The Kingdom Within a Kingdom by\ Jacob Lorang

January 6, 2012 Disclaimer ! Many months ago, it was impressed upon me to write. The reason is very simple, but the subject is somewhat complex. The purpose of putting my thoughts on paper is two-fold. The first reason is that if I do not, I feel I may burst for lack of a practical means to divulge my thoughts. The second is for fear that my understanding of these subjects may lose itʼs place in history, and those following after me will have not the means to construct these thoughts into a useful guide for the times they will soon face. In short, if I die, my friends and family would not be prepared to follow the path that has taken great effort and pain for me to discover. This small construction of these observations can be a great asset to preparing many for the future. My concern is that many are not ready to handle the great travesties that are soon to befall our nation. I believe that God Himself wishes to gird us up on His wings, and give us the substance we need to endure to the end, but that we are so utterly opposed to His kingdom that we often do not recognize His influence until it is too late. ! It is not my intention to concern my time trying to prove my own humility, exonerate my character, or elevate my position in Christ to provide you an example either to follow or exceedingly mock. I hope you will excuse my grammar, ignore faults found in the structure of what you read, and look past the idealistic standard of modern writing in order to ascertain the true meaning of my words. I am not troubled that it may take a few times of reading to grasp a line or two. “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, it is the honor of kings to search it out.” Prove yourselves to be kings, priests, and “good Bereans.” Take my reasonings and grasp their meaning before hastily discarding them, or deducting an argument that may honestly disprove me. ! We live in a world that is breeding lackadaisical mindsets and artificially inseminating them into our children before they come to an age of reasoning. By the time they reach this age, their minds are so distracted, so poorly developed, so completely dependent and brainwashed that there rarely flashes one truly original thought worthy of sharing publicly. We, very often, are products of a system that intentionally trains us to regurgitate answers that are fundamentally void of explanation. What I mean is, we cannot adequately give a reason for our reason. I hope that you are not of that number. “Come let us reason together.” ! It does me no personal service to write these thoughts down while I live, I expect (and continually face) a cruel scoffing both of my person and my ideas (though they are not necessarily my ideas alone). Are they really that crazy? Are you able to find fault with the vessel which carries this treasure, in order to lay the treasure in the dust? Can a nut be enjoyed, or the corn eaten before first removing the outer layer? We are a generation accustomed to being served. If we are told to work first before enjoying a meal, if we suspect there is a chore involved in preparation to the feast, we program- ably “check out,” and go to a restaurant. ! There are countless philosophers and preachers who have prepared a meal for you to eat. They have marvelous thoughts and illustrations for you to consider. They may have traveled the world, done interviews, or researched their many books to pull clever anecdotes describing and supporting their philosophy. Well, I have none of these things. I have not the money, or time, or ambition to accomplish such great tasks so as to impress an audience. I am surrounded by a “great cloud of witnesses,” and hear the cry of many unborn or now-enslaved souls outside the Kingdom gates. They want desperately to get in. They know intuitively that they are not in, and they find no substance to the claim by todayʼs pulpits that they are in, when in fact they are “shut out” of Heaven. ! Perhaps you feel this way. No matter what you do, or how you ponder in your mind how you are to think, you still find yourself knocking... but never finding. “Seek and ye shall find,” says the scripture. “Knock and the door will be opened to you, “says the LORD. For what reason does the LORD refrain from “meeting you at the door?” You know instinctively that He has in no way met you. You bang, and plead, and ask again and again for God to make Himself known, but He is a stranger still. You are left out in the cold, thinking it was all just an evil trick... a figment of someoneʼs wild imagination. And yet, you cannot help but hope. You truly believe God is real, but for some unknown reason, you cannot seem to apprehend Him. It is for you that I write this book, for it is I who have been in your shoes. PART ONE The War of the Worlds ! There are two kingdoms at war with each other in the heavenlies. It is a spiritual battle that effects this natural world we are living in. Even though we have outward traditions and regulations imposed upon us, we are part of the larger conflict between these two invisible kingdoms which wage war around us night and day. One might say we are part of a kingdom in a kingdom while living in another kingdom altogether, but we inevitably must choose to adhere to one or the other. The Devil seeks to rule this world as his own kingdom. He is given the title the “Prince of the power of the air,” even offering this kingdom to Christ if He would only bow down and worship him. He has a set of laws and traditions, just as the Almighty has His. We are somewhere in the middle. When the Lord taught the disciples to pray, He immediately mentions the kingdom of the Father, and made it clear that His kingdom was not yet established in this world, but that we should pray that it continue to advance. We are inside this conflict of two opposing worlds, seeking to be fully established here on Earth. ! Each one is preparing to “take over” this physical world we now live in. They are examining, planning, and executing methods to establish their rule. A country is not taken over by mere force. One must first weaken its defenses, its moral, its resolve to fight. The human spirit seeks to hold onto its own piece of the universe, and desires to be lord of his own life, attempting to stay out of the conflict. No doubt, we all will eventually come to regard one of these two giants of spiritual power (the Almighty or the Devil) as the being who is actually in charge. Each has been making a case for themselves as in a court system. God, the defendant, is accused of being unjust and unworthy of worship and obedience. The devil, the accuser, is seeking to take His position upon the throne of deity upon this earth, and rule the kingdom of men. He cannot prove his case legally, but he can intimidate the jury (WE are the jury) to choose in his favor. He threatens their homes, their families, their very lives. He establishes his throne through fear and destruction. He seeks to tear down our sense of justice, by forcing us to choose to “save our life.” ! His arguments have infiltrated our society. They are prevalent in popular music, media, movies, education, and even religious studies. Anyone who has studied history has found that a kingdom is controlled by limiting knowledge to a select few individuals, so that the ignorant can easily be ruled by a minority. They may limit the language, the literature, or the material being taught. Such is the way of all established dictatorships. There are many different forms of government the devil has used to attempt to establish his rule, but there are more similarities than differences (The Nazi party in Germany, hated the socialist movement in Russia, but in the end their policies were very similar. They still killed Jews). How does a ruler advance in the mind and will of a people, the general population outweighing his military force? They must willingly surrender to allow his kingdom to advance. That doesnʼt mean everybody, but just those select few who “watch the gate” of society. The preachers, the politicians, and the teachers. The next institution to conquer is the businesses, and finally the military. After that, it is pretty easy to subdue a kingdom. One causes a crises, which cripples and weakens the country, and then advances to the weakest point in full force. ! Similarly, individuals are won over. The first step is convincing oneʼs mind of an idea that is unique to your kingdom, until he believes in it enough to propagate it. The mind is what the teacherʼs appeal to. The conviction to live it out, and spread the idea to others, is encouraged by preachers. Politicians make this either possible or very difficult. They may restrict free speech, or they may pave the way for these ideas to be voiced to the public. Most of us stand somewhere in the middle. We do not see ourselves as responsible for effecting the rest of society. As long as we stay out of the conflict, we think we are safe and performing our duty. Do you not realize that you are agreeing with the enemy of your soul? Is not the kingdom of the Anti-Christ advancing all around you, while you do nothing to stop it? You think that God will win in the end, and that there is nothing you can do to prevent the destruction of everything that is good in the world you now occupy. What about your own soul? Do you not realize that it is also a battle for you?! Our Role ! It is our responsibility to examine the evidence regarding the proposed hypothesis of each kingdom. We have examples of each in our natural history. We have kingdoms ruled by justice and the laws of God, and we have dictatorships rising out of Hell itself by shedding the blood of thousands. There are ways of thinking that are directly correlated to each of these kingdoms. Each has an idealistic standard, a goal to be reached, and a means by which this goal will be accomplished. We cannot continue to be ignorant of this battle being waged all around us. We cannot help but be effected. When our loved ones slip off into a world of deceit and immorality, we know that the Devil has advanced his kingdom in their lives, and is demoralizing the kingdom of Heaven. When we see politicians bending to the whims of obviously un-ethical proposals of legislature, we know that the anti-Christ is paving the way for his rule. ! Are the people of God so weak? Are there so few of us that we must simply surrender to the fact that soon enough the armies of men (fueled by an immeasurable evil from Hell) will seek us out and spill our blood? My heart breaks within me, because I know that many will not have the faith to keep their faith. They will bow before the statue of Nebacudnezar, they will cease to pray to God the Father (as Daniel continued to despite the decree of man), they will prevent the gospel from pouring out of their mouths into the mouths of those hungry for the truth (instead of “obeying God rather than man” as Peterʼs response was). They will be killed... and perhaps more than once. There is a death beyond the first death. It is that death that we should fear, not the first one. ! We may very well face the most devastating time of history, where we must give an account of what we truly believe. Now is the time to determine where your faith lies. Now is the time to compare that faith to those who have walked in the faith. Now is the time to confront the lukewarmness of our own minds, and come to a definitive conclusion about Godʼs kingdom versus the Devilʼs. We must discover where our allegiance truly lies. To imagine that it lies with Godʼs is so fantastically dangerous, that it cannot be stressed enough how important it is to examine oneʼs network of thinking to see if it is indeed Godʼs way of thinking. Oneʼs actions will follow what they really believe. If you believe only up to the point where you must actually live it out, than you do not truly believe it. You imagine yourself to, but the reality is not so. A person may know the car engine needs its oil checked. They may intend to do so soon, and they believe that they should, but their procrastination proves their true belief that it isnʼt that important. They feel money is better spent on candy bars and movie rentals then engine oil. Time to Prepare ! The five foolish virgins were told to find their own oil after running out in their lamps. Do we have enough oil in our lamps? If you were brought before the authorities for spreading “propaganda” about the existence of God, His intention for humanity, and the available path of atonement to those interested and willing to pursue it, would you accept their decree to “Speak no more in His name,” or would you find yourself full of the boldness of the Holy Ghost, and could say (like the three Hebrews) “We will not bow to any other God save Jehovah?!” Do you have the faith to endure torture when policemen put you in a cell interrogating you about the location of your underground church? You do not think it will happen in America? You think you will be raptured out of here before that? Who told you that? Are you being taught by the whimsical imaginations of men, or does God speak to you Himself? Would it not be in the devilʼs favor to propagate such a notion, if it were not true? Of course it would. It would mean that thousands of Christians would throw down their defenses, and cease to realize their great need to “buy oil.” ! Our