Lawlessness

     We think of libertarianism as conservative. Let's examine what it really is:

Libertarianism, political philosophy that takes individual liberty to be the primary political value. It may be understood as a form of liberalism... Liberalism seeks to define and justify the legitimate powers of government in terms of certain natural or God-given individual rights. These rights include the rights to life, liberty, private property, freedom of speech and association, freedom of worship, government by consent, equality under the law, and moral autonomy (the ability to pursue one’s own conception of happiness, or the “good life”). The purpose of government, according to liberals, is to protect these and other individual rights, and in general liberals have contended that government power should be limited to that which is necessary to accomplish this task... they believe that individuals should be free to behave and to dispose of their property as they see fit, provided that their actions do not infringe on the equal freedom of others. (Encyclopedia Britannica; "Libertarianism"; Boaz, David; Jul 16, 2004).

     Libertarianism is "a form of liberalism", and all the time, conservatives proudly claim to be libertarians!  Thus, it seems to be another deception from someone. The key to whom are the words "moral autonomy". More on that shortly.
     Libertarianism was the original government of the United States. The original intent of our government was liberalism as a " political doctrine that takes protecting and enhancing the freedom of the individual to be the central problem of politics." (ibid; "Liberalism"; Minogue, Kenneth; Oct 18, 2018). Thus, liberalism and libertarianism are identical philosophies.
     The ideology of political thought was implemented by the United States in its infancy. On the other hand the organization was developed during the French Revolution. While the United States became a bastion of liberty, across the ocean in France a few years later, libertarianism became the most repressive form of government since the era of feudalism. In France, the very republicanism which was thought to provide freedom returned everyone to serfdom.
     The political positions developed in France. The ultra liberal left sat high in the National Assembly, and to their right on a lower level sat the less liberal. Along with the ultra-liberals were those who were moderate liberals. The government and organization were all republican in thought and liberal in philosophy. True liberalism is the absence of government and moral control except for the absolute minimum to have some semblance of order. The operation of the republic should have been tempered by democratic principles as in the United States, along with another who Is temperate.
     A democracy is one where the majority legislates and rules. Let's do a what-if:  What if the majority, as in France, became barbarian in the facilitation of the government? Then the democracy would become autocratic, and the citizens as well have a monarchy, which they had before their revolution. Democracies must be tempered by republicanism. The government of the United States was successfully tempered in that manner. What caused our government to be successful tempered, whereas France's destroyed itself from within? Their "moral autonomy" is what destroyed them!
     "Moral autonomy" is the self-determination of rules of behavior - the principles of personal conduct. Libertarianism has that philosophy. So does any chaotic system - those with a state of utter confusion (Merriam-Webster Dictionary; "chaos"). Who is the author of confusion? The entity who desires lack of order. Someone must have authority. God is THE Authority as He is Supreme. His rules of conduct are the Laws of God.
     The author of confusion is the angel Lucifer, who took on the royal title of Satan - the adversary. Satan is the antagonist of God. He has a law as well - the law of sin:

I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. (Rom 7:25)

     That is another way of saying, "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" (Mat 26:41). Our flesh serves Satan but the minds of those who are born again must have a desire to serve God. If the willingness to follow God's authority is not there, effectually, those are unrighteous and Satan is their other god. That is not to be said that they follow Satan but he is unwittingly in authority in the lives of unrighteous people who practice his law of sin. That law is merely antipathy toward the Law of God, and is exercised by moral autonomy. Holy Scripture recounts that several places, among which is the following:

And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest. In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes. (Jud 17:5-6)

     Micah did what was right in his own eyes: he made many gods which suited him. He made up his own religious system and appointed his own son as priest of it! That is exactly what Antoine-François Momoro did in France. He was their Micah. His appointed "son" was Joseph Fouche. Momoro developed the cult of reason which had no god. It was atheistic it seemed, but of course it turned out that they did have a god! Their god was the goddess Libertas who we know as "Miss Liberty". She is the same as our nation's new god.
     Liberalism in the French Republic was the same government that Micah had. Micah was an early libertarian - doing what was right in his own eyes. Now suppose everyone does that? What would there be? Chaos! That's what France had. One moral authority after another took charge and became dictators. Then that leader was killed and another with different moral (immoral) values took charge. Each of them did what was right in their own eyes until it became necessary to have a real king in charge; he was Napoleon. Chaos created that emperor, and he did what was right in his eyes. He destroyed Europe with his tyranny! Satan's will was done without the French even knowing whose will they were doing. They thought they were doing as they pleased when they were doing as Satan pleased!
     Now for the modern world, we will examine the United States: Libertarianism are those who think they are conservative but they are not. Pure libertarians would favor moral autonomy. Among those are the privilege to abort at will, the ability to marry whomever, the legality of drugging oneself into a stupor, open borders - open everything, and utmost lawlessness - everyone doing what is right in their own eyes with the authority of the government behind them. With that said, any god, no god, or all gods would be acceptable. However, because this nation was formed according to the Laws of God, our true God is not acceptable. Just as in Micah's time, the true God was absent. That is Satan's will, and lawlessness is his:

The law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine. (1 Tim 1:9-10)

