By James Fire
If you were to examine the professing church (and by professing, I refer to the entirety of Christendom and not the actual body of Christ which is composed of born again believers), including the evangelical division, what would be the two greatest blemishes in your view?
For me it would be religious externalism coupled with hypocrisy and greed or covetousness. Religious externalism without true biblical spirituality is rampant among the Protestant denominations (in the majority) as well as in the Roman Catholic church, and increasingly among some of the long standing evangelical fellowships.
Also in too many evangelical circles, particularly the 'televangelists' we see rampant and flagrant greed as they shear the sheep of their money, even senior citizens whose livelihood depends on their Social Security and retirement funds! They even go so far as make claims that visions of 600 feet tall Jesus' order them to raise millions of dollars to build Christian hospitals, otherwise He will “take [them] home” or that God wants them to have a Lear Jet, a mansion and a yacht! Much of this can be pinned on the WORD-FAITH Movement advocates and followers.
In so many churches today, there is wholesale hypocrisy that's turned many sinners as well as children of church-going-parents away from the faith.
Here in MATTHEW Ch. 15 we will examine all of this and more as we listen at the feet of The MESSIAH and learn of His KINGDOM MESSAGE!
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By James Fire
The word “Ouija” (pronounced 'WEE yah') is a contraction of two words, French and German (oui and ja), both meaning “yes” and no doubt referring to the planchette (the flat, heart-shaped device that's used to indicate letters and numbers on the Ouija board; see image to the left) providing answers by spelling them out or by indicating the 'yes' or 'no' printed on the board.
Certainly the producers of the upcoming film OUIJA, directed by Stiles White and starring Olivia Cooke, Ana Coto, and Daren Kagasoff are hoping for some positive answers by way of ticket sales, when movie goers line up to see a story about “A group of friends must confront their most terrifying fears when they awaken the dark powers of an ancient spirit board.”
OUIJA movie synopsis.
According to Wikipedia, the Ouija board by name has been around since the late 19th century. Such devices were originally called spirit boards; a form of divination, like crystal balls, tarot cards and similar devices used to divine or foretell the future or any kind of unknown knowledge or information.
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It has been said so very many times, that “It's always darkest before the dawn.” Today, we see the landscape of mankind, and witness to the darkening of this age, as more and more people are rejecting the Word of Truth and Light. Thus, a new Dark Ages is upon us . . . people are accepting a more palatable, shadowy lie in the guise of New Age and Emergent 'enlightenment'; preferring to see themselves as gods, rather than humbling their souls before the true and living God Who is soon to return. These are they who think of the Gospel as a social help source empowered by people rather than a declaration of redemption through the blood of Christ.
On that blessed day of Christ's Return, there will be a dawn of true salvation – the beast and false prophet that were ruling tyrannically over the nations will be dispatched to the darkness of Gehenna as the LORD establishes His kingdom from Jerusalem over Israel and all the world, bringing in an era of blessed peace and righteousness.
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It's become a foregone conclusion that the church of Jesus Christ is witnessing the apostasy in these days. Much of Christendom that had previously “[held] fast the form of sound words” (2 TIM. 1:13) are now “departing from the faith” (1 TIM. 4:1) by the droves. Society as a whole is becoming more and more degenerate as we behold one atrocity after another: grotesque abortion procedures, the exaltation of homosexual unions, the explosion of transgender promotions, especially among our children, the increased persecution of Christians in this once godly nation, the generous liberality that governments the world over are granting to Muslims who increasingly wreak heinous acts of terrorism on defenseless people and on and on . . .
When I was a very young believer in Christ (over 35 years ago as of this writing – where has the time gone??), the LORD pressed indelibly on my heart a vital pair of triplet imperatives of truth, namely:
WHAT'S MOST IMPORTANT IN THIS WORLD?
1) GOD (DEUT 6:4-5; PSALM 86:12)
2) His children (EPH 1:4-6)
3) And their love one for another (GOD towards us, us towards GOD and we ourselves towards one another (LUKE 10:27; 1 JOHN 4:7-8)
Also:
WHAT'S MOST NECESSARY FOR THE CHURCH?
1) The HOLY WORD of GOD
2) Devoted and persistent PRAYER
3) Godly FELLOWSHIP
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For the study of this chapter we will borrow substantially from an article FROM the MIND of FIRE entitled A SERMON ON A DIFFERENT MOUNT where the incident of Jesus Christ's walking on the sea of Galilee took place. There are myriads of applications we may procure in this event, spiritual lessons that we may learn. In the article from my blog, there are a few; as well as this, we shall examine the feeding of the thousands before that incident, and the beheading of JOHN the BAPTIST before that. I invite you to come along with me as we explore the awesome and inspiring and sustaining Word of God!
MATTHEW 14:1-9
At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, 2 And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him. 3 For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. 4 For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. 5 And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. 6 But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod. 7 Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask. 8 And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger. 9 And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath's sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her.
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There are those professing believers of Christ who see the Millennium as a mere allegory; others believe that we are actually living in the Millennial period now. Both views fail to hold a strict and literal view of the Scriptures, and as a result assert a soft, even ambiguous interpretation of God's Word.
Up until now, we have examined many Scriptures on this subject, and we still have a ways to go before we complete this task. What we must ask ourselves in our examination of the many verses that deal with this subject is, Can we interpret this passage literally or not? Is it possible for the LORD God to fulfill these future events in actuality?
I have found that if we can believe GENESIS 1:1, then the rest of the Bible is entirely credible, for what can't God accomplish, Who created “the heavens and the earth”? And just as He created the heavens and the earth, there will come a time, at the conclusion of the Millennial period when the LORD will cause all of creation to vanish away with explosive effect of universal proportions (2 PET. 3:10; REV. 20:11) and make way for a new heavens and a new earth (REV. 21:1)!
So let us continue in our examination of the Scriptures and see what else we may learn of this astounding age yet to come!
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