Lord in Revelations tells us to “buy of me gold refined in the fire.” Peter says it like this in 1 Peter 1:7; “...the trial of your faith, being much more precious than that of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” So, our faith is likened unto gold. It is that gold that we should purpose our lives to apprehend. We are not talking about salvation, we are talking about treasures of the kingdom being revealed and deposited into our inner man. We are talking about something heavenly that is stored deep within us for an appointed time. It seems (according to scripture) that appointed time to be the persecution that comes with living for His kingdom. There is a war going on. As soon as you choose to obey God over the Devil, you become a target. He will seek to destroy your moral, your resolve, and even your very life. You must have a storehouse of wealth in order to fight this enemy to overcome him. It will be as if he is taking you to court in violation of his laws. You do not fight with flesh and blood, but with faith. ! Faith has substance. There is a reality to it that is undeniable. It is not human reason, or simply a belief in something, but is a living force. It cannot be taken away, hidden, or defiled. Faith is also developed. One discovers faith in the midst of great difficulty. You cannot obtain faith when it is easy to do so. It must be validated with heat. Everything that is impure will be melted and destroyed, but faith will remain. Everything that is human will burn away. You will find your own mind a hinderance to faith. Traditions, ungodly influences, false teaching will become weakened under the enormous pressure of “testing.” The trial of your faith is the most difficult thing you will have to endure, and each “test” becomes increasingly painful, until there is nothing more that remains except true faith. It is not just a system of beliefs. It is not just an experience of salvation. It is not even an experience of the reality of the presence of God. No, itʼs much deeper than that. It is the core of your existence, your motivation for life, your hopes, ambitions, and even allegiance. ! The example of Christ exemplifies this wondrous reality of faith. We see him scoffed, mocked, challenged, betrayed, beaten, and killed. We see him praying in the garden throughout his ministry (Which only lasted three years by the way. I wonder how long our ministries would last if we walked in this same faith.), needing to be “recharged” by Godʼs Holy power. He was “buying gold.” Each confrontation refined this precious deposit of faith within Him. Each miracle praised the reality of the Fatherʼs blessing upon His life, though many accused Him of just the opposite. We see it refined into perfection when the son of God responded gently to the soldiers that struck him; “What wrong have I done to deserve that?” His love poured out as his blood ran down when he said; “Father, forgive them.” His heart ached for his people, who in turn were rejecting Him. Has that been you, dear brother? Has your heart ached for those you love, while they reject your very person? They cast you out of their circles, their homes, even their churches? Perhaps, they only welcome you with words, but their heart is far from you. That is another kind of pain. A silence that kills on the inside. ! But it is Christ our Lord who shows us what it is like to walk in this faith. “Though the outward man perisheth, the inward man is being renewed day by day.” (2 Cor 4:16) We are beholding Him! There will come a day when we will behold Him with our eyes, but at present we behold Him within our souls. There is a reality to His presence, and a tangibleness to this substance of faith that is deposited within us... only to be tried by the fiery trials of this life. Thankfully, we have a standard we can compare ourselves to, to see if our faith is the faith of our LORD in heaven. That standard is the revelation of Christ by His Spirit. He is the image we see when we examine ourselves in the mirror of His word, and we are able to comprehend how much we are or are not like him. It is important that we understand this to be true, for just as there is another kingdom at work to war against our souls, there is another image to compare ourselves to. The image of Baal. Baal Worship ! The image of Baal is perhaps my own analogy. I could well say it is the image of the beast, a pre-curser to the rise of the anti-Christ into power, in which all the world is forced to worship. It is not an old idea though. The worship of Baal has been around for thousands of years. He is the god of prosperity, riches, and reputation. He is who the Israelites were brought into worship of, in order to secure their substance of crops, livestock, etc. He is the god of outward blessing. Baal is who Christ would have worshiped had he accepted the Devilʼs offer of the kingdoms of this world. To worship the image of Baal is more than just a physical act of bowing down though. It means adapting his philosophy for life, his expectation for existence. You are making the statement that you surrender to his proposed structure of living in this world. To live in this world, according the proposition of Baal, is to live for wealth and personal success. That does not mean you will be rich (by the standards of men) necessarily, but that you will devote your entire life to the promotion of self. Everything you do is centered around that purpose, and the expectation is that people will worship you. ! They will praise your wisdom, your hard-work, your success, etc. They will wish to emulate your life, follow in your footsteps, and use you for an example for others to follow. We do so love to follow other men, for we do so love the praise of men ourselves. We give them the same praise that we would like to receive as well. We are attracted to their house, their clothes, their position of authority. We marvel at the servants they are able to acquire (todayʼs standard of servitude is equal to that of hiring contractors to perform tasks of building, etc). We are impressed by the fact that they are able to “eat out” whenever they please. Even if this is not you, it is in your heart to live that way. It would be a dream come true to indulge in whatever manner of shopping can serve your heartʼs content. You always wish for a little bit more, in order to buy that thing that is just a little bit better or nicer. Even if you settle for less, it is your heartʼs secret whisper to want more. That is the kingdom of Baal. ! The wealth, prestige, and worldly images of success become the icons of your existence. We elevate men to gods, and seek to emulate their pattern. This is the “image” of the beast. One honors himself above the word of God, and proceeds to become a slave to this system of economics. Our whole focus from youth up is centered around the idea of success. We put ourselves through school, seek to apprehend high- paying positions, and gratify our need for self-worship by seeking approval for our lifestyle in the house of God. We put ourselves in groups of people that will remind us of how good we are, and encourage us to accomplish our goals of success. This is Baal- worship. It is all deeply selfish, and widely justified. We find pulpits designed around the idea of “building up the church” into the image of the beast. They are intent on being successful, confident, and “without condemnation.” There are so many trains of thought that satisfy this model, that it would be impossible to show them all. ! We hear remarks like “Jesus was never poor,” and “both Job and Abraham were wealthy.” To say that a person will never possess wealth is not the point. To say that a rich man will never experience the kingdom of God is not realistic, but it is certainly difficult. In fact, itʼs much less probable that a rich man will enter into the kingdom of heaven than a poor man. That is the statement that Jesus made to his disciples; “That a rich man shall hardly enter the kingdom of heaven... It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.” (Matthew 19:23-24) The disciples wondered at this. Why did they wonder? Because they were taught, and believed, that success was a proof of oneʼs spirituality. There was no greater honor than to enjoy the fruits of ones labor; their position, reputation, and even possessions. It is not only physical things alone that make up this success, but the praises and approval of men; worldly men. Men who, in America, lead the church. ! One will not adhere to the law of God if he regards his own success and reputation to be a higher priority. This man cannot expect God to speak with him. He is pursuing his own agenda, has his own standard, and disregards the needs of the people of God. There is a need that is much deeper than daily bread. Jesus continued teaching his disciples to pray by saying “...give us this day our daily bread.” But we know that when tempted in the wilderness he declared that “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that cometh from the mouth of God.” Again, He said in another place, “It is my meat to do the will of the Father.” Clearly, a man who can spend forty days without food, is not bound to the demands of his stomach. His model prayer to the disciples tells us to wait upon God for our substance, but all for the glory of God, rather than to satisfy our own lust of the flesh. ! When stripped away of all other distractions, you will find this to be central to your motivation for labor in this world. A man works because “his mouth craveth it of him.” (Proverbs 16:28) He refuses to hunger, and despises the idea that his children would ever be in need (for it is a reflection upon his own abilities and motivations). If the pangs of hunger gnaw at us like Esau in the woods, we are willing to sell our birthright of heaven to satisfy our natural craving. It was food that caused the first transgression, and food that will test the final inhabitants of Earth. The rise of the anti-Christ will usher in a new age of wealth and prosperity, immediately following an epidemic of disease, violence, and famine of epic proportions. Those remaining alive will be forced to take “the mark of the beast” in order to buy their food. They will not have been walking in faith belonging to the kingdom of God, but are dependent upon the system of government which now rules their souls. ! It seems so ridiculously elementary, but that is truly how simple it is. It is not just a matter of self-reliance, but a consistent life of faith. Oh, there will be more to the mark than a viable monetary system. It will provide information to law enforcement officers, medical personal, and government officials collecting data for statistics. It will be a micro chip that can also be manipulated to regulate birth control, hormones, adrenaline, and even possibly provide “miracles” of restoring eyesight and paralysis. All this technology has been tested, and is in use today. The ones to watch out for are the ones injected (or “etched” as the definition of the word defines “mark” in Greek) into the forehead or the back of the hand. Those are the ones which need a rapidly changing temperature to recharge the battery. ! If you do not think you will subject yourself to such in-humane treatment, think about what you would do if your kids are starving to death in front of you. Will you run to the hills? Why do you think the government is trying so hard to put wolves in the mountains, and have established control of virtually every corner of the map? Technology previously developed for “fighting the war on drugs” will be used to hunt humans who refuse to submit to this system of the anti-Christ. What will you say about the idea that it was ungodly to rebel against the tyranny of England then? The idea that we as Christians need to submit to authority is only viable if it is in accordance to the law of God. Once it demands our rebellion against His law, we are obligated to refrain. Is this your practice as a Christian believer? Can you look square in the face of your adversary and say, “Thou you slay me, I will not bow?” Can you do so out of devotion to your Heavenly Father, or are you more concerned about “saving your life?” What legacy will you leave behind for those to follow? The Secret of God ! Everything is revealed in the garden of Eden, but not all is understood. The future is made known in Revelations, but everything is not made clear. Why does God go through such pains to hide himself? Itʼs very simple. He desires only those who are worthy to enter into His glory. “The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent taketh by force.” (Matt 11:12) It is not appropriate to give the riches of Heaven to those who would flaunt this treasure in order to gain wealth and popularity in this world. Too often we react like Peter did on the Mount of Transfiguration. His response was to build a monument paying tribute to such a sacred occasion. “Letʼs go public,” he says. We have become a society that easily captures moments of intimacy (originally intended only for a man and his wife), and plasters them on every movie screen for our eyes to gratify themselves with. We do the same with our “revelations” of God. ! The secrets of God become used to market a product synonymous with pornographic literature. We feast our minds on twisted forms of spirituality, fabricated in the dark closets of