     Thus, lawlessness is everyone doing what is right in their own eyes: murdering, pimping and whoring, morally corrupt, adulterating, dishonesty,  false testimonials, and any other thing contrary to the intent of the Law and Authority of God. That is us! The mob rules - the lawless ones doing what is right in their own eyes! "But," you say, "those are the Marxists not the Libertarians!"
     Ultimately, operationalized libertarianism is Marxism. The end result for either is authoritarianism. To enforce Marxism requires complete control. For libertarianism to operate freely, those who disagree must be controlled. Both systems of thought are lawlessness, each and everyone doing what is right in their own eyes.
     As we know from France's system, that was everyone but Christians whose churches were destroyed and where Miss Liberty fornicated freely. France was ruled by the mob and fortunately, the mob eventually destroyed themselves. The outcome of sin is death (Rom 6:23). Satan creates the chaos by saying, "You won't surely die!"
     Robespierre, the worst autocrat of the French Republic, guillotined thousands, thinking he would not surely die. Well, he too finally suffered the guillotine because mobs have no laws. They are a law unto themselves!
     The United States is in transition. Liberals - both Progressives and pure Libertarians are forming the mobs. Unknown to them, their Micah is a man named George Soros who is the god to whom mobs are serving. Of course, they are unaware of that, but it is his will that is being done! The mob is a band of fools: "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes..." (Prov 12:15). They follow the law of sin without even knowing it. They create chaos just as Satan desires. They believe they have no leader but are blind to who is leading. Ultimately, the chaos which they create is toward disorder and against the Law of God.

Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. (2 Thes 2:3-4 NIV)   

     In the days of chaos, when the mob rules without God in authority, and everyone doing what is right in their own eyes, the man of lawlessness will be revealed. Micah is a type of that autocrat called the Antichrist. Before him, though, will be many anti-Christs - those in authority who are against God. They are those in the system who shirk God's authority, and institute reason - the intellectual "fruit" of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil! However, never understanding, the "reasonable" people become the most irrational and unreasonable; they are the mob we often see on our television screens creating chaos in the government of both man and God. Soros, I believe, is establishing the kingdom of the Antichrist right now, and few even know it!

Spiritual Censorship

     Yesterday I wrote of modern day mode of censorship. The Greatest Story Ever Told was also the greatest censorship ever conceived.
     The allegation made by Jesus was that he is God:

If ye believe not that I AM he, ye shall die in your sins. (John 8:24)

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM. (John 8:58)

I and my Father ARE one. (John 10:30)

     When Jesus said "I AM" or "I ARE", that is who God IS (Exod 3:14). Jesus's own claim was that He is God. I write "is" because past tense does not apply to the Living God. The Jews did not like the idea that Jesus claimed to be God. In their blindness, they "saw" that as heresy. Hundreds of times, although the Jews never abandoned God, they took other gods in His face which was against the First Commandment.  I believe that the Jews had learned their lesson, and ceased to have other gods with the exception of themselves who they failed to recognize as such.
     Jesus's claim to be God seemed to be a violation of that Commandment! Thus, the Jews rejected Jesus's claim for the sake of God. Jesus said, "Forgive them Father for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34).
     Jewish patriarchs always before had known what they did. Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and all the prophets knew exactly the identity of God. They knew that God would come in the flesh. The typical Jew never seemed to have that insight. They never knew what they were doing. Only by the claims of the patriarchs were they ever safe.
     The Jews, in apostolic times, didn't want to know what they were doing, nor want anyone else to believe Jesus's "deception". They actually did not believe in Jesus and remained ignorant of God's coming. They were quite comfortable believing the lie that Jesus was not God! Deception is the fantasy in which most people are most comfortable. The thought that Jesus is God made them quite uncomfortable, especially the chief priest who had the greatest sin (John 19:11). Why was Caiaphas's sin greater? Because he censored God.
     Most people perceived that Caiaphas wanted Jesus dead because of his "heresy". Caiaphas had seen and heard of Jesus's miracles. There was evidence that Jesus's claim was true. Caiaphas just would not believe the truth. Why can that be supposed? As chief priest Caiaphas had great power in both Herod's eyes and Pilates', not to mention the Jewish people. He was spiritual king of the Jews.
    Why would he not want his congregation to believe in Jesus? Perhaps to protect his own spiritual throne. I believe that his sin was greater because in truth, Caiaphas worshiped himself! That is not far-fetched because even Adam was informed that he would be "as god" (Gen 3:5).
     It seems that Caiaphas wanted to protect his position of authority. We know that Herod the Great tried to kill God to protect his own throne, hearing that a King had been born. Like Caiaphas, Herod had tried to censor Jesus by beheading his enunciator- John the Baptist. I contend that they were trying to silence Jesus because his existence would change the order of things. In other words, the world, since we are as guilty of killing Jesus as Caiaphas and Pilate, is trying to censor the gospel.
     What is the Gospel? "The message concerning Christ, the kingdom of God, and salvation" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Jesus was killed to censor his message. Because, just like Pharaoh's magicians, they could not duplicate Jesus's miracles, he had to die. They may have even harbored guilt for killing the Messenger, but it was the message they were trying to silence.
     Look at the sign above Jesus's head on the cross - "King of the Jews". That was as intimidating to the Jews as President Trump is to liberals! (Sorry about the politics but it is a good comparison.) Do liberals truly want Trump's dead? No. They desire to silence his ideas and end his policies. To silence Jesus, though, he had to be killed:

And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. (Luke 19:39-40)

