate. All goes well for the Farmer and his farm, and every year his laborers prosper.

One year comes and the crop seems to be especially full and the harvest will yield triple the usual amount. Everyone is excited and the Farmer walks down to the laborer's dwellings and informs them that he will triple their salaries this year and he is going to build them new and beautiful houses for them and their families. All the laborers rejoice and express their deep gratitude for the Farmer.

Now after the Farmer leaves and returns to his house the laborers begin to complain among themselves. They all wonder that after they had worked the fields themselves, why they shouldn't split the entire profit. They know that the legal heir to the entire estate is the Farmer's son, and it so infuriates them that they devise a plan to kill the son. So that same night they all sneak around the Farmer's house, go into the house and tape the Farmer's son's mouth shut, tie him up, and bring him outside. They all then take turns stabbing him with knives, machetes, and pitch forks. All night long they mutilate the son's body and run back to their houses at dawn. In the morning the Farmer comes out of the house for a walk and he comes across this dead body which is so mutilated he doesn't even recognize who it is.

The Farmer runs back into his house and goes straight to his son's bedroom and sees that his son is not there. He realizes the horrible truth, his only son has been murdered. He runs down to where his laborers live and sees all of them standing together, bloodied and defiant. With a broken heart he asks them why they would do such a thing, but the laborers only mocked him. Incredibly, the Farmer refuses to press charges. Now that is mercy.

But the Farmer walks back to his house and into his bedroom. He reaches under the bed and pulls out his strongbox. As he unlocks it and lifts the lid he sees his will. The Farmer brings it over to his desk and takes out a pen. He now changes his will to include all his murderous laborers, if they wish. He takes his will and walks down to the laborers and he reads his new will to them out loud. Everyone hears.

"You see", the Farmer explained, "all of you now own this farm with me, if you will just sign this will to make it legal". Some signed immediately, some hesitated but then signed, some didn't believe the Farmer, some weren't listening, some said they could own it without him, some put it off indefinitely, and some still mocked him. The Farmer turned to walk back to his big farmhouse.

As the Farmer turned, he loudly said, "Everyone that signed my will, follow me".

"Where are we going?", asked the new heirs.

"You will now live in my house with me, always", said the Farmer.

As they reached the front door the new heirs could only cry and say, "Thank you, Mr. Farmer".

The Farmer turned around to all of them and said, "Do not call me Mr. Farmer anymore, call me - Father".

God's grace...unbelievable

Majestic Simplicity

II Cor.11:3 - But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtility, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.


There it stands. In the center of man's history and camouflaged as just another event. The cross. Surely it must include some riddle or secret code that one must uncover to see its true meaning. It must have some transmitted biological effect that changes the molecular structure of mankind. There must be some level of understanding that challenges and exalts the intellect of man.

The only door to eternal life being a dead Jew on a Roman cross so insults the intellect of man that he illegally invades its simplicity and renders it "made like to corruptible man" which is death, not life. Today the preacher Adam wants to clothe the cross with coats of his own skin, stinking of his own flesh and obscuring the holy and complete offering of God Himself. And acting as a Spiritual tour guide Adam departs from the Father's manual and describes the crucifixion in enticing words of his own wisdom. Adam doesn't believe people will understand the simplicity and trans-generational Words of the Father's description, so he develops his own human composition that is much easier to understand and much more palatable to his earthly tourists. And so many more people take the tour and respond positively that Adam is sure his way is better. After all, the other invisible tour guide seemed to rely so strictly on the Father's Word that throngs of people were turned off, even if His name was called Truth.

Now Adam had some great ideas about how to get people to come on this tour. He promised them money, health, success, and anything else they seemed to desire. Hordes of people crowded his tour bus in response to all the wonderful promises and there was something there for everyone. Now as the bus passed the cross Adam would draw their attention away from the blood and agony, and when some riders ask what is the meaning of this spectacle, Adam replies that it means you can now fully enjoy your earthly life and live it with a purpose. The bus would explode with self centered applause. In place of the "Please don't talk to the driver" sign is a "please don't talk about sin" sign.

