Spiritual madness running amok

Using terminology about the wrath of God in ‘the day of the Lord,’ Hosea 9:7 says, “The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.”

The passage goes on, [8] The watchman of Ephraim was with my God: but the prophet is a snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God.
[9] They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah: therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins.

“The prophet of Israel was supposed to be a watchman for the Lord and Hosea’s saying, ‘It used to be that the prophet was God’s watchman, but now a prophet is a snare. Now he’s a fool and a madman because he’s preaching a mad message.’

“Judges 3:4 says the prophets ‘were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.’

“How would they know if they loved the Lord with all their heart and soul? They find out by whether they obey the written Word of God. So what’s happening over here in Hosea is you’ve got that prophet and dreamer of dreams and they’re going to come along and show them signs and wonders and miraculous events and say, ‘Look, this is a word from God!’

“They were doing that back at that period of time in Hosea. He says, ‘These guys are fools and they’re mad men. They’re out of their gourds for the multitude of their iniquity and great hatred.’ That’s what’s driven them mad. Now what would the hatred be toward? Well, verse 8 tells you.

“There’s a religious hatred aimed towards God’s people, the nation Israel. God’s truth—the Word of God. There’s a religious system that is aiming at—it’s producing iniquity, gross corruption, sin, violence, idolatry, that has disintegrated the culture of the nation Israel. And it comes out of the house of their God.

“You notice ‘God’ there is capitalized. They have taken God’s house, Jehovah’s house, and turned it into the source of hate for the truth. That’s why he says they’re fools and mad men.

*****

“I think about that in relationship to our world today. Listen, you can go to hundreds of churches around this territory and never find another one like ours. It’s too bad but it’s true.

"If you judged everything by what we do, you wouldn’t get what’s going on out there. But if you go out there and begin to deal with religion, you’d begin to say the prophet is a fool and the spiritual man is mad. They’re just off their rocker out there. The result of that is the same thing happening in our culture is what happened in the nation Israel.

“You see in verse 8 how it says ‘the watchman of Ephraim was with my God’? Go to Ezekiel. Ezekiel is the watchman. Now Ezekiel is carried away in captivity by Nebuchadnezzar in the 5^th Course of Judgment on the southern kingdom, but it’s the same spiritual kind of a situation.

“Ezekiel 3:17 says, ‘Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.’

“Notice that the watchman is designed to sit on the wall, watch for danger, and when he sees the danger coming, he’s to shout warning to people inside. In fact, you’ll see in the text he’s to blow a trumpet.

“If the people heed the warning they can be delivered, and if they don’t they’re destroyed. But it’s on them because he warned them.

“But if he sees the danger coming and  just keeps his mouth shut and doesn’t warn anybody, or he gives them a, ‘Oh, it’s okay, don’t worry,’ then the destruction comes; they’re still destroyed but now the guilt is on him too.

“A watchman is someone God gives His Word to and the purpose is for them is to—the prophets were to be warning Israel. What was happening is instead of warning them, they were seducing them into the lie program.

*****

“Isaiah 56 says, ‘His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. [11] Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.
[12] Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.

“They’re harlots and they’re blind. I love the thing in verse 10 where he says they’re all ignorant. Bunch of ignoramuses. They’re dumb dogs. DDs.

“A lot of time you see preachers with that doctor so-and-so stuff and you look at the degree behind his name and it says ‘DD.’ That’s supposed to be doctor of divinity and that’s an honorary degree.

“He didn’t go to school to get that; somebody just gave it to him because they like him. But a ‘DD’—old-timers used  to say that’s a ‘Dumb Dog degree.’ Well, that’s what these guys are. Isaiah was a contemporary of Hosea. Their prophets have just lost it.

“Jeremiah 23:9 says, ‘Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets; all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome, because of the LORD, and because of the words of his holiness.’

“You think about that statement. Jeremiah loved God’s Word and He loved God’s people. He loved the truth of God. In fact, if you look at the last line of verse 9, it says, ‘because of the words of his holiness.’

“You know what you call that Book in your hand? You call it the Holy Bible. You know where you got that? Because it’s the words of His holiness. Jeremiah loved that. The prophets were commissioned by God to be preachers and teachers of His Word and Jerry says, ‘My heart within me is broken because of the prophets.’

“They weren’t doing their job and it broke his heart. The visitation is to come and deal with the sins of the nation. Hosea 9:9 says ‘they have deeply corrupted themselves.’ The nation Israel has been corrupted down to its core.

*****

“Isaiah 1:4-7 says, ‘Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

[5] Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
[6] From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
[7] Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

“That’s saying, ‘You’re just one oozing puss pocket of sin and corruption. You are deeply corrupted. The prophets are stairs. They’re out there trying to catch you. That’s all that stuff about the seduction program; Mark 13 talks about how ‘if it were possible even the elect would be seduced.’

“They’re trying to seduce them into the lie program out of the truth and its seducing spirits teaching doctrines of devils trying to produce that and it produces the hatred of God’s Word and God’s plan in God’s house.

“So you have the temple of God turned into the temple of Satan. Revelation 2 calls places associated with it ‘the synagogues of Satan.’ In other words, they’ve completely subverted God’s purpose for the nation Israel.

