Just the tip of the iceberg

The news has reached an unparalleled level of fakeness. The numbers are cooked, the people quoted are actors, the details of the story are consistently fudged, the story itself is highly unlikely, if not implausible, on and on.

If people think that now that evil has gained so much territory their purveyors will be satisfied for awhile, forget it.  They're having too much fun mocking us, for one reason. It's game on, and we're dealing with "gamers".

Proverbs 27:20 says : [20] Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.

I have always remembered my favorite professor from Ohio State University, Henry H. Schulte, Sunday editor-in-chief of the Chicago Daily News when it folded in 1978, telling us, "When you see the disappearance of a free and independent press that is the downfall of a society."

*****

Proverbs 16: 27-29 says, “An ungodly man diggeth up evil: and in his lips there is as a burning fire.

[28] A froward man soweth strife: and a whisperer separateth chief friends.
[29] A violent man enticeth his neighbour, and leadeth him into the way that is not good.”

Jordan relays in a study some years back, “I read that verse 27 and I wonder what these ‘newsmen’ at CBS, NBC, ABC and CNN think about themselves when they hear that verse. There’s always a motive behind gossip and that’s it. Gossip is a means to an end and that’s to separate people.

“Psalm 64 says, Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity:

[3] Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:
[4] That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not.
[5] They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them?
[6] They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep.’ "

(new article tomorrow)

(this is the continuation of post from earlier today and I will have a new article tomorrow)

“The whole issue in the Book of Hebrews is to explain and motivate Israel. The Believers in Israel are not to go back to the Mosaic system.

“They are warned strongly and severely in Hebrews: ‘Don’t go back to the old covenant.’ They’re to leave the shadow and go on to the reality--the new and living way, the perfection that’s in Jesus Christ: ‘Put your eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ; He’s the one with the more excellent glory, the higher alternative than angels, Moses, Joshua and Aaron, because He’s got a better sacrifice.’

“You know why they’re going to need that? In that tribulation that temple’s going to be rebuilt. All of the Old Testament sacrifices, the Mosaic Law system, are going to be reestablished in the tribulation.

“I’ve told you about the brother, an orthodox Jew down in Selma, Alabama, that I used to visit with. Old Henry was a Jew who was caught up in Germany in WW II. He hid from the Nazis, hiding in ditches and in culverts under the roads.

"He hid in Belgium for three years while the Nazi occupation was going on, and a Belgium couple hid him in their attic day and night. He had to hide in fields and in culverts. He finally got out of there and into the U.S., and he was the only orthodox Jew in the whole area and I got to be good friends with him.

“I’d take my Hebrew Bible over to his place and he’d get his Hebrew Bible, and they were the same ones. His Hebrew Bible was just like a King James Bible, just a different language. He taught me an awful lot about it. He loved to study the Old Testament, and I sat there one day in his living room and talked to him about the Lord and he said, ‘Let’s don’t talk about that Jesus.’ He didn’t want to hear about the Lord.

“And I said, ‘Henry, I want to describe somebody to you. There’s a guy one day going to take over in Jerusalem,’ and I described the rebuilding of the temple, the reinstitution of the animal sacrifices of the Mosaic system. I said, ‘They’re going to take the Book of Leviticus and reinstitute the priesthood and the sacrifices.’

“I said, ‘Henry, I want to ask you, as a 20^th Century, enlightened, sensitive, modern American--if they start those animal sacrifices over there next week, would you get on an airplane and go over there and offer an animal sacrifice?’

“And he sat there for a minute, and he thought, and he looked at me and said, ‘Yes.’ You could have knocked me right off the seat when he said that! I never would have thought anybody would have went and done something like that. Not an enlightened, 20^th Century American! Educated man.

“That’s what they’re going to face in that tribulation. They’re going to have that system reestablished and you know what’s going to happen? Those Jews are going to start going back over there and reestablishing . . .

"I asked him, ‘Who is that man that’s doing all that, Henry?’ He said, ‘That’s my Messiah.’ I said, ‘No, Henry, that’s the phony one.’ I was describing to him, not Jesus Christ, but the Antichrist, and that’s what’s going to happen.

“These Jews, they’re going to have it, they’re going to see it, and it’s going to be going again. ‘C’mon guys, our religion, our temple is reestablished and the sacrifice,’ and the pressure’s going to be on those Jews in the tribulation to go back to that.”

Outside the camp

For the Little Flock, leaving apostate Israel and its religion and going on unto Christ means they have to go “outside of the camp.”

"They have to literally abandon all of the structure that looks like the nation and go to Christ who is the true vine, the true nation, and be found in Him.

Hebrews 13:10-11 says, ‘We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
[11] For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.’

Jordan says, “Unfortunately this passage, over and over, is misunderstood. People get all teary-eyed and sentimental and the song writers go berserk and the poets have a great time misinterpreting verse 10.

“When he says we have an altar, the writer’s not talking about an altar in a church that you go to. You go down to the mission—I used to work in a mission in Mobile—and they have what they call an ‘altar call.’

"I was raised in a church that had a big altar—a communion rail, the thing in the front of the church there that went all the way across--and you came down and you knelt down and they call that an altar. That’s not an altar; that’s a kneeling rail or a prayer rail. An altar is a place you go make a sacrifice.

“The altar here is not a place in a church building. Some people say, ‘Well, the altar is the Lord’s Supper.’ No it’s not. It says ‘we have an altar whereof they have no right to eat.’ Everybody eats at the Lord’s Supper if you’re saved. Everybody’s got a right to come and eat there. This is an altar nobody eats of.