The church, NOT THE WORLD, the church has stripped the meaning of the cross in all its redemptive simplicity. In the Redemptive Gallery is one and only one painting, the Crimson Masterpiece displayed under the perfect light of the Holy Spirit. And all who hear the Caretaker call, and stand before this vision, can never move away from it. Oh, one day as I was perusing through my own gallery of humanistic pastels, and I heard a call. It came from inside a gallery I never knew existed. That call came from within me and its voice was louder than those on the outside, and I found myself standing directly in front of the most bloody, gruesome, and yet beautiful masterpiece I had ever seen. I had seen copies, but this was the original in all its radiance and I fell to my knees under the weight of my own sin. And as I again gazed upon its repulsive beauty I desired to know and follow the artist who painted this unique Crimson Masterpiece. The same voice that had beckoned me there revealed in unspoken Words that this was a self portrait. The Figure on the cross was indeed the Author and Finisher of the Masterpiece itself with all its eternal and redemptive colors.

I know I have put my journey in a metaphoric narrative, but how many today could even understand whereof I speak much less identify with the Masterpiece that changed my eternity? Look what the King suffered for us and look what we've done to His cross. The church has become ashamed with this magnificent simplicity, and like Israel we want a king like the heathen. One that will be respected, one that we can be proud of, and one that the world will accept. Repent - repent - repent. Let us shout it loudly from the housetops that Jesus is Lord; let us preach it constantly and clearly that Jesus is Lord; Let us wear His identity as the greatest, humble honor that could ever be given us. Not just His coming again, not just His power, not just His glory. Let us wear the mantle of Embracers of the cross!

There is no way to make it relevant without tarnishing it with the dirt of this world. It stands for eternity in a Holy vacuum in all its

MAJESTIC SIMPLICITY. THE CROSS OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!!!

Spiritual Assault

II Pet.3:12 - Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God...

