Thursday, July 26, 2007

Madness!

Today's "Christians": A Short Study In Madness

And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men. And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies. So the people sent to Shiloh, that they might bring from thence the ark of the covenant of the LORD of hosts, which dwelleth between the cherubims: and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 1Sa:4:2-4

1Samuel bears a striking parallel to the condition of our churches today and our own lives. The simple 'jist' of these passages is that we have come to rely on our "things", our own devices, and not the Lord God. The old testament was given to us, in part, to show us what God has done to those who rely on anything else but Him, His person, His Christ, Jesus. The high priests clearly represent the leaders of the corporate church today. These leaders (high priests) were as corrupt as the people who called themselves children of the Living God. The people forgot their God and went for the safety of their institution represented in the Priesthood and the Ark of the Covenant. They relied upon a piece of wood and metal full of objects, ("it may save us"), instead of the God who called them to Himself. The people were obviously bent to idolatry and NOT Faith in their Living God. Sound familiar?
A true understanding of what the churches are up against today, the delusion they are under, can only come from a close study of the Bible. By reading the old testament we can quickly find parallels to the prophecies we read in the new testament.

And when the ark of the covenant of the LORD came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again. 1Sa:4:5

The enemy heard the sounds of their shouting and rejoicing and were troubled. They knew full well the power of this God who slew the Egyptians and countless other enemies of His people. However, victory would not belong to the children of Abraham this day, for God was displeased by their falling away from Him, the Living God. The people had departed to follow the dictates of their own sin tainted minds and had decided upon "chariots" (Psalms:20:7), instead of Him that would truly save them from destruction. This is another parallel to receiving God's mercy and grace through salvation and turning back to the World (Lu:8:14) And how many scriptures speak of the danger of reliance on intellect and physical or material strength over that of God? As was God's good pleasure, the enemy was hardened and fortified. Once again God used Israel's enemies to Judge them.

And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain.
1Sa:4:10-11

The people of God trusted in a piece of furniture and did not even call upon the name of God. Thus, God removed His presence from their midst and caused Israel to fall under the hammer of His righteous Judgment because they took their eyes off Him and relied on their "institution" to save them.
People in the dead churches today are revolted by passages like Rev:18:4. The words of Romans or Hebrews are soundly ignored or so twisted as to fit their own schemes and jaded perceptions of the salvation message. They firmly believe that their Salvation lies within the walls of their institution rather than in the person of God through His Christ. They reject the biblical reproof for turning anything into an idol before God. When the beautiful organ music rises to the vaulted roofs of their million dollar tare barns, who is it they are worshiping? Let's be realistic. I'd rather worship in the nearby hay field than in these houses of spiritual insanity. Many will tell you that if you do not belong to some church, especially theirs, YOU ARE NOT SAVED! Comforting, isn't it?

A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols. Jer:50:38

Do you think the Judgment upon Israel by God through ancient Babylon was a one shot deal either? The simple truth is that it prevails today as a price for turning from God and to our own devices/idols. Our world has been invaded by the madness of sin and our "religions" reflect the dark, inward experiences of the heart deceived. Welcome to the days of Noah.
Don't make the mistake of asking when these Judgments will occur, ask yourselves WHY. The corporate church today is mad with her idols. The corporate church today has become it's own idol! Individual "outsider" Christians today also are possessed of this spirit. There is no mistaking it. Some of us are slowly being brought into the realization that idols take many forms including the institutions we call "home" such as our churches, our lives and possessions, our very beliefs. In this day of the revealing of prophecy and God's Spirit being poured forth upon us, we realize that the old testament Judgments did not end but are carried forth into the present. The theme of the Salvation message remains unchanged. The truth of Judgment for spiritual adultery stands in tact. God's Word is continual and complete and not exclusionary when it comes to disobedience and sin. We have moved into an age of blind madness and forgotten the simple life we have been called to, hid in Jesus Christ (Col:3:3), that which some of us allegedly claim to have come into at one time in our lives. Unfortunately, some of us aren't that "dead" are we? We are not totally relying on God. We are trusting in ourselves.