iniquity, all the while failing to experience our own moments of divine intercourse. We are missing the interaction of the Father, and so we imagine what it must look like, and publicize these ideas with song, videos, books, and even sermons. We have become a culture of Christianity that is dead to religious feelings, excited by worldly instincts, and bound to lifestyles of iniquity and compromise. The amazingly sad thing is that we are not seeking a way off this ceaseless merry-go-round of hypocrisy, but are going about to establish the idea that it is normal, and to expect nothing else. It may be normal (in the sense that it is widely accepted), but it is not the normalities of Heaven! ! The enemy of our souls is gaining ground. His kingdom is growing in momentum. We need not look at the world around us (though if we did, the obvious reality of this fact would terrify us), but only look right in front of us. Our families are disintegrating. Divorce, adultery, drunkenness, bitterness, and rebellion is the prevailing winds moving us closer to our destination. Judgment. Itʼs coming. We know that it is. No one will argue that God will judge wickedness, rebellion to His kingdom, and the treatment of “the least of these.” We are certain that all of time will give an account of their sins. What about you? Are you consciously aware that you will be judged by God? Does that concern you? While you live in this world, what kingdom law are you adhering to? Which traditions have you kept? Your own, the ones you made up, or that which is popular around you? Popular Religion ! The religion of God is established through the law, confirmed by the prophets, and exemplified through Christ... but it is not always popular. Popularity is a deep- seated desire that is hard wired into our subconsciousness. The desire for friendship is, as well, very basic to the instincts of humanity. Friendship, however, is much different than worship. We do not normally think of ourselves as object of worship, but quite often we live and act as if we are. When you dress yourself, groom yourself, perhaps even painting or decorating yourself, are you not providing your companions an object to admire and enjoy? What, if not this, would you consider to be worship? It was that snake in the garden which first proposed the idea of becoming “like God,” or Godʼs ourselves. The desire for friendship has become twisted into a confusing method of establishing ourselves as objects worthy of worship. ! This often is the largest motivating factor for embracing religion. When a lifestyle of sinful indulgence in drugs, alcohol, sex, etc becomes overwhelmingly devastating, the pressure of the family and community relates the message that they need to “change their ways.” Why? Because it is not good for them, the family name, or the reputation of the community. One may feel very strongly this urge to be accepted by those around them. They may feel shame for the life they live, fully aware of the consequences of their action. They want people to speak well of them. At some point they chose to rebel against what was popular, but now they feel the need to renounce that lifestyle, and seek better relationships to influence a “positive” change. This is not the only reason to make this change, but it is commonly a major, contributing, factor. ! Contrary to that, a person may feel the effects of a sinful lifestyle in the form of guilt. Their guilt is not motivated by the acceptance of others, but the rejection of God. There are two kingdoms at work here. There is the standard of the community, and there is the standard of Godʼs law. It is not much different than the idea of the State (manʼs government) being the highest authority of morality, versus the law of God. That is really how this battle has been playing out for thousands of years. The state rears itʼs ugly head, and declares itself to be the final word on any moral or ethical matter. It defies the idea of individual responsibility to the law of God. It must maintain control. When it rises in its full form, the tyrannical and oppressive dictatorship of maniacal homicide inevitably envelops those serving God. That comparison may seem like a ridiculous one at first, but look closer. ! If I come to the place in my life where I am sorry for my sin, I must question “why.” If I am sorry for sin simply because it is not “good” for me (meaning it does not benefit my happiness here on Earth), than I am approaching this situation from a selfish perspective. I must ask myself, “If this lifestyle was what was popularly accepted at the time, would I conclude the same thing?” Maybe not. In other words, what standard am I comparing my life to; the standard of man, or the standard of God? If it is truly Godʼs authority that I am concerned with, than I wish to join with Him in this battle to prove how worthy He is of honor, worship, and yes... obedience. So, my motivation is no longer selfish, but intentionally given to the purposes of His glory. The two may look very similar on the outward, but the motivation of the heart reveals the true authority governing oneʼs life. ! Let me get back to the subject of popularity. I want to use Ananias and Saphira for an example in the book of Acts. At that time, one might say, it had become popular to be converted. While there was no doubt religious persecution, there were groups of people whose lifestyles so radically changed, that friends and family felt compelled to do so as well. This is not a bad thing in itself, but motive will often be revealed during the trial of our faith (if it is not made known to us through the preaching of the word of God). As these two characters continued in this change of lifestyle, they found themselves following in the step of Gehazi (Elishaʼs servant) and Achan (who stole treasure out of Jericho). Their change of lifestyle was not motivated by the fear of God, but by the popularity and acceptance of man. Of course we know that they received neither blessing in the end, and live on in our minds as the example not to follow. ! When told to cease speaking the word of God to the public, Peterʼs response was, “Ought we to obey man rather than God?” What a change! When Jesus was brought in for questioning, Peter feared man more than God, denying that he even knew Him for fear of what they might do to him. Now, he doesnʼt care! He boldly proclaims his devotion to Godʼs kingdom, seeing clearly the difference between the two. Can you see the difference? Are the LORDʼs ways prevailing upon your mind and in your life, or are the worldʼs? Remember, there are many forms of worldliness, but only one kingdom of God. The devil comes disguised as an angel of light, posing himself as religiously devout, but only devoted to furthering his own kingdom. Which kingdom are you adhering to? Time to Choose ! We are either motivated by fear or love. If it is fear of man, it is because we are afraid of what they can do to us. They may exile us from their company, sue us, burn our houses, beat our children, or even take our life. If we are motivated by love (to speak and live the oracles of God), it does not matter what they do to us. We know that their souls are more important than our popularity. We understand that man naturally rejects the ways and spirit of God, but that the conscience is established by the LORD and is attracted to the Law of God. We appeal to the conscience. We know that what we speak (if it is the truth revealed by the Holy Ghost) speaks to that part in the human soul that longs for God. Is it not so with you? Do you long to be clothed in that spirit which is Christ? “Can you be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with,” asks Jesus of his disciples. ! It is more certain that He will pour out His spirit to those who meet the conditions, than it is that we will ask. What are the conditions? The first one is clear; we must ask. Knock and the door will be opened.” The second is less definable (for it is not measurable); one must ask in faith. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that “without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 1:1 reminds us that “faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.” There is “substance” to faith. Even though you cannot see it with your eyes, there is a reality that is undeniable. “Faith has feet,” says Angus Buchan, author of “Faith Like Potatoes.” It is not something merely imagined, or believed to be there when there is no reality to that claim, but the driving force of our life (as it is written; “the just shall live by faith”). ! “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God,” says the scripture. It is only when God Himself speaks to the individual that a man can discover faith (when it is activated by obedience). We must draw near to our heavenly father, walk as Jesus walked, and fill our lamps with oil, for the time is close at hand where we will be tempted beyond all measure. Our Christianity today is in shambles. We do not spend adequate time in prayer, when we do pray it is entirely selfish, and our preaching has not the power to adequately discern light from darkness. No devil or devilish society trembles at the words spoken from our pulpits. The influence of the world is wreaking upon us like the decomposing stench of a dead body, as we walk through this war zone of material rubble and dying souls of men. We are seeking to find what we do not know is there, and wondering who to believe in the process. We cannot trust in ourselves, but wholly rely upon the grace and mercy of Almighty God. ! Will you allow me the liberty to expound to you my case regarding the sad state of affairs we call Christianity? Will you consider your own relationship with God for a moment? Is it everything you desire it to be? More importantly, is it everything He desires it to be? What I want you to think about is, “Is there a reality of God in my life?” We talk so much about how our walk with God is all about our relationship with Him. Ok. So what does that look like? Are those just cleverly constructed words to cover up a reality of darkness and confusion? What does the reality of God produce, and how can we obtain it? Those are the questions I am interested in addressing. PART TWO God With Us ! Let me address the idea that God is always with us. We presumably state repeatedly that “you are never alone,” and we couple that with the concept that “you cannot trust your feelings.” We logically conclude that faith must believe God is there, even when we feel He is not. As I am sitting here today; as a believer in God the Father, Jesus Christ His son, and the Holy Spirit, I find this reasoning an absolute disgrace and in defiance to the glorious gospel we supposedly preach. If I were an unbeliever (and especially as a believer), I would have NO REASON to seek and apprehend God if this were true! Why, if there were no feelings associated with faith, than a logical analysis would show the whole idea of “God with us” to be superficially imagined! In other words, God does not actually dwell with or interact with humanity in any way. Why, one would question the very existence of God if this were true! ! The idea that we should ignore feeling in regard to the presence of God is like this: a woman marries, leaves her fatherʼs house, begins to clean, and care for her husbandʼs house. She entertains her friends there, has pictures on the wall of their marriage, and may even have a marriage certificate. The only things she misses, is her husband! She has no token of his affection, for the marriage lacks consummation, and she has no hope of bearing children. There is no fruit to bear his name. No kids playfully occupying the clean-swept halls of her husbandʼs home. Should she remind herself that he loves her? Should she be satisfied with this lack of feeling? Would you? Of course you wouldnʼt. You would know that such a relationship in not a relationship, and seek whatever means necessary to regain or rekindle those feelings; those moments of spine-tingling touch upon the lips, or secret longing in anticipation of his hand drawing you to himself.These natural images are only shadows of the spirit-world. ! We are created with a living soul. The soul is the place where our spirit interacts with the spirit of the living God. It is a secret place. It is there we find ourselves groaning with need to find God. It is in the soul where we communicate with our maker. We must learn how to do so effectively, but knowing how to do everything right is no more required than a man is required to master the art of seducing his bride before the night of their wedding. It is all to be discovered... in time. Predecessors of Prayer ! There is no logical way that I can prove to you that I myself have engaged the Holy Deity in my own soul. I can tell you what I felt, how my perspective changed, and what transpired after such an encounter. I could name times when I understood the LORD to be speaking to me,and even diverting me to do or not do a particular thing. Now, I must say, that there have been times I did not hear clearly. There were times I either added to or took away from what the LORD was saying at the time, and Iʼve had to learn some difficult lessons because of it. Our natural mind, and these carnal natures, often misconstrue the LORDʼs intentions. This is the same as a child hearing his parentʼs instructions, but