The time for half-hearted commitment to Christ has long since past. Satan has unleashed the final assault on Jesus Himself with a parade of spurious and blasphemous attempts to change the Son of God into just another man. Conspiracy theories, literature techniques, and every bizarre narrative that contradicts the plain teaching of Scripture is now offered in documentaries, television shows, book stores, and any other place that will allow it to be spread. I believe the most subtle and vicious are still to come, and they come empowered by the spirit of anti-christ and appeal to the flesh.
The depth of their deception is multi-faceted, and we must as believers not allow the enemy of our souls to capture us at his game. The devil is so crafty that he has many designs combined into all of his evil strategies. For instance, the "Da Vinci Codes" are obviously evil and erroneous and any surface student of God's Word can easily see the deception and falsehoods claimed in its pages, but Lucifer will allow us to delight in our disproving of its assertion while deceiving us about our own Spiritual shortcomings. God wants us to use these attacks to springboard into a greater awakening among the followers of Jesus that the end is near and we need to "break up the fallow ground" and "press toward he mark". It IS the last times and the time for lukewarmness must end. I don't believe the Lord is just satisfied with chest pumping self-righteousness as we counter these attacks, no, He desires a refreshed and revived Bride that finds new sacrificial anointing to pray, read, live, repent, and preach the saving message of Jesus Himself to the entire earth.
Look what the world, and in large part the church, is doing to Jesus, and on our watch! Remember this sobering thought. If the church does go through the times of Jacob's trouble, the tribulation period, will we bring honor and glory to the Savior or will we also be compromised by the coming deception? The Father gave us some outward signs that are obvious today to signal His coming. Wars, disease, hatred, famine, sin, and a host of other issues graciously point us to His coming. Any day a group could detonate a nuclear device and plunge the nations into chaos and fear, but that is only the "seen" scenario. The ETERNAL destination of billions of souls precariously hang in the balance right now, and we go through some of the motions in an attempt to do God's will, but we are far from being "on fire" for God especially in the light of His coming.
The next time you see or hear about another attack from the world and the powers of darkness on Jesus, let's not just be content with responding. No, let us humble ourselves and pray that the mighty Holy Spirit of God will baptize us with a fresh and powerful wind of His boldness and sacrifice. The prophetic classes, charts, timetables, dispensations, and all the other apocalyptic interests that we have enjoyed over hundreds of years are now upon us. We generally know what will happen, but what does the Lord require of us? To just audit the class is to fail. We do not just respond to the world's challenges, we respond to the Spirit of God. When Goliath issued his challenge to the armies of God, who gave him the right to lay down those rules? No one. And yet the children of Israel cringed in fear because they could find no one equal to Goliath's stature. But God didn't lay down those guidelines, and God's people could have sought God's face on the matter. As it turned out God's grace through David won the victory. So when the devil parades one lie after another in these coming days, let us not just respond to his agenda, no, let us humble ourselves and pray, seeking the "light of the glory of God which is in the face of Jesus",
The King's horse is being readied, and the armies of heaven are bristling with anticipation. The celestial air is electric with the sense that we are coming to the marriage feast of the Lamb. Everything the Father has taught us, both plainly and with all the earthly symbolic tools, is about to be revealed. Awake, awake, thou that sleepest...shake thyself from the dust! Eternity beckons, and the mouth of hell itself widens in preparation to receive billions. It can never be melodramatic or overstated. Any attempt to exaggerate pales in the face of the reality of the coming events. And as Lucifer unashamedly steps up his assault, the church continues to play the harlot with the temporal things of this world. Changing the gospel into a streamlined sales strategy with no warning, no repentance, no sacrifice, no cross, and a Je$u$ that more closely resembles Donald Trump than the Lamb that was Slain. And millions of western believers go to weekly services to hear messages about money, health, careers, sex, and a plethora of "How to Win Friends and Influence People" advice. And we like it like that. And people like me point out the obvious but are also in need of a searing revival that changes me in direct proportion to the things God has shown me.
I pray that, like Samson, God will empower us just one more time before He comes again. Gird up your loins and prepare for battle, the battle that now rages. This war covers the world and touches every corner of the church world. Not just the Purpose message, not just the Seeker crowd, not just the Emergent church, no, the war is on your doorstep and mine. To some of us this deceptive warfare comes as pride, or money, or just a spirit of contentment with where we are Spiritually.

Jesus deserves so much more than we are giving Him! He deserves it ALL!!

The Lamb at War

As a preamble to this writing I want to address something about the different levels of realities that our minds have the capacity to experience. We can be watching a murder taking place in a movie and our minds have adapted to a storybook reality. Seeing the same murder live would generate a totally different response as our minds have shifted to a "This is real" reality. Seeing a man shot on TV live is different than seeing a man shot in a movie, which is different than seeing a man shot in person. Again, you can watch and be moved by seeing a man jump off a building live on the news, and with a press of your finger you can change the channel and laugh at Everybody Loves Raymond. Which brings me to my point. Our minds have become so adept at compartmentalizing realities that we sometimes read prophetic realities from the Word of God with a mental firewall that prevents us from fully experiencing the futuristic truth. Please read the following offering as if it will happen soon, which it might . _______________________________________________________________________

II Thess.1:7 - ...when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels...

What a revelation. The Lord Jesus, in all His glory, with all His mighty angels. The unseen Spirit world suddenly and powerfully, bursts into our three dimensional realm and we are granted the frightening spectacle of the Creator King and all His angelic hosts gathered in the heavens and ready for "vengeance"(vs.8). In Chapter 2 of II Thesselonians in verse 8 God carefully pulls back the prophetic curtain and reveals a partial yet disturbing glimpse into the power of the Lamb at war when He comes to finish the work that was begun before the worlds were made. All these many, many years God's justice has waited, but now, He waits no more. Oh my Dear God, no one can cry out for mercy, THERE IS NONE. An approaching nightmare from which no one can awake.