“This is not the Eucharist. It’s not some altar where you ring a bell and God shows up, you know, and the hooch turns to blood and the wafer turns to flesh and all that kind of business.

“It’s not the Cross either, by the way. Sometime people tell you, ‘Well, you know, Israel had an altar on a hill over there and we have an altar.'

"The Cross of Jesus Christ in your Bible is never called an altar. When Jesus Christ died at Calvary He was the sacrifice, and if you want to DO something, He’s the sacrifice on the altar.

“He’s the victim being slain. He’s not the altar. He’s the propitiation, but He’s not the altar. He’s the victim. It’s an entirely different kind of thing. He IS and the Cross represents the sacrifice. He’s the sacrifice being made.

“What you’ve got in verse 10 is talking about ‘we Hebrews.’ By the way, the Book of Hebrews is written to Hebrews. I mean, it isn’t hard to understand who ‘we’ is. ‘We have an altar.’ Well, he’s not talking about Calvary; he’s talking about an altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. This is an altar in the tabernacle. This is a Jewish altar at the tabernacle where the sin offering is made.

“He’s talking to you about the altar in the tabernacle, or in the temple, about the sin offering. Go back in Leviticus 4 and read about the sin offering. When they have the sin offering the priest takes the blood and takes it in to the holy place in here and then the animal’s body is burned without the camp.

“It’s burned so that the whole thing is consecrated unto God. Normally, when they offered a sacrifice, the animal was given to the priest and the priest ate it. That’s how the priest supported himself.

“Listen, if you’re going to teach people to tithe like an Israelite, then you ought to live like a Levite. And the way a Levite lives, folks, is off the offering and the things that were given. And the storehouse that he stored up was a literal storehouse, out back of the tabernacle there in the temple, where they stored the grain and the meal that was brought, and where they took the animals they brought, and where they had a shambles back there where they kept the stuff, and that’s where they got their provisions to eat out of, because that Levite didn’t have an inheritance in the land, and Israel had to tithe to that tabernacle and when you get to thinking about it, the Levite had all the blessings of the land.

“What he’s talking about in verse 10 is the temple, and he said, ‘Look, we got an altar over here that we don’t have any access to and when they make a sin offering, we can’t go over there and partake of it. Even the priest can’t.’

“That’s because the high priest takes that blood in the sanctuary in there on the day of atonement; takes that blood and takes it in to the Holy of Holies and sprinkles it on the ‘mercy seat’ and then they take the other things that go on and so forth, and he says, ‘Look, we don’t even have access to that!’

“But that body of that animal that’s burnt in that sin offering is burned ‘without the camp.’ He’s taken out there outside the camp and is burned. Now that’s the illustration.

“We Hebrews have in the Levitical system, on the day of atonement, an altar in the tabernacle. That’s what he’s talking about. He’s talking about, ‘Here’s the meat and the drink. Here’s the physical thing. here’s the old system.’

“What did Jesus do? He came and fulfilled the type. The type was that the thing was burned ‘without the camp.’ The sin offering is put ‘without the camp’ so when Jesus Christ comes and He dies, He dies without the camp.

“By the way, that helps you know what the camp is. John 19:17: ‘And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha.’ When Jesus dies on the Cross, He’s outside the camp, it says.

“Where’s He crucified? He’s crucified OUTSIDE of Jerusalem, the headquarters for the nation, the place where the temple was located, where the religion that God had put in the earth had its headquarters. He’s crucified on the outside of the thing. He’s crucified ‘without the camp.’

“So where’s the reality? The reality isn’t up there at the tabernacle and the types and the tabernacle tell you where to go find the reality. They tell you that the reality is going to be outside the camp, so what’d Jesus Christ do? When Jesus Christ’s crucified He goes OUTSIDE the camp and that’s where He dies; that’s where he suffers.

“Now the application, the exhortation: ‘Let us go forth therefore unto Him.’ That’s the issue. Where’s Christ? Is He over there in the Levitical system or is He out? He’s outside.

“So what should the Hebrews do? Hey, folks, their place was with Christ! Their place wasn’t in Judaism; their place wasn’t in the Jews’ religion. Their place was with Him. ‘Let’s leave the old system and let’s go unto him, he’ saying to them.

“Hebrews 13:13 says, ‘Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.’

“That takes you back to Hebrews 11 and all of the things we saw there about walking by faith in spite of all the obstacles put in your way. The reproach psalm is Psalm 69. You ought to spend some time reading that.

“He at Calvary took your place, and all of the shame, and all of the reproach, and all the humiliation, and all of the anger, and all of the outcast that ought to be poured on YOU, He took. Wonderful, you know that. It’s a blessing.” 

(another article later today)

Worries into prayers

"In II Timothy 4, Timothy is still with Paul at the very end as a faithful brother and minister, so he would have personal knowledge and personal information and the Ephesians would know he's going to fill them in on all the details, all the latest news," said Preacher Richard Jordan in his message last Sunday.

"In fact, you'll see that when Paul needed Timothy to come from Ephesus to him, he sent Tychicus to take his place and fill in. When he needed Titus to come from Crete to him, he sent Tychicus to fill in for him. See, he's somebody Paul trusted with the ministry.

"I received an email regarding my sermons from the past couple of weeks that asked, 'So what you're saying is we need to turn our worries and concerns into prayer?' After I thought, I answered, 'That's exactly right.' We need to take our concerns, worries, our cares . . .

"Philippians 4 says, [6] Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. [7] And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

" 'Be careful for nothing' means, 'Don't be overtaken by the cares of life.' When you're looking at the things that you're anxious, worried, cumbered about with, what should you do? The way prayer works is depending on how God's working.