“Baal worship has never ceased in Israel. That’s the idea about being deeply corrupted. And you see it in Hosea 9:9. The days of Gibeah. Now what that does is take you back to Judges 19. Israel has deeply corrupted themselves.

“That’s like Revelation 2:24 when he talks about ‘the depths of Satan.’ They’ve gotten completely caught up in the snare of the Adversary. They’re DEEPLY corrupted as in the days of Judges 19.

“First you need to notice the context. The history of the Book of Judges ends at chapter 16 with the death of Samson. He’s the last judge. Then you have chapters 17-21 where you have a series of events that are recorded to demonstrate to you the inward, moral, spiritual character and condition of Israel at the time of the book.

“And this is a bad scene!   You see confusion, idolatry, sin, violence, all because they’ve been rejecting God’s Word. So the book ends by saying, ‘Here’s what the culture out there looks like when you reject God’s Word.’

*****

“Now chapter 17-18 deal with, we talked about these passages over and over, about how this is the first foothold Baal worship got in the land of Israel. It comes in ultimately, in chapter 18, through the tribe of Dan.

“From the tribe of Dan up in the northern kingdom it gets established and becomes the state religion (I Kings 12-16) and goes all the way into Hosea’s day in that northern kingdom where then they are finally deeply corrupt. You’re so corrupted with Baal worship you can’t get out of it. The only thing left is just destroy you. That’s what starts in Judges 17-18.

“Then you come to Judges 19. Hosea 9 says, ‘You know how bad you are? It was with you just as it is in Judges 19.’

“There’s something that happened in Judges 19 that was worse; it sunk down lower than any Gentile nation on the earth at that time. Israel had sunk so low morally and spiritually and culturally that they were down lower than the nations that God sent them into the land to destroy! So Judges 19 is a standard of that.”

(new article tomorrow)

Tangible reality that blows away world

Wisdom, as the Bible uses the word (over 240 times), is simply the application of knowledge.

"Transformation occurs through faith in what the Word says about who we really are, seeing ourselves in our new nature in Jesus Christ," explains Jordan. “We have an identity in Christ in the spirit world that we can’t touch or feel, but it’s REAL.

"It’s the w-o-r-d-s of the Spirit on the physical pages of a Book that’s the connection. It’s my faith resting in those w-o-r-d-s in a Book that energizes my inner man. That’s the mechanics of it. That’s how it works! It’s just that simple!”

“If you talk to God about what’s on your mind, wouldn’t you like to hear what’s on His mind? So, how’s He going to talk to you?

*****

“Paul makes it clear that the exceeding great power of God’s Word is at work within us today in the most excellent display of God’s power," writes Bible teacher Keith Blades. "It's put on display in an unprecedented manner.

“This is because not only is God’s Word working within us able to do ‘exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think’ regarding the condition of our inner man, it is also able to do exceeding abundantly above all that Satan thinks he can do, as he works to show the capacity he still has to influence us in our inner man.

“That Satan desires to show that he is still able to affect our inner man, is something Paul makes clear throughout our epistles.”

*****

“Our culture today is totally dominated by the human viewpoints and philosophies of men,” says Jordan. “There’s a complete rejection of God’s Word and God’s truth.

“The Psalmist in Psalm 39 says that ‘man at his best state is altogether vanity.’ That means the best you’re ever going to do with your human thinking processes apart from the Word of God, and what God has to say, is going to be empty, futile and delusional.

“In Isaiah 55:8, God talks, saying, ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.’

“The 19^th century English poet Matthew Arnold wrote, ‘What is the course of the life of mortal men on the earth? Most men eddy about here and there—eat and drink, chatter and love and hate, gather and squander, are raised aloft, are hurled in the dust, striving blindly, achieving nothing; and then they die.’

“That’s saying exactly what the wisest man in the Bible, King Solomon, says. I think the first two verses of Proverbs 18 are two of the most deadly verses in the Bible:
[1] Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom.
[2] A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself.

*****

“Do you know the only logical thing to do as a Believer is to be who you are? It’s the only thing that makes any sense. You ever read that verse in II Timothy 2 where Paul talks about those ‘who oppose themselves’?

“Paul says, ‘And be not conformed to this world.’ Don’t let the world system be what controls the way you think. Don’t coast along, but be transformed.

“II Corinthians 3:18 says, [18] But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

“Sit down before God and say, ‘Lord, I’m going to cherish who you’ve made me. I want to live in light of who I am and not let the world decide what my life is about.'

“I hope you’re writing this down. This works, folks! All of a sudden, you don’t wonder what a profile of a mature believer would look like if He lived in my skin; you can make it yourself. If you’ll by faith take this plan, you know what you’ll find? You’ll find the joy that it produces.

*****

“Romans 12:12, which simply says, ‘Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer,’ is really, in a lot of ways, one of those encapsulized Bible statements put in the middle of a passage that sort of gathers together a full description of the Christian life.

“Verse 12 is in the context of how we relate to other Believers. Verse 9 says, ‘Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.’

"In other words, the focus in our relationship with others is going to be on love. Let love be the real thing. Don’t ‘diss’ somebody when it comes to love. Be genuine.

“When Paul says, ‘Let love be without dissimulation,’ that’s a negative way of saying a positive thing. He’s just saying, ‘Be real. Don’t put on a face.’ When you simulate something, you model it. If you ‘diss’ it, it’s a phony.

