Fright night prelude . . .

Jeremiah 10 says, “Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might.
[7] Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.
[8] But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.”

Jordan explains, “Notice there is a doctrine associated with the worship of these idols and the doctrine is called in I Timothy, ‘The doctrine of devils.’ There’s a religious system associated with these people and these idols and the idols represent the physical manifestation of the demonic spirits that inspires the doctrine they represent.”

The passage goes on, “Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men.
[10] But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.”

Jordan says, “They’ve got the colors, the robes, the tapestry, and all the accoutrements that go along with the idol. That’s the contrast going on in Luke 8. This (formerly demon-controlled) man was over there caught up in all this satanic stuff and now he’s liberated and Christ says, ‘You go back and tell those people where you come from in your hometown—go back into that satanic stronghold—and declare to them what the true and living God can do. Demonstrate for them what He’ll accomplish and let them see the difference between you now, and when you were like they are, and make that known.’

“It’s fascinating this thing about Jesus being the true and the living God. You know, when you read down there in Jeremiah 10, Jeremiah looks at it and says, ‘Man, when people look at you and realize who you are it’s staggering to consider who God is, and who in their right mind wouldn’t honor you?!’

*****

“A brother in Christ asked me, ‘What is your favorite subject to study in all of the Bible?’ Usually my favorite book is the one I’m studying at the time because you just get caught up and fascinated in it.

“But I thought for a minute, ‘If there’s one subject in the Bible that you like to study that does more for you than when you study it than any other subject, that would be your favorite subject, that when you’re down in the dumps, it’s the subject you’d study and it’d get you up and when you’re up already it’s the subject that would bring you up more . . .’

“The word ‘enthusiasm’ is a Greek word--‘en’ and then the word ‘theos,’ or God. Into God. The Greek word is the idea of being inspired and lifted up. You get into God and it gets you into life.

“If there’s one thing I could study, and that I do study a lot, and just enjoy studying that always revs me up, it’s what Christ told that guy to do. It’s the deity of Christ. Of all the subjects in the Bible, for me personally, and I think for every Believer, ought to be the most powerful subject in your life, is just to stand back and look at who the Bible says Jesus Christ is and appreciate the fact that you’re in Him and that you’re complete in Him, and that it’s Him who is the source of all your blessings, and the source of your true, real identity, and He’s the one you have all your status in.

“You see, that’s the thing that’s so wonderful about the grace of God; it’s that it makes Jesus Christ everything. And the Bible says that ‘it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell.’ If you ask God the Father what is the most exciting subject in all the universe, He’d say, ‘My Son.’

“Psalm 16 says ‘at my right hand are pleasures forever more.’ Well, who sits at the Father’s right hand? Any way you cut it, slice it, dice it, look at it, think about it, take it apart and put it back together, Jesus Christ is the apple of the Father’s eye. He’s the thing that causes the Father’s heart to rejoice. He’s the one.

“It’s mindboggling when you really look at what the Scripture says about who He is. It’s sort of numbs your mind. It’s SO big, and it just keeps getting bigger, and you can never just get your arms around it."

*****

“When Satan’s tempting Jesus Christ in the wilderness, he says, ‘If you be the Son of God, c’mon and do that! Let me see you do that!’ Well, He’s going to do it one day. But Satan says, ‘Do it now! C’mon, if you’re who you say you are! If you’re who God says you are, why are you down over here in the wilderness like a whipped pup hungry with no friends?! Why aren’t you in the glorious splendor that God says is yours?!’ Satan goes right to the heart of the thing.

“In Matthew 11, when John the Baptist was in prison, you remember he sent his disciples and said go ask Jesus, ‘Are you really the Messiah?’ Why would John do that? Well, he’s been preaching about the kingdom, and the Messiah coming and delivering them, but where is he? In jail fixing to have his head cut off.

“Do you think maybe he would be a little concerned that, ‘I want to be just real sure that what I’m preaching is right’? Yeah. That’s what the devil’s trying to do with Christ here. Just get Him to doubt.

“Jesus said unto him, ‘It is said thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. You don’t doubt God. You just trust what God said.

“When we’re dealing with the demons here, we’re dealing with the issue of the satanic attempt to hold the land. The kingdom of God and the kingdom of the power of darkness are coming in conflict here and this unclean spirit is in the synagogue, right in the middle of Israel’s religion.

“You see how polluted Israel’s religion had become? In the synagogue, where the Word of God, where the holy one of Israel is to be recognized, what do you have? Satan parading his victories and polluting Israel right before God’s face, as it were. You have this vain, apostate religion in Israel.

“What would Jesus would say in John 8? ‘You are of your father the devil!’ Literally carrying on Satan’s plan and purpose in the earth instead of God’s.

“Notice where this guy in Mark 5 lived. Verse 3 says he dwellest among the tombs, he’s in the mountains, he’s cutting himself and so forth. Come with me to Isaiah 65.

“You know what that guy in Mark 5 was doing? He was carrying on that pagan system back here in Isaiah 65, describing the demonic activity of Satan in Israel’s program—that guy in Mark 5 is possessed and doing exactly what the prophets said Israel would do. The picture of Israel possessed by the satanic policy of evil.

“That’s exactly what’s going on back here in Luke 4, only he’s right there doing it like Isaiah 65 says, ‘before God’s face.’ He’s in the synagogue where the Word of God is! Where you’d think you could go and find truth in the nation!

“Luke 4:33 says, ‘And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice.’ Christ is going to demonstrate that He has the power to cast out the spirits of unclean devils. He comes and takes that which defiles the nation Israel and does away with it and cleanses them and sets them free from satanic captivity.

