Destroyed or Awakened?*

 

The prophet Hosea received the word of the LORD regarding the spiritual condition of His people, Israel:

"...the LORD hath a controversy (quarrel, contention, strife, dispute, case of law, a forensic cause) with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and committing adultery, they break out (to break away, burst out, breach, break up, break in pieces, violence), and blood toucheth (to strike, smite, reach onto) blood."  Hos. 4:1-2

Hosea could be describing the condition of our people and our land today in these verses: no truth, no mercy, no knowledge of God. The LORD tells the prophet that this woeful condition of the inhabitants also affects the land which they inhabit:

"Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth within shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away....Therefore, shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother." (v. 3, 5).

We are seeing the land in which we dwell violently try to vomit us out with great storms, winds, earthquakes, floods, because of the sinful condition of its inhabitants (Lev. 18:24-28). God gives the cause of the inhabitants' corrupt condition:

"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame." (v.6-7).

The priests of God made gain over the people's sins, instead of ministering God's delivering Word of truth. This is also the condition of the Church today. Numbers and prosperity are more important than truth, mercy, and the knowledge of God. Sin is agreed with and condoned for the sake of "peace" and "relevance". The apostle Paul also warned about the spiritual consequences for those who wilfully ignore the truth, and reject the knowledge of God (Rom. 1:18-32). We are seeing those consequences in our land and people. Will we be destroyed or awakened? It depends upon how we receive the knowledge of God.

Jesus also gave the Word of truth to His own disciples who were self-satisfied with their spiritual condition as natural sons of Abraham, and therefore rejected the merciful Word of deliverance:

"Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant (slave, bondman, serving another with disregard to one's own interests, fasten with chains) of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the son abideth for ever. If the son, therefore, shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."   Jn. 8:31-36

Though these Jews who believed in Jesus thought they were connected to Abraham's righteousness because they were his descendants, Jesus told them that they were not like Abraham, whom they called "father", because they would not receive the One, the works, and the Word that God had sent, which was Himself, as Abraham would have done. Instead their father was the one who rejected the knowledge of God from the beginning: Satan, the father of lust, murder and lies (v. 37-47).

Jesus also warned that He and His Word would not bring peace but fire and division among men, even among households (Lk. 12:49-56). He remarked at His listeners' failure to receive the truth, and asked a question:

"Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time? Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?(v.56-57).

Is the Church discerning the time of His soon return? Are we judging ourselves according to what we know as right? Are we judging others wrongly instead?
Jesus encountered a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief publican, or tax collector, and he had become rich from his position because he was corrupt. He had run to see Jesus, and even climbed a tree to see above the press of people around Jesus, because he was a very short man, but he had to see Jesus. Jesus spotted him, and called him by name, "Zacchaeus (pure, innocent, bright, clean, shining, justified, purify or cleanse one's self), make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house." (Lk. 19:5). Zacchaeus received Jesus with joy (v.6), and immediately reformed his life. Jesus said, "This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek (seek in order to find (out), require, demand something from someone)and to save that which is lost (to destroy, to put an end to, to declare that one must be put to death, to perish, be lost, ruined)."  (v. 9-10).
Though known by others as a corrupt publican, Zacchaeus discerned the time of the visitation of Jesus, and joyfully received the knowledge of God, and the Word of salvation. He "awakened" and was saved by the One who sought him by name. Zacchaeus changed his life, and WAS changed.
At the time of His visitation, Jesus entered Jerusalem on a colt, as the prophets had foretold, His disciples rejoicing, and declaring His kingship (Lk. 19:28-44). However, as Jesus viewed the city of God, Jerusalem, which was to reject Him, it was for Him an occasion for weeping. Some of those who rejected the Knowledge of God come in the flesh, demanded that He rebuke His disciples. Jesus answered, "I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out."  Because Jerusalem did not "know the things which belong unto thy peace", those things would now be hidden from it, and it would be destroyed by its enemies. He said, "...thou knowest not the time of thy visitation."
As Hosea told us at the beginning, not knowing, or refusing the knowledge of God, results in destruction:
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge..."

 *The above is based upon the 7/14/19 message to the Church from Dr. Kenneth Stevenson.

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Prayer of Salvation for all who desire to receive Jesus as their Savior: Lord Jesus, I desire to know You, and to know Your salvation. I believe that You died for me, and that You were resurrected for me. Forgive me of my sins. Come into my heart, change me, fill me with Your righteousness. Inscribe my name in the Lamb's book of life. Baptize me in Your Holy Spirit, so that I can learn the truth of Your Word and ways, and be strengthened in my walk all the days of my life. You are the hope of my life, and You are my eternal life. I place my trust in You, Lord, for myself, and my whole household. Use me to do the will of the heavenly Father, Who sent You, in Whose name You came. In Your name, and in thanks and praise I pray, Amen.