interpreting them much differently than they were intended. A child must be trained to listen carefully in order to obey his parentʼs instruction. ! It is also true that there are many other sources of insight and experience far greater than my own. There are great “giants” of prayer like Madam Guyon, Andrew Murray, Reese Howels, AW Tozer, and many more. I encourage you to read about them, and especially their books. Study their words. Learn from them. They will help enormously with the struggle to stay connected to the source of life within our souls! I recommend especially Guyonʼs book “Experiencing the Depths of Christ,” and Norman Grubbʼs book “Reese Howels the Intercessor.” Only in heaven will we exhaustively see how mightily God moved through these men and women of God! We can only hope to get a glimpse of that same glory they beheld while here on earth. ! But you do not know them. Perhaps you do not know me, but this book has found its way into your hands. It may be that my glimpse into eternity may inspire you to seek for it “with all your heart.” The Pattern ! There is no special formula to bring one into communion with God, but there is a pattern. There is a process. There are conditions to be made, and there are promises that will be fulfilled. Letʼs go back to our original description. We see a man desiring to find a reality of God. He is desperately banging on heavenʼs door, and feels entirely shut out of the kingdom. He goes to church, he prays, he reads his devotional, seeks fellowship with other believers, but cannot shake the feeling of inadequacy when it comes to hearing from God Himself. Is that you, dear brother? Are you longing for what you do not have? Are the “riches of Christ” just beyond your reach? ! You may look at the example of Daniel, and immediately find distinguishing differences between you and he. First of all, he prayed three times a day (according to the law of God). Do you pray three times a day? Secondly, when it was determined that a decree would be made outlawing prayer to any other god but the king, Daniel still prayed three times a day. How many of us pray only if it is convenient to do so, let alone have the motivation to pray even if it were illegal? We discover that Daniel spent the night in a den of lions, and was unharmed, unable to accept the punishment wrongly bestowed upon him for his “crime” of praying to God. This all happened before his great and terrible visions in the following chapters. Those visions came to him after initial “trials of faith,” and while studying the scriptures! Do you study the scriptures to understand the times you live, and what your duty might be before God and man? Next we see Daniel fasting in prayer in great distress over the sins of the people, confessing his own sins before God, and acknowledging that it was the LORDʼs judgment that brought such great distress upon his people. Have you confessed your sins, and fasted on behalf of your friends and neighbors? Have you sought God for forty days before He finally answered you? Daniel did. ! Consider what James says in chapter two verse 19-20; “thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” Can this verse be applied to your situation? You presently believe in God, and currently are seeking his face. It would seem this to be the epitome of “faith in action,” would it not? However, the faith James is referring to is not simply religious acts of devotion. No, he means for us to obey God. Obey what though? Whatever He tells us in prayer? Maybe. Certainly it is said that Abraham had faith because he obeyed what the LORD told him to do (verses 21-24). But why did God speak to him in the first place? If we are interested in experiencing a similar conversation, we must find the answer. A Friend of God ! I am going to propose a very elementary philosophy. Itʼs one that you can use most of the time when determining the answer to the question “Why doesnʼt God speak to me?” Itʼs very simple. He does not trust you. It does not mean he does not love you. A father may love his son, but fully aware that he cannot responsibly give him the keys to the car if his son is too young or is reckless with what is not his. He will give him other things to do, until he has proven to be a trustworthy man to care for his fatherʼs prized possessions. It is the same of our heavenly father. He will speak to you when you come to obey His previous assignments, and are faithful with what you are given. ! That doesnʼt necessarily mean He gives you something to do, but begs the question “What will you do with what you receive?” The revealing of the LORDʼs heart is often given us in contrast to our own. Thus, we become changed as we behold Him (see 2 Corinthians 3:18). Faithfulness to the revelation of Christ may mean a fundamental change in both thinking and living in a particular area. So, the doing in this case simply means reflecting that same image revealed to us, not necessarily a specific command of “go here,” or “go there.” Aside from that, there will be the question of publicly declaring what God has said and done in your life to others, but weʼll get into that later. ! God does not share His secrets with just anybody. “Shall I hide the thing I will do from my friend Abraham?” says the LORD before he destroyed Sodom. He even listened to Abrahamʼs input, as he also listened to Moses, and spoke to him face to face. If you are to speak to God face to face, you must understand this principle: obedience to the will of God is the foundation for this reality. What is His will? What do you instinctively know that the LORD is demanding of you, and yet you refuse? Demands? Yes, that is exactly the right word. “Be ye perfect, as your father in Heaven is perfect,” says the LORD. And yet, you find every means possible in which to justify your lack of obedience. ! Jesus is recording saying by the apostle John in chapter 14:15, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Again, in chapter 15:14 He says, “You are my friends , if ye do whatsoever I command you.” It is a powerful statement to say that a human being can be a friend of God, and yet, He points the way for us to experience that reality. Verse 23 of Chapter 14 in that same gospel states that “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” We see plainly that there is a direct connection between experiencing the presence of God the Father, and keeping the commandments of the son. But why would the LORD give you a new commandment, if you have not kept the old one? ! Perhaps it is such a small thing. Maybe a debt owed, or an idle word spoken in someoneʼs presence foolishly. Perhaps it is the beverage you continue to drink, or the food you indulge in that you intuitively know is wrong (though you cannot tell how). Maybe it is much worse than that and you find yourself “addicted” to pornography. You are on a merry-go-round of temptation, indulgence, and sorrow. That may be true of alcohol, or movies watched, or actual acts of fornication. In other words, what compromises are in your life to the word of God in which you now confess “faith” in? Your faith is only lip-service if you are partaking in sins, and enjoying selfish indulgences instead of seeking God to love others. The Obstacle ! The LORD promises to pour out His spirit to those who desire it with the whole heart. I have experienced this many times, but only after reconciling my disobedience and fully surrendering in heart, mind, and body. You are sure to find the FULLNESS of the LORD once your mind is free from condemnation. He pours out His grace in abundance, washing away all doubt and shame. Only beware of false imitations. ! One may confront his own guilt only by confessing it, even weeping over it, and “believing” Christ has forgiven him. This person has not actually repented from his lifestyle, nor has experienced the reality of Godʼs grace, but is aware that the results of sin has produced ill-effects in his life. He hides his sin by keeping it close to his heart, ready to take it out like a treasure to hold in his hands when no one is watching. He does not hate his sin, but the reproach of sin. This approach is entirely selfish, and is not orchestrated by godly repentance. Godly sorrow which leads to repentance is ashamed of the example it gives to the Kingdom of God, and is willing to accept the punishment of death. He is determined to live according to the will of the Father whether or not he is forgiven of his past! He chooses to surrender, not because he himself can benefit, but because he finds the LORD is worthy of the life He paid for at Calvary. ! Have you considered what area of your life is un-surrendered? There is a huge list of things to explore. Be honest. Look at your life through the lens of scripture. It will not be long, and you will discover the problem, but you must be thorough! Do not reason away your conviction by comparing yourself to other men. Look to God! He is the standard! We can easily compare ourselves to other men, and find a means to justify our actions. That is why He sent His son to Earth; to show us that HE is the standard of righteousness, not other men! I am not the answer to your problems. I am not the example you should follow. Too often we tear apart the messenger, but disregard the message. It is the author of the message we should look to! What are His requirements? What are His intentions? Those are the things we must seek, understand, and reasonably apply to our lives, hearts, minds, and souls. It is the goal of apprehending God in our inner man that drives this quest. It is the standard of God that we must compare ourselves to. The Chasm ! That leads us to a highly debatable, but little discussed, concept regarding the law of God. I say debatable, not because I believe it can be proven wrong, but that we should debate it amongst ourselves. Too well the Devil has perfected his doctrines to establish his rule over our lives. He has fundamentally persuaded men not to argue back and forth about their belief structure. He has even convinced some that to do so is in fact sin. While there is no question debate can lead to sin, a healthy debate is exactly the thing we need in order to adequately conclude a matter. Would you take the time to so completely exhaust a subject until you or your opponent becomes convinced of the truth you argue about? Do your answers hold up to reason, the word of God, and other men of God? Though it may be difficult to find a man who believes exactly the same as you, it is unlikely that your ideas are profoundly original. ! The very simple illustration of sin as a gulf between man and God is the perfect example for our situation. The absence of religious feeling is not due to fault found in our maker, but in the law. That is not to say that the law is bad in itself, or is the cause, but it explains the reason there exists a chasm between man and God. When a person sins, the justice of the law is immediately executed by separating the Spirit of God from the spirit of man. There is a void, an emptiness that takes place in oneʼs soul. No matter how many good deeds are done, they do not account for the wrong which has been done. We presume that since we are “saved” that this gulf no longer exists. But it can exist. We may feel it when we pray, when we worship, when we hear otherʼs testimony, etc. ! Can you testify to this, dear saint? Do you wonder when the reality of religious feeling toward the presence of God has left you? Are you left wandering through the routines of life, either gravitating toward whatever form of indulgence may alleviate your own self-pity, or watching helplessly as your heart continues to harden toward God and your fellow man? Is there such a distance between you and the Father that you wonder how there ever once was communion? Or, perhaps, you have never experienced this connection with your creator, and seriously doubt that other peopleʼs representation of such an event is either superficial or entirely imagined. And yet, you continue to drudge through the idiosyncrasies of the Christian religion, and perform the tasks of worship, communion, and public prayer, only to find yourself very much a stranger to the god you supposedly seek. What is preventing this connection? There is something between you and your maker. We must explore what that might be, and restore this intended relationship, so that God may receive the glory for the life He both created and suffered for. Are you ready? Forgiveness ! Now I must address the idea that Jesus “covers” all our sins past, present, and future, and that there is no reason to “feel” condemned. I realize that Iʼm opening a real can of worms by even suggesting that this idea could be false. First of all; whoʼs sins did Jesus forgive? The Phariseeʼs? The drunkards and prostitutes? No. Neither. You do not find a prostitute being forgiven. You may see a Pharisee who repents being forgiven. You may find a prostitute who is broken over her sin, showing profound devotion to the messiah being forgive... but not before! In other words, forgiveness is not automatic, itʼs conditional! How long have you sought God under the assumption that He forgives you? In your mind, it has already been done. There is nothing more you need to do. Jesus Christ has forgiven all your sins. Right? Why then is there this gulf between you and God? Why does your life lack power to live holy and proclaim the gospel? Why is there missing the tangible reality of the presence of Almighty God? ! John the Beloved Apostle of our LORD gives us some insight on the matter. 