"Don’t be a phony; be real. I mean, take off the mask, and if you take off the mask, and you’re real, Paul says, ‘Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.’ ” You have a bent toward wanting what’s right in God’s eyes.

“One of the most wonderful things in the Christian life for me, and it’s kind of scary because it’s difficult and a lot of folks never get here, is the ability to take off the mask and be real. It’s the ability to hurt when you hurt and let other people know you hurt because they’ll hurt with you.

“It’s the ability to rejoice when you rejoice because other people, instead of being jealous, will rejoice with you. That’s what I Corinthians 13 talks about charity being.

*****

“I John 4 is very clear: ‘If God so loved us we ought to love one another.’ Your love for others HAS to be based upon an understanding of God’s love for you. 

"The reason the world can never love their fellow man . . . you see the world thinks if they can get rid of the differences between people you can get rid of conflicts. Consequently, you have an egalitarian society where everything’s equal. We call it ‘multi-culturalism’ and all that kind of stuff.

“The only way you get rid of conflict is to get rid of sin. The only way you deal with the sin issue is the Cross. The world thinks the Cross is foolishness so they reject the ONLY answer that’s really there.

“That’s why I’ve said to you for years that you can’t abandon the world you live in. If you want to have some impact and influence in the culture you live in, go out and preach the gospel, the truth of God’s grace, and get people saved and then they’ll know and understand how to love people. Otherwise they NEVER will!

“ ‘Abhorring evil and cleaving to that which is good’ is essential to love. Love doesn’t mean you just think everybody and everything’s the same. Love takes divine viewpoint and says, ‘This is good and that’s evil.’ God told Israel, ‘Woe to them that call good evil and evil good.’

*****

“You get to verse 12 and you’ve now got this dominant theme of love just kind of echoing in your mind. That’s why it’s essential, by the way, that you go back to verse 2 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

“Verse 12, under that banner of love, is, while I’m serving my brother and brethren, while I’m not being slothful in business, my attitude in it is I’m going to be rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation and I’m going to be instant in prayer.

“I’m going to be continually, constantly in prayer, all for the sake of loving others and loving our enemies as we ought. This is how Christ is designed to become visible and more real, and frankly more convincing to those who are about us. His life becomes a tangible reality.

*****

“II Corinthians talks about that living epistle; the epistle of Christ written in your heart and that life of Christ living our through you.

“You see, grace isn’t just a theology and what he’s saying here is, ‘This is the way you think through . . . that renewed mind thinks through how to deal with the issues of life.’

“Romans 5 says, ‘And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
[4] And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
[5] And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Tribulation ashamed.’

“Our joy, hope, patience--they’re not found in freedom from trouble; they’re found in the midst of the difficulties.

“Tribulation works patience. So the tribulation has done its work. It’s taught you that there’s no other place to go but the truth of God’s Word. Patience is something that sustains you; keeps you there.

“Paul doesn’t just tolerate tribulation; he says God takes this tribulation and makes it serve you. First, you’re rejoicing in hope. It’s important to understand what the hope is.

"The verse is telling you your hope is based in hope. Hope is the rock in which joy is rooted. It’s the soil out of which the rejoicing comes. The ground of our hope and the goal of our hope are all in Christ.”

(I'm heading back home today after weekend letting my mom and brother baby me. Thanks to my taste buds returning (nothing to take for granted as you realize when you get a cold!) I could enjoy the steak my brother grilled last night. Also, he put a new Nissan-factory valve cover on my Altima and saved me hundreds of dollars. For my mom's part, she filled me up with belated Valentine's Day presents--everything from Tommy Hilfiger pajamas and top-of-the-line knit Dearfoam slippers to Kodiak buttermilk-vanilla toaster waffles, smoked mozzarella ball from Murray's Cheese Shop and Southern Pecan Pie. New article tomorrow.)

Sleep on it! You're His poem, masterpiece

When the Lord comes to Solomon in a dream at night and says, ‘Solomon, I’ll give you riches and power, whatever you want; what can I give you?,’ Solomon answers, ‘I want wisdom.’ I Kings 3:15 says, [15] And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream.

“When the text says ‘Solomon awoke,’ what’s meant by that is, ‘You know, it doesn’t help you to work incessantly; stay up half the night, get up early to go to work, work through all kinds of difficult, sorrowful, hard, painful experiences--God gives you His gifts when you’re not working at all. When you aren’t even conscious; you’re asleep,’ " explains Jordan. 

“Think about that. It’s not of works; it’s His workmanship, not of us. Think back through Scripture. When did God give Adam Eve? When did He cut the covenant with Abraham? He put him in a deep sleep. I mean, Solomon isn’t the only one in Scripture that that’s true of.

“When Paul says, ‘For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God,’ he’s saying God’s the one who gives the blessing, not based on your merit, but on His giving. ‘For we are his workmanship.’ This is HIS doing.

“That word ‘workmanship’ (Ephesians 2:10) is talking about a ‘work of art.’ A masterpiece. Preachers like to point out that the Greek word translated there is the word we get our term ‘poem’ from.

“That word comes over in English as ‘poem.’ You’re His work of art. You’re literally the form through which He’s going to express Himself. A masterpiece is something you do to make yourself known.

