Spirit of Truth/The Bible on Trial

One of my co-workers at the hardware store has an answer for the common question, "How are you doing today?" His answer, "Living the Dream!" My own answer for this question is, "Not too bad for someone of my age and temperament, and today it's not the age!" Both answers extend a certain joy for life that is reflected in the smiles of the customers to who they are given. As my mom used to say, "No one likes a sour puss!" It is my observation that those without a love for life reflect the situation that is in their minds (hearts) more than in their physical situation. Chronic pain is bad enough, but a chronic lack of joy is even worse. To become truly joyful can only be achieved by knowing the truth. We can be happy by believeing in things that seem to make us happy, but may or may not be true. Yet happiness and joy are NOT the same. God has not called us to simply be happy, but to be joyful. Joy relects an inner peace brought about by certainty that we KNOW God, and God Knows us. This is the joy of which Jesus spoke in John 17:13; "But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves." This joy comes from knowing God through the words that Jesus brought to us from heaven.  "Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You;  for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me." John 17:7-8.

Good Food~ "Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time?" Matt. 24:45. Children love candy, and not just at holidays like Christmas and Halloween. If it was up to a child they would have candy for every meal, and snacks in betwee. The obvious reason for this is that they don't have the mental controls to know what is good for them and what isn't. It has been proven by the biological sciences that processed sugar acts as a poison. Even ants know to not eat sugar crystals. Yet if given a chance, a child would go wild in a candy store, and eat themselves sick. Even adults sometimes have difficutly with the concept that sugar is not good for you. A casual friend of mine is having trouble controling his A1-C levels simply because he continually makes excuses in his dicision making process when it come to candy. "Just one won't hurt me." The problem is 'one after another'. Faith is like candy to the spiritual. I sure tastes good. It looks SO good, and seems SO innocent, and 'just one' won't hurt, will it? The problem is identitcal to the old potatoe chip advertisment, "No one can eat just one". You eat a little 'faith' and then you want a little more, and then a little more. And soon you are no longer interested in the TRUTH of the matter, because all you want is more faith. When someone points out that you are not eating good spiritual food the initial reaction is always negative, "No, you're wrong. I am eating good food, it tastes so good." This is why when that Faithful and WISE servant presnts the 'good food' of truth it often falls on deaf ears. Yet the good food of truth is what your Intellect desires. You must decide to "Taste and see the Lord is good."  Ps. 34:8.

Take Your Medicine~ So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little book. And he *said to me, "Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey." " I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter." Rev. 10:9-10. My dad was a physician, and when I was young and got sick my dad would often bring me medicine to take that he said would make me feel better. One particularly awful experience was when my twin sister, Denise, and I both contracted the measles, and were basicaly quaranteened in bed for what seemed like a long time. The only thing that my dad said he could give us was a liquid that he said would help reduce the fever to a managable level; otherwise, we just had to wait it out. What that liquid was I do not know. In the '50s the only thing available was aspirin, as Tylenonl and IB had not yet been invented. All I know was that what dad gave us tasted AWFUL! This stuff was so bad that "A spoonful of sugar" would not have helped make that liquid taste better, so we took it anyway. All I know is that is did help us feel better. In the above text we see the opposite effect taking place; this 'medicine' tastes sweet in the mouth, but is unsettling in the stomach. What could cause this? When we first discover that we have been fooled into believing a lie as if it is the truth, what does that realization do? The LIE tasted good, but when it hits the 'stomach' it is a bitter pill. Lies always seem sweet, until you realize the affect they have on your spiritual life. Removing lies and replacing them with the TRUTH is always painful, and can be sickening. Yet when you go through the process of Sanctification and come out the other side you realize just how awful those lies were, and how sweet is the Truth.