“Verse 34 says, ‘Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.’

“He takes himself and the man and identifies them as one. He is so in control of the guy that he speaks of this man as one with himself. He’s POSSESSING him! And he’s come to possess and pollute Israel and possess and pollute Israel’s land.

“‘Let us alone,’ means ‘Leave us to our sinful captive state.’ Isn’t that what sin does? Think about that. ‘Leave us in the clutches of the satanic policy of evil! We don’t want anything to do with thee!’ Why? Well, Jesus said, ‘Men love darkness rather than light!’ ‘We’re happy in our sin; we’re happy in our darkness! Get away from us!’ Isn’t that what Israel just did to Christ?

“He’s the one who comes and says, ‘I’m the one who can deliver you; I’m the one who can come bring all the answers! And it will extend out to all of the nations of the earth! Come on, let’s go!’ and they say, ‘We don’t want anything to do with you; we think we’ll just throw you over the hill and just get rid of you!’ That’s exactly what’s going on in the nation Israel!

“ ‘Art thou come to destroy us?’ Yeah. He had! But this guy isn’t saying, ‘I know that’s what you come for.’ He’s questioning why Christ is there and he’s saying, ‘You’re not any better than I am. I’ve come to steal and to kill, and that’s what you’ve come to do. You think you’re better than me?! You’re not any better than I am! In fact, you’re not as good as I am. You profess to be a holy one. I know what I’m doing. Buzz off.’

“Notice how he acknowledges who the Lord is? James 2:19 says, ‘Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.’

“They’re ahead of you sometimes. ‘They don’t just know there’s a God—they tremble!’ Notice he calls him Jesus of Nazareth. There’s his humanity. ‘The holy one of God.’ There’s his Deity. This guy understands who he is; he just equates the Lord Jesus Christ as his enemy and he says, ‘We got a better plan than you do. You just want to come to destroy us. Well, I work for the REAL destroyer.’

“Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Hold thy peace and come out of him.’ The Lord Jesus Christ takes that demon’s self-justification and turns it into what it is—self-condemnation—and He silences him. He says, ‘Shut your mouth.’ That’s the justice of God.

“Romans 3:19 says, ‘Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.’

“You see the justice of God stops the mouth of rebellion! So Christ rebukes him. He says, ‘Hold thy peace and come out!’ and when the devil had fled him in the midst, he came out of him and hurt him not.

“In the account in Mark 1 it says, ‘after the devil had torn him.’ One last attempt by that demon that’s in him to try to render this man useless before he came out. Now, he had to come out because Christ told him to come out. Jesus Christ never had any trouble getting the demons out of anybody.”

Purity's prize

Daniel 1: 8-9 says, “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
[9] Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.”

Jordan explains, “God had already worked on Daniel’s behalf, even though Daniel probably didn’t even know it. He had a life that reflected the genuine nature of the commitment he'd made. That’s why purity of life is so important. You need to have a sweet, gentle, loving, kind, outgoing spirit. Daniel had it and that validated his message. He showed the reality of God at work, so he’d already found some favor; already had some influence.

“There are number of people in the Bible who come to mind like that. Joseph found favor with Pharaoh, we’re told.

“Psalm 106 says, 43] Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.
[44] Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry:
[45] And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.
[46] He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives.

“Isn’t that wonderful how God can do that? God sends Israel out there to be in captivity but He made the society that held them captive love ’em and pity ’em and be kindly affectioned toward them. Why in the world did He do that? Because of His covenant.

“Proverbs 16:7 says, ‘When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.’ When those peoples’ ways walked in the ways of God, even their enemies we’re influenced by it and were at peace with them.

“Paul says almost the same thing in a different way in I Timothy 2: [1] I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;
[2] For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
[3] For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour.’

*****

“Daniel wasn’t some rough, camel-hide coated prophet over on the backside of the wilderness bellowing out rebuke. He was a man in the king’s palace, taking a stand. He takes a stand and God stands with him.

“I say to you, folks, that any commitment you ever make in the things of the Lord is going to be tested to prove its reality. It’s cheap to say, ‘I’m gonna do this for the Lord.’ The Lord’s gonna find out whether you mean that or not.

“The great saints down through the ages got tested—every one of them—to find out if the commitment was real. To prove the reality of it to themselves. God knows whether it’s real or not. But to prove it to you and those around you.

“James said, ‘Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
[4] But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.’

 “When I read Daniel 1:13, I say, ‘Man, there’s a man with confidence.’ You know something, folks, compromise results in doubt, but purity, that uncompromising commitment to do what God wants done, always brings confidence.

“When you’re sinning, you’re always looking over your shoulder and wondering if it will work. But when you just stand for the Lord and stand for what He says, you know what will happen? There’s confidence, that boldness to know, ‘Hey, the Lord’s gonna do it.’

“Now watch what happens: ‘So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days.
[15] And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat.’

“There’s a verse in Proverbs that tells you about that. Proverbs 3: 5-7 says, ‘Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
[6] In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
[7] Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil.’

“Daniel knew what was going on and God honored him. He knew God would take care of him and he knew if he just needed to keep a little color in his face and gain 10 pounds it wouldn’t be any problem for the Lord to put on a pound a day no matter what he’s eating.

“Daniel 1 goes on in verse 16, ‘Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse.’

“That verse is important. That verse tells me that Melzar, when he put that old porridge in front of him and that glass of cold water, he put the beefsteak and the wine goblet down there too. He took that away and just gave them the other from that point on. Dan and the boys don’t eat the king’s meat.