1 John 2:3-5 says; “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby know that we are in him.” Consider also the words of Christ in John 15:10-11; “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my fatherʼs commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you... that your joy might be full.” ! There is a direct correlation between knowing God and keeping His commandments. If at one time, you were ignorant to the will and ways of God, though you chose to disobey your conscience (which did testify of the LAW of God), you cannot use that excuse now. You are fully aware of Godʼs requirements. You feel utterly helpless to obey them. Could it be that you have been told you are unable to obey Him? I wonder what scripture you might use to prove that to be true, and how many countless others you ignore to contradict that thought. Psalm 19:7 states; “the LAW of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul!” Read Psalm 119:1-8 very carefully. You will find the same message there as in the words of Christ. To seek him with all oneʼs heart, means also to walk in His ways! Apprehending ! You see, we do not seek God in order to maintain our Christian life. We maintain our Christian life so that when we seek God, we will find him. Psalm 24:3-5 states; “Who shall ascend unto the hill of the LORD? Or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart: and hath not lifted up his soul to vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.” Wait... you mean I must first have a life that is surrendered to the will of God, before I can expect to apprehend Him, and only then does He call me righteous? Thatʼs right. The LORD Himself will declare you clean, but only after you have made yourself clean. You cannot declare yourself righteous by works, but righteousness without works does not exist. “Faith without works is dead.” Faith is the key that unlocks the door. Faith without itʼs reality is no less than imaginary faith. It is not real. Thus, the LORD is not real to you who have no reality to your faith. ! This may happen in a moment. There may be a period of great struggle with God, but the change will happen suddenly. When a person “comes to faith” it means that they are willing and able to surrender to the will of God. All that has been “off limits” to God before, is willingly offered to Him who sees all and is in all. It is a change of direction, intention, and attitude. It is becoming aware that you have resisted your Maker, and have come to the place of willing obedience. It is a sacrifice well pleasing to the LORD, and He can accept no other. Itʼs only when we show God that we mean business that He is obligated or even likely to move on our behalf. But when He does move, it will change your life! Everything becomes clear, and everything that encompasses Christianity becomes real. That is what we are after! ! We are after the reality of God! We are not interested in cold, dead religion! We have gone to church, gone through systematic rituals enough times to be content never to sit in a pew again! We have said endless prayers that mean nothing, and do nothing to stir our hearts or move the heart of God. The reality of God produces a fear (yes, I mean fear) of judgment, a love for the commandments of God, a renewed vision of the person of Christ, and a strengthening of oneʼs resolve to live godly and spread the gospel. A reality of God is overwhelming! It is wonderful, and terrifying. It is comforting, and disturbing. Disturbing because there is an acute awareness that those around you are facing a certain judgment of doom, and there is very little you can do about it. You can preach, rant, and rave all you want, but unless they experience God themselves, it will all be in vain! You also realize how difficult it was for you to enter into that same glorious state of apprehending Him, and tremble at “who then can be saved?” PART THREE Self-Examination ! We must address the travesty of the metaphorical gulf between us and our Lord. We have determined the cause, and the result of the cause, but now we must devise a solution (or rather come to understand what our role is in the solution). We are acutely aware that sin is the cause of this separation. We must face this mountain head-on, and remove it as the obstacle of offense that it is. The solution is obvious. Obey God. It is our rebellion to His law, His purpose, and His will that leaves us to “fend for ourselves” outside the courts of His grace. If we expect to be a part of the Kingʼs court, we can only reasonably conclude that our place is to find what area we are disobedient in, and ratify that sincerely and conclusively. ! Now, how can one possibly obey everything God requires? Is not the standard so high that we cannot attain it? Is it? Are you truly unable to quit smoking? Can you not prevent your lips from cursing? Is it impossible to refrain your mind from undressing that sensually-dressed woman? How many things do you do, or donʼt do, that are no doubt within your control? Think about it. If you were in boot camp, could you go without drinking? Of course you could. What are you currently partaking in that you are ready to cease? Is seeking God a worthy enough reason to lay aside these sins that so easily beset us? If you were to lay one down today, what would it be? ! What about watching pointless programming on television? Oh, you donʼt think entertainment is a sin? You are aware that its purpose is to serve your own selfish indulgence. You pamper yourself after “working so hard,” and feel as if you “deserve some down time.” Is your time your own? Has not the King of Kings paid the ultimate price for your life, and yet you squander it away with mindless entertainment such as the world enjoys, knowing full well that it was designed and established by order of the Devil himself? You find that you enjoy watching sensual pictures of lewd women, worldly idols of wealth and prosperity, even gossip about public figures or movie stars. The blood and carnage that exemplifies violence only feeds your primal instinct to kill. Though you cannot relish in that possibility now, you can imagine yourself to “be the hero,” and kill everyone who gets in your way. Does this promote the kingdom of God? Does it draw you to prayer, or reveal your responsibilities to the Kingdom in a whole new light, or does this act of indulgence simply advance the mentality and effectiveness of the Devilʼs kingdom? Perhaps that is in the way of your communion with the father. ! What about coffee? Even though its use has been widely accepted to the point where coffee shops are located in church foyers, people intuitively feel guilty for drinking “too much.” They think that if they consume only moderate amount of caffeine that it is fine. Whether a person drinks one cup or ten cups is not the issue. What does it do to your body and mind? Does it provide healthy nutrients you need to live? No. It alters your mind, and puts your adrenal system into hyper-drive. It depletes your body of the natural means to regulate heart-rate and brain activity. It makes you dependent upon a substance for energy (which is a false reality, for it leaves you greatly lacking in energy). How many times have you wondered that coffee might be a hinderance to your spiritual walk? No doubt this possibility has crossed your mind, but you think that because it is so widely accepted that there must be nothing wrong with it. Oh, how the devil has lied to us! How completely selfish is coffee-drinking, for itʼs entire purpose is to make one feel good! ! It is said that soda pop has replaced alcohol among Christians today. Iʼd have to agree with them. “Christian beer” is as common-place as.... well, a pop machine. It is so normal that few ever think once, let alone twice, about consuming can after can of this liquid sugar. Many years ago, people would naturally produce home-brewed beverages that were fermented (such as grapes or beets), and were actually good for you. The flora found in some of these drinks help to break down food into chemicals that nourish our bodies. The drinks we buy today from Coke or Pepsi are not healthy for us! They are damaging in an un-ending list of ways! The replacement sugar substances are known to cause birth defects, the sugar itself is proven to overburden our bodyʼs organs, and weaken our immune systems (which are designed by God to fight of disease and sickness). Tell me, does this bring glory to God? No! It feeds a selfish fleshy desire to satisfy the lust of our taste buds! The money given us by God to further His kingdom, is used to fill the pockets of worldli-minded men who see people as sheep for the slaughter. This does not promote godliness, but sensuality! ! I use to think that none of these things could be labeled as sin, and was even less concerned that they were something that might come between myself and the LORD. We can easily find ourselves judging outwardly when it comes to these types of things, and wrongfully accusing each other of presumptuous iniquity when there may be no fault at all. When we read Paulʼs statements “let no man judge you of food or drink,” and “let not my liberty be evil spoken of,” we sometimes are immediately able to find a means to justify our own excessive lifestyle. When we see the example of the apostles admonishing against circumcision, we conveniently forget that they also stated not to eat food that was strangled (a law in the old testament). In other words, there were standards of eating and drinking. Why are these things sin? Because they reveal a deeper sin. Selfishness. They show us that we are living for ourselves. One cannot approach God with the presumption that He only exists to make us happy. ! Is there a bitterness you are harboring against a brother? They have wronged you to such an extent that you cannot speak to them. Perhaps they have not wronged you, and you are angry at them for being themselves. You cannot stand their “personality,” or perhaps feel they are beneath your social status. You can find no means to justify yourself, but you continue to be bitter toward them. You try to avoid this person, the hairs on the back of your head stand up when they enter the room, and you find yourself glad when they are sick and in bed. Perhaps it is your prayers making them sick. Have you ever considered that before? If our prayers can raise the sick, is it not feasible that our secret thoughts can disperse enough negative energy to effect oneʼs health? You may think I am being “mystical,” but just consider the idea for a minute. Can you not sense when someone is angry? Even before they speak, negative energy oozes off them like an odor. That energy often carries over into our relationship with the LORD. Confess your ill feelings, and overcome them so that you may stand before God undefiled. ! Perhaps there are “more serious” matters that need tended to first. You may go down the list of ten commandments, and find yourself a mess! If you were to focus on only one at a time, and allow the Spirit of God to search your heart, you might very well find you are in need of repentance. To ask for forgiveness is not necessary. Simply to be sorry for oneʼs sin is not a means to attain forgiveness. Our Father in Heaven sees past our lip-service. He knows whether we have a heart to obey Him or not. Forgiveness is attained when penitence produces a willingness to obey that is believable. Jesus believed the man on the cross would obey him, and ushered him into His kingdom, as well as Mary Magdeline and Nicodemos (both showing “fruit meet of repentance”). ! Are there any other gods before you? What comes to mind when you think of this commandment “thou shalt have no other gods before me?” What about football? Or fishing? All these are done for your leisure and pleasure, though they bring no honor to the kingdom of God. Now, fishing can be an activity that provides meat for oneʼs family, but is that really why you fish or hunt? You may hunt for the pleasure of doing so, as well as going to a baseball game in the big city. You waste valuable time, spend record amounts of money, and even center your lifestyle around these idols of the world. You do not even consider that you are worshipping other gods. These things are so widely accepted that it is considered ridiculous to preach against them. That is because we have failed in our culture to define the holy from the profane, the light from the darkness, and the worldly from the godly. Defining Worldliness ! James 4:4 boldly proclaims; “ye adulterers adulteresses, know ye not that friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore is a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” Is it the LORDʼs intention simply for us to refrain from the same activities that the “world” participates in? We must understand what is meant by “the world.” It is not a physical location, but the title of a culture. A culture has values, ideals, goals, and traditions. The culture of “the world” is one that is directly opposed to the kingdom of God. Itʼs system of justice, itʼs motivation for existence is different than the kingdom of God. A worldly-minded person lives selfishly. Even good done to others is