He Is Risen, Indeed? It is interesting to me what a comma and a question mark can to to an expression that is used at and reserved for this weekend each year. Christians go to church on either Sunday or Saturday (Sabbath) on Easter weekend and greet each other with the expression "He is Risen; He is risen indeed!" The consentration of thought and emotion in this saying is palpable in comparison to Christian holy days such as Christmas or Lent. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most poginent event in Christendom, that completes Paul's gospel of Death and Resurrection as the 'saving grace' that brings eternal life. No matter how lovely the music and sincere and heart felt the sermon the question must be asked and answered, "Is this true?" Did Jesus come to earth specifically to 'Die for our sins?" Is the grace that is manifest in the resurrection of the body as exemplified by the resurrection of Jesus body all that is needed to achieve eternal life? How can we believe that Jesus said these things to Paul since He  "was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord," (Rom.1:4), which means that when Jesus was on earth He WAS NOT the Son of God UNTIL He was resurrected. This does not sound right, does it? Jesus primary purpose for coming to earth (according to His own words) was not to die for our sins.  Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." (John 18:37. It is the WORDS of Jesus that makes us RIGHTEOUS. Then and only then will the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross as the Son of God matter in our salvation.  Indeed, Jesus has Risen! And so will we if we believe HIS words!

Inventing a Lie~ Yesterday in the USA a long awaited report was made public  that completely countered the narrative that had been promulgated in the media for over two years, showing that narrative to be a constructed lie, designed to try to remove a sitting President from office. A certain segment of the political landscape could not come to grips with the fact that they lost an election, and INVENTED A LIE to try to not only explain how they lost, but to rectify that loss by having a sitting President indicted for 'collusion', and then removed from office. What I am most interested in is that what stems from this process is the idea that in order to accomplish their goals the opposition decided to INVENT A LIE! The Truth is not invented, it simply is. All Truth pre-exists its discovery, therefore the discovery cannot invent Truth. In recent programs we have discussed the idea that ultimately all intelligence exists inside of magnetic fields. The human body is a bioligic container that provides the physical foundation needed for the brain to support a magnetic field in which is contained the intellect. We have also learned that the magnetic field that is God is what filled the whole universe, and infact the 'multi-verse'. This overarching magnetic field IS the Truth, therefore the Truth IS God! The TRUTH is not 'invented', it simply IS! For a lie to exist is must be invented, and therefore it cannot be God, because God always existed. In humans the CONSCIENCE is contained inside the intellect, which is formed by a magnetic field inside the brain, and this conscience is our 'lie detector'. Over time we can by choice override our conscience and learn to believe a lie as if it is the truth, the result of which is a slow degrading of the intellect, which results in the degrading of the containment magnetic field, i.e., eternal death. Truth is Life!

Retired Congressman Trey Gowdy responded to a question about banning  transgenders from being allowed in the Military as being discriminatory. In short he said, "The Military has one job: Winning War. Anything else is a distraction and a liability. Did someone just scream, that isn't fair? War is VERY unfair, there are no exceptions made for being special or challenged or socially wonderful. YOU must change yourself to meet Military standards and not the other way around." This kind of responce is also found in the Christian church with regards to keeping the 10 Commandents as a part of salvation. Christianity cites the 'apostle' Paul as saying that it is no longer necessary to accomodate and outmoded system of having to actually keep the Law to be saved. No, no, no! All one must do to be saved is simply 'say' the sinners prayer, accept Jesus as your personal savior, and you are IN the Kingdom, having been saved IN your sin. Any mention of having to DO righteousness is moot and outmoded. The Kingdom of the Heavens has a strict code of conduct, that without accomplishment will not see you In the Kingdom, and thus not saved. Jesus made it clear that there are actual "Demands of Righteousness" that must be met your you cannot "Enter the Kingdom of God". The Kingdom of God does not come to you, you must come to the Kingdom. Spiritual warefare is messy, scary, and difficult to accomplish, which is why the reward for overcoming sin is so great.  'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne." Rev. 3:21. It is not up to Jesus to change His requirements to accomodate the world. It is the job of those that would enter His Kingdom to accomodate the demands of righteousness He has set, and then be saved.