“Verse 17 says, ‘As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.’

 “Proverbs 22:29 says, ‘Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.’ Listen, if you’ll be diligent in the little thing God gave you to do, and thank Him it’s a little thing and you’re not in over your head . . . Daniel and these boys put purity about everything else.

“My dear friend, purity is the main business of the Believer. It’s of first importance. Dan put it first and God gave him influence.

“There’s a verse in Jeremiah 45:5 that means a lot to me. It says, ‘And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the LORD: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest.’

“You want to have influence for the Lord? You just be faithful and uncompromising in your commitment to Him. If you’ll be faithful in the little things and be faithful, God will give you influence for Him.

“Verse 20 says, ‘And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.’

“How many days back in verse 12 did He prove them? Ten days. ‘He found them 10 times better than all the musicians and the astrologers in all his realm.’ You got to look at a passage in Psalm 119 with that.

“Psalm 119 says, [97] O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.
[98] Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.
[99] I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.
[100] I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.
[101] I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word.
[102] I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me.
[103] How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
[104] Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.’

“Ten times greater than the best brains Babylon had to offer! You know how? Sticking with that Book, being true to what God gave them to do.”

Chambers of compromise

Over and over in the Old Testament you see how the Israelis are just like the heathen around them, in total idolatry.

Ezekiel 8:11-12 says, “And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up. Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.”

Jordan explains, “Those are the 70 elders that rule the nation like in Numbers 11 when Moses established them back there. Here are the leaders, the hierarchies, the ancients of the nations. The leaders of the nation and what do they do?

“These people, in the chambers of their heart down inside, are imagining vain things. Ezekiel 14:3 says, ‘Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?’

“He’s showing you what’s in the heart of these men. You understand these men were still the priests of the Lord. They were the leaders of Israel in the temple of God! They had the outward form of the true worship but their heart wasn’t worshipping God. Their heart was serving Baal.

*****

Ezekiel writes in chapter 8, ‘Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.
[13] He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.
[14] Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD's house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.’

“Tammuz was the son of the goddess of the sun. In the Baal worship system there’s always a Madonna and child. Tammuz is the baby and he has two tremendous things happen in his life. One is he’s killed. Then, later on, he’s resurrected.

“He dies in the fall of the year as the ‘god of agriculture’ and as the winter approaches, and in the spring of the year he’s resurrected. These women are weeping not for their sin, or the judgment of God that’s coming. They’re weeping for Tammuz of all things.

“Verse 15 says, ‘And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.’

“You see what these guys are doing? They’re in the temple and they’re making out like they’re worshipping Jehovah and yet they’re really just eyeball deep in Baal worship.

“Verse 17 says ‘they put the branch to their nose.’ That’s quite a statement, isn’t it? You know, four times in Old Testament the Lord Jesus is called by the title ‘the branch.’ Isaiah 4, Jeremiah 23, Zachariah 3 and 6. Each one of those four references is a reference to a particular characteristic of the Lord Jesus Christ that’s reflected in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It’s a fascinating portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Author of life.

“This idolatrous system here has taken that title and developed their own idolatrous source of life. God is love, therefore love is God, and the highest act a man can perform is to create life. That’s why the tremendous sexual abominations that were involved in this—in fact, the word used there is the word used for 'phallus.' The Greek phalex that later on shows up.

“You know, we say you’re ‘thumbing your nose at God.’ That’s the modern-day derivative of this term here. The Italians have a vulgar, vile gesture that they use that’s a similar kind of a thing. They just show the earthy, abominable nature and that’s what’s going on there.

“Now, they are apostates. They started in the truth and they had the Word of God and there’s a tremendous example in Ezekiel 8: 11.

“II Kings 22:8 says, ‘And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it.’

“By the way, that image of jealousy there in the passage, prophetically, is the Antichrist. But historically it’s a reference back to the image Manasseh set up in the temple. He set up the idols.

“Folks, Israel carried idols with them from the time they left Egypt. In fact, they carried the idols around with them with an idolatrous tabernacle for them to live in the wilderness when they wandered those 40 years. They never did get rid of that stuff.

“That’s why whenever one of those kings gets right he always goes out and busts up a bunch of images. Those things are sitting over the in corner of the temple and they get ’em out and dust ’em off every now and then and start worshipping ’em and making new ones.

“Well, Manasseh does all that and Josiah comes along and they have a tremendous revival under him in II Kings 22:8. Here’s the reason the revivals came along. It’s because the Word of God begins to be spread in their midst again.

“Shaphan is a tremendous influence in Israel’s history and he’s a tremendous figure in the revival under Josiah, going out and teaching the Word and the truth of God. He had three boys and two of them are good friends of Jeremiah. They’re mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah. This one here, Jaazaniah, is a total apostate.

“I mean, folks, the idea here that the son of this illustrious and God-fearing scribe could become a leader among the idolatrous animal worshippers of Baal, in the midst of Israel’s temple, no doubt was a living example to Daniel of the fruits of compromise and the result of it.

“You know something, I have never seen, and I don’t think you’ve ever seen, one legitimate reason to compromise one truth. Daniel knew that. You know where compromise always leads? You become a Jaazaniah, burning incense in the house of God, of the devil.”

Ready to go

“There’s a principle,” Jordan says in an old GSB tape. “Old man Bob Jones used to say, ‘Duties never conflict.’ And you need to write that down upon the impress of the doorway of your mind and never forget it. It will get you through some real questionable situations sometimes.