“Romans 1:19-20 says, ‘Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. [20] For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.’

“Everybody knows something about God. He manifested Himself. Romans 2:14 says, ‘For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves.’

“You see, God has indelibly printed into the heart of all men some information. You have to educate yourself out of that, and what the 'educated' guy says is, ‘Well, if you want to be sophisticated and educated, you have to get over your primordial tendency to believe in the superstitious idea of something bigger than you.’

“To get over that is to get over the mystery of life itself. You can look at creation and see the wisdom, knowledge and understanding of God; the fact there’s a Creator revealed, and in that term, ‘things that are made’ is a translation of the exact same word in Ephesians 2 about workmanship! Creation is God’s workmanship; His masterpiece demonstrating His wisdom, His understanding, His knowledge. He’s placed it in the Creation!

“When you look at the Creation, what you’re seeing is God manifest His purpose; what He’s accomplishing. You find out about Him!”

(sorry for long lapse here; I've had a novel cold/virus for my lifetime! That's what you get working in very close contact with elementary schoolchildren! new article tomorrow) 

Valentine: All the earth's mine, be mine

In Exodus 19:3, God says to Moses, [4] 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:

“When you exalt yourself like an eagle, who is exalted that way?” asks Jordan. “You see, the Edomites in Obadiah are using the very terminology in their mind that describes how God protected, then blessed and used the nation Israel.

“Isaiah 40:30 says, [30] Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
[31] But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

“These folks look at themselves as being on a mission from God, strengthened by divine protection and enablement. You see, there’s a religious component to their thinking. Obadiah 1:4 says, ‘Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.’

“Who set himself among the stars? Lucifer did. They see themselves as being the leader of a divine campaign under the protection of God, being empowered by Him and being on a mission for God. That was ‘the pride of thine heart’ that deceived them. It’s this thinking process whereby they’ve been deceived into thinking their God dwells with them and endorses their tactics of attacking Israel."

*****

A great Bible valentine message can be found in Song of Solomon 2:16: "My Beloved is mine, and I am His."

In a commentary on this verse, Bible expositor Cora MacIlravey (circa 1916) writes, "Although the bride has not seen the bridegroom, he has spoken to her in love and assurance, in gentle warning and encouragement. She is assured of her union with Him, which is eternal and indissoluble. Her heart is filled with rest because He is hers; she is apprehending that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate her from the One who died for her, and from His love.

"In deep settled peace, she rests in the assurance that, though she is unworthy and many times unfaithful, He abideth faithful for He cannot deny Himself. As she recalls all He has done for her, she comforts and strengthens herself in Him and His undying love. She rejoices that, whether together or separated, whether seen or unseen, her Beloved is hers and she is His. Literally: 'My Beloved is for me and I am for Him.'

"There is such joy and sense of holy possession in the thought that our Beloved is ours . . . His beauty and attributes are for us that we may put them on. . .  He is all we need for He is our precious Storehouse, and in Him are hidden all God's riches in glory. He is our refuge and strong tower.

"The bride rejoices not only that her Beloved is hers, but that she is His. She is His because He created her, because He has redeemed her, because He has loved her with an everlasting love . . . She is His to protect and defend . . . She is His that He may fight her battles; she is His to correct and chasten, to mold and shape; she is His that He may perfect that which concerneth her and make her more than a conqueror. She is His to feed and nourish; and He alone can bring her home to Glory, and seat her upon His throne as His spotless spouse. She is for Him alone.

"Let us lay our wills down at His feet, that His will may closely encompass us. Let us yield that he may purify and fashion us into His own glorious image. Only as we abandon ourselves to Him without reserve, can we enter into the relation that is here described; and go on to all that is set forth in the rest of this revelation. Every power and every faculty--all, all must be His and for Him alone; for Him to use as He pleases.

"The half-hearted Christian never knows the joy of the abandonment that is ours when we say: 'I am for my Beloved.' Our only sorrow is that there is so little to pour out at His feet. Our only regret is that all we can bring is so contemptible compared to that which He is to us, and which is expressed in the clause, 'My Beloved is mine.'

"Beloved reader, have we realized truly that we are 'for Him'? . . . To our amazement and joy, He has bespoken us for Himself; and we have given ourselves to be His through time and Eternity, to be His and His alone.

"Time is rapidly fading away, the things of the earth and of the natural are sinking out of sight and becoming as shadows. There is a glory falling upon our union with our Lord, which is shining more brightly as the days go by. It seems that there are only a few more mileposts to pass, only a little more of the earthy to be taken off, only a little more time in which to perfect our relation to Him and our separation from all else, and then we shall rise to meet Him in the clouds; and thus be forever with the Lord."

(new article tomorrow)

Bird's-eye view in the Bible

Bible birds and the fowls of the air are repeatedly used as types and pictures of demons, or devils, making it real easy to see why eagles and owls are among the top ten symbols used to represent "secret societies" dating back to Egypt.

"Evidently, eagles and falcons have been engraved as part of the Egyptian identity for centuries," says an article posted by Egyptian Streets website. "Hunting with birds dated back to Ancient Egyptians. It started when the ancient Egyptians’ worship of god Horus.