     The Pharisees (leaders in both civil and spiritual matters) wanted the message of Jesus silenced. They asked Jesus to silence his disciples (followers). They wanted the gospel censored!  Jesus said if that was to happen, the stones would cry out. There was no stopping the gospel truths.
     Let's examine censorship in a later time: the Roman Catholic Church used Latin in their services and their Bibles were in the Latin. The reformers saw that as censorship so the priests could conceal the truth, and do what men always do: collect indulgences, for instance, for the love of money. As long as the Word was censored, the Roman Catholic heresies could remain spiritual law. Even in his death, the world is still trying to censor Jesus. Why would they even want to do that? Because the world, and the people in it, want to do what is right in their own eyes, "In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (Jud 17:6).
    If Jesus lived, then the people would be required to do his will, not their own. They, as Adam did, bucked God's authority. That's is why to be born again, converts must diminish themselves and elevate God. Mankind's problem is self-elevation (esteem), and the solution is Christ-esteem!
     The crucifiers would have been content if Jesus renounced his identity. They challenged him to do that. One last try was to get the apostles to renounce Jesus. Only Peter did that outright!

He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. (Luke 1:32-33)

     Those passages are called "The Annunciation".  Look at the proclamation: (1) Jesus shall be great, (2) he will be called the Son of God, (3) he will rule on the throne of King David, (4) he will reign over the Israelites, (5) and his Kingdom will be forever! What was it that the Jews and the Herods wanted renounced? All those things. The renunciation would be: (1) I am just a carpenter pretending to be God, (2) I'm neither the Son of God nor God, (3) the throne belongs to the Hasmoneans,  (4) Herod's court and the Chief Priest will continue to rule, and (5) I have no kingdom.
    If Jesus or his followers had made a renunciation of Jesus, Jesus would not have died, and neither would you ever have the hope of salvation. The leaders were envious of Jesus because he was followed. Since they couldn't contain the message - the gospel - they desired to kill the Messenger.
    Throughout Scripture, Jesus is called THE Angel of God - a specific one. Jesus was a specific messenger: "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim 2:5).
     Jesus had always been the Mediator to God because as John chapter one indicates - Jesus is God in the Flesh! Angel means "messenger". Jesus was always the Messenger, and the chief priest had only been his Voice. With God in the Flesh, the chief priest was losing his voice and authority. Jesus had to die because he could not be censored. Censorship killed God, and modern people still endeavor to censor Jesus. That can't be done... even the rocks would cry out!
     Persecution is always to censor anyone. It is intimidating people into silence. Jesus couldn't be intimidated, and Christians' "reasonable service" is to enunciate Jesus or be his Voice. Look at the Great Commission:

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. (Mat 28:19-20)

     What did Jesus say to do? Annunciate him always. They were commanded to not renunciate but to annunciate. Look at the command and compare to the Great Annunciation (Luke 1:32-33). Christians are never to be silenced. They are to keep the word alive because THE Word still lives! Jesus wrapped up the Great Commission by making the same claim as God did in the Great Annunciation.
     Hopefully, you now see that Jesus's crucifixion served one purpose to those who failed to believe:  to censor the Gospel message so that others will not know that he is King and Redeemer!
     Ironically, if Jesus had not been crucified, his message would have not spread. By killing Jesus, meaning to censor him, the rocks cried out from Calvary!

s answered them, “I and My Father are one.”

Censorship

     It has become  obvious that I am being censored. Why would that be? My message is about Jesus Christ and he has always been censored. There are ways to censor the Doctrine of Christ without eliminating his name. The most prevalent way is to misrepresent his Doctrine. Another way is to silence that Doctrine.
     I have become silenced: the last few months my readership has dropped from a maximum of 700 hits each day to 60. Do you really think that is coincidental? Why would all of a sudden 90% of my readers tire of my commentary? There is a war going on, and it is one of words. The most dangerous weapon is ideas, and when words are suppressed, truth is concealed. Holy Scripture is truth. Someone out there does not want truth printed.
     Jesus - the Word - was killed. As "the Angel of God" Jesus was the Chief Messenger. Jesus was killed to silence God. The world always tries to censor Truth. My own word, this commentary, is being silenced right now. The world is still censoring God and Christians sit back and allow that to happen.

    I spoke yesterday of one method of distorting the precepts of God. That is flipping His precepts upside down. Let us look at one of the foundational rights guaranteed at the birth of the nation:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. (The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution)