“There’s another one the old man (Alabama-born evangelist and pioneer religious broadcaster who founded Bob Jones University) used to say and these two have meant more to me through the years than anything and that’s, ‘The greatest ability is dependability.’ That will help you get through some real tough spots of self-doubt.

“If you have the heart attitude and be what God’s given you to be--a member of the Body of Christ functioning in that way wherever you are--you’ll find that He’ll open doors and begin to move you around when He’s ready to. Doors will open and you’ll go.

“Chapter 4:3. God’s will is that you be clean. Holiness, not a holy mess. God expects you to strive for perfect holiness in the fear of God. II Cor. 7:1. The will of God is not so much to worry about where you are as much as it is He wants you to be where you are, living a sinless life. Your attitudes first and your actions.

*****

“Romans 1:11. This is why Paul wants to go to them. Paul’s got a big heart. He’s just an affectionate, loving fellow. He loved them. Never saw them before but he loved them.

“That verse compares with 16:25. The issue in Paul’s mind is, ‘I want to get down there and I want you people to be established.’ That passage we read in I Thess. 3:10, ‘I want to come back and see you’re established in the faith.’ The issue in Paul’s mind is first and foremost, always and ever, maturity. Grow up.

“The spiritual gift he wants to give them is doctrine. That word ‘stablish’ means to be firmly grounded so that you can stand unshakably. Be grounded, stabilized, balanced out so you stand. You’re not tossed to and fro.

“Verse 12. You’ll always find that the teacher is as richly blessed as the pupil when you teach the word and that’s what he’s saying there. Sometimes he sends a letter to do the job and sometimes he sends a man, like in I Thess. 3, he sent Timothy to establish the Thessalonians because he couldn’t come.

“The job is always to see the people get stabilized in your ministry.

*****

“Romans 1:14. When he talks about Greeks and barbarians, that’s the way the Greeks divided up the world.

"The Greeks, when they looked at the world, said, ‘There’s Greeks and then there are barbarians. The wise and the unwise.’

“The word ‘barbarian’ means basically ‘uneducated guy.’ It’s a reference to somebody who can’t speak Greek, in meaning at that time and not today.

“I was just in a meeting where this guy wanted to advertise his school out on the West Coast and he gets up there and says, ‘if you can’t speak Greek, you got no business teaching and preaching the word of God.’

“I asked him, ‘When you teach and preach the Bible, do you do it in Greek?’ He said, ‘No, I teach and preach in English.’ And I said, ‘That no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.’ How come you can privately interpret what the passage says and give it to me and I’m supposed to trust you and I can’t trust the 47 translators that did my Bible here? How come you know so much more than they do?

“All of a sudden it got to wet to plow. You see, all of a sudden you got the old thing, ‘You got to have the Greek to understand God’s Word and have it really unfolded to you.’ Do you know Greek? Well, I do so where do have to go to go get it?

“What he’s talking in verse 14 doesn’t having anything to do with speaking Greek today. I mean, in the world at that time there were the cultured, educated people and there were the Greeks and the philosophers and all. The Greeks sort of looked down on everybody in a hoity-toity kind of way. Either you were one of us or one of them.

“And so he says, ‘I’m bound to preach to the Greeks and the barbarians. That’s everybody whether they’re the in society and the scholars union whether they’re the outcasts or the dummies on the streets.

“Paul says, ‘I am ready Rome.’ He’s ready to go. No hesitation in Paul about going and preaching. And he doesn’t miss a chance.

“Notice he says in verse 14, ‘I am debtor.’ In verse 15, he says, ‘I am ready.’ In verse 16, he says, ‘I am not ashamed.’ That’s a good sermon outline.

“Acts 21:13 says, ‘Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.’  

“He says, ‘I mean, what are you trying to do, break my heart? ‘For I am ready not to be  bound.’

“Brother, that’s a man that’s ready, you know that? He meant it when he said that. And he never missed a chance.

“Come over to II Timothy 4:6 and notice his attitude right at the end. You see, that man could look at his life at any time and say, ‘I’m ready.’ I’m ready to go, take advantage of the opportunities that come, I’m ready to meet the Lord.

“Now, that’s the way to live your life ladies and gentlemen, if you’re going to live it. That’s cocked and ready all the time. Rain or shine, hot or cold, whatever the situation, is to be ready to do whatever God put you wherever you are to do, no matter what the cost, with a heart of love, but do it. See, do it."

 

Blue and taking note

I returned to a rainy Chicago Sunday evening after seven hours of driving through one torrential downpour after another. At least I didn’t see any of the hail that was being warned about in emergency announcements over the radio in western Indiana.

Little did I know I was coming H.O.M.E. to another sprinkler-system flood due to a fire!!!! The first clue was the elevators didn’t work and there was no ceiling for half of the lobby! Thank the dear Lord once again that my little studio was not affected. As it turned out, the fire originated from the studio directly below me!

Getting caught up on all the news Monday morning included learning that one of my resident assistants moved out. She didn’t give any notice or anything. I now have to cover her Wednesday night shift until at least the end of the month. Just grateful I have internet access in my office to watch the Shorewood services!

As always, I listened to old Bible studies during my driving time. Here is a passage from the 2008 Soldiers Conference, entitled “The Vital Signs of Grace”:

“If you know anything about music you know what blue notes are, says Jordan. “Jazz music is the incorporation of blue notes. People say we like country and western or we like bluegrass, like that’s godly. Country & Western music is just as fleshly and ungodly as rock music can be.

