Spirit of Truth/The Bible on Trial

This is The Bible On Trial, brought to you by Spirit of Truth Ministy. Each week we challenge ourselves to understand not just the Truth, by why people don't understand that truth. Join us for a unique study that will open your eyes to truth that is previously unknown.

"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill". Matt. 5:17. Christian use this verse to justify doing the opposite of what Jesus said. They believe that Jesus 'fullfilled the Law' for them, and now they don't have to obey any law, all they have to do is 'believe' on the name of Jesus Christ, and they are saved. We are seeing a similar understanding by well meaning people in numerous countries that are having problems with illegal entry across boarders. The drive in this movement is to eliminate all boarders so that there is no such thing as an 'illegal alien'. This movement to a boarderless society is gaining traction as a result of a violent reaction to the separation of children from parents and others (MS-13) that use these children to gain entry to these countries, especially the U.S.A.  Through prophecies in Daniel and Revelation Jesus gives us the understanding that there will be a One World Government, ruled over by a malevolent consortium of beings that are controlled in the end by Satan. The direction the world is taking today is toward this goal, with an end to the Laws of God, and a dissembling of Common Law-the 10 Commandments. The word 'fulfill' in the text above indicates that Jesus explained the Law and the Prophets in a way that 're-established' them, and His own words, as the way into the Kingdom of God. And THIS has made Satan VERY angry, because Jesus has exposed him and his intentions to the light of truth. "So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus". Rev. 12:17. This Kingdom of the Heavens has boarders; not physical boarders, but spiritual ones, based upon the Law of Truth.

It is difficult when anyone you know dies, but it is especially bittersweet when it is a family member; in this case, my wife's mother, Mary, died this past Monday at the ripe old age of 100 1/2 years. Even though my wife (and me for that matter) know that this was the right outcome, that Mary was not really 'there', and that it was her 'time', it still hurts. The hurt will become less painful as time goes by, but the hurting will not be contained until that time when our Master returns to earth, and we all see Them coming in the clouds. This particular death was gentle. Friends were there at the transition, praying with her and singing favorite hymns. And it is reported that when Mary took her final deep breath she smiled; and it would not surpise me to learn (after we are all translated) that Mary was seeing the coming in the clouds as she let out that final breath here on earth. In the 'where' and 'when' that we now live death is part of life. But those of us that love the truth can rely on the words of Jesus;  The Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets also; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste of death.' John 8:52. There is no discernible passage of time for those that have the Words of Jesus in them. Those that "Keep the Commandments of God, and hold to the testimony of Jesus" will never "taste of death", the death that is forever. Yet most of the world (including Christians) have been deceived by the idea that it doesn't matter 'what' you believe, as long as you simply 'believe that you are saved by grace through faith'. Unless these people come to understand that the way to eternal life is not in 'The Power of the Blood' of Jesus, but in His Words, and in obedience to His Commandments, they will taste the death that is forever.

Last night at about 11:00PM my wife and I went out onto our front lawn and looked up the hill at a 1000 acre fire (the Valley fire) that is threatening a small mountain community called Forest Home. The fire is about 15 miles from us (as the crow flies), and was clearly visible as a dull red glow, with an occasional bright flare. It was kind of spooky, and reminded me of the flames that might have come out of the mouth of a mythical fire-breathing dragon as it slept in its mountain lair. We are right now in combat with another kind of dragon that is breathing the fire of lies and deception, that would make all the world come under his domain. That 'fire' is enticing in many ways, because it is what the whole world wants to hear and believe as the truth. That Red Dragon, that Old Serpent the Devil, and his evil angels, want nothing more than to make people believe that they already have all of the truth that they think they need to receive salvation by grace through faith. This Dragon is NOT asleep, but is biding his time getting ready for the final battle that is just ahead.  Jesus told His disciples in Matt. 24:4, "See to it that NO ONE deceive you." And that 'No One' is the same dragon that has deceived everyone that has ever been born upon this planet, except for the ONE that has come from Heaven to bring us the Truth, Jesus Christ the Son of the ONE TRUE GOD! We must believe what HE says, and not the one that claims that title, but is in reality that Red Dragon. We must learn and practice the truth in order to find true salvation.

Claiming Jesus~ It is quite common today for a Christian to 'claim' Jesus as their own. Even in the Christian church there is some confusion as to just what it means to 'claim Jesus'. When a Christian 'claims' Jesus does it mean that they claim to love Jesus, as He loves them? Well, EVERY Christian claims that. Does it mean that they 'claim salvation by His blood'? Well, EVERY Christian claims that as well.' Does it mean that they 'claim the gospel of Christ as their own way to the Kingdom? Well, EVERY Christian claims that. It seems that if you don't 'CLAIM' Christ as your personal savior then you (indeed) are not a Christian. Most Christians believe that Jesus was the founder and is now the leader of the Christian church on earth, and is Himself a Christian. But if this is true then Jesus would of necessity have to 'claim' Himself as His OWN Savior; because everyone that is a Christian must 'claim' Jesus as their SAVIOR. Most Christian denominations make the metphoric claim that the Woman of Revelation 12:1-2 is the Church; and this would make sense except for one 'minor' difficulty that is found in Rev. 12:5 - "And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne." You see, if this spiritual 'woman' is the church, then instead of Jesus giving birth to the church, the church would have given birth to Jesus, and THIS is completely impossible. It follows then that Jesus DID NOT establish the Christian Church on earth, any more than the church established Jesus on the earth. It seems logical that laying 'claim' to Jesus as a means of salvation and eternal life doesn't work. So what does make salvation possible? HIS WORDS living in His followers.