motivated by selfishness. The kingdom of Heaven is motivated entirely for the glory of God, and love for others. We must, as believers, understand this difference. ! We are prone to also forget, and must remind ourselves continually what is godly and what is worldly. As we continue through our day, our conscience begins to wane, and our minds lose their sense of reason. Watchmen Nee (a Chinese pastor during the Communist takeover) goes in more depth describing this “system” of the world in his book “Love Not the World.” I particularly valued his insight about what he called “foot washing.” He deemed the illustration of Christ washing the disciples feet as a picture of us “reminding ourselves of what is godly versus what is worldly. The idea is that we naturally accumulate dust from simply walking down the natural paths of life. Whatever oneʼs course, they no doubt encounter the filth of worldliness, and that without trying. In order to keep our minds on the kingdom, and the stench of the devilʼs off, we must “refresh” one another on a regular basis. This is also called “the washing of water by the word of God.” (Eph 5:26) Some of you brothers and sisters in Christ have to go out to work in offices or shops for, say seven or eight hours a day. It is not wrong that you do so. It is not sin to work in a shop or factory. But when you come home from your place of employment, do you not find yourself tired and dispirited and out of tune with things? You meet a brother, but you cannot slip easily and directly into speaking with him of divine things. It is as though there were a coating of something contaminating you. I repeat: that is not necessarily sin at all; it is just that your contact with the world has deposited upon you that film of tarnish. You cannot help feeling it, for there seems to be an inability to rise up to the Lord at once. The luminous touch which you had with him in the morning seems to have been darkened; its freshness has gone from you. We all know that experience. ! Is that your experience, dear saint? Can you distinguish between the touch of God the Father, and the Prince of the air? The preaching of the word is meant to do just that. It is an authoritative voice of reason that acts as a beacon of light shining into the dark areas of our lives, minds, and communities. It has almost become a crime to declare anything a sin from the pulpit today. We have adopted the idea that a pastor is not suppose to yell, confront, or make people “feel bad.” Somehow, weʼve grown to accept this idea that church is a place where we go to feel happy. If that is the case, then there is no place for sorrow over sin, grief over loved ones about to slip off into an eternity of darkness, or a nation on a crash course to hell itself. How can we hope to consider where we have wandered off the path, if the path is hardly ever illuminated? ! The purpose of church today is more about a social requirement than it is about responsibility for oneʼs soul, and a place to intercede for the lost. We seek to be entertained by the pulpit and the worship team just as we allow ourselves to be in front of our television sets, by the radio, and the figments of our own constant imaginations. Our pastors have the current responsibility of covering their behinds from litigations, rather than keeping souls out of Satanʼs grip. They are more concerned with preventing complaints of discomfort over seats, sounds, and steps into the sanctuary than they are about discovering if their congregation is living in the power of a resurrected Christ! Surely, after you attend services, you are immediately filled with emptiness, wondering if that is all there is, and settling for the “fact” that they must know better than you since theyʼve been to Bible college. ! If I were the devil, Iʼm sure that a most effective plot to destroy the effectiveness of preaching, would be to infiltrate the schools that are training our pastors. I would do everything possible to “make light” of sin (no matter how small). If the devil can get a pastor to compromise his lifestyle, it produces a wedge that pushes through society with the strength of a locomotive. Our leaders can no longer preach with authority, nor can they adequately define sin, worldliness, or disobedience. If they did, they would find themselves in need of repentance. “Be not many masters,” says Paul, “for we have the greater condemnation.” In other words, we have a higher standard to answer to, are more susceptible to the judgment of others, and subject to the ultimate judgment of God above all others. Can we expect the leaders of our local churches to “walk in the law of the LORD?” Is there anyone who can still say, “follow me, for I follow Christ?” A Perfect Man ! But who can be perfect? I have heard the statement “nobodyʼs perfect” floating around like fumes from an exhaust pipe of a Diesel truck. It falls on our ears at an alarming rate. I hear it from the pulpit, in our music, and constantly repeated among ourselves like the spreading of hives or chicken pox. Itʼs no more true than a turnip tastes like an apple! If it were true, than the Bible is untrue, and everything we believe in is a myth. It is a doctrine of devils designed to weaken, cheapen, and dissipate the power of the gospel! Hear my words, and consider them carefully; the idea that you can be perfect is exactly the reason Christ became a man! ! He gave us the perfect example. If He was fully man (laying aside his powers of deity), than it was no more possible for Him to be perfect, than it would be for me or you. And yet, we preach that He was in fact perfect. We cannot logically teach He was fully man, and then have no expectation to live in the same manner. That would be an obvious contradiction, would it not? His life was lived for the sole purpose of doing the Fatherʼs will. He had no will of his own, he had no identity of his own, he had no dreams of his own. Is that our manner of lifestyle? And yet, we claim to be “like Christ.” We claim to be like Him, but blatantly state that we cannot possibly be like Him. What a foolish contradiction! The world sees this and laughs! No wonder they lack for any religious feeling toward God! ! I encourage you to take a Strongʼs Concordance, a King James Bible, and look up all the scriptures that speak of a man being perfect. The idea that a person cannot be (or has never been) perfect is completely un-Biblical, and certainly not historical. Christ is our example of perfection. Let us trust Him! Letʼs not compare ourselves to each other, but believe God! Why not believe that He means what He says? Why not trust that there must be a way, or He would never command us to be perfect? There is a way. There is a path to obtain perfection. I cannot say that it is impossible to attain this side of eternity. I would be calling God a liar. Is God a liar? Now, It may be that a man does not attain this perfection before his ultimate death, but we cannot blatantly (and cowardly) say “nobodyʼs perfect.” This is exactly the sort of talk that causes our minds to continually justify a lazy and irresponsible attitude toward sin. We are assuaged of any guilt because we have no threat of someoneʼs righteousness outshining our own. ! I am not the first and only person to make such a radical claim. “Entire Sanctification,” or “Christian Perfection” are terms dubbed by John Wesley, one of the greatest revivalist preachers of all time. Finney preached something very similar as well, and one cannot even begin to reveal how many lives the LORD effected through his teachings. These are not men that you are I have any right or chance of ignoring. They are our heritage long forgot by men determined to undermine real Christianity. The doctrine of todayʼs standards has been compiled over decades of trying to prove these men wrong, and yet none have exemplified the same reality of God or power to convert souls to the kingdom than these men exhibited. It is not my purpose in this essay to answer all the arguments against, nor prove entirely the doctrine I preach, but to show (albeit briefly) the erroneous views of todayʼs standard of Christianity in order to (hopefully) show that there is far more to experience than is presently being observed. Who Is Righteous ! Psalm 15:1-2 states: “LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall swell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.” It is the righteous who enter into glory. It is the righteous who stand before God. And who is righteous? Another idea that has become popular is this indignation against “self-righteousness.” When people start talking about “keeping the law,” it is immediately counteracted by this argument that if you do that you will be “self- righteous.” Well then, what is righteousness? To answer that you first have to answer: What is unrighteousness? Unrighteousness is sin. What is sin? Disobedience to the law. What law? Godʼs law. So... did Adam sin? Yes. How do you know? He disobeyed the commandment of God. Which one? “Thou shalt not eat of the tree of life.” Whoa... wait a minute... you mean, even in the Garden there were certain foods we were commanded not to eat. Interesting. What other commandments did they break? 1. Thou shall not steal 2. Thou shall not covet 3. Thou shall not bear false witness 4. Have no other gods before you (themselves) ! So, the law existed before Moses ever received it and wrote it down on paper. In fact, if you look at the sacrifice that Abraham performed after receiving the covenant from the LORD that he would indeed have a son, it is very similar to the requirements given the priests for certain cleansing rituals. Keep in mind, both of these were direct commandments from the LORD, not ideas that just happened to pop in someoneʼs head after consuming too much wine. I am not saying we need to start making sacrifices, but to point out that both the moral law, and priestly law existed before Mt. Sinai. ! The common answer today is that whoever accepts Christ into their hearts has become righteous. Basically, we preach that we are righteous, even though we are unrighteous. Iʼve sat in a number of meetings where the pastor proceeds to tell his congregation that they are righteous, even though they know they are sinners. It has become an accepted way of life to live as sinners, and still claim to be saints. The world simply mocks us! Our ancestors would be ashamed! They spent their lives on their knees, and pouring their hearts out from roughly constructed pulpits to bring the gospel to lost men of the world, and the very churches named after them are pointing their middle finger in the air at them as they turn away from the very word they gave their lives for. John Bunyan spent his days in a prison cell to write the most famous “Pilgrimʼs Progress,” and yet we fail (even in Bible schools) to interpret what he even meant by his analogies. Oh, itʼs not that it is so hard to understand, but that we try to say that it means something other than what it says! We polish the sepulchers of our forefathers, but do not keep their word! It is shameful, disgraceful, and dishonoring to the Kingdom and glory of God! The Law of God ! Jesus is the living word of God which became flesh and dwelt among us, John says. In another place it states that He was crucified before the foundations of the world. In order to be an atoning sacrifice for sin (a requirement of the law), there must first be a law defining the specifications for such a sacrifice. Therefore, the entire gospel and existence of Christ, rest upon the law. The law of God is the written word of how His government operates. To break it is to face proper punishment (which is also defined). ! The law of God is divinely and uniquely impressed upon the part of our mind we call the conscience. It instinctively tells us what is right or wrong (so that we are “without excuse,” says Paul in Romans chapter one). However, we are not forced to submit to it. His requirements are impressed upon our conscience, and we can choose to obey them or not. You know this to be true because you know that you can easily lie, steal, or covet your neighborʼs things without any force stopping you. It would be ridiculous to imagine there is some invisible being holding onto your arms, and instead of allowing you to pick those flowers out of your neighborʼs bed, your hands are shoved back into your pockets while you continue on your stroll down the sidewalk. You, of course, have a choice. That is what is meant by a moral law.Obviously, the sun is obligated to stay put. It is subject to the physical law of God, as is the moon and the tide of the sea. Charles G. Finney illustrates this more clearly in his book “The Spirit-Filled Life.” Let us therefore consider that Godʼs government over men is moral, and that it is known to be such by every intelligent being. By the term “moral,” I mean that it governs by influence, not by physical force. This government knows that manʼs mind can understand truth, can appreciate its role in manʼs happiness, can judge what is right by the conscience, and through the will can determine a course of voluntary action in view of Godʼs claims. Thus, God governs the mind in a way that He does not govern matter. The planetary worlds are controlled by quite a different sort of power. God does not control them in their orbits by moral influences, but by a physical power. I said that