“Rock music, by the way, structurally, is built . . . Martin Luther built a choral system that is a form of the hymns we sing today and rock music is a development off of that. So rock music really is an outgrowth of the structure of a hymn. Country & Western music is a development of folk music.

“Bluegrass was developed by Bill Monroe. He did not develop bluegrass music because he lived in Kentucky, the Bluegrass State. That’s what people think. That’s not it at all. What he did is he took the Kentucky folk music and added blue notes to it.

“Go to Wikipedia and type in ‘blue notes.’ They’ve got a marvelous section about it. Blue notes are a certain kind of chords that are not major chords. You play the C6 and C9s and that kind of stuff in the chord and it literally is a different structure of music.

“Blue notes are called ‘jazz chords.’ You add jazz chords and then the improvisation. My flesh loves jazz but I know it’s my flesh that loves it, see, and when I want to go satisfy my flesh, I go listen to it.

“The thing about is there is a structure to those things. You guys, if you’re in leadership, you need to know at least some rudimentary things about these things.

“If you don’t know what bent notes are, or bent shapes and sounds, and what it means structurally when you add a set of drums to an orchestra or when you take it away, you need to go learn because there are four things that make up a song. One is the lyrics. But three of them are the music and you need to understand those things so you’re not just saying, ‘Well, I don’t like that music,’ because you weren’t raised with it or you just don’t happen to like it.

“People say, ‘Rock music is the most ungodly thing I ever heard!’ Well, listen, ‘I want to hold your hand’ is a whole lot better for your kids to sing than, ‘You took a fine time to leave me Lucille.’ Beer-drinking, wife-swapping music isn’t any more godly than the drug-infested, dope-smoking music.

“The drug infested, dope-smoking, maggot-infested stuff of the long-haired army of the great unwashed isn’t very godly either. I recommend to you that you use Bible music.

“My point to you about Chuck Smith and the Calvary Chapel, and the Vineyard group that split off of that, is they’ve had such an impact that the average evangelical fundamental church today uses their style of music.”  

'Peculiarly mine'

Hebrews 10:5, talking about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, says, ‘Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:’

Jordan explains, “That’s Jesus Christ talking to the Father about coming to be the sacrifice for sin. Verse 10 says, ‘By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.’ Verse 14 goes on, ‘For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.’

“I want you to see that the passage he’s quoting in Psalms is a reference to the attitude Jesus Christ had to the will of the Father when He came to be the sacrifice for sin: ‘I come to do thy will o God.’ That was the attitude Jesus Christ stepped out of heaven and came down to earth with and when He gave Himself, that was on His lips and on His mind.

“Psalm 40:6 says, ‘Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.’

“When you got your ear open, what do you do? You hear, you listen. Isaiah says He had the ear of the learned, He came having listened, and in obedience, to the will of His Father. That’s where the body came from; that’s what his humanity was about. ‘I came to do thy will.’

“Verse 7-8 says, ‘Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.’

“ ‘Delight to do thy will.’ That’s Godliness, God-likeness, God living in our humanity. It’s not just knowing and thinking like God thinks. It’s when you think about what happens with what you think is you begin to do what you think. You take what you know and think and put it into action. You believe it and the word works effectually in you that believe. Jesus Christ is energized by the will of His Father.

“He says, ‘I delight. I bought into this thing. I see what’s going to happen. I see the plan of the Father and this thing is fantastic. This thing’s glorious.’ And Jesus Christ bought into it and He said, ‘I delight in it, I rejoice in it the way the Father does.’

“I love the verse in Hebrews 12:2: ‘Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.’

“He saw the joy the Father had planned and He said, ‘Man, that’s good enough for me!’ and He put that frame of reference in His mind and it’s what sustained Him and carried Him through.

“Jeremiah 9:23-24 says, ‘Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:
[24] But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.’

“He understands me, he’s got a grip on what I’m doing, he knows what my mind is, what my plans are, what my thinking is. ‘That I am the Lord which exerciseth lovingkindness, judgment, righteousness in the earth--for in these things I delight. He says, ‘Glory in the fact you can delight in the things the Father delights in.’

“That word ‘peculiar’ in our vernacular is usually associated with being weird and strange and you know if you go out and preach grace you’re going to look that way.

“The first-grade definition of the word ‘peculiar’ really means ‘to belong to.’ Something that’s ‘peculiar to’ means it especially personally belongs to you. Now, if you especially, personally, particularly belong to God, what are you going to look like to the world? A little weird.

“The issue isn’t in the weirdness; the issue’s in the belonging. Exodus 19: 4-5 says, ‘Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.
[5] Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:’

“This is the 4^th of July for the nation Israel. He said, ‘You’ve seen that. I did that for you!’ He took them out into the wilderness and began to teach them about how, ‘I’m gonna do it for you! Relax!’ If God makes you a promise, what should you do? Sit down and shut up and let Him do it.

“ ‘Peculiar treasure.’ He says, ‘Israel, I’m going to make you my agency in the earth. I’m going to set you up here and make it clear you belong to me.’ To be a peculiar people was to be God’s agency in the earth.”

Opening the mommy file . . .

When my mom married my father he was a member of Akron’s Trinity Lutheran Church and sang in the choir. “Everybody liked him and the Methodist minister where I went to church really liked him,” she recalled in answer to questions of mine. “In fact, my minister said to me (before the marriage), ‘You know, we think a lot of Dr. Leland,’ like I wasn’t good enough for him.

“Everybody knew him and liked him in Firestone Park. He was popular. People would sit on the steps all the way up to the front door to get in. He had a real knack for it. He could tell when something was wrong with people.