     "Congress shall make no law"... Congress has made no law directly "abridging the freedom of speech" or for the most part "prohibiting free exercise thereof." On the other hand, the U.S. Supreme Court has! Nearly every ruling abridges the free exercise of religion under the non-Constitutional notion of the wall of separation of church and state. That wall should be one-way: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." However, those people who are religious have no regulation toward establishing or influencing laws. Indeed, our laws are based on natural or divine law. To be blunt, the government is required to stay clear of religion, but the religious are not forbidden to stay out of the government.
     Liberalism doesn't like that. They demand that religion stay out of governing - especially Christianity. They have no congressional laws to prohibit that, so they have used other means. Liberalism has enacted laws through the use of commerce allowing the supression of religious thought. Note that almost all television commercials are slanted toward liberalism, even when they are capitalistic - the very system which liberalism seeks to destroy. Why would bastions of capitalism suppress religion and propagate irreligion? Because there is money to be made!
     To be honest, in fundamental Christianity, materiel should have little importance. In general, Christians are not usually, nor should be, big spenders. Liberalism has a "love of money," which scripture says, "is the root of all evil" (1 Tim 6:10).
     Business enterprises propagate liberalism and secular humanism because therein is money to be made! It's that simple. Why else would Capital One always hire the most elite of the liberals to advertise their capitalistic enterprise? Liberals are paid highly because their own hearts are not in liberalism. Their desire is that everyone else do liberal things. They have flipped liberalism upside down without even themselves knowing that!
     Liberalism is change and has direction. They profess freedoms - doing whatever they wish to do. On the other hand they desire that others be regulated. Regulation, institutionally, has been conservative. Liberals have flipped that upside down. Liberals were against the two main estates: (1) the Church and (2) the nobility, government, or the elite. They favored the people - the third estate. Liberalism, in the beginning, was anti-establishment and favored the oppressed. That was noble because both the church and state oppressed. Now they favor the elite over the people and have established a new "first estate" - a new age religion.
     Congress has not established a new religion; the courts have by siding with liberals. Liberals despise Christianity so much that they have created a new religion. France made it official and were transparent; they destroyed the church and replaced Christianity with the Cult of Reason whose goddess was Libertas - you know, the one standing in our New York Harbor. The new religion in the United States is Liberty, but even what she represents has been destroyed. Liberty is now serfdom to the government and liberalism.
     Face it, the law of the land is liberalism. The courts do what liberals want, business does what liberals proclaim, and Christians are forced to do the will of liberalism - the ideology of the "progressives" (sic). Liberalism had flipped upside down. They are now what they once despised.
     Progressivism today is as controlling and cruel as the Jacobins were in the French Revolution. Progressives are the Marxists who use a silent guillotine to cut off those who dissent. The blade of the guillotine is censorship, and those who don't fit their model, have their words cut off.
     The guillotine is the courts, and the media are the executioners. They do whatever progressives have a whim to do. The ideology of the guillotine is political correctness which are the precepts of liberalism, or Christianity flipped upside down, even from those in mainstream churches. How is that possible? Churches have the love of money as well, and wish not to offend anyone who has money. That is generally those who have the love of money. For instance, per capita, those in same-sex marriages are usually the more wealthy. The church caters to them for their money. They are the new "nobility" and take pride in their elitism.
     The official religion of the United States has not been instituted by Congress, but by the Supreme and lower courts. The official religion, if you have not noticed, is secular humanism. That is doing "good" things without crediting God. Of course, Scripture says good deeds are as filthy rags in God's eyes (Isa 64:6). Our "official" religion is trash. Not only that, but the precepts of liberalism are garbage. They pass their garbage off as social justice. People are required to love sin, in contrast to God, who commands that we love the sinners! That is an important distinction because it is the theme of the entire Bible.
     God hates sin. My commentary is against iniquity and favors righteousness although my own inclination is to favor liberation from the true Church which are those who worship God in Spirit and in Truth. Scripture is truthful because God is Truth. The precepts of the world are deceptions under the disguise of truth. The world takes truth, flips it upside down, and presents it as truthful. Liberals pervert the truth and present the perversions as "narratives". Narratives are when the elite twist the truth and disseminate it as the reliable version of the truth, and deceive the masses - the ones who they say they represent.
    In order to protect their versions of the truth, they squelch the real truth. Censorship is the blade of their guillotine. Decapitation isn't really a method of eliminating their enemies, but a way of silencing the truth. That's why censorship is as sharp as the guillotine's blade! There is one way to stop the bloodletting of the truth, and that is to bind the executioners. Why try to silence all them at one time as there are too many willing to silence the truth? Wise people eliminate one executioner at a time. When several are bound, others fear for their freedom.
     What I am suggesting is that Christians must take one institution at a time and make them weak, to still that voice. For instance, Best Buy is attempting to normalize same-sex marriage in their commercials. That is in vogue and many other companies are doing the same. Christians are few. We cannot boycott all those companies which side with liberalism. We must silence one "executer" at a time. For instance, pursue Best Buy. Christians unite and bind them. They listen only to whose money talks. Let our money do the talking!
     At one time the mother company of Red Lobster supported Planned Parenthood. Although, my favorite restaurant, I boycotted them for years. Many other Christians did the same. Well, they no longer support Planned Parenthood, at least not to my knowledge. Our money spoke because they have the love of money.
     Unfortunately, this message will reach only a few because I have been effectively silenced. Only those who are the most faithful readers will even see this, and few of them will pass it on by sharing. Why? Christians don't care enough for the Doctrines of Christ to take a stand! This commentary will hurt my chances of any of my books being accepted in bookstores or book signings. I am principled enough to the Doctrine of Christ that I don't care. Are you principled to Christ?
   