"Prayer in a way is sort of like marriage. There's not a lot in the Bible about marriage; it's pretty cut and dried. But there's an awful lot in the Bible about relationships and marriage is the most intimate relationship you'll ever have with another person.

"So, if you want to know how to function in marriage, look for the Bible instruction about relationships. Well, prayer's that way. Instead of focusing on prayer and what should I say, focus on what God's doing, because the way prayer works is determined by how He's working.

"So, if I know how He's working, I know how to talk to Him. I know how to expect Him to respond.

II Cor. 4: [16] For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

[17] For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
[18] While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

"That's the reality in the things you're concerned about, in your fears. How do you get renewed? In the spirit of your mind. Romans 12 says, [2] And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

"Take that sound doctrine and let it renew the way you're thinking about the things. When it says, 'For our light affliction,' it's still an affliction, but it's a light affliction. The weight is not in the affliction; it's in the glory that's going to come. 

"Romans 8: [18] For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

"You see how it's an eternal thing, not temporal? It's a glory that's going to last forever.

"How do you see something you can't see? Hebrews 11:1 [1] Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

"That's why he says in II Corinthians 5:7: [7] (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)

[8] We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
[9] Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.
[10] For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

Never fear, only trust and obey

New article tomorrow. In the meantime:

You can't trust the news, the media, the government, the politicians, the tech giants, the corporations, the judicial system, the public schools, etc. This is what the majority of people believe. 

Famous psychologist Robert Plutchik (1927-2006) named the polar opposites of trust and distrust as the basic human emotional condition.

Psalm 118:8 says, "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man." Proverbs 3: [5] Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

Robert C. Solomon (1942-2007), a renowned American educator and philosopher who authored 40-plus books, had many thoughts about the nature of trust and how he believed “many people are blind to it.”

Solomon observes, in a compilation of quotes from him, “Trust is not bound up with knowledge so much as it is with freedom, the openness to the unknown . . . Trust opens up new and unimagined possibilities . . . True, trust necessarily carries with it uncertainties, but we must force ourselves to think about these uncertainties as possibilities and opportunities, not as liabilities. . . Trust is a skill learned over time so that, like a well-trained athlete, one makes the right moves, usually without much reflection.”

II Samuel 22 says, [31] As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.
[32] For who is God, save the LORD? and who is a rock, save our God?
[33] God is my strength and power: and he maketh my way perfect.
[34] He maketh my feet like hinds' feet: and setteth me upon my high places.
[35] He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.
[36] Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great.
[37] Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did not slip.

In the great old hymn from 1891, "My Faith Has Found a Resting Place," author Eliza Hewitt (a Philadelphia teacher who wrote many Christian poems in her convalescence after a boy she disciplined struck her in the back with a heavy slate, giving her a spinal malady that ended her career and made her a shut-in) boasts,

1. My faith has found a resting place,
   Not in device or creed;
   I trust the ever-living One,
   His wounds for me shall plead.
   • Refrain:
     I need no other argument,
     I need no other plea,
     It is enough that Jesus died,
     And that He died for me.
2. Enough for me that Jesus saves,
   This ends my fear and doubt;
   A sinful soul I came to Him,
   He’ll never cast me out.
3. My heart is leaning on the Word,
   The living Word of God,
   Salvation by my Savior’s name,
   Salvation through His blood.

According to a biography on Hewitt, "As an invalid for an extended period, she developed a love of God and the Scriptures, and the hope of sharing with others in written form. She wrote Sunday School literature and children’s poems. She wrote a poem for her pastor during this time entitled 'Winning Souls for Jesus' and it was placed in the corner stone of Tabernacle Presbyterian Church of West Philadelphia. 

"Her condition eventually improved and she was able to return to an active life in Christian ministry. She wrote 'There Is Sunshine in My Soul Today' after getting her body cast off and being allowed a walk in the nearby park, in thankfulness at the joy of being able to get about again. She was very committed to reaching children through Sunday Schools and attended the Methodist Camp meetings in Ocean Grove, New Jersey. She worked with the Methodist District Superintendent’s wife, Emily Wilson, on the hymn poem, 'When We All Get to Heaven.' "

*****

Minister Howard A. Walter (1883-1918) is the author of the hymn, "I Would Be True, For There are Those Who Trust Me." A book on hymn origins reveals, "In July of 1906 Walter was teaching English at Waseda University in Japan. He sent his mother a poem he had written called 'My Creed.' In the poem he expressed the feeling that motivated him as a Christian: 'I would be true, for there are those who trust me.'

"His mother was so impressed with the sincerity of the poem that she submitted it to the editors of Harper's Bazaar, who published it in 1907. Three years later it was seen by Joseph Peek, who saw its possibilities as a hymn. Although a tune was running clearly in his mind, Peek was unfamiliar with the techniques of musical composition and got an organist friend to write it down while he whistled. 'I Would Be True,' one of the outstanding youth songs of all time, is one of the few hymns that mention the word 'laughter' as a Christian attribute."

*****

A great hymn from 1887, written by John Sammis, is "Trust and Obey." Of the hymn's origins, "The inspiration for this hymn began in 1886 when the composer of the music, Daniel B. Towner, was the music conductor during one of Dwight L. Moody’s renowned revivals. Towner offered the following testimony cited by Moody’s musical partner, Ira D. Sankey, in his biography, My Life and the Story of the Gospel Hymns: 

“Mr. Moody was conducting a series of meetings in Brockton, Massachusetts, and I had the pleasure of singing for him there. One night a young man rose in a testimony meeting and said, ‘I am not quite sure—but I am going to trust, and I am going to obey.’ I just jotted that sentence down and sent it with a little story to the Rev. J. H. Sammis, a Presbyterian minister. He wrote the hymn, and the tune was born.” 