“I remember this friend I had, you dad said, ‘Yes, you are sick.’ Other doctors had told her she was a hypochondriac. He had her take these tests and found she had kidney problems.”

*****

Before opening a private practice, my dad had the distinguished position of company doctor for Firestone Tire & Rubber, based in Akron.

He used to tell us kids about the painstaking job of removing Harry Firestone’s ingrown eyelashes. He was in line to be medical director of the company and played golf regularly with all the bigwigs at Firestone Country Club, etc.

“He was always on the edge of everything,” said my mom. “Like with the stock market--he just couldn’t invest in some good stock and let it go. If he had, he’d of been wealthy. He thought he could swing and sway. Sell and buy. No one could talk to him about anything. He’d get mad at them and try to get even.”

While my mom (a teetotaler) said she was unaware of my dad smoking or drinking before they got married, his “partying” habits suddenly became a major part of his lifestyle in their early marriage and he’d regularly be out into the wee hours even on weeknights, playing poker and bar-sitting and stuff.

One of my brother’s early memories was of my dad driving his convertible Cadillac with the top down, handing my brother just-emptied beer cans to toss out onto the side of the highway. 

“He was drinking and one of the pastors at Trinity Lutheran who was a friend of ours tried to sit and talk to him about it like a minister would and your dad got mad because no one was telling him what to do,” says my mom. “He used to tell me that when I tried to give him advice: ‘You’re not the boss of me! You’re not telling me what to do!’ ”

My dad was still a heavy drinker when I was a baby. The same year I was born my mom’s dad died suddenly of a brain aneurism. That same year my mom slid down the staircase at our house with me in her hands and I broke my leg. My mom broke her foot and we were both treated at Akron Children’s since Dr. Kramer was a big associate of dad’s. Later that same year my mom got mono from a babysitter and, as a result, my grandmother had to pitch in to take care of us kids.

*****

I was a baby when my Dad decided to drop the Lutheran church to attend the Akron Baptist Temple, pastored by Dallas Billington.

 “Dallas Billington and his wife were patients,” recalls my mom. “He knew what was wrong with Mrs. Billington when everybody had written her off, but she had gallstones, as it turned out. Your dad did these tests on her and found them. Like I said, he knew what was wrong with people. . .

“When he told me and my mother about going to Billington’s church and asked us to come to his baptism, I didn’t even know he was joining! I had quit my church for him and went to the Lutheran church because he sang in the choir and he wanted to be there and I thought, ‘Okay, women usually go to their husband’s church.’ He couldn’t even do the decent thing and tell me ahead of time (about switching to the Baptist Temple)?! We lost all of our friends (at the Lutheran church) and everything.”

*****

I remember I was living in New York and visiting my dad after my mom divorced him when I asked him for the first time how he became saved. Prior to that I never knew! He said Billington was at a doctor’s appointment inside my dad’s office and got out his Bible, praying with my dad, giving him the gospel. My dad accepted Christ as his Savior and Billington even gave him his personal Bible at the time!    

Akron Baptist Temple was a pioneer in the mega-church trend. For the longest time I had a little leather KJV New Testament given me when I was little that was embossed on the back with, “Akron Baptist Temple. ‘World’s Largest Sunday School.’

Billington was a man who had heart problems and actually died of a heart attack in 1972 when my dad was on the mission field as a missionary doctor in Ecuador. I even think, ‘Maybe if my dad had still been his doctor he would have stayed alive!’

From a biography on Billington, posted to the website Higherpraise.com under the category “Greatest Preachers,” is this outtake:

"On Easter Sunday 1945, Akron Baptist Temple had 10,123 attend with over 80 people accepting Christ. On June 29, 1947, ground was broken for a new five-story, air-conditioned church facility that would seat 4,000 people. It had 41,000 square feet of floor space and included a main auditorium with balcony, classrooms, three additional auditoriums, nursery, family parlor and restrooms. Parking lots had space for 1,500 cars. Total cost was one million dollars, but the church mortgage was less than $250,000 at completion. It was dedicated the first Sunday of April 1949 with over 38,000 people present and over 100 people accepting Christ. The event was reported in national magazines and newspapers throughout the United States. Another educational building was constructed in 1957. In 1960 a Sunday school campaign brought average attendance to over 6,000.

“Over the years, Billington received many honors. He was recognized far and wide as an effective evangelist, church builder and leader. In 1955, Bob Jones University awarded him the Doctor of Divin-ity degree. In 1969, Christian Life magazine honored Billing-ton and Akron Baptist Temple with the “World’s Largest Sunday School” award. At that time the membership of the church was over 16,000 and average Sunday school attendance was 5,762 each week. Billington said the church’s growth was the result of godly jealousy, evangelism and visitation, use of Sunday school buildings, promotion, tithing, busing and separation from worldly influence. At the church’s beginning in 1935, Billington enlisted J. Stanley Bond as his Sunday school superintendent and told him, “You stick with me, Stanley, and together we’ll build the biggest Sunday school in the world.”

“In the 1930s, Billington began to associate with the independent Baptist group led by the Texas fundamentalist J. Frank Norris. When the Baptist Bible Fellowship was established in 1950, he aligned himself with the new movement, although he didn’t participate in the events involved with its founding. His church bought the first neon sign for Baptist Bible College in Springfield, Missouri. Over the years, young preachers called under his ministry planted numbers of churches throughout the country. Billington maintained an active revival ministry as an evangelist. During his ministry, Akron Baptist Temple contributed to the support of over 200 missionaries in nearly 100 countries. From the beginning the church had a radio broadcast and later a television ministry. It also owned Ohio Baptist Acres, a 178-acre all-purpose camp. In 1962, Billington wrote and distributed thousands of copies of his autobiography titled, God is Real.