Flipping Things Upside Down

     In college, I often learned the equations, could plug in the right numbers, and come out with the correct answers, but never understood what just happened. I understood the process of solving problems but not the reasoning behind the equations. Anyone can obtain a correct answer but yet still not understand. Well, the same applies to Holy Scripture:

Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men... Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding? (Isa 29:12-13, 16)

     Church has become a one-act play, the sermon a soliloquy, and the service a ritual. Oftentimes people even applaud the performer without regard to whom the performance is for. I avoided the word, "worship" because it is often more performance than worship.
     Oftentimes, even when people testify, me inclusive, it may be to elevate us rather than to lift up God. I struggle with that. I struggle with why I study the Bible, and I struggle with why I write daily commentary. Am I drawing near God with my mouth and keyboard, and honor God with my words, but with my heart far removed? I am extremely afraid that happens, not only to me but to everyone.
     I don't know what to do to change that or to make me more sincere. I think I am this instant! Am I sincere right now, or is it a terrible ruse? Do I love God, or am I professing the precepts of men? Even if I profess God's precepts, am I doing it for Him or me? The precepts are not God's when they are not heartfelt. Jesus called the Pharisees "vipers" for professing His precepts with a unloving heart:

O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. (Mat 12:34)

     I don't want to be a Pharisee but yet oftentimes I am. I don't want to be a viper, but I often perceive that I am.  I am still learning to love, and so are you.  Love is hard work, and to love God is extra hard work! We can't embrace God physically and have charity for Him directly; we must, however, do that vicariously - experience through others communion with God.  How are we to commune with God - by loving Him - the Greatest Commandment.
     How can Christians demonstrate that love to God? By vicariously loving Him; that is the Commandment like unto the Greatest - to love our neighbors. How much? With all our hearts, minds, souls, and strengths (Luke 10:27).
     If we don't love others, and God, with are all, it may be that we are performing rather than worshiping. Even if it's only a performance, indeed it's a bad performance. We all would get the Academy of Hell's Viper Award; thank you very much for your support Devil.
     Human's have the propensity to flip things upside down: "Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay." Then the scripture goes on to add, "or shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not?"
     That passage is an example of the creation. Philosophers say that mankind created God because we need Him. The truth is that God created man because He wanted love. (John 3:16).  Anyone who says that God expects nothing from men are teaching their own precepts. God does expect something from us: to love Him back and manifest it by loving others! I get that. Many don't. I fail God there and realize it, but most Christians fail to realize their deficiencies. Believing that God loves us, but that we have no responsibility to love Him, is turning things upside down. Of course, His love is faithful, but ours is not. Upside down is that we are not expected to love Him like He loves us!
     My love is deficient. "Perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18). Why should we fear? Because we do not have perfect love. What is perfect love? "Whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him" (1 John 2:5). We love God if we keep His Word. What is God's Word? Whatever Jesus told unto men. He said and commanded many things both before and after He was made flesh. Thus, whatever God commands, obedience to those commands are the way we show love. For instance, if Christians have other gods before God, do they truly love God?
     Most Christians will respond, "But I have no other gods before Him? I propose that oftentimes we all have. We all do what we want to do, not God's will. That places ourselves above God - we are other "gods" in God's face!
    How about murder? Are you a murderer? "How dare you!" you exclaim. "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer," (1 John 3:15). That's New Testament stuff. There are not Laws and lack of laws. Love is obedience to the Law. (John 14:15). People flip the precepts of God by considering that the commands are only for those under the Law. The concept of sola gratia - grace alone - undermines love if its meaning is obscured, because God does expect love and if he doesn't get it, are you a sincere Christian?
     Let me explain that: I had no role in saving mankind. Only God did. That grace was by God. Because, I don't have perfect love, and neither do you, we would want that some should perish and some not. We would judge others harshly. God "so love the world that he wants that none should perish." That is perfect love. The love is due God because of His mercy. We are not due any of that because our mercy is limited. Sola gratia is all God's - we weren't crucified - He was.
     If we had been crucified for the sins of all, that would be another scenario, but we were not. The glory belongs all to God. Thinking that we did something to save ourselves is flipping the precepts of God - the Doctrine of Christ - upside down. Being born again, is realizing that we cannot save ourselves but God can (John 3). Thus, the love of God is the only grace that is saving. Our meager efforts to save ourselves are pitiful, or as filthy rags in God's words. (Isa 64:6).
    On the other hand, we are to be crucified as well by picking up our "cross" and following Him (Mat 16:24). Why must we do that? "He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me" (Mat 10:38). How do we become worthy?  By "taking up (y)our cross". God expects your love. How can we show God that we love Him?

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. (Rom 12:1).

     There is a paradox here: We aren't saved by works but we know we are safe by our works. Are works saving or not? They are evidence of salvation, what we call "the assurance of salvation". If we are not working, do we truly love God?
     I have trouble with emotions. Agape love is not necessarily an emotion. Since love is commanded, then love is work - hard work. I spend two hours each day so that sinners can learn and repent. If that is really my reason, then I am loving God. If I write for recognition or to convince God that I follow Him, then all my work is for wrong reasons, and I flip God's will upside down! We must be careful to do things for right reasons.
     For instance, when a touching song is sung at church, oftentimes a person stands up. First off, is it for self-recognition, or to magnify God? Then nearly everyone else stands up? Is it ritual or magnification, or just the embarrassment of not standing? I will always stand up for God but not because everyone else is! By everyone standing, it disallows me standing in praise because that seems to force everyone to stand. That is not love but ritual. I try to demonstrate respect for God by not standing up for the song.
     The worst case of flipping God's Word upside down was a Methodist bishop's inspiration: God didn't punish Sodom because of homosexuality but because of homophobia. When I heard that, I nearly flipped over. Imagine God's disgust!
     If we aren't going to practice God's precepts, then we should quit calling ourselves Christians. Isaiah chapter twenty-nine is a warning to that.