"Falconry is hunting using trained falcons, hawks, and or eagles. Sometimes owls are used in falconry. Although the sport is not as common in Egypt as it once was, Egyptian falconers meet in Borg al-Arab desert near Alexandria to practice in hope that they will raise awareness to the sport.

"The practice is enjoyed around the world for more than 4,000 years. However, historians have noted that it began in ancient Mesopotamia."

*****

According to one educational website on the Illuminati, “The eagle is a symbol or power and endurance. The Romans, The House of Habsburg, The House of Rothschild, the Nazis, and the United States all used the eagle as a symbol. See the ravenous bird from the east from Isaiah 46:11.”


Another entry informs, “The Owl represents wisdom. The Illuminati see themselves as the only ones wise enough to rule the planet. The symbol of Minerva is used by the elite Bohemian Grove and was used by the Minervals of the Bavarian Illuminati.”

Of course, the ever-popular Baphomet goathead image, endlessly portrayed by Illuminati followers, is represented by outstretched bird wings at the center.

*****

“When Alfred Hitchcock wrote that movie, you know, about the birds coming and all that stuff, he was playing off of some of that mythological typology that’s developed and trying to counterfeit what the Bible says about these things so you won’t believe what the Bible says when it says it; you’ll think it’s all mythology,” says Jordan.

“Luke 8:4-5 says, ‘And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable:[5] A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.'

“Look down at verses 11-12: 'Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.[12] Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.'

“What’s verse 5 say come and took it away? The birds. Who does Christ say that represents in verse 12? The devil.

"Write down by that verse Revelation 18:2; you’ll see the same kind of thing. The verse says, ‘And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.’

“In Matthew 13 over in the parable, the fowls lodge in the branches of that tree and all that business. Same kind of thing.

“Over and over in the Bible, you’ll find birds as a picture or a type of demons, and if you apply that understanding to Matthew 8:20, He’s just warning the guy that the devil and his crowd are treated better than the Son of man and His followers.

“You see, in Israel the influence of the Adversary gained more acceptance than the influence of the Son of man.”

(new article tomorrow)

Passion that runs deep--exceeding deep

A hymn from 1900, written by Selma, Ala., pastor Charles Price Jones, credited with writing 1,000 gospel songs, begins:

Deeper, deeper in the love of Jesus
Daily let me go;
Higher, higher in the school of wisdom,
More of grace to know.

*****

The spiritual man can personally, experientially enter into all things--"yea, the deep things of God," as Paul puts it.

"When Paul’s talking about deep things, he’s talking about mystery truth," explains Jordan. "He calls them that because they’re hidden things and not known.

“Notice how this word ‘deep’ is used in Psalm 92: ‘[5] O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.
[6] A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.

“The idea there is a brutish man, a natural man, can’t know them. For a thought to be deep, the idea there is that it’s unknown. It’s not understood by others. They’re hidden thoughts. They’re thoughts that are kept back and not made known.

“The mystery truth is that God kept some things secret and hid in Himself so that no one else could know them. They were tremendous in their value and scope but it was also hidden wisdom.

*****

“Romans 11 says, ‘[33] O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
[34] For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counseller?
[35] Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?

“Paul has just spent 11 chapters writing down, delineating, and explaining the judgments and the ways of God. He’s just spent all the previous part of Romans revealing to you the MIND of the Lord.

“In I Corinthians 2, the last verse says, ‘[16] For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

“Where do you have it? In the Word of God. Folks, you wouldn’t know the depth of them if they weren’t revealed to you. You ever thought about that?! You would just SUSPECT that they must be deep, big and wonderful.

*****

“In your Bible, there’s not only the deep things of God; there’s another system of deep things. In the first two chapters of II Corinthians is the conflict between divine viewpoint and human viewpoint. More than that, though, between divine viewpoint and ‘the wisdom of the princes of this world which God’s wisdom has brought to nought.’

“The program of the Adversary is referred to in Revelation 2:24: [24] But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden.

“Notice, the depths of Satan is associated with a doctrine. There is a wisdom and a set of principles, programs and plans and philosophy that are described in the Bible, not as ‘the deep things of God,’ but rather as the deep things of the Adversary.

“It’s his agenda, his program, his plans, his purposes, his personality, and what he is seeking to accomplish. It has to do with a doctrine.

*****

“Paul says in I Corinthians 2: 14-16, ‘But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.’

“You see, what happens to you and me is we’ve been put into a position in Christ of having the complete total thinking of the Godhead available to us right there. 

“We relate to God just as Jesus Christ relates to Him. Jesus Christ, by virtue of whom He is—as glorified humanity, the God-man glorified— knows and understands everything; He has all the information and you share His mind! Okay?! It’s the Spirit of God who teaches you that Book, isn’t it?”

(new article tomorrow)

When fear is really what's stopping . . .

“People who have themselves experienced both grief and fear know how alike those two things are . . . They are equally disabling, distracting and destructive,” says world-famous missionary wife, Elisabeth Elliott, whose husband was brutally murdered (1956) trying to give the gospel to a semi-nomadic Indian tribe (considered among the most violent in the world) deep in the Amazon jungles of Ecuador.

***** 

“Fear is a natural emotion common to all human beings, and it is neither inherently sinful nor godly,” reads another quote online. “Our fears are often connected to the things we love the most. We may fear losing something or someone we love. Or we might fear that we will fail to obtain something we desire. We may fear offending one we love. Or perhaps we feel a reverential fear of something or someone we admire. The cause of our fears is often the love or admiration of some created thing over God Himself.”