Many believe that Satan is cast down and loosed upon this Earth now. I am in agreement. It is obvious that Satan has come in to the Churches in full array and "light" and now sits a glorious conqueror upon the high seat of authority over these churches. Read Revelation chapter 1 and 2. Jesus gives a hard sorrowful warning to these. Some He calls liars, Nicolaitans in Ephesus and orders them to repent. Did they? Pergamos was called the place where Satan sits. This is a picture of the truth about the devil reigning over the corporate church. Jesus tells them to repent or He will fight against them. Did they repent? Thyatira entertained the spirit of Jezebel. Most in that church had "known the depths of Satan" according to Jesus Himself. Though a few did not hold to this false doctrine, the entire church would be Judged. The few remaining in the Faith are exhorted by Jesus to "hold fast" until He comes.
One obvious lesson from these things Jesus speaks of is that though frail, prone to sin and seemingly unstable in the winds of false doctrine, the established corporate Church was STILL being used to send forth the Gospel despite it's shortcomings. Very interesting. Despite the weaknesses, the establishment of these institutions heralded the beginning of the great Church Age.
The churches were and are subject to constant attack. The white flags of surrender to self fly today. Would Satan care to leave these vessels of the Gospel alone and in peace? Certainly not. Today, sadly, we need not speculate as to the effectiveness of the sending forth of the true Gospel from these institutions and the "hearers" finding true conviction for sin and even revival in the land. Ain't happening. Read your Bible. Nothing of True Salvation, holiness or purity comes forth from the corporate churches. We have but to sit through the Wolf babble from the pulpits, on TV and radio to know this! The age of the corporate church being the sole instrument of the Gospel is long over and the decline has been striking. The Gospel now goes out through the individual moreso than these corrupt bodies. Like it or not, it is the truth.

O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth. Psalms:96:9

The most powerful force against the great Darkness assaulting true believer's lives today, after Godly Faith, is holiness. Yet very sadly, there is no preaching of this from the Pastors, Sunday school teachers, missionaries or even parents supposedly bring up their children in the nurture admonition of the Lord (Eph:6:4). Our young children, for the most part, do not reflect a good solid scriptural upbringing by those who claim to follow and obey Jesus Christ. The children reflect the true hearts of the parents. Hard to say which ones should be taken out behind the woodshed. I shall digress no further. This is a long study in itself. Suffice it to say, holiness is become just another platitude, a by-word, and bears little or no significance in the transparent lives most so-called believers today, in or out of the corporate churches.
As I have stated many times in the past, holiness would mean an abrupt end to the show, the profits, the club, the carnival family, the corporate idol. Baal would starve! How sad! The Judgment of God will be swift upon these reprobate establishments of idol worshipers and upon those who conveniently claim the cleansing of Christ outside the walls of these sepulchers. Of that, scripture guarantees. Make the time to search it out. Then you can be rid of me.
The corporate church of today parallel's the people of the nation of Israel in 1 Samuel. There is no mistaking the error in which they found themselves and the bitter price they paid for trusting in and/or worshiping anything or anyone but the Living God.

Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand,
he shall not be unpunished. Proverb:16:5