A Covenant With Death

      A "covenant" is a meeting of the minds. Isaiah speaks of a "covenant with death":

Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. (Isa 15-16)

     The covenant with death is mentioned by Paul hundreds of years later: "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. (Heb 9:27). Isaiah was speaking about judgment day as was Paul. That day is when the appointment with death takes place.
     What is death? Science tries to explain what and when death is. We think of it as cessation of thought. Once it was believed to be when the heart stopped and the lungs quit refreshing the blood. That is not death! First off, thoughts continue after death! That was observed in the case of the death of the rich man in the story of Lazarus (Luke 16). The wages or penalty for sin is death (Rom 6:23), and part of that penalty is knowing that the damned did not have to die. There was another recourse. The rich man wanted to warn his brothers, but Jesus knew that if that was possible, they would not listen. Why so? They had made a covenant with death!
     The conditions of the covenant is to be in "agreement with Hell". Isaiah went on to explain what that agreement is: when the scourge of death shall pass through, "it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehoods have we hid ourselves." The covenant with death is denial of Hell. It seems that sinners will negate the existence of Hell by merely wishing it away!
     Even many churches teach that Hell is merely God's scare tactic to intimidate people into trusting Him. Forty-two percent of the people in the United States don't believe in Hell. Of those, seventeen percent believe in Heaven but not Hell. (Pew Research Center; "Religious Beliefs and Practices"; Dec 21, 2016). At a minimum, 42% have made a covenant with death by denying the existence of Hell.
     What is the purpose of Heaven. A sanctuary from Hell. It makes sense that Hell must exist to have a place of salvation. What are sinners saved from? Hell! Essentially, people think they don't need entrance to Heaven because they don't believe in Hell. Of those, 17% don't understand what it is that they are saved from!
     What are people saved from? Death in Hell:

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Mat 10:28)

    Death is destruction of the person. Personhood is body, mind, and soul. Physical death is the destruction of the flesh. From dust it came, to dust it shall return. (Ecc 12:7). Physical death is the easy part; it is merely a sting (1 Cor 15:55). Most dread that "sting" for one reason of another: Death separates the dying from the ones they love, they doubt the resurrection, or they may even dread non-existence if they are atheists. Most, even Christians, fear the pain of dying, and the anxiety of knowing it. Christians, on the other hand, should look forward to the reward - eternal life without pain or worries!
     Spiritual death is what any sane person should dread. However, Isaiah acknowledged that some have made a covenant with death by disbelieving in spiritual death. Because anyone disbeliefs does not make Hell less real!
     The soul is immortal in the sense that it was before the beginning, and will be after the end. God loved Jesus "before the foundation of the world" (John 17:24). God chose "us" from the foundations of the world (Ephes 1:4). As we were made in the image of God, it stands to reason that God knew "us" before the beginning of the world. What I am proposing, is that our soul existed before our bodies, and at birth, it needed filling. Everyone besides Jesus were shapen in iniquity (Psalm 51:5). When was everyone shapen? God knew us in the womb and before. Look what God told Jeremiah:

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.(Jer 1:5)

     God knew us before we were conceived. We were souls just awaiting personhood. Adam was created with God's Holy Spirit filling his soul - in the image of God. Because of original sin, everyone else was born with iniquity in the soul. "Iniquity" is the potential for sinning and is complete when one sins. Sin requires understanding. The commands were created so we were without excuse. Infants are excused because they don't have the capacity to understand. However, even infants who die in the womb or shortly thereafter still have iniquity.
     Jesus existed in the beginning for the very purpose of redemption. God had to have flesh to experience what his creatures would experience. God in the Flesh was tempted just as we are and with much more profundity. He did not sin, however, but was crucified anyhow. That was a dire injustice for it should have been us. He obtained justice on our behalf.  Back to Isaiah, now: "I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste." 
     The "foundation stone" of course was Jesus Christ who was there in the beginning (John 1:14; John 17:24). He was "the precious cornerstone". That specific stone in any building is the datum from which the entire building is measured. Jesus was mankind's "datum". We were made in His image, not that we were without sin, but that we had a soul. Jesus's soul was filled (completely) with God's Holy Spirit. Ours is imbued because some sin always remains in us. We will never be perfect until we are glorified, and that comes after we die when our flesh is resurrected. Glorification is completion of the creature - made in the very image of Jesus!
     Death is eternal. Sinners will only wish that they were dead. The soul in both the Christian and sinner will live on just as before the foundation of the world. Hence, eternal life is living forever, and death is dying forever - feeling death but never dying. The flesh will burn but never be consumed, and the soul will be filled with iniquity, and will be the abode of Satan who will torment forever and ever. How do you suppose Satan will torment? I believe that those who are dying eternally will relive their opportunity which they rejected - the Cornerstone - over and over again - a sort of disastrous Ground Hog's Day movie, only for real!
    That rejection of which I write is the Cornerstone. "The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner" (Mark 12:10). Of course, the "head" is Jesus Christ. What those who have a covenant with death will think on - forever - is the rejection of the Cornerstone - "a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste." 
     How do untrustworthy builders build? They build to suit, not to a datum - not to the Cornerstone. It's not that they don't know the importance of the cornerstone, but they build quickly. A building built in haste is sloppily build, untrue, and has the propensity to destruct. You may not outright reject Jesus, but you may live your life without him in it. The rat-race which is life is the haste in which the Cornerstone has no efficacy. Indeed, it is taking Jesus's Purpose in vain - a violation of the Fifth Commandment.
     Those who use the Cornerstone - Jesus - have a covenant of life. Those who live without Jesus have made a covenant with death. We get to choose! Each who chose a covenant with death will relive that choice time and again forever. Choose wisely, my friends. It is imperative to your entire life.
     