all men know this government to be moral by their own consciousness. When its precepts and penalties come before their minds, they are conscious that an appeal is being made to their voluntary powers. They are never conscious of any physical agency forcing obedience. ! The structure of the kingdom of God is revealed by the Law. It describes the duties of man in relationship to fellow man, and also to God. It is there that we find what it is God expects of us. We know that when we are a part of His kingdom (though currently ruled invisibly), we are subject to the government of God. If we decide to live outside His kingdom, we must devise a set of rules and expectations that are unique to that kingdom. That is the only time a person can have “self-righteousness.” When it does not necessarily meet the standards of Godʼs law, but can boast of meeting its own standard. ! Contrary to that, the righteousness of God (or the righteousness of Christ) is nothing less than the fulfillment of Godʼs requirements. A man has lived his entire life in accordance to the government of God, and therefore has been found to be perfect, or righteous. That is Christ. His righteousness is no more than that, and no less. If it had been any other person , the declaration would be the same. “This man is righteous because he has fulfilled my will.” The difference between him and us is that he was a Jew. He was raised with the law of God. The same is true of Paul. The rest of us are just running to catch up. We have another culture biting at our heels. We have another standard boasting itself of wisdom in practical form all around us, and inside our heads. ! How can we ever hope to climb this colossal wall of Mt. Sinai? Just the thought of trying sends deep pangs of fear rushing through our bellies. The mountain may fall on us, and crush us before we start. There is no mercy for us who have been born into slavery in another kingdom. We are bound to our own traditions like a prisoner to a wall. We cannot escape. We live in the metaphorical kingdom of Egypt. Prosperity, science, religion, and military power flaunts itself everywhere we look. How can we hope to fall upon the word of God and surrender? The Bible clearly states that if one is a breaker of one part of the Law, he is a transgressor of the whole Law. That means that one cannot pick and choose which parts he wants to obey. We have the audacity in our culture to think we can determine which parts of Godʼs law are required for us, and which are for the nation of Israel. We fail to understand that Godʼs law was not created for Israel, it was revealed to them. It has always been there. God has always welcomed any that would truly live according to His divine will. Those who wished to become Jews were welcomed, but only upon conditions. It is not the bloodline that the LORD rejected, but the morality of other nations. When the Jews became discriminatory according to origins of descent and family background, they lost sight of (or failed to understand) the heart of the Father. Jews and Gentiles ! The amazing transition from Jesus ministry to the apostles was the mass- welcoming of non-Jews into the religion of the Jews through faith in Christ. Jesus spent his time going to “the lost sheep of Israel,” even calling a Syrophoenician woman a dog and making the claim that she only deserves the “crumbs” of the ministry. In other words, He was concerned with restoring Jews to the faith, not spreading that faith to the rest of the world. Of course, this changed somewhat with the Apostles (though there certainly were more apostles that focused almost entirely on Israel). Jesus also made the statement that “salvation is of the Jews” when He spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well outside of the place where Jews lived and worship. Another time, He emphatically states in Luke 13:31 that “unless one hears Moses and the prophets, he will not believe.” ! When a rabbi makes mention of Moses (in terms of literature), he is of course speaking about the Torah. The Torah is the most sacred of all scriptures because it contains the law. The prophets are known to be prophets not for proclaiming future events, but for pointing the people of Israel back to the law of God. It is amazing that the LORD always seems to be pointing back, even sending men to do the same. It is also amazing how resistant the human race is to such a purpose. We are bent on going forward, always forward, nothing stopping the “progress” we have already made. The LORD knows that unless a house is built on a firm foundation, and is erected by proper angles and support, it will not stand the test of time. ! I am not advocating a gospel of works (as some might think), that we might have something to boast in the flesh to others. I am not laying claim to the idea that the Jews are the ideal example for us to follow, and that we should emulate their lifestyle. My point about the law of God is that it belongs to Him, He is the author, founder, and mediator. Also, that His kingdom is open to all people, not just a particular nation, but that it is much more clearly revealed and understood through the nation of Israel. Jesus made a revolutionary statement: “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation (meaning “visual perception”)... for the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:20-21) Paul describes this in another way in 2 Corinthians 2:6-16. He remarks that the natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God, but that they must be revealed to him (v.10,14). ! There are three types of revelation; that which is revealed by God thorough miracles, that which is revealed by his Sprit through the preaching of His word, and that which is personally revealed to an individual by the Holy Ghost. The revelation of the kingdom of God was most gloriously accomplished initially at Mt. Sinai, and most perfectly through the example of the Messiah. The Law gives us a framework for the LORDʼs kingdom in the affairs of life for daily, weekly, monthly, and annual use. There is no justification that we can give to do away with these commands without His written consent, and we have received no such document. Jesus himself, being the perfect example of a citizen of his Fatherʼs kingdom, kept all the feasts and customs revealed to Israel through the Law. He also made no recorded statement with instructions to do otherwise. In fact, it was just the opposite. However, He did chide the pharisees for keeping the letter of the Law, but neglecting the purpose. He made it clear that the intention of the Law was not to make ourselves slaves to outward traditions, but to show us what it would look like if we were “one with the Father,” and truly loved our neighbor as ourselves. ! A ritual can be whatever you decide it to be. Keeping a ritual of sacrificing animals is no more dangerous to experiencing the life of Christ than saying a prayer before passing the offering plate, or making confessions to a Catholic priest. If they are only rituals, they serve no real purpose for the kingdom of God. We are only doing them to please men, and make ourselves appear spiritual to others. It is all pointless and selfish without the presence and purpose of God. To seek and to find the reality of God in the practice of religion is what we are after, whether Jew or Gentile. The only difference between the Jewish faith and Protestant faith, is they have received direct commandments from God as to how there ceremony should be performed. We are left to determine our own methods. Can you not see where the greater danger lies? Those rituals do not provide salvation by keeping them, but salvation is not the issue being addressed in this letter. This topic is on determining the cause for the absence of Godʼs presence and communion in our lives. Finding Mercy ! The Law is the standard (revealed by God), but oneʼs motive and purposes in life are revealed to the individual by the Holy Ghost (Heb 4:12). The standard shows us when we fall short, but the Spirit shows us why. When the Law is broke, there is a debt that needs to be paid by the law-breaker. When we wrong our neighbor (or our heavenly Father), and must pay him for that wrong. It is not sufficient simply to ask for forgiveness. A debt must be paid. Forgiveness is canceling a debt to that which is necessarily owed. Paying that debt is the requirement of the Law, but it is also the fulfillment of the intention of the Law. In other words, one will naturally feel obliged to compensate a brother for their losses, “own up” to their own actions, and restore what is owed to that person. “The end of the law is charity unfeigned,” says Paul to Timothy. We know that we are walking in love when we keep the law, not just outwardly, but in oneʼs heart. Jesus is quoted in saying “The greatest commandant is to love the LORD with all your heart... and your neighbor as yourself.” The purpose of the Law is not bondage, but love! It is a teacher designed to show us when we are walking in a way that is damaging to ourselves and others, or in a way that is loving toward others. We are a selfish people. We naturally will do everything that is necessary to resist the law of God, not because the law is “outdated” or intended for another people group, but because we do not wish to know when we are walking outside the love of God. ! The Word of God clearly states in 1 John 2:5 that “whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.” The idea that we need to do away with the law in order to love our neighbor is a twist of scripture, and a dangerous one at that. It is true that the law can be used against each other, as in the case of the woman caught in adultery. They were not going to their sister in love and rebuking her, they were masquerading her about as an example for others to fear them. We are not their judge, though we do judge, but we judge according the law and heart of God. A person may be taken in a fault, but it is not our place to display their sin before all the world in order to embarrass them and make us look good. Jesus cut that mentality to shreds when he told them to cast the first stone, if they be without sin. In other words, “You only bring her out here before the public to make yourselves look so good, but it will never do. You are full of sin, and in need of repentance. Repent, and you will receive mercy. Continue to place yourself far above other people, and you will receive the wrath of God.” ! Obviously, he didnʼt elaborate what He fully meant in this situation, and people have long speculated, often using it as the best example of how He was laying the law of his government aside in order to exact mercy. He made it clear that this woman had a clean slate, if she chose to walk in it. He demonstrated that the mercy of God is not far from those who are willing to turn their feet from sin to righteousness. What a message! Not only does he forgive us our sins, but declares that we can live holy! Can you imagine the freedom upon your mind from the constant guilt before God, and shame toward your fellow man? What was the miracle there? Was it just a woman being forgiven, or saved from a certain death? NO! It was the idea that one can truly walk in righteousness, even after committing sins! God does not see our past, but His standard for the future has not changed. The LORD does not remember our sins, if we turn away and forsake them! Under the Law ! When Paul is talking about being “under the law,” he is not referring to the law of God, but the law of sin. When you read carefully Romans 7:20-8:2 you will find that he is making a distinction between two different laws! There is the law of sin, and the law of God. The law of sin keeps us bound to practice iniquity. It is antithetically opposed to being “subject” to the law of God. The law of sin hates the law of God. The law of sin keeps you captive to your flesh. You are a prisoner to disobey the law of God. Some have labeled this aspect of our struggle as “our sinful nature.” The idea prevailing today shows that our nature is a great beast that will never be fully mastered. It is like a ball and chain that we drag around with us wherever we go, and the next life is the only place to hope to be free. More and more people in ministry today are grabbing hold of that doctrine, and spreading it like the common cold spreads through a sneeze. Thankfully, if your spiritual immune system is strong, you will not be susceptible to such foolishness. Why, that is the complete opposite what the apostle is declaring! Somehow we neglect to understand the words; “but I delight in the law of God after the inner man.” ! To live an outward lifestyle of rules and regulation, is not keeping the law of God. The law is only designed to show us that there is something wrong! When the Holy Spirit searches the motives of the depth of our hearts, we find ourselves utterly opposed to being ruled by the Lord of Lords. Without the strength of YWHW residing within our souls, we will not have the ability to resist this Hell-powered system in the world we live in. We constantly and easily justify ourselves, and truthfully are sometimes even unaware that we have wandered off the narrow path of righteousness, without the wonderful searching of Godʼs spirit upon our hearts. The enemy is after our souls, and is well aware that it is Godʼs spirit alone that gives us