“In the early evening on Saturday, August 26, 1972, after a full day of activities, Dallas Billington began experiencing symptoms of a heart attack. He was immediately taken to the Akron Medical Center where he died at 11:20 p.m. Funeral services were conducted by his longtime friend, Evangelist B. R. Lakin. He described Billington as a rugged man’s man who had great faith, mighty devotion and character. He explained that Billington had millions of dollars pass through his hands but they didn’t stick; he used them for the glory of God. Above all, he spoke of Billington’s great love for souls. He loved and preached and worked and toiled for souls, he said. A crowd of more than 6,000 people
attended the services. His son, Charles F. Billington, succeeded him as pastor.”

BULLY pulpit . . .

Last month, in an article entitled “Transforming the World through Violence & Chaos,”
Norwegian Berit Kjos wrote on her Christian website Crossroad about how “major decisions concerning our future are often decided outside the visible realm of presidential elections and congressional approvals.

“But America is waking up! Obama's presidency has exposed large parts of this deceptive facade. Genuine freedom, justice and equality simply don't fit the elitist dream. People may deny it, and many do -- to everyone's detriment. But step-by-step and year-by-year, we come closer to global tyranny.

“Islamic violence fits the purposes of the elite masterminds well. It was no accident that our current president was used to bring the Muslim Brotherhood to power in one nation after another. In fact, much of what Obama has done in the Middle East would probably fit right into Hitler's faded old dream of a vast and violent Islamic territory submitted to his Nazi reign and trained to serve their mutual oppressive goal. [See The Nazi/Arab plots to exterminate Jews]

“Today, almost seventy years later, Hitler is gone, but his cruel vision lives on through his fascist devotees and the Muslim Brotherhood. Now as then, the main target is Israel. America seems to be next in line.”

******

Here is an excerpt from an article I put together back in 2008:

From what I've seen in the mainstream media coverage surrounding the Danish cartoons, nobody is bothering to remind anyone of the very dark side to the Prophet Muhammad.

 

In one book alone, "The Islamic Invasion"—which fortunately is stocked in some church bookstores because you'll never find it in a Barnes & Noble—author Robert Morey, an internationally recognized scholar in comparative religions, gives a veritable gold mine of information on Muhammad that I can almost guarantee you won't see any time soon in the Times, Washington Post or Newsweek magazine.

 

Morey, who has written more than 40 books, some of which have been translated into French, German, Italian, Polish, Finnish, Dutch, Spanish, Norwegian, Swedish and Chinese, is a highly respected authority in the fields of philosophy, theology, comparative religion, the cults and the occult.

 

From his 1992 book, we quickly learn Muhammad, among many, many other things, was a butcherer, torturer, pedophile (one girl, Aisha, was 6 when he married her and he consummated the relationship when she was 9), polygamist (he had 15 wives and a harem of 20), racist, slave master, plagiarist (Koran passages were lifted from the Old Testament), looter (he amassed fabulous wealth by pillaging Jewish settlements) and shaman.

 

Amazingly, many of his sins are verified by either the Koran or the other official Islamic "Bible," called the Hadith, which, according to Morey, is a "collection of early Muslim traditions which record the words and deeds of Muhammad according to his wives, family members, friends and Muslim leaders which are not usually found in the Quran."

 

From the Hadith, which is broken into volumes, we're told "the sins of Muhammad included torturing people by cutting off their hands and feet and burning out their eyes with hot irons (vol.1, no. 234); leaving them to bleed to death after cutting off their limbs (vol. 8, nos. 794, 795); making people die of thirst (vol. 8, no. 796)," reports Morey.

 

"Muhammad was a bitter, vengeful man who had numerous people murdered when they got on his bad side," continues Morey. "While Muhammad told others not to kill people when in Mecca and, in particular, not to kill people at the Kabah, when Muhammad heard that Ibn Khatal was taking refuge in the Kabah, he said, 'Kill him.' He was dragged out and butchered (vol. 3, no. 72).

"One particular horrifying example of Muhammad's blood lust is found in vol. 3, no. 687 of the Hadith:

Allah's Prophet said, "Who will kill Ka'b bin Al-Ash-raf as he has harmed Allah and his Apostle?" Muhammad bin Maslama (got up and) said, "I will kill him." They [Muhammad bin Maslama and his companions] came to him as promised and murdered him. Then they went to the Prophet and told him.

 Editor's Note: I plan to revisit this subject in the near future but in the meantime, here's a great passage from my pastor, saved from a recent sermon:

"The last time I read through the Koran, I read through it thinking, 'I want to mark the places in this book that tell me who the god of this book is.' And, you know, it doesn't really tell you; he doesn't really reveal himself. He's just there: 'Watch out or I'll whack you. Submit or you're done.'

 

"But who he is, and his nature, and his heart, and what he thinks, and how he feels, and how he reacts, and what his purposes are, are not the issue there. It's just the dictatorial boss telling you, 'Here's what you do. That's how you do it.'

 

"The God of the Bible, from the very beginning reveals Himself—His whole purpose in creation is to have a creation of people who understand Him and appreciate His greatness and His love. Not in His ability to bully people around, but in His love and His wisdom and in His grace. The riches of His grace. The way you know that is through the Lord Jesus Christ."

Warp in time

Yesterday I had a surprise so big my mouth was hanging open for a good three minutes as I barreled eastbound on the Indiana Toll Road at 69 mph near the Elkhart exit.