There will be no prisoners taken, it will be carnage on a level heretofore unknown. It is hard to envisage these events because they are so frightening and as yet intangible. In 1975 when I became a follower of the Lord Jesus, I had heard a message on TV about the return of Christ. It was the first time I can remember hearing about that event and I was somewhat shaken. I want to warn you, and me, to examine ourselves to see whether we are true followers of the Lord Jesus. This is no time to play games and trifle with what is Sacred to Almighty God. "Behold He Comes" is as much of a warning as it is a comfort.

There is a coming, personal event in all our futures. We will stand before the Lord Jesus Himself and give an account of our entire lives. I will share with you a personal testimony. I, like you, have fallen way short of being the totally surrendered follower I could have been. I have committed sins of commission as well as omission. As I some time ago laid out my sins and faults before the Lord and bemoaning the fact I could have done so much more for Him, He clearly spoke to my heart with these words that may encourage and exhort you. The Lord said to me, "Finish strong". And as I again realized my life was under His cleansing Blood, I took solace and energy from those Words. Like a runner who has fallen several times along the route, but as he rounds the last turn he still gives a final kick to the finish line. I do not know exactly where my final finish line is, but I am trying to "finish strong".

II Thess.1:10 - When He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe...in that day.

Now think about when the dust settles and Jesus now sits on a throne in Jerusalem ruling and reigning absolutely. But the fact that the war has come last gives insight into the true essence of the Lamb, love. The Invisible God has pleaded, begged, reasoned, and even provided the means for mankind to surrender and live, but largely to no avail. Only after centuries of excruciating longsuffering has God had to use the final option. He would have been justified to wipe us all out at anytime, but He has waited and called. By His grace some have heard and responded to His call of love and warning. The Lamb of God now has destroyed all His enemies and He is high and lifted up for all of us to admire and worship. Praise be to the exalted Lamb on Jerusalem's Throne! This is not some fairytale, this is a soon coming event that once begun, like an immeasurable and magnificent whirlwind, will collect all the moments of time from the past millennia down to the final microseconds, and like a monumental, time train screeching to a grinding halt -

IT IS FINISHED.

Some have lost all - Some have gained all.
The harvest of His Blood is over.

Eternal death - Eternal life. There is no middle ground.

Jesus my Lord, I deserved to be the object of your wrath, but you lovingly took the violence that was meant for me. I can never repay You, I can only forever praise You!

We Will Wonder

Acts 3:10 - And they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened to him.

They were filled with wonder when they saw that God had healed the man they had seen for years at the gate to the temple called Beautiful. That my friends is an earthly taste of a coming wonder that cannot be compared with anything this side of heaven. Men have always looked into the heavens with wonder. Personally seeing your own child be born is a wonder. The great Blue Whale is a wonder. The Himalayas are a wonder. The seven wonders of the world are a wonder. There are many things and experiences that we have called wonders. But there is an experience for the follower of Jesus Christ that will cause us to enter into an eternal wonder as we cast our new and sinlessly clear eyes upon Him. We will wonder...