Have your words ever made someone so mad that they wanted to hit you? Have you ever said something that provoked a violent response from the person to whom you addressed those remarks? Has the reverse ever been true for you, where someone deliberately accosted you with angry or hurtful words? I believe we have all been in a situation where what we said, or what someone said to us, has caused harm to a relationship. Expressing a belief that is diametrically opposed to the beliefs of a freind, colleague or family member has, I am sure, caused at the very least a temporary rift between parties; a separation that can take years to fix, or maybe never. Jesus spoke words that caused separation, which we might term a 'dividing sword'. Jesus even spoke of His words as "a two edged sword": "In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength." Rev. 1:16. This sword is not the sword of the spirit of which Paul spoke in Eph 6:17, because that spirit is the spirit of deception that cuts only one direction.  The sword of which Jesus speaks are HIS words that He gave to His own eyewitness disciples; and those words are the 'Gospel of the Kingdom'. It is THIS gospel that must be preaches to the entire world before Jesus comes. It is not the 'gospel of God' that Paul created out of whole cloth (lies), that has deceived the entire Christian world. Words are powerful things, and can be used as both Truth and Lies. The trick is to undersand which is which. One thing is for sure, the words of Jesus that He gave His eyewitnesses are ONLY Truth.

We are now in the fight of our lives. Lies that masqurade as truth are rampant in the world, and it is 'nearly' impossible for us to tell the difference. Yet, the operational word here is 'nearly', because if it was impossible to tell lies from truth the Jesus would have lied when He said, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, SHE will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you." John 14:26.  We can be assured that as the Son of the Most High, Jesus will NEVER lie to us; e.g., it is not only possible, but it is manditory that we know and practice the truth. It is by PRACTICING the Truth that we come to the light (righteousness); "But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God." John 3:21. The war that we are fighting right now is not a yet a war of guns and bombs, but it is a war of ideas and concepts. Jesus was hated by the religious 'establishment' when He was here on earth, and because we are His followers we also will be hated by those that believe they already know all the truth that is fit to print, and need nothing else (Rev. 3:17). "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you." John 15:18. And this is the war, that the Kingdom of God knows the truth, practices the truth, and teaches the truth that brings the world out of the darkness into the light. For this the world will hate us. Because the world hate us we know that we have the truth of God.

Dan 7:25  'He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. 1) A 'free agent' in sports is a player that has come out from under a binding contract due the expiration of that contract due to time, and can now make another binding contract with another team, based on negotiation. 2) 'Natural' or 'Common Law' cannot be broken by 'free agency', or by negotiation. An example of Natural or Common Law is GRAVITY. No one, as yet, can challenge the effect of gravity on a mass without pre determined consequences. If someone jumps off of a tall building or out of an airplane without a parachute, then for a time they are alive and well, and can enjoy the view and the fall. But irrespective of their station in life, their mental accumen, or their moral fortitude, the result of the sudden stop at the end is death. This penalty is applied irrespective of the fact that this person was a 'free agent', and had negotiated a different contract with another person that told them that they were no longer subject to the 'law of gravity'. Satan has convinced the world that he has the power to 'change times and laws', and can negotiate a new contract for salvation that does not include Natural or Common Law. People believe this because a beloved 'apostle' has told them that Salvation by Grace can renegotiate the Covenant of the Kingdom.

If you believe a lie then you cannot believe the truth. There is not enough space in a human brain to accomodate both the truth and a lie. You have to make room for the truth by looking squarely at what you believe and assess if it is based in fact of fancy. Here at Spirit of Truth Ministy we diligently seek the truth by looking at what we have believed and admit that it is a lie. THEN we look for truth. Join us in this process as we search the Bible for the Truth of God.

I am going to restate the obvious; the game of Golf is a good metaphor for the process of salvation. I know that this may be a stretch for those of you that have never played golf, but to those of us that have played, and actually been involved in competition 'on course' it is a precise reminder that in order to win at anything you must know and play by the rules, and have enough desire, skill and practice to complete the match. As an example, Phil Mickelson just teed off on hole #1 in the U.S. Open at Shinecock Hill in New York. So the first important thing in this example is that he did not tee off on hole number 7. In salvation we ALL start at the same place. We must (as with Phil) understand what we can and cannot do 'on course', by understanding the rules (Commandments) completely, such that there is not penalty assessed for disobedience to them. Now Phil is 10 shots behind the leader, but by his own words he is not discouraged, because with every shot he makes he has the opportunity to get closer to the top, and to finish well. In salvation we must deal with each challenge in the order in which they appear, and not anticipate failure simply because that is what we have been taught. In golf you must play every shot 'in the moment' when you are standing over the ball ready to make a swing. And this is exactly the same with the process of salvation. Each time there is a temptation to disobey God we must 'play that ball' where and how it lays, and CHOOSE to not disobey. Salvation is not a game, and the penalty for not playing by the rules is not the loss of a stroke or two due to a penalty, it is the ultimate penalty, which is eternal death. But Jesus said that playing by the rules of the Covenant, the Ten Commandments, are not difficult; and with practice we can all accomplish righteousness.