I had made an early escape from work to drive home to my mom’s in Akron for a week of vacation, celebrating my brother’s birthday this weekend.

Right before I pulled out for the long road trip (7-plus hours when traffic out of Chicago is heavy) I grabbed a bag full of Bible study CDs and cassette tapes from my back seat and moved them to the front passenger seat, knowing at some point once I got through rush hour I would cut off the radio and settle in for the rural driving.

Sure enough, two hours into the drive the Chicago station I was tuned into faded out and I hit the “scan” button, listening to the different available stations when Joyce Meyer came up. I listened to her finish up a program in which she talked about making time count, following God’s biblical prescriptions for sin-free living every single day without letting up.

All of a sudden, I was hearing the opening music for Jordan’s “Daily Bible Time”!!! It was the last thing in the world I expected!!!!! Hearing his voice on the radio (in a different state no less) when I had no idea he was on was a new experience for sure!!!! And wouldn’t you know, he opened up by talking about time and how when it’s used for God’s glory--and not the flesh--it is never bondage.

I know I won’t ever forget that moment in time on that particular stretch of highway (one I’ve traversed a million-trillion times over the years, even breaking down near there once). The lesson is guaranteed to stick, at least in my memory!!!

(Write more tomorrow—I’ve got family to visit with for once!)

 

 

Choices

On the subject of Adam and Eve and the process of committing sin, Jordan says, “When you begin to think about it, and you begin to have to decide—the contest between good and evil, ‘Should I or shouldn’t I?’--you debate. ‘As a man thinks in his heart.’ You can’t get away from the presentation and illumination, but you don’t have to debate the issue. You can have it come and be illuminated and skip the debate and go right to the decision, ‘No.’

“Buddy, when you start debating the thing the battle’s about over with. Because all you’re doing is trying to make provision and excuse and reason to get yourself on over into the next steps. And you just stay there long enough to salve your conscience and to go. That’s where sin starts. ‘When sin is conceived. You’re thinking about ways to justify it.

*****

“Numbers 30: 6-16 is talking about a man and his wife making a vow. Buddy, that husband is responsible and his responsibility is staggering! That woman’s duty toward God was controlled by a husband, and so if she went and did something she shouldn’t have done--she made a vow and entered into an agreement and came and told her husband, and he disallowed it--that vow that otherwise would be binding would be broken.

“Adam is standing there, folks, when Eve takes the thing and I don’t know from the way that verse 6 in Genesis 3 reads (‘She did eat and gave also unto her husband with her’) it’s as though Adam is standing there watching this thing go on!

“I do know this. He knew by looking at her when he saw her that she’d done it.

“I Timothy 2:13. Eve took the fruit and she was tricked into doing it, but when Adam took his, he wasn’t deceived. Adam didn’t sin because Satan came in and gave him a big line about what it would get him if he did.

“I tend to believe Eve probably picked that piece of fruit and took it home with her and sat it on the table and gave it time to ferment and so on. Adam came in and said, ‘Baby, weren’t not supposed to do that!’ and she reaches out and eats it and when she did, a blushing pink began to flow down through her cheeks and right out to the tip of her little red nose and she turned the most beautiful, flesh-colored pink you ever saw.

“Her blood was contaminated with sin. Some people say she got her blood then. I believe she had the living water of God flowing through her veins. The old-timers used to call it ‘blood poisoning.’ I don’t know all the details about that. Don’t know how to genetically and physiologically explain it.

“By the way, when it says God took Adam’s rib and made Eve, Arthur Custance says what God did is He took the bone out and took one of Adam’s X-chromosomes and made her out of that. I don’t know about that; I don’t understand enough about that.

“I know this, though. Adam saw his wife die and he knew what had happened to her. Now he had a decision to make. Sure as you’re sitting in that chair, Adam had information communicated to him, he knew God, he knew the love of God, he knew the laws of God, he knew the character and the nature of God. He walked with Him in the evening, he talks with God face to face and they commune and fellowship and he goes home and tells his wife about the wonderful love and grace and provisions of God and how wonderful God is in all these things.

“Adam’s sitting there and he could have disannulled what she did and God would have forgiven her. I don’t understand maybe how it would have come about but I know Adam could have walked by faith and gone to God Almighty with the problem but he didn’t. Adam looked at that woman and said, ‘She’s gonna die; I’m gonna lose her. God’s going to cast her out and I can’t live without her!’ And Adam made a choice. He loved Eve so much that he was willing to go and die for her.

“He was willing to go out and rebel against Almighty God, against the love of God, against the truth of God, against the authority of God, and suffer the penalty of the wrath of God and the anger of God…he was willing to walk in unbelief to get his way. His will chose to please himself and to disobey God. Chose to go with his wife than to stay with God without her. Chose to trust his own wisdom rather than the wisdom and love of Almighty God to have worked it out.

“That passage in Numbers fascinates me. There obviously was a way that he could have trusted God and took it to God, walked by faith, and got over the thing. And Adam, the pitiful, wretched man that he became, chose to rebel against Almighty God, and by eating that fruit, he repudiated and rebelled against God’s love, truth and authority and he violated the commandment of God.

“Make no mistake, Adam didn’t die with Eve in faith. I talked to a man just recently who was telling me the old Mormon idea that Adam really died in faith believing God would have to redeem him because he was destined to be the progenitor of the race.

“If Adam would have had faith in God, Adam would have said, ‘Make me another woman!’ or ‘Save that one!’ ”