Defending Sin

     If people defended righteousness as they defend sin, God  would  be well-pleased. Just look at what foolish people defend: homosexuality, abortion, unruliness (mobs), drug use, alcohol, and now even pedophilia in some cases. The message being sent is that people know more than God. 
     Real stupidity is the legalization of sinful acts. Let's take alcohol, for instance: at one time hard liquor was illegal. "They" said that didn't work because of the crime involved. So what did they do? Made it legal again. My question: Is that working? It is estimated that 88,000 people die from alcohol related deaths in the United States each year. In 2014 almost 10,000 people died from alcohol related traffic accidents. ("Alcohol Facts and Statistics"; National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Prevention).
     Only 55,000 Americans died in Viet-Nam which lasted 20 years (National Archives). That is an average of 2750 deaths per year, yet people took to the streets in protest! Why, then, do those who say they are sane condemn war but consume alcohol? 86% of people say they have. That is stupidity! How many people would walk through a minefield in Viet-Nam even today? Maybe two or three. The possibility of death by alcohol is a minefield!
     Americans are to be commended though: finally after 300 years, they caught on. Tobacco kills and the tobacco lobby lied. Smoking cigarettes is no longer considered a wise thing to do, and many hate tobacco smoke. They have come to realize that smoking cigarettes reduces lifespan. Only addicts continue to smoke. Many wish they could quit but don't have the will power to do so. Still, others commence cigarette smoking at a young age because they either don't think of death or that they will quit sometime before it does their damage. They are foolish people. Winston is a bad guy, yet people turn to "him" and his cool friend "Light" to settle their nerves.
     For years, the tobacco industry and those who make money off gullible people, convinced Joe Public that cigarette smoking was cool, satisfying, and even healthy. The world bought the lie, and many lie dead in their graves because of it. My brother Rich, a smoker, was killed by liars who pimped their whore tobacco on him early on.
     There are people who still pimp their prostitutes. There are always prostitutes, and their pimps dress them up presentable for all to lust after. Mary Jane is the whore in vogue right now. Everyone wants her, it seems, and even want to make her prostitution legal. Why would Joe Public even want that whore? For the illicit money she can make. In states where her prostitution has been legalized, the slut stands on the street corner each day prostituting for her pimps - those who make money off the foolishness of the public; those who have been beguiled.
     What does Mary Jane have to offer? It seems that it is a fun night but she is just a whore; all she has to offer is a social disease, one that can destroy. Johns deny that she is infectious just as tobacco users thought their whore had a clean bill of health; she too was legal wasn't she?
    Legality does not make things safe, useful, nor good. As we can see, alcohol kills people, yet even Christians still have it in their pantry. They don't even put it in the shed with the rat -poison. It is there for the children to poison themselves because users "justify" their habits: "It's legal aint it?" Abortion is legal too, but anyone except fools know that abortion kills innocent children!
     One man argued that moral issues cannot be legislated. If that was true, then murder should be legal. Unfortunately for those who cannot defend themselves it is legal. Using his argument, pedophilia should be legal because it is a moral issue. That man's argument was stupid, and when I confronted him, he quickly backed down and admitted his error. That took courage because people get all puffed up in their false knowledge.
    What else are we going to make legal? Same-sex marriage is now. Who's to say that bestiality should not be? The door to that is now open. Some European countries allow brother-sister marriage. Who can say that is wrong because that door is now open as well? Anything can be legalized but that does not make it right! The "final solution" for the Jews was legal in Germany and many millions were murdered. Jews are still being murdered just because they are Jews. But it was legal!
    Slavery was legal but that did not make slavery right. Slaveholders were no better than pimps who prostituted people for gain. People accepted slavery because it had been institutionalized. Because it had always been done seemed to make it acceptable. It was not! Legalization of wrongs does not make wrong things good nor acceptable. That goes for anything.
     Abortion has been legalized and stamped APPROVED by the Supreme Court of the USA. They call that "established law". Well, negroes as property was also established law. That evil law was changed. Abortion is said to be established law. It too can be changed, and must be!
    Legalization of marijuana is established law in some states although it is still a federal crime. That condition is called "nullification". That's what the southern states did when the Supreme Court passed laws in which the states disagreed. Colorado, California, and all the others should be punished for their nullification just as the southern states were for theirs. Laws are to protect innocent people and fools. The Supreme Court agreeing something is law does not overrule the true Supreme Court - God's court.
     Mankind has a genetic problem; they all do what they want to do, then complain about the consequences of it. "The wages of sin is death" (Rom 6:23). Those were words inspired by God. They are the argument against the Serpent who said, "You surely will  not die!" (Gen 3:4). Now who are you going to believe: THE Pimp or the Savior? Unfortunately mankind's inclinations are to believe the Pimp. Although God's only transparent motive is love, the Pimp's ulterior motive is gain.
     God wants you to be His but the Pimp desires to have and to hold you in bondage. He must have you to diminish God, and like the complacent Jews, you walk to your own death chamber. Never... ever defend sin! By defending the law of sin, you diminish the Law of God. The latter is safety and the former is dangerous.