The lyrics are:

1. When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
   What a glory He sheds on our way!
   While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
   And with all who will trust and obey.
   • Refrain:
     Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
     To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.
2. Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
   But His smile quickly drives it away;
   Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
   Can abide while we trust and obey.
3. Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
   But our toil He doth richly repay;
   Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,
   But is blessed if we trust and obey.
4. But we never can prove the delights of His love
   Until all on the altar we lay;
   For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,
   Are for them who will trust and obey.
5. Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet,
   Or we’ll walk by His side in the way;
   What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
   Never fear, only trust and obey.

Jews worldwide 'unite' in prayer for Moshiach

Yesterday, February 21, 2021, this prayer was said by Jews around the world at the same exact time: "Master of the Universe, we the children of Israel, all united, at the same moment, all over the world, we are crying out to you."

Global times given ahead of time for the prayer included:

New York 11 AM EST

Los Angeles 8 AM PST

London 4 PM

Israel 6 PM

Johannesburg 6 PM

Melbourne 3 AM (Mon.)

According to the website COLLIVE: "MILLIONS of Jews in locations as varied as Australia, France, Russia, and China will all say the same prayer at the same time, creating a powerful sense of unity that will cross all borders. Not only physical borders, but spiritual borders as well.

"Non-affiliated Jews, Ashkenazim, Sephardim, Chassidim, and more will join together with the same prayer for peace and redemption!"

You can watch the Hollywood movie trailer-quality video on the event by going to YouTube. Just type in "Jewish worldwide prayer day 2021."

*****

New World Order religions such as the Freemasons, Theosophists, Kabbalahists, etc., are said to believe God created Adam double-faced and split him to make him of two backs, depicted facing one another.

"They take Genesis 1:27 ([27] So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them) and try to change the meaning of the word 'them' to make it singular," explains a YouTube channel commentator. "Obviously, it means 'one male, one female', but they say Adam was created male and female.

"He created Adam as a lifeless mass extending from one end of the world to the other; He created him filling the whole world. That's the 'cosmic androgyne.' It's like the Force in Star Wars. The entire universe is an androgyne and we're all androgynes, too, we just don't know it.

"This is why mass media tells us we're gender-neutral and we're all on a gender spectrum. It's straight out of rabbinical commentaries; the oral traditions of the rabbis from ancient Babylonian mysticism.

"Nimrod didn't invent it either; it goes back to the ancient world. I personally believe it came from the pre-Flood nephilim. This is what the fallen angels were teaching people back then to try and wipe us all out; turn us into abominations.

"The midrash says the Holy One created Adam a hermaphrodite, a bisexual. They say that according to Jeremiah's opinion, Adam had both sexes and thus is a real hermaphrodite in the old mythical sense. It's identical with the conception of Hermes, in which he is understood to be the Logos, Alethinos. This is what Plato taught."

(new article tomorrow)

Satan's goal: A creation that unites him with it

Daniel 7 says the Antichrist is "more stout" than any other person. His physical appearance was different than the normal man. The Bible says he’s the "king of fierce countenance." He literally looks different, like a super version of a humanoid kind of a thing. But it doesn’t work.

Jordan explains, "In Psalm 139:15-16, David is describing the creation of man: [15] My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

[16] Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

“There was a point when David knew that when he was conceived (Psalm 51 says, [5] Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.) there was a book; God’s book in which everything David was going to be . . .

“Now we know that’s DNA today, but 50 years ago nobody knew what that was. When I was conceived in my mother’s womb, that first joining of those 46 chromosomes said I was going to have blue eyes, my daddy’s hands, my mother’s skull structure, on and on.

“When David says, ‘In thy book all my members were written which then just grew,’ he’s talking about the book of DNA that God wrote. Now, God wrote another Book and you’ve got it in your lap. What does Satan want to do with that Book? ‘We are not as many which corrupt the Word of God.’

“Jesus taught the parable in Luke 8 saying the ‘seed was the Word of God.’ You know what happens when you get saved? Jesus says the new birth is when God’s Spirit implants life into a dead spirit. Paul calls that 'regeneration'; when you were born of the Spirit of the God.

“James 1 says it was the ‘engrafted word.’ Literally, when you trusted Christ, God took His Spirit and engrafted Him into your, I’ll say it like this for an illustration, ‘spiritual DNA,’ and became one with you at a level that is comparable to becoming one with you in your DNA physically.

“Satan’s goal is to form a creation that unites him with creation—heaven and earth with HIM as the boss; with HIM on the throne, but it doesn’t work. It doesn’t work in Genesis and it doesn’t work in Revelation. It’s a failure. Just like you can’t corrupt that Book, he can’t successfully corrupt mankind. You know why?

“In Matthew 24, Jesus said, ‘And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.’

“So you know what He does? He shortens them. That’s why the tribulation’s 70^th week only lasts seven years and, in that part of it, only 1,240 days. Because if what Satan put into motion there were allowed to run its normal course, all of humanity’s flesh would be corrupted, but God won’t let that happen. He’ll stop it. And He stops it by the Word of God coming, the Lord Jesus Christ (Revelation 19) coming from heaven to destroy the Adversary.”