*****

Fear of what might happen (or not happen) is not to be a curse, but a circumstantial context in which God works in a Believer's life. God uses our circumstances and surroundings as a context in which to apply sound doctrine.

"Paul tells us it's the trying of our faith that works patience," says Jordan. The problems of life say, 'Are you going to rest in who you are in Christ or are you going to go on your devices?'

"What issues in life test is your resolve to walk by faith. It tests whether or not you're going to stay with the doctrine—stay with your identity in Christ—or you're going to go on your emotions, or other counsel.

“Tribulation is designed to teach us that if we stay with the doctrine, and that's where patience comes in, that ‘staying’ works experience. We develop a persistent fortitude and unwavering endurance by just sticking with the Word.

"And when you stay with it, and stay with it, and stay with it, in spite of the circumstances swallowing you—meaning you say, 'This is the truth, I'm not going to walk by sight, I'm going to walk by faith'— you get some experience.

"Experience is simply skill in handling a problem. Experience comes when you face the problem, deal with the problem, and it comes to a successful conclusion.

*****

“Paul tells us God is ‘the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.’

“The idea is that the experience gained through tribulation lends an enhanced capacity of maturity to effectively help and comfort others by giving them some of the hope we've gained through our experience. It's about a maturing process.

"The justice of God can give you peace, but it can't give you patience. He can give you access, but He can't give you experience. Patience comes from the life application of the sound doctrine.

“Paul writes in Galatians 2:20, ‘I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.’

"Paul says the thing you learn in your Christian life—and keep learning at different levels—is, 'It's not I, but Christ.' You see, when he says, 'You're complete in Christ,' you can't get God to give you any more.

"You can't say, 'Oh, God, give me some more of this or that.' He's got no more to give you. He gave it to you already. All you can do is appropriate what He already gave you and to appropriate it, you've got to do two things. One, you've got to know about it, and two, you've got to need it.

*****

“Life is made up of attitudes and actions. You go out in life and it doesn't take long before you know you need something bigger than you to take care of the way you act and your attitudes about life, and it's going to be Christ, His life. It's sort of a partnership in maturity, in wisdom, and it comes progressively as you grow spiritually. This is just the process of growing up spiritually.

“Through the tribulations, Believers are meant to reach a level of maturity where nothing motivates them but the love of God in Christ Jesus. That's why Paul says, ‘The love of Christ constrains us.’

“Through this maturing you're willing just to relax and not be motivated by a desire to make God happy with you so that He'll accept you and bless you. You're not motivated by being a big shot and showing everybody what you know. The thing that love lets you do is relax.

“Paul says in II Corinthians 4:14, ‘Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.’ Life is designed to be a walk of faith, and the things we endure down here temporarily on earth build a capacity in our inner man that will last FOREVER. The suffering is what strengthens that inner man.”

*****

"Rodney 'Gipsy' Smith (1860-1947) was, perhaps, the best loved evangelist of all time," writes Ed Reese in a biography posted to Truthful Words website. "When he would give his life story, the crowds that came to hear usually overflowed the halls and auditoriums. His trips across the Atlantic Ocean were so numerous that historians seemingly disagree on the exact number.

"Born in a gypsy tent six miles northeast of London, at Epping Forest, he received no education. The family made a living selling baskets, tinware and clothespegs.

"His father Cornelius, and his mother, Mary (Polly) Welch, provided a home that was happy in the gypsy wagon, despite the fact that father played his violin in the pubs at this time. Young Rodney would dance and collect money for the entertainment. Yet he never drank or smoked, which may have contributed to his longevity.

"Cornelius was in and out of jail for various offenses, usually because he couldn't afford to pay his fines. He first heard the gospel from the lips of a prison chaplain. He tried to explain to his dying wife what he heard.

"Gipsy was only five when his mother died from smallpox. A child's song she had heard sung 20 years previous about Jesus came back to her to comfort her as she passed on.

"Her dying words were, 'I believe, I know God will take care of my children.' Gipsy never forgot seeing his mother buried by lantern-light at the end of a lane in Hertfordshire. God did take care of the children as the four girls and two boys (Gipsy was the fourth child) grew up under the stern eye of their father. They all went into Christian service.

"Following his wife's death, Cornelius had no power to be good. One day he met his brothers, Woodlock and Bartholomew, and found they too hungered after God. At a tavern at the Barnwell end of town, they stopped and talked to the woman innkeeper about God. She groaned that she was troubled also and ran upstairs to find a copy of 'Pilgrim's Progress.'

"Hearing this read to them, they decided this is what they wanted. Cornelius encountered a road worker who was a Christian and inquired where a gospel meeting might be found. He was invited to the Latimer Road Mission where he eagerly attended the meeting with all his children.

"As the people sang the words, 'I do believe, I will believe that Jesus died for me,' and, 'There is a Fountain Filled With Blood,' Cornelius fell to the floor unconscious. Soon he jumped up and said, 'I am converted! Children, God has made a new man of me! You have a new father!'