When we see Him...and see His wounds we will wonder how could we not have loved Him more? He allowed Himself to be bruised in such a fashion for us and that prepared, spotless body was disfigured in our place. We will gaze and we will wonder as we see the wounds we had so often heard and thought about that now are more glorious than we could have ever imagined. We will wonder why this all powerful Son - God - Christ was not only voluntarily subjected to the savagery that produced those wounds, but He DESIRED them. "For the joy that was set before Him"? What joy? Me!? And after the Creator suffered for the creation, He eternally wears those crowns in a majestic expression of His everlasting love for His bride. Oh, we will wonder...
When we see Him...and see His glory we will wonder why He cared about any of us. The Creator and Sustainer of the entire universe and yet He cared about us. Rebellious - prideful - blasphemous - selfish - completely sinful and thoroughly deserving of eternity in hell. So "what is man that thou art mindful of him?". Look at His brilliance and august glory, unlike anything ever imagined, somehow shining forth all His infinite attributes in one breathtaking spectacle. Oh, we will wonder...
When we see Him...and see His beauty we will wonder how could we have been transfixed by this present world and anything that claimed to be beautiful. His beauty is on a different level than we think of anything now called beauty. Take all the mountains, the oceans, the stars, the rainbows, and all the beauty of nature in all its forms and realize that they all came from just the spoken Word of this Beautiful Creator, then what flawless radiance must emanate from the Source? If it has not yet "entered into the heart of man what the Lord has prepared for those who love Him" we can be most sure that it has not yet entered into our hearts the abject and perfect resplendence of the Preparer Himself. Oh, we will wonder...
When we see Him...and see His power we will wonder why He ever endured the rebellion of our cursed race as long as He did. He isn't just powerful, and He isn't just the most powerful, no, He is ALL powerful. He could have destroyed His entire creation with just a Word and created another. As we look and experience the presence of His divine power we will realize that we never really knew what power was. Hurricanes? Tornados? Nuclear weapons? Saturn five rocket? The Sun? The explosions of a million super novas? Mere shadows of the only authentic power which we will see inherent in the Risen Christ. And yet in the presence of this incredible and frightening power we will be granted an eternal sense of glorious salvation and the everlasting safety of His grace. Oh, we will wonder...
When we see Him...and see His heaven we will wonder why we did not look for and desire this place more than our earthly existence. Seraphim, cherubim, the colors, the expanse, the songs, and of course the centerpiece, The Lamb and The Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Our inheritance undefiled and reserved for us, we now take possession and occupation. He could have prepared for us a place that was supreme and pristine, without sin and corruption but without His presence. An eternal paradise for which we would have been forever grateful, but no, consider this surpassing glory, we will enter the Celestial City in which is His dwelling place. The Taj Mahal - a shack. The White House - ghetto. Heaven itself with the Creator and Redeemer welcoming us forever to be with Him. Oh, we will wonder...
When we see Him...and see the Person of His Word which He is called by Himself, we will wonder how could we ever have doubted for a moment. "And His name is The Word of God". We have heard His Word; we have spoken His Word; we have read His Word; we have trusted His Word; we have studied His Word; but there His Word is - Jesus Himself. He is His Word and His Word is Him. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word WAS God". We're there, we see it, we see Him, we are now experiencing the complete power and presence of the Word, Jesus Christ the Eternal Incarnation of the Word of God. Oh, we will wonder...
When we see Him...and see His Lordship which encompasses everything from eternity past to eternity future we will wonder, just wonder, in worship and amazement. All the sermons from Edwards to Spurgeon didn't even begin to touch the hem of His garment. All the imaginations of the greatest theological minds were dark reflections of what we now wonder before. The sovereignty taught by Calvin...infinitely wanting. The grace taught by Luther...infinitely wanting. The fear of God taught by Edwards...infinitely wanting. The glory taught by Spurgeon...infinitely wanting. All the words of God's choicest servants are now broken and pale, falling hollow and insufficient before His Regal Lordship. And as we remember that Aaron's high priest wore HOLINESS TO THE LORD on his headpiece, we realize that was a small key that now has unlocked a heavenly room and drawn back the mysterious veil and has allowed us to see Him who IS Holiness, face to face. The Unique Lord. The Only Lord. The Everlasting Lord. The Sovereign Lord. The Glorious Lord. The Loving Lord. The Gracious Lord. THE LORD OF LORDS, worshipped of angels and pristinely HOLY! August, High and Lifted Up, Separate from sinners and approachable ONLY through the portal of His own Blood.

WHEN WE SEE HIM, IN THE LORDSHIP OF HIS UNSPEAKABLE GLORY...WE WILL WONDER...FOREVER!!!!!!!