(new article tomorrow)

Unicorn = little horn = Antichrist

Explaining the seemingly universal appeal of unicorns anymore, one "expert in the field" reasoned,  "That idea of openness to ideas, that you have to make a leap of faith in life to bond with a magical creature, is alluring. And it feels especially important now. Each era we create or revive myths to help make sense of the world. In recent times there have been vogues for aliens, zombies and vampires. But in a time of Trump and Brexit and terror, we’ve aligned ourselves with the unicorn – a symbol of hope and purity and strangeness."

*****

Among the prophetic visions laid out in Daniel 7, Daniel has a dream in which he sees a leopard, a lion and a bear in one.

"Daniel looks out into the future and he’s now looking at the 'end time,' " explains Jordan.

“Daniel says, “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

[8] I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.

“That little horn turns out to be the Antichrist so these four beasts represent kingdoms in the earth. You’ve got three—the leopard, the lion and the bear—and then you’ve got one you can’t even describe it’s so bad-looking. And that’s the one the Antichrist comes from.”

*****

The Book of Jude describes how in "the last days" ungodliness reaches its zenith. Jude 4 says, [4] For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the Book of Revelation, in the middle of the 70^th Week, there’s an angel that flies in heaven and preaches what’s called "the everlasting gospel."

Revelation 14:6-7 says, [6] And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
[7] Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of water

“Doesn’t that sound just about like what Solomon the preacher says at the end of Ecclesiastes? The message of Ecclesiastes is just the message the remnant in Israel is going to be delivering to the world!

"Do you remember what the conclusion of Ecclesiastes is at the end of the last chapter? Verses 13-14: [13] Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
[14] For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.

“Do you understand there are tremendous messages in the Old Testament that God gives to Israel to take even to the nations of the world, and this ‘everlasting gospel’ is giving information for that ‘believing remnant’ to carry to the nations in that 70^th Week of Daniel."

Who is MYSTERY BABYLON?

Jesus Christ says in Luke 13, [34] O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!

"This verse unmistakably says that Jerusalem kills the prophets and that's where the prophets perish," says Preacher David Reid. "What does Revelation 18:24, referring to Babylon, say? [24] And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

"This can only be a reference to Jerusalem. When it says MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT in Revelation 17, it's not just Babylon, but there is some mysterious aspect to it.

"In I Corinthians 2:7-8, a mystery is described as hidden wisdom. A mystery is not just wisdom; there's an aspect to it that's hidden, but not in a way that we can't understand it.

"When you compare Scripture to Scripture, you notice Jerusalem doesn't occur in Hebrews through Revelation, except with regard to the new Jerusalem.

"We notice from Revelation 11 that Jerusalem is sometimes referred to spiritually by other names, like Sodom in Egypt. These other names describe what Jerusalem is like. We know Jerusalem can also be described as MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT.

*****

“It’s through the religious persuasion of the ‘false prophet’ that the Antichrist gathers authority as the counterfeit religious ruler working miracles in the earth and the religion is called ‘MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH,' " explains Preacher Richard Jordan.

“That means there is today a whorehouse religion out in the religious system of the world that will ultimately culminate with the religion of the Antichrist, and through it he’ll be proclaimed, not only as Israel’s Messiah, but as the 12th Imam for Muslims.

"He’ll be hailed the conquering hero and sit upon that throne in Jerusalem and declare himself to be God. Such will be the persuasive power of the Lie Program in that day and it will all focus and center in that piece of real estate where civilization began.”

*****

The symbol of Israel in the Bible is the “burning bush,” not the Star of David, which the Book of Amos identifies as the star of Israel's Caananite god Moloch, associated with child sacrifice.

An internet entry reads, "The elites seem to worship Molech and Baphomet. Molech is the owl from the Bohemian Grove and Baphomet is the satanic goat man with breasts."

Amos 5:26 reads, “But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves."

"That six-pointed Star of David is really a symbol of a pagan god who infested the nation with pagan religion in the time of the Prophet Amos and before. There’s a reason they would use a star. There’s a reason the Mohammedans use the crescent moon and that kind of stuff.

“There's a whole raft of pagan religions in that part of the world dating to ancient times that worship the heavens. It all goes back to Genesis 11 when 'they built a tower to reach to heaven,' and they corrupted the constellations and the signs and messages in the heavens into pagan use.”

*****

"The great seduction for Israel in the tribulation is their belief that their Messiah has come at last.

“Israel gets in a bind with enemies coming against them and an Assyrian fellow (the Antichrist) comes up and delivers them from war,” explains Jordan. “He takes over the kingdom and the verse in Daniel 11 says, [24] He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.

“Previous to this guy, the Assyrians just came in and militarily defeated Israel and captured them. He’s going to come and DEFEND Israel against the Palestinians, the Persians, the Egyptians all out to destroy them; the sons of Esau and the sons of Lot who try to destroy Israel.

“He not only saves Israel, he enriches them. He gives them great wealth and blessing and prosperity and everybody says, ‘Our Messiah has come!’

“There’s deliverance and he brings peace; he looks like the real thing! He reinstitutes their religion, the Mosaic Law, and rebuilds their temple, and Israel feels like, ‘Boy, we’ve found our Messiah!’ Problem is, he’s the wrong one.

“In I John, II John and III John we learn how to identify the people deceived and those who aren’t; how that Believing Remnant could know for sure they possessed eternal life and were trusting the right Christ, able to identify the wrong one.

"That’s why there’s all those verses about confessing that ‘Christ is come in the flesh.’ I mean, is this guy the Messiah, or did the real Messiah show up 2,000 years ago?