"Gipsy ran out of the church thinking his father had gone crazy. Cornelius' two brothers were also converted (Bartholomew on the same night). Soon the three formed an evangelistic team and went roaming over the countryside preaching and singing the gospel.  From 1873 on, 'The Converted Gypsies' were used in a wonderful way with Cornelius living until age ninety-one.

"Soon after their conversion, Christmas came, and the six children asked their father, 'What are we going to have tomorrow?' The father sadly replied, 'I do not know, my boy.' The cupboard was bare and the purse was empty.

"The father would no longer play the fiddle in his accustomed saloons. Falling on his knees, he prayed, then told his children, 'I do not know what we will have for Christmas dinner, but we shall sing.' And sing, they did...

Then we'll trust in the Lord,
And He will provide;
Yes, we'll trust in the Lord,
And He will provide.

"A knock sounded on the side of their van. 'It is I,' said Mr. Sykes, the town missionary. 'I have come to tell you that the Lord will provide. God is good, is He not?' Then he told them that three legs of mutton and other groceries awaited them in town. It took a wheelbarrow to bring home the load of groceries and the grateful gypsies never knew whom God used to answer their prayers.

*****

"Gipsy's conversion at 16 came as a result of a combination of things. The witness of his father, the hearing of Ira Sankey sing, the visit to the home of John Bunyan in Bedford all contributed.

"Standing at the foot of the statue of Bunyan, Gipsy vowed he would live for God and meet his mother in heaven. A few days later in Cambridge, he attended the Primitive Methodist Chapel on Fitzroy Street. George Warner, the preacher, gave the invitation and Gipsy went forward.

"Somebody whispered, 'Oh, it's only a gypsy boy.' This was November 17, 1876, and he rushed home to tell his father that he had been converted. He got a Bible, English dictionary and Bible dictionary and carried them everywhere causing people to laugh.

" 'Never you mind,' he would say, 'One day I'll be able to read them,' adding, 'I'm going to preach too; God has called me to preach.' Gipsy taught himself to read and write and began to practice preaching.

"One Sunday he went into a turnip field and preached to the turnips. He would sing hymns to the people he met and was known as 'the singing gypsy boy.' At seventeen, he stood on a small corner some distance from the gypsy wagon and gave a brief testimony...his first attempt at preaching.

*****

"In 1892, Gipsy, now an internationally famous evangelist, took his third trip to America, this time with his wife. He was invited to hold special 'drawing room meetings' for some of the elite in one of the largest mansions on Fifth Avenue in New York City.

"It was not a public meeting, but personal letters were sent to various aristocratic ladies of New York, inviting them to be present. There were to be six meetings and at the first there were 175 ladies present. Facing Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, and such, he simply preached on 'Repentance'.

"Gipsy recalled, 'I only remembered that they were sinners needing a Savior.' He visited Ocean Grove, Lynn, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia in meetings sponsored by the Methodists. The newspaper coverage was good to Gipsy in a united campaign in Yonkers, New York. Denver, Colorado was exceedingly generous to them. From September, 1893, to January, 1894, he returned to Glasgow, Scotland for a seven-week crusade in seven different churches over a five-month period. The whole city was stirred.

"On May 22, 1894, Gipsy Smith arrived in Australia and began a six-week campaign in Adelaide. Then on to Melbourne and Sydney, where he received a cable that his wife was very sick. This aborted his visit here after only three months, but 2,000 people came to his sendoff . . .  

"On January 1, 1896 he made his fifth trip to America and held a great campaign in the People's Temple in Boston. This was the city's largest Protestant Church, with Pastor James Body Brady. Gipsy saw a sign outside the church, 'Gipsy Smith, the Greatest Evangelist in the World.' He made them take it down.

"The four-week crusade went seven weeks with 800 being received into the church. He then had a good campaign with Pastor Hugh Johnstone at the Metropolitan Episcopal Church of Washington, D.C. There he met President Grover Cleveland, one of the two presidents he was to meet, and also had blind 70-year-old Fanny Crosby on his platform one night, singing one of her hymns.

"Upon his return home, he was made a special missionary of the National Free Church Council from 1897 to 1912. Staying in England for a while, his 1899 crusade at Luton had 1,100 converts and his 1900 crusade at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London had 1,200 converts. A Birmingham, England crusade resulted in 1,500 converts.

*****

"One of the highlights of his life was his trip to South Africa in 1904 (age 44). He took his wife along. His daughter, Zillah, was the soloist. They spend six months there. He closed out in Cape Town on May 10th, seeing some 3,000 come to the inquiry rooms during his crusade there. A tent meeting in Johannesburg started on June 9th in a 3,000-seat tent. He finally left in September, and it was estimated that 300,000 attended his meetings with 18,000 decisions for Christ during the whole African tour.

"The 1906 crusade in Boston, Massachusetts was one of his most renown. Under the auspices of the Boston Evangelical Alliance and personal sponsorship of A. Z. Conrad, Gipsy conducted 50 meetings at Tremont Temple attended by 116,500 people. Decision cards totaled 2,290.

"In 1908 and 1909 France was his burden. Speaking to the cream of society at the Paris Opera House, he saw 150 decisions made. During World War I, he was back in France beginning in 1914, and for three and one-half years ministered under the Y.M.C.A. auspices to the English troops there, often visiting the front lines, resulting in receiving the Order of the British Empire which George VI made him a member of.