LET'S FACE IT!
We're afraid aren't we. We're afraid of everything but the God of our professed Salvation. We're afraid to draw nigh unto Him because we know full well what we must give up to do so. We're afraid to make it simple for ourselves as instructed by the scriptures. We know we MUST surrender not only our idols, toys and trust in Man's World but also the trust we once had in ourselves! We must sacrifice ALL to follow the real Christ including every penchant and desire for even the slightest control of our lives. We are NOT truly afraid of Hell are we?
We become abominations to God when we read and say amen to the life of Jesus, all the while conveniently forgetting that Jesus had no desire for anything but what God would have Him do, where God would have Him go. God fed Jesus, clothed Him, protected Him and never left Him until the time that Jesus received the penalty for our stupidity and unbelief. Thanks to Jesus, we will never be abandoned by our God if we truly serve Him. Jesus made the Way to God open and God promised His constant abiding in those who truly love Him and keep His commandments (1Jo:2:17-1Jo:5:3). Is this the way we want to live? As Christ? With the Father and Son abiding in us? Constantly at peace? Or do we want a little of 'this' and 'that' as well, a little control. Double minded fools we become if we suppose we can have it both ways (Jas:1:8/4:8).
We spend far too much time turning to "Christian" counselors when we should be listening to the Holy Spirit and reading God's word. What happened to our Faith? Christian counseling has become a huge business as if this should come as any surprise; A natural consequence of turning to ourselves instead of our God. How about this for "Christian" counseling: 1Pe:4:19: Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator. This advice will never lead anyone astray. Unfortunately we "social" animals would lose our minds if we had to spend any real time alone with our professed God and live up to our primary "calling" to SEEK God FIRST wouldn't we.
We fear the reproach of the World more than that of the God who calls us in secret. We must retain our cheap paint job of self-generated integrity before men and women at all costs don't we? We solidly cloak ourselves in vain righteousness and spout the impressive pious platitudes all the while making 'nice' with the sins we so stubbornly and not so secretly cling to in our black hearts, KNOWING we professed them before others as forgiven at our conversions.
As far as "contrite" goes for some of you, I'd much rather counsel a Rattlesnake! How petty we've become. We subscribe to whispers don't we. We're afraid of going to the horse's mouth aren't we. We might get bit and be revealed as the meddling fools we truly are for indulging our weaknesses and thereby be discovered as Posers. Oh heaven forbid we lose our esteem in the fellowship. We are controlled by fear, not the Holy Spirit!
We're too busy in other peoples affairs aren't we? No time for searching the scriptures, oh no. Just touch up the rough spots with a little more Facade-Mender once a week and head off to fellowship like good little outwardly humble Christians.
We seldom say "I'm sorry" and mean it from the heart of Christ when we cause a mess in ours or someone else's life, all the while making sure not to allow our hearts to be revealed for what they truly are. I have news for some of you, by your words or actions alone, are the depths of your silly hearts are plainly revealed to those with true eyes! We're playing for keeps here aren't we folks? We just won't give it up. Keep this up and we'll have nothing to keep including our very souls!
I suppose we're back to it...we're Posers and fools, thinking we can get away with the farces we call our sanctified lives. Am I just whistling Dixie here? Do some of you suppose that I haven't been privileged to counsel liars or feel the sting of treachery from so-called brethren and witness the stupidity of self-professed Christians who, to me at least, look like the King in his new clothes! After the smoke clears and a pulse returns it is comforting to know that the Love of Jesus still remains in me for these and sadly, distance and silence become the only surety against a re-visiting of the madness. Counsel? Yes, I would counsel most with one word: REPENT!
It is sad to say that many folks have not the simple spiritual savvy to understand and apply the primary gift of sanctification and holiness. LOVE. Our use of the Love of Christ is discretionary, an abominable affront before God and our prey. Some of us very capably live up to the meaning of "a throw away society". Many use, abuse, devour and toss away the leftovers when the self-centered feasting's done don't we? My, my, isn't that a reflection of what is going on in your "sanctified" hearts as well? You bet it is and it sticks out like a dead fish on a hot sidewalk. Well, part of the solution lies in the Truth a lot of us fear to tell ourselves. The majority lies in a heart that TRULY belongs to Christ, broken, humble; In a spirit that is CONFORMED to the image of Christ. Frankly, I don't see it much at all these days. And I get around. And I readily tire of the "thousand yard stare" in response to the Truth. No, I don't need a vacation but I'm glad I live in the woods most of the time.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones,
and of all uncleanness. M't:23:27

We are sanctified alright, in our lies! We've changed the outside for sure but inside, the sepulcher stinks with the foul odor of the corruption of unrepented sins, the lair of the "Hider". We yet carry with us the self-inflicted social maladies from our twisted pasts which we have allowed to remain in us since our "conversions". We've either believed a lie or rejected the Truth. Our battle cry has become "Praise God but don't touch a thing!" We don't fool anyone but fools. We are hypocrites plain and simple. We "suffer" because of our base stupidity and unwillingness to face and grasp the Truth about ourselves. Our "god" is in a box! And that is NOT my problem. It is yours!

Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight. Psalms:119:35

I thought I'd stop along the Way and tell it like it should be told, one more time: in the good old church-emptying, preacher-out-the-door fashion. By the Truth. I'm going on along the narrow way folks, with or without "friends", companions or so-called brethren. Jesus is quite enough for me. And how about you? Too simple for us?
Time is short. We've got a lot of work to do and we can't blame it on God. The same spirit of turning to our own devices in the old testament, lives a healthy and happy life in a lot of us today; The same spirit of divisiveness that warranted a bloody beating upon God's people of 1 Samuel and the removal of their "institution" as well. We are just like disobedient, unrestrained children. We don't want to pay attention to our Father who gives us the gifts, which are secondary to our fellowship and spiritual abiding with Him, so He drops a fire on us and takes away the gift as well. And some of us foolishly call this an attack for being a "Christian". Sorry, wrong number. Is this what we truly desire, Judgment? Well, have at it children. All I can say is, I warned you. The rest is up to you.

In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse
of the people with blindness. Zec:12:4

We have given way to madness. We are swimming in a whirlpool. Will we find true rest and peace or will we finally be laid down before the Philistines, cursed and punished for our unbelief and our reliance on our precious devices, fearful of the Truth? Will we repent and return to God alone? It's your call ultimately.

Wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding: but that which is in the midst of fools is made known. Proverb:14:33

May God have mercy on us. Amen