“To trust the one who showed up 2,000 years ago they are going to have walk absolutely, totally by faith in some verses in a Book. To trust the one who’s standing there, they say, ‘Well, there he is!’ and he’s going to do signs and wonders.

*****

“He’s going to have a prophet with him. He’s going to have his John the Baptist and his Pentecost. They'll bring down fire from heaven and do all these miracles and the people will say, ‘Hey, look at the miracles he’s doing!’

“They’re going to follow behind him and check him and it won’t be like Benny Hinn and Oral Roberts and John Hagee; all these guys who profess to have miracles but don’t.

“All the stuff the TV guys profess to have and don’t, this guy will REALLY have and he will be exactly what Deuteronomy 13 warned Israel about when it talks about someone coming along saying they’re a prophet or 'dreamer of dreams' and showing you a ‘sign or a wonder’ and having the 'sign or wonder' comes to pass.

“When John Hagee gets the people down in front of his church and does the stuff he doesn’t show you on his TV show, he touches them with oil and says ‘Heal!’ You know what happens? Well, they just get a little Wesson oil on their forehead, that’s all. It’s nothing.

“When this Assyrian does it, it really works and everybody says, ‘Ooh, got to be real!’ so Jude says, ‘You know, you guys, I’d like to just write to you and talk to you about the stuff back there in Hebrews, and all about the propitiatory work of Christ and what we share in common with Him, but it’s needful that I tell you guys to earnestly contend for the faith. Keep on keepin’ on because, here’s the reason . . .’

"Verses 4-16 of Jude tell why they should contend for the faith and verses 17 to the end tell them how.

*****

“When it says they ‘crept in unawares,’ that’s saying they crawled in; they came in under cover. They didn’t announce their presence. They came in saying one thing but being something else.

“You remember the verse in Matthew where Jesus Christ says, ‘I send you forth as sheep among wolves’? But the wolves are going to have on what? Sheep’s clothing.

"You ever seen a wolf hunker down and slyly creep along on Disney or the Discovery Channel? When a wolf is hunting, he doesn’t just walk right up and go, ‘Ha, Ha!’ These guys come in craftily. They come in slyly. They’re wolves, but they’re in sheep’s clothing."

And am PERSUADED that He is able

"All these experiences that come on you--tribulation, distress, famine, nakedness, economic distress, peril, sword, the government, all the things we fear--the Adversary will use them to separate you, make you ashamed.

"Romans 8: [36] As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

"We understand the world doesn't like us; we got that. [37] Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

"There's an absolute, complete, total victory program over sin that God has provided for us through Jesus Christ and it makes you more than a conqueror," says Richard Jordan.

"Paul starts the next verse, 'For I am persuaded,' and that's what it's got to be. You have to be persuaded that this is true, 'that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

[39] Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

"You and I have been equipped to deal with the vanity and the bondage of corruption through the Word of God to us, through His grace to us, so that we can apply it to the details of our life.

"When you're fully persuaded that what God says is true, then you'll see His Word work effectually in you that believe.

"Paul writes in II Corinthians 4: [15] For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

[16] For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
[17] For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
[18] While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

"The 'all things' he's talking about in the passage start in verse 8: [8] We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; [9] Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

"All those things Paul went through, Paul understood that he was an example for us; he understood that when he went through things it was for our consolation. 

"When he says, 'For your sakes, that the abundant grace through thanksgiving . . . ,' that's now, not the ages to come. When people saw Paul go through the persecutions and witnessed God's grace work in him, they would give thanks to God. They would see Paul value and cherish, esteem the Lord Jesus Christ in all those things and it caused the glory of God to be manifest in Paul.

" 'For this cause, we faint not,' means, 'We don't quit.' Right now, you're building things in your inner man that you give you an exceeding and eternal weight of glory in the ages to come. His purpose with the Body of Christ is that in the ages to come He's going to manifest His glory through us. 

"Paul says, 'While we look at the things not seen.' You see, it's that faith viewpoint and that gives us the opportunity to manifest  the value of His grace and truth, both now (verse 15) and in eternity (verse 17).

"So it's Paul, not Job, who is the illustration that teaches us how to respond to the frustration of the vanity of the curse. You focus on His glory. Grace and truth is an encapsulized description of the glory, the essence, the outshining of who God is.

"When we focus on His grace and His truth, found in the Book rightly divided, what God's doing in our lives as members of the Body of Christ, it's really just boot camp for the future ministry we'll have in the ages to come, as well as boot camp for the ministry now. 

"I Corinthians 15:58: [58] Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

"It's not the vanity of this world; it's real, purposeful, meaningful life. The way you don't waste your life is don't grieve problems like you don't have a hope; you have a hope of glory.

"Focus on that and don't miss the opportunity to be a witness to the value and the treasure that you know is in Christ. 'For me to live is Christ.' I want Him to be magnified in my decisions; His will is more important than anything else. His actions are more important than anything else."

Intercession for us

 In and out of situations

That tug o' war at me;

All day long I struggle

For answers that I need . . .

 Through His love the Lord's provided

A place for us to rest;

A place to find the answers

In the hours of distress.

Paul writes in Romans 8, [26] Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

[27] And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

"A groaning that can't be uttered is there's such an intense agony," explains Richard Jordan. "There's such an intensity of grief that you can't put it into words. You don't know how to express it. Now, when you talk about grief without words, to me that's the deepest level of human need. 

"When the Holy Sprit's going to make intercession, He's able. He doesn't just know your mind, He understands your soul, so He's able to reach down into the very depths of your need and make intercession right down to the bottom of it.

"There are three levels of need. There's the surface level that you see, but you know immediately that there's something spiritual under that. 'We look not at the things that are seen but the things that are not seen.'