The Math of Salvation~ Many shall purify themselves, and make themselves white, and be refined; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but they that are wise shall understand. Dan. 12:10. The context of this text make what is said here one of the most important concepts about salvation in the whole of Scripture. A Heavenly Being that had authority spoke these words to Daniel after he asked a very important and provocative question, "My lord, what will be the outcome of these events?" (Dan. 12:8) What follows can then be referred to as a 'signature verse', because rather than reciting to Daniel chapter and verse about how all of these prophecies will be accomplished the Heavenly Being gives Daniel the spiritual conditions that must be met in order to gain the knowledge and the understanding of those prophecies. This is where the equation for WISDOM is revealed. Knowledge + Understanding = Wisdom! First note that in order for a person (at the appointed time) to understand the prophecies of the end they must first "purify themselves, and make THEMSELVES white, and be refined." This is not done TOO them, or FOR them, they must do this work themselves. And those that do not believe that this is possible, or do not believe it is necessary, because someone accomplished this purity and refinement for them, are, according to the Messenger, not wise.  Wisdom comes from not just knowing the WHAT (facts), or WHY of how salvation works, but also the HOW of the learning of the process of sanctification (making oneself pure) of salvation. The WISE have both the knowledge AND the understanding of the method for achieving sanctification; the un-wise/foolish believe that this has been accomplished FOR them, and all they must do to be saved is 'believe in Jesus'. Wisdom is Key to Salvation.

Nothing Good~ For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. Rom.7:18. What is it that prevents a person from being able to accomplish what Jesus established as the operating system of the Kingdom of Heaven in Rev. 12:17?  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. Those that wish to be 'in the Kingdom' MUST do two things; 1) Keep the Commandments of God, 2) Hold (only) to the Words of Jesus (that He gave to His eyewitness disciples). In the presenting text Paul establishes the concept that 'doing good' is simply not possible, so he invented the 'gospel'  of 'grace' that allows a person to bypass what jesus said and go directly to salvation, and not pass the 'GO' of the learning and the keeping of the Commandments and the words of Jesus.  What is this 'Nothing Good' of which Paul speaks, that allows him to excuse his not having to 'do good' and still be saved? It is LIES!  The lies as stated by Paul in his gospel "Allows a person to believe that which is NOT true by faith, which then eliminates them being held accountable for their evil actions that they have no control over, as those 'evil deeds' are covered by the blood of Jesus on the cross". This is blaspheme! Jesus NEVER taught this to His own eyewitness disciples. Yet Paul and his religion of Christianity states clearly that it is impossible for anyone to overcome the sin in them, but it doesn't matter as long as you 'claim Christ as your personal savior'.  Jesus taught that you can replace the "Nothing Good" in you by learning and practicing the Truth. This is salvation!

Lawfulness is Truth~ It is impossible to not notice that lawlessness is running rampant in our culture today. Certain people desire that other people ignore the fact that they have 'jumped the fence', and come across the Southern border of the USA without proper documentation-these people are called 'Illegal Immagrants'. Other people have voted (as if that makes it lawful) to execute unborn babies seconds before they are born, and cheered the result as 'legal'. There are many people that believe that laws that they simply don't like they don't have to obey, and should not be punished because they do so. This is a sigh of the end of time. These things didi not begin right now, they are a product of a centuries old, well planned and executed plan that Satan designed for the purpose of saving his miserable life; a plan designed to keep the world lawless, so Jesus can never come again. And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many." "At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold." Matt24:4-5, 10-12. This lawlessness comes from a false gospel, taught by a false apostle, who through a well planned deception has convinced an entire church that it is WONDERFUL to be without the Law of the Covenant (the Ten Commandments, because we are not saved by the Law but by Grace. Yet the very words of Jesus confirm the Law as righteous and just.  "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. The world has been mislead. Have you?

The process of sanctification is not complicated, but it also is not what the 'apostle' Paul taught in his homemade gospel (Paul's home is NOT heaven). Join us today as we learn the gospel of the Kingdom as taught by the Master himself, Jesus!