strength. He does not have to keep us engrossed in sin, but simply distract us from reaching the throne room of grace. Grace is the most amazing gift and tool of heaven, but it is not just a moment in time, it is a living, breathing, reality of Godʼs presence. Without that, we find ourselves wholly disposed to walk in sin. ! When I say that we have the ability to live in obedience to the government of God, I do not mean that we are able to without Christ! Grace is like the oil inside the engine. When it is empty, the metal begins to grind and the engine seizes. We resort to pushing our vehicles around with great efforts to appear holy when we are not. To “cease from our own labors” is to stop pushing the vehicle, and get behind the wheel to let the engine do the pulling (after pulling it in the garage and repairing the damage, which means taking it apart piece by piece). The engine is the law of God. It gets us to our destination, but it is not the whole vehicle. Our part is to learn how to properly use and maintain this machine (though you could well illustrate the same with a simple horse and buggy). All these things must be put into perspective. One may take great pride in tuning his engine, but neglect to care for his wheels (relationships with others). The vehicle may look very shiny sitting in the driveway, but if it cannot be driven, it has no use to the furtherance of the Kingdom. PART FOUR Furthering the Kingdom ! To further Godʼs kingdom is the driving force behind our existence. It is not solely to experience God for the joy of it (though I suggested this idea in the beginning of my thesis). If our intention is to find God only for the enjoyment of it, than we are seeking Him on a selfish basis, and most likely will never find Him. I am reminded of the sorcerer who followed Peter around, desiring to obtain the same power they had to raise the sick, etc. Peter responded by saying; “Thy money perish with you!” Harsh words. One does not experience the reality of the kingdom like Daniel or Abraham because they are only interested in what God can do for them. They sought Him to discover what they can do for God! Thatʼs an entirely different motive! ! We seek God to obtain power to live godly, power to pray for others, and power to minister to others. Thatʼs a lot of power-seeking, ambitiousness (An idea that many claim to be wrong)! When you are done cleaning out your own soul, you find that there are others who would do well to discover this “narrow-minded” path of life and peace! You become burdened for their souls, grieved for their sins that separate them from He who longs to communicate with them His grace. You learn that God himself suffers the turmoil of rejection He experiences from those He loves so much He gave His only begotten son, and that He is willing to do whatever it takes to get their attention and bring them back into the safety of His fold. We know that we need the Power from on High in order to reach those poor lost sinners. ! Now, I am not talking about the entire world. I am talking about your friends, your family, your church body. Once you begin to hunger and thirst after righteousness, and discover the principles of finding this reality, you realize that most of your relations have not and do not experience this same reality You long to have their support to continue in this reality yourself, which perhaps has been all-illusive or sporadic at best. Church will be a constant frustration. There is a continual battle of humanism, quenching the spirit with levity, and worldliness prevailing in our conversations, preaching, and our very prayers. It is for the heaviness of the sadness of that reality that drives you to prayer. You pray for strength just to keep your feet on the narrow path you have only barely discovered. You pray for some “miracle” to allow the spirit of the living god to flow through your church like fire upon the alter of Elijah! You are so grieved to watch young people slipping off into the flames of lust and worldly ambition that you would willingly sell all that you possess to see even one repent and follow God (though they believe they are serving Him already). ! It is in this condition (once you work past the feelings of self-pity and doubt as to the power of God to effect change), that the Holy Spirit will pour out His thoughts to you. It is in this frame of mind that you will discover that all is not well in the realm of existence you call “life.” Scripture will come alive to your mind like fire! It will consume you to the point where you feel you might well die if there is not some relief! That is the burden that God feels for you even now! He longs to embrace you, to ask you to share in His burden. He has given it to some, but it is too much for one man to bear. He needs an army! Will you join the cause of furthering His kingdom? Will you spend your hours in study, in prayer, in seeking ways to further His kingdom? Service to the Church ! The mistake we all make when coming to the place of surrender, is we are immediately swept up into outward services. We think it is our duty to stack chairs, mow yards, sing in choirs, and whatever else we may do to be in assistance to “the Lordʼs work.” This is not the LORDʼs work! Pastor Carter Conlon from Times Square Church in New York City has a message called “The No Sweat Ministry.” It is worth the listen. It is very easy to find ourselves extremely busy doing a lot of work for the church, but doing very little (if anything) for the kingdom of God. That is the first thing we need to understand. It may take more than my warning you before you discover the truth of what I say. You may try for many years to fit the kingdom of God into this nice neat little box we call church service, and think you are doing God a favor. You arenʼt. Get over yourself. ! That doesnʼt mean you wonʼt be doing any of those things though. The point is not to get distracted by thinking that by doing those things you are advancing the kingdom. Anything you do needs to be led by Him, if you do anything. The most effective ministries Iʼve ever studied were done by closet intercessors. They spent hours on their knees in prayer, but they moved mountains for the kingdom of God! No preaching is effective without true intercession fueling itʼs delivery. No pastor is without the need for this kind of prayer. Even yours. If you do nothing else, pray for that man to lead, preach, and teach in the power and anointing of the Holy Ghost. You will develop a love for that man that cannot be swayed by even his opinion of you, or the treatment you may get from his staff. Rest assured, if you choose to live godly, you will suffer persecution, but it is all for the glory of God! ! The calling of God into service, is a call to battle. You are fighting not just for the souls of those you love and know, but you are helping to fight with countless others surrounding the throne day and night crying out for the LORD to avenge their blood. You may not fight with fists and knives, for the battle is not won by killing, but by raising the dead! When a sinner comes to find the life of Christ, the old man dies, but the new man raises in newness of life! You are helping to build a kingdom that is established in truth, righteousness, and unsurpassable, incomprehensible love that flows from the heart of our Creator. I only ask that you consider whether you truly are a part of this movement, or only exist to better your own purposes. Final Thoughts ! I have one final thought to leave you with. It is one that I must address, though I am reluctant to. It is almost guaranteed that if I open my mouth, it will be met with scorning. We forget that the LORD uses men to reveal His judgment to others. It gives me no great joy to say this, but it must be said. We live in a country where the word of the LORD is being twisted into something that it was never intended for. Pastors are actually using the name of Christ, and His very words, to promote the worship of Baal. We call him Christ, but it is not the person of Christ. I can say this because I know Him. It would be ridiculous for me to imagine that I donʼt, and wrong of me to agree with the idea that who we commonly think of as Jesus is when it is not. That probably offends most people by saying that, but I have little doubts that they cannot prove to me that I am wrong, because there is very little revelation from the Spirit of God that comes to them to discern truth from lie. They seek God for their own interests, and whatever “vision” they receive is twisted to suit that interest. ! I say this only to warn you. You may be a pastor, or a leader in a church. You may be a lowly peon that warms a pew bench every week or so. You may not even go to church. I donʼt know. I donʼt write this to stroke your ego or because I think it will gain me some sort of popularity or financial gain. I write this to warn you. If I do not warn you, then I am guilty (by law) of whatever harm might come upon you, or whatever crime you may be committing now or in the future. If I see sin, and I do not reprove it, then I am a partaker in that sin, and am therefore just as guilty. We have adapted the concept that we should just leave each other alone to find our own way, and that “reproofs of instruction are [not] a way of life.” We do not think we need to judge anyone (and there is a type of judgment that is sinful, but that is not the context here). We also find no place to judge ourselves, which is a prerequisite for judging others. But the scripture “it displeased him that there was no judgment” (Isaiah 59:15) still stands true today. God is a god of judgment. ! There are plenty of people who will tell you all is well, that your standing before God is nothing to worry about, and that there is nothing coming in the future that you need to prepare for. Those liars will stand before God with a stronger judgment than you can even imagine. They do not know because they are blind, arrogant, and deceived. I talk like this, not because I donʼt love them, but because I am not afraid of them. They cannot take anything from me that I have not lost already. My concern is for you. Can you stand up to the giant that mocks the army of God? Can you face the lions that threaten to devour those devoted to His law? “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.” (Proverbs 24:10) Strength is what you need. Strength is what you will find at the throne room of grace. It is not an imagined state of being, but a real experience of God! It is difficult to discern sometimes (the heart itself is deceitful and speaks its own ideas and wisdom), for it is a “still small voice,” but once you begin to recognize it, you understand that “my sheep know my voice, and they will follow no other voice.” ! The preachers of our society are standing in the way of the ministry of Godʼs word, not delivering it. They are without the power of God, do not understand the mysteries of God, and are furthering a secular, evolutionary, humanistic, gospel of dead works, imagined faith, and powerless ideologies. They are expanding the kingdom of the devil. The church today is no threat to his system of self-glorification. His ways are advancing all around us, and we are powerless to resist. I do not know if it can be stopped. Most people think that there is no reason to fight because the LORD will destroy everything soon. They do not care that those around may perish in the flames, and they do not realize that their failure to do something to prevent that catastrophe will cause judgment to come upon their own heads. I believe (perhaps foolishly) that Godʼs kingdom can advance upon our hearts, in our lives, in our homes, in our church, in our community, in our city, in our state, in our country, and in the world to the point where the devil is driven completely out of both heaven and Earth. I know there is a new heaven and a new earth already in the plans to be constructed following the destruction of the first two, but there is a part of me that understands something about the nature of God. He is merciful beyond all imagination. ! It does not matter if we die in the fight, or that we are destined to lose. Chivalry, bravery, and responsibility do not flinch at the possibility of losing. It only matters that we preserve the principles of liberty, promote justice, and seek to live in righteousness to the very end. I do not believe that we can lose that battle, if we seek Him with all our heart, and He is found of us. “One shall send a thousand to flight, and two shall send ten thousand,” says the LORD. Do not ever think you are alone, though you will think that. Do not ever lose faith that oneʼs heart might receive the gospel. We do not decide our own fate. We are in the hands of God Almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth! There will come a time when the hireling will have no voice. All their scholastic degrees of manʼs wisdom will not matter then. It is only after the collapse of our economy, and the suffering of the common people is exceedingly great, and reality replaces the superficiality we call life, that you will hear the wisdom of these words. I may be gone then, but I will not be far. Will you trust God today? Will you serve Him? Will you seek to know Him above all other things? Will you enter His kingdom? “Let the lamb who was slain, receive the reward of His suffering!”