"Once you see that spiritual issue and you begin to pray there, it will help you to minister--rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep--as you then go to deal with the situation.

"An intercessor is someone who takes two parties and brings them together. Here's the experience, the difficulty, and here's you. You're going to pray and the Holy Spirit knows what the will of God is; He knows what God's Word says and how to apply it to the situation you're in. So as you talk to Him about the situation, He uses His Word then to adjust your thinking and your attitude."

(new article tomorrow)

Love no one can take from you

I lost a close friend (someone who loved me without fail and I could count on his love no matter what) a week ago today--James Thomas Mark Pluta from Justice, Ill. (born in 1964, the same year of my birth, and never married like me). He was the consummate Chicagoland journalist, known far and wide in the city and its burbs, with good intentions always.

You can read the obituary article that appeared in the Chicago Tribune by going online. I presented the gospel to him several times and he always knew I was a Believer, but I don't know if he was saved at the time of death. I had not been in touch with him and he died suddenly of a heart infection.

A couple of weeks ago I started to have a problem with my left foot's arch. I kept walking on it because I wanted to be outside and exercise, but that only made it worse.

Suddenly, it started throwing off the whole left side of my body and then last Sunday, crying over first learning of the death of my dear friend Pluta (who I personally nicknamed Grizzly Adams because of his looks, his height and his gentle character) and then crying during the morning message at my church, I got out of my seated position and leaned over and my back just went kapooey in a very painful way. It turns out it is my sciatic nerve and I think I have a real problem on my hands. It's better now but it's a big long haul, I fear.

I have so many stories about Pluta. He was a guy who had such overt kindness and gregariousness about him, the epitome of fun-loving, had a tremendous sense of humor and loved people of all stripes and backgrounds; strangers were his calling card! He was also like John Candy's character Uncle Buck in some poignant ways.

One of many stories for me was how he came to visit me in Manhattan (the first time Pluta had ever been in New York City) and, as he was known for in his personal life (but not professionally!), did not arrive on time. This was before cell phones got big and he called me from the airport that he had arrived and was taking a cab. When he finally arrived he told me that he was unexpectedly interviewed by TV reporters about Steve Bartman, the man who attempted to catch a foul ball resulting in the Cubs losing in the playoffs. 

Pluta said they assured him he would be on the evening newscast in New York. I had planned that we would meet friends of mine for dinner and so we ended up going to a sports place on the Upper East Side and they had a hockey game on that everybody at the packed bar was really into.

Pluta informed the bartender that he would be on the evening news and asked if he could please turn to the ABC station. Well, that went over like a lead balloon, but for some reason the bartender suddenly announced to his patrons that he was about to cut away from the satellite station over to the sports news because this man (6' 4 inches with beard and portly belly) said he was going to be on the news. This had everyone's attention and sure enough the newscast had videotape of Pluta and his comments! The whole crowd clapped after his appearance!

*****

"The greatest happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved, loved for ourselves, or rather loved in spite of ourselves."

“The door to the human heart can be opened only from the inside . . . Scientists know only what loves does. Love, properly applied, could virtually empty our asylums, our prisons, our hospitals. Love is the touchstone of psychiatric treatment. Love can be fostered, extended, used to subjugate hate and thus cure diseases. More and more clearly every day, out of biology, anthropology, sociology, history, economics, psychology, the plain common sense, the necessary mandate of survival—that we love our neighbors as ourselves—is being confirmed and reaffirmed. Christ gave us only one commandment—Love. Now to the laboratory with love!”

*****

“Always remember, our ambassadorship is INSIDE of us living out THROUGH us. It can NEVER be carried on by our outward man.

“Because there isn’t any kingdom to bring in, God dumps all of this stuff on us upfront so right now we can get used to operating in it, working in it, living in it. We’re operating in His mind and thinking, so that when we get to heaven, we’ll be ready to get on with the program.

"I John 2:5 says,[5] But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

“Where obedience exists, it’s the completion and the perfection of love. Love reaches its completion, it’s filling up, by being obedient to the will of God.

“Love is never complete without obedience and it’s a verse like that, and a truth like that, that says, ‘See, that’s what we need today! We need to be obedient so we need to completely . . . ’ and you take that principal and apply it to us and pretty soon people go into I John . . .

“I know grace preachers that use I John and believe I John is the greatest impetus to Christian living there could ever be and the way they do it is the way the Baptist brothers do it and it’s that they go into the passage and pull out verses like this but take a blinder to the other verses and what the passages really say, and instead they conclude, ‘See, if you really love Him then you need to obey Him.’

“Now, is that a true statement? Well, it’s hard to argue with that. But this passage is saying a WHOLE lot more than that.

“By the way, you notice verse 5 says, ‘But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected’? It’s perfected by their obedience, by their keeping the commandments. They’re going to need some perfected love.

*****

“Look at I John 4: [17] Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
[18] There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
[19] We love him, because he first loved us.

“Tell me something. If you had perfect love, would it be a benefit for these people? It'd cast out fear. It gives them boldness in the day of judgment.

“When the persecutions come on them they understand how; they have a mental attitude of understanding that gives them the ability to sustain through the problems. But how did they get their love perfected?

“Their love is perfected by keeping His Word. Because they kept His Word they had a mature, complete love; an obedience that came out of that love that gave them the capacity, when the persecutions came, to endure through them without the fear, without the paralysis, or the phobia."

Agreeing with God on the deep things

God's holiness is made up of His integrity, which has two characteristics to it. One is righteousness; He's always right. His nature is right. He's complete truth and right.