 

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Trans-humanism: Satan's New Twist on the Original Lie

 

Jesus was speaking in the temple of God, to those who believed on Him (Jn. 8:31). However, because of their pride in their religious and ancestral identity, they refused to receive the truth He was bringing. What Jesus revealed about their rejection of the truth was shocking:

"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father, ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe Me not...because ye are not of God.  Jn. 8:44-47 (excerpt)

The hearing and receiving of the truth from Christ was essential, as He also said, "Verily, verily, I say into you, If a man keep My saying, he shall never see death."  v. 51

Again, being challenged by the peoples' religious pride in their physical descendancy from Abraham, Jesus revealed His eternal nature, and therefore, His authority over death, and His identity with the Great I AM, by declaring, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am."  v. 58.

Those who heard His words became very offended with religious indignation, and sought to stone Jesus to death. As a verifying sign in their midst, confirming all that He had been telling them, He passed right through the midst of them without being seen, and out of the temple.

The devil, in the form of a serpent, told the lie from the very beginning that man could

 escape death, and remain alive, without having to abide in God, or His Word:

"Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"  Gen. 3:1

The woman did not have an accurate knowledge of the Word, and she added to the command that God had given them regarding the tree of which they could not eat, saying that they could neither eat of the tree in the midst of the garden, nor touch it, "lest ye die". The serpent immediately challenged her:

"...Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."  Gen. 3:4-5

Those who do not have a knowledge, or understanding of God's Word, and the Person of the Living Word, Jesus, are very susceptible to the lie of the serpent, the same lie that exists today: that man is able to sustain his own life apart from God. We will see later, the current manifestation of this original lie.
We are warned in 2 Peter 2 that there are, and will be, false prophets and teachers who would bring damnable lies, heresies, among us. Because the truth will be spoken of as evil, many will follow the lies. We see today how the truth of faith is treated as if it is an evil thing. Peter went on to say that covetousness and merchandising is the reason behind this exploitation of man through lies. For the same kind of unrighteousness, the flood was brought to destroy life, except for the righteous Noah, and his household. Fire and destruction fell upon Sodom and Gomorrha, except for the man Lot, and his household, who was grieved by the unlawful deeds he saw around him. Those who have chosen to walk apart from God, Peter taught, are self-willed, covetous, adulterous, unclean, despising government, and speaking evil of the spiritual things that they do not understand:
"While they promise...liberty, they themselves are the servants (slaves bound) of corruption (destruction, perishing, eternal misery in hell)..it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and The sow that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire."  2 Pet. 2:19-22 (excerpt)
Yes, these who were both catching others, and were caught themselves with lies, once knew the truth of Christ and His salvation. They who, as Adam, were called to be sons of God, but chose the lie, instead. We are also called to be sons of God, and Peter tells us to stir up our pure minds in remembrances of the truth brought by the prophets of the scriptures, and the present, living apostles in the Church. Peter warned that scoffers will come in these last days, mocking the return of Christ, willfully forgetting that the life of the world was previously destroyed by flood, for just this cause. They are fooled by the fact that the Lord is longsuffering for us, because He does not desire any to perish, but to repent. However, the day of the Lord will indeed come, and it will come suddenly, and with fire enough to melt the earth (2 Pet. 3:1-10). Peter concludes by telling us that with these things in mind, we need to be living in a manner of holiness and godliness, being diligent to be found of Him in peace, continuing to grow in the knowledge of Christ, and in His grace. 
Salvation is not a walk that can be neglected nor taken for granted. It requires us to move always upward and inward in Christ. Jesus told us that those who abided in Him, and in His sayings, would never see death.
How is the original lie of Satan in the garden manifesting again today? In the same way that the serpent assured Eve that she and Adam, though apart from the Word of God, would not surely die, there is a new form of that false promise being developed and offered today. It is called trans-humanism*. It consists of physically implanting in man a technology that promises to identify and heal diseases, prevent aging, improve memory, lengthen life, perhaps even leading to eventual immortality. This chip, or form of A.I., would change the nature of man. Again life is being promised apart from God, apart from His Word. The Book of Revelation warns us not to be fooled by this tempting promise (Rev. 13:16, 14:9-11). The only true promise of life, even eternal life, comes through Christ:
"Verily, verily (surely, truly, of a truth), I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed (to pass over from one place to another, to remove, to change place) from death unto life."   Jn. 5:24

Prayer of Salvation for all who desire to receive Jesus as their Savior:Lord Jesus, open the eyes of my heart. I want to know You as my Lord, and as my Savior, who covers my sins, and cleanses my heart. Come into my heart, forgive me, and fill me with the Holy Spirit, who will lead me into all truth, and will teach me how to follow You. I believe that You are the Son of God, the Messiah, that You were crucified for me, and rose from the dead to give me everlasting life. I believe that You are coming again. Lord Jesus, in Your name I believe, pray, and receive all of these things. Amen.


*Transhumanism article

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