"In 1922, the Nashville, Tennessee crusade seemed to achieve great heights of pulpit power. He had 6,000 Negroes out at a special service. Once when preaching to Negroes only in Dallas, someone called out, 'What colour are we going to be in heaven? Shall we be black or white?' Gipsy replied, 'My dear sister, we are going to be just like Christ.' An 'Amen!' rang out all over the hall.

"In 1924, his crusade at the Royal Albert Hall in London had 10,000 attending nightly for the eight day meeting.

"In 1926, Gipsy made his second trip around the world. In Australia and New Zealand, radio greatly enlarged his ministry. In seven months, he accumulated 80,000 decision cards from the large cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland, etc., as well as in areas of Tasmania. His twenty- fifth trip to the U.S.A. was in 1928 with his son, Albany, who was also a preacher. They visited many churches. In Long Beach, California, he preached in a tent seating over 5,000. He also visited Toronto for the first time since 1909.

*****

"England was not responding to union crusades which Gipsy deemed necessary, so he was back in America in 1929. Now almost 70 years old, he traveled from Atlanta to Los Angeles with great power. He spoke to 10,000 people at Ocean Grove. San Antonio, Texas had 10,000 decision cards signed in three weeks. One of his greatest Crusades was held in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in a tobacco warehouse seating 6,000. 15,000 attended his last meeting with the total of decision cards for the whole crusade being 27,500.

"A large youth crusade was conducted in London in 1931. The year 1934 found him at an open-air meeting near the spot where his mother died. Some 3,500 heard Gipsy and a church was started there as a result, called the North Methodist Mission.

"In June, 1935, he had a rally at Epping Forest near the spot where he was born. 10,000 showed up to hear him talk about his life. His 1936 tour of America featured a great crusade in Elizabeth, New Jersey with 5,000 attending the last night which was the 60th anniversary of his conversion! Hundreds were saved. His favorite song, 'He is Mine,' was sung. Another great Texas crusade held at Dallas in the Dalentenary Fair Grounds resulted in 10,000 decisions.

"Gipsy Smith's wife, Annie, died in 1937 at the age of 79 while he was in America. All of their children turned out well: a minister, an evangelist, and a soloist.

*****

"Front page headlines on June 2, 1938 carried the news of the 78-year-old widower Gipsy marrying Mary Alice Shaw on her 27th birthday. This, of course, brought some criticism. But it was a good marriage, for she helped him in his meetings, sang, did secretarial work, and later nursed him when his health failed. He toured the United States and Canada from 1939 to 1945. In 1945 they went back to England. He preached a bit, but the country was pre-occupied with recovery from the war.

"Gipsy was now very tired, and thinking the sunshine of Florida might be good for his health, embarked again for America. Three hours out of New York, he died on the Queen Mary, stricken by a heart attack. Some say this was his 45th crossing of the Atlantic. His funeral was held August 8, 1947 in the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church of New York.

*****

"A memorial with a plaque was unveiled on July 2, 1949 at Mill Plain, Epping Forest, England, his birthplace. So ends the life of one who once said, 'I didn't go through your colleges and seminaries. They wouldn't have me...but I have been to the feet of Jesus where the only true scholarship is learned.' And learned it well,--to even compel Queen Victoria of England to write him a letter.

"Gipsy never wrote a sermon out for preaching purposes. Only once did he use notes when he needed some Prohibition facts. He wrote several books: 'As Jesus Passed By' (1905), 'Gipsy Smith: His Work and Life' (1906), 'Evangelistic Talks' (1922), 'Real Religion' (1929), 'The Beauty of Jesus' (1932) and 'The Lost Christ.'

"He could sing as well as he preached. Sometimes he would interrupt his sermon and burst into song. Thousands wept as he sang such songs as, 'Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah' with tears running down his cheeks, or others such as, 'This Wonderful Saviour of Mine,' and 'Jesus Revealed in Me,' a song that he wrote:

Christ the Transforming Light,
Touches this heart of mine,
Piercing the darkest night,
Making His glory shine.

Chorus:
Oh, to reflect His grace,
Causing the world to see,
Love that will glow
Til others shall know
Jesus revealed in me.

"Another song that he wrote was 'Not Dreaming.' This was written while he was resting in a corner of a railway compartment. He was reflecting on all the wonderful events of a recent campaign and some teenagers said, 'Oh, he's only dreaming.' He soon had a song to give the world...

The world says I'm dreaming, but I know 'tis Jesus
Who saves me from bondage and sin's guilty stain;
He is my Lover, my Saviour, my Master,
'Tis He who has freed me from guilt and its pain.

Chorus:
Let me dream on if I am dreaming;
Let me dream on, My sins are gone;
Night turns to dawn, Love's light is beaming,
So if I'm dreaming, Let me dream on.

"Other hymns written were, 'Thank God for You,' and 'Mother of Mine.' C. Austin Miles wrote "But This I Know," and dedicated it to Gipsy. B. D. Ackley composed the music for, 'Let the Beauty of Jesus Be Seen in Me,' and dedicated it to Gipsy."

(Ed Reese has written 49 booklets in his Christian Hall of Fame series. Reese Publications, 7801 Embercrest Trail, Knoxville, TN 37938.)