"The other characteristic is justice. That is, if He's right, His justice looks at what's around Him and makes sure it's right too, and if it's not, it's separated away. Our sin offends God's integrity and so there's a way to bring reconciliation, atonement, and that's propitiation.

"The word describes a satisfying payment. It literally means to bring people together. In the Old Testament, Israel had a mercy seat where God and man could meet together because of the blood on the mercy seat. It satisfied the offense that man was against the righteousness of God.

"So God the Father set forth His Son at Calvary to be a propitiation--a fully satisfying sacrifice, notice, through faith in His blood. Who's having faith in the blood of the Cross there? God the Father believes that the blood of His Son at Calvary is a fully satisfying payment for all sin. When you believe that, you're just agreeing with God."

*****

Paul writes in I Corinthians 2:9, [9] But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

“In this verse, Paul talks about the three ways you can know something. By the eye, or empiricism, the ear (rationalism or figuring it out on the basis of reason) and then revelation. God can reveal the thing to you, as in verse 10: [10] But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

“Notice the description of the things of God: ‘The Spirit searcheth all things.’ He’s not talking about how the Spirit doesn’t know what’s going on so He looks into it. He’s talking about how there’s nothing held back from what the Spirit of God understands and knows; He knows everything there is to know.

“David says to God, ‘Search me and know me. Try me and see if there be any evil way.’ He isn’t saying God doesn’t know what’s in his heart. He’s saying, ‘Come down here and know me and look and see and examine.’ Not as someone who doesn’t know, but as someone who DOES know.

“The spiritual man can personally, experientially enter into all things--‘yea, the deep things of God.’ He knows the doctrines of God inside and out; he even knows the deep things of God. When Paul’s talking about deep things, he’s talking about mystery truth. 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.”

(new article tomorrow)

Mind of Christ formed in you

Seth Sykes was a tram conductor in the U.K. who resigned in 1929 so that he and his wife, Bessie, could travel to mission churches with their barrel organ, singing and preaching, telling Bible stories with lantern slides. Seth wrote the lyrics to hymns while Bessie wrote the music.  The 1940 song, Thank You Lord, was written by the couple while they were traveling by railway carriage between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

1)   Some thank the Lord for friends and home,

For mercies sure and sweet;

But I would praise Him for His grace

In prayer I would repeat:

Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul,

Thank you, Lord, for making me whole;

Thank you, Lord, for giving to me

Thy great salvation so rich and free.

(2)   Some thank Him for the flow'rs that grow,

Some for the stars that shine;

My heart is filled with joy and praise,

Because I know He's mine.

Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul,

Thank you, Lord, for making me whole;

Thank you, Lord, for giving to me

Thy great salvation so rich and free.

(3)    I trust in Him from day to day,

I prove His saving grace;

I'll sing this song of praise to Him

Until I see His face. Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul,

Thank you, Lord, for making me whole;

Thank you, Lord, for giving to me

Thy great salvation so rich and free.

“The thing God is most concerned about for you is freedom," says Jordan. "That’s what faith is all about. Faith is the ability for you to have the absolute complete freedom in your inner person to do exactly what you choose to do. Without that personal privacy, you can’t make a free choice and God loves freedom. He loved it so much He was willing to risk it—risk His whole plan in creation by giving you freedom.

“You know what He wants from you? Your trust. He wants you to believe Him; to rely on Him.

“The whole problem with Adam and Eve is they came to the place where they didn’t trust God. As Genesis 3:22 says, ‘And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil:'

“They didn’t know good and evil because they were TRUSTING God to know it! But they no longer trusted God’s Word about it.

"God wants you to rely on Him. That’s why Paul says, [28] Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

“Romans 16:25 says, ‘Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began.’

"It’s HE who has to be related to! You see the relationship is to Him; I’ve got a relationship with HIM!

“Galatians 4:19 says, [19] My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.

"What’s Paul want to live in you? Roman 4:16 says, [16] Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; 

“The dependence is to be on who God has made you in Christ. That is, your TOTAL dependence is to be on Him—that’s what faith is all about!

*****

“Paul warns in Colossians 2:8, [8] Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

“Truth in the Bible is reality and you’ve got the ONE PERSON who IS the truth. What is the source of ultimate reality?

"Paul says, ‘We look at things not seen because things seen are temporal.’ They’re not what’s real. The things that are NOT seen are eternal. How do you get in touch with that? The only way is by faith. But you have to have faith in what ultimate reality is and that’s who Jesus Christ is.

“That’s why it’s not a thing and a theology and something you’re doing. It’s something outside of you—it’s in a PERSON. It’s in God HIMSELF. And when God stepped out of heaven and took upon Himself humanity in the person of Jesus Christ . . . when the eternal God become the God-man in the man Christ Jesus He gave you the ability to reach out and make God tangible and get a hold of Him and He’s the BRIDGE.

“Paul’s favorite subject was the Lord Jesus Christ. The Word in the Bible is called edification. It’s building up that doctrine in your understanding that really is the mind of Christ. If you want to know somebody, you really need to know their mind, don’t you?”

“You know, you can’t look at somebody and tell what they’re thinking. I know you think you can but you really can’t. Until a person speaks their mind, you don’t know their mind. You have the mind of Christ. If you’re going to know a person, that’s how you know him/her.

“I Corinthians 2:15-16 says, [15] But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.
[16] For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

“How do you have the mind of Christ? It’s in His Word. Paul says it is ‘God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.’ How does He work in you to will and do His good pleasure? By having ‘Christ be formed in you.’ ”