Things Unseen

     Nowadays, it is even difficult to believe in things seen. For instance, Shin Lim, the magician, won 2018's Americas Got Talent television contest. He won because the audience saw things that didn't happen, or better yet, did not see things that did happen! The audience knew that the acts did not really happen because they were all physical impossibilities. Cards do not disappear in thin air. That is against the First Law of Thermodynamics. Shin Lim was so convincing that some may have believed cards did disappear and return.
     There was something the audience did not see: There was much happening which went unnoticed. That behind the scenes unseen stuff is because people have scotomas - "spots in the visual field in which vision is absent or deficient" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). In plain words, the audience was not seeing things because they were not looking there! All the action was outside the focus of people's sights, or somewhere beyond their visual field. Many things happened that the audience did not see, even if they tried hard, as I did. Lim did that by causing the audience to look at the most obvious. I call that, keeping their attention on the shiny objects.
     I don't believe that anyone in the audience was savvy enough to discover the sleight of hand. However, I would suggest most people, both watching television and in person, knew that they were not seeing real miracles but only magic by sleight of hand. Even though they did not see any real maneuvers, most rational people did not believe Lim's tricks were the real McCoy. They knew the results were real, but had no evidence of it.
     I learned a new word the other day - credulity: "readiness or willingness to believe especially on slight or uncertain evidence" (ibid). The audience knew there was slight of hand but the only evidence of it was that cards disappeared and reappeared. The cards didn't really change but their perceived existence came and went. Well, that is just like the creation:

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse. (Rom 1:20).

     What can rational people agree upon? (1) All physical things had a beginning, and (2) there is physical existence. How did the situation go from something to nothing? Was it sleight of hand? Again, rational people would not believe that some type of magic truly exists. Chance, maybe, made it happen. There are two issues with that: (1) In that theory, there is not even a magician, and (2) magic always needs something to make something. Magicians would say, well it all started with energy without even knowing from whence the energy came.
     For those less astute, I am making a point: evolution is the sleight of hand of the god Chance who is unidentifiable. Philosophers from early times have tried. Paul confronted them at Athens:

For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. (Acts 17:23).

     Scientists, like the philosophers of Athens, are still looking for the great magician Shin Lim. Paul basically said, Quit looking; I know who He is! Of course, "He" is God.
     What do gods do for a living? They create! How many gods does it take to create? Only one, if that god is really God. Gods have, by definition, the Power to Create. Because there need be only one God, and there is only one, He doesn't need a Name.
     We don't need to know which God because if God, only one is needed. Thus, God is merely "Existence" because He identified Himself that way. (Exod 3:14). God is not a god of "chance" nor even a magician like Shin Lim. It wasn't by sleight of hand that God created, but by His Unseen Power. Note that I write "Unseen" not "Unknown" because God's Power is His Holy Spirit (Rom 15:13).
     What evolutionists theorize - their hunches - is sleight of hand by the unknown god, Chance. The truth is that the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Christians is the Creator, and it was not by trickery but real. How can we know that? Nothing became something just as Romans 1:20 says.
     Paul verified what God's Word - Jesus - said: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen 1:1). I could take that by faith, but there is actual evidence of it: "I think, therefore, I am," (Cogito, ergo sum; Rene' Descartes.) If you did not notice, Descartes accepted God's truth from Romans 1:20 above: I thought, and it is.
     Those with scatomas fail to believe what the "Magician" can do. Because they didn't see the action which created something from nothing, they are skeptical. That's okay with magic, but something from nothing is reality. We know things exist (us) because we are. We are created beings - something from nothing. Think not? From the dust we were made:

In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Gen 3:19).

     That is God Creating, not Chance's sleight of hand! God created mankind from dust, and death returns man to the dust. The time in between is called "life', and everyone knows it is real because we are and have experienced it! If God is Existence, mankind is "Experience". We know God Exists because of our personal experience of existence.
     Knowing God personally though we cannot see Him is called "faith". God even defines faith:

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Heb 11:1)

     Faith is subject to substance and evidence. "Substance" is something which really exists whether material or spiritual.  "Evidence" is something that furnishes proof (ibid). Things are material. Thus, the Creation is proof of the spiritual notion of faith. How do we know God Exists? By our own existence - by the Creation.
     Faith, then, is knowing that God can do, did do, and will do. He had the Power to Create, He Created, and His plan is to re-create. Re-creation is "regeneration" - a re-genesis, as I have written before. Jews believe in all three as Christians do.  Christians have experienced re-genesis and Jews have not.
     Those who have been "born again" (John 3:7) have experienced re-creation. That "magical" event occurs when we accept that God has that Power but we don't. That takes faith, and because God can Create - His gift to mankind - He can re-create. His mechanism for that is faith. Faith is Power given to sinners to be made righteous. Only gods can do that, and God is the only God in Existence!
     Re-creation or regeneration is dependent on God having the Power to Create in the beginning. If He can't Create, how could He re-create? Only God can Create something from nothing, and that is what happens when a person is born again! The old creature is spiritually nothing (dust) and God makes us something - like Him (sort of) until we become glorified and remade in His Image - mankind's Created condition!
     Most people don't believe in God. They have scatomas. They see the "magic" but fail to understand that it was not by sleight of hand, but reality. Because people don't understand reality does not make reality less real. It even takes a magician to perform sleight of hand, so even atheists must believe in Someone. Who did the sleight of hand - making something from nothing? Well, the "magician" called Chance. May I identify that Unknown God for you. He is called Jesus. Jesus is God manifested so that mankind can see Him face-to-face. If we were to "see" pre-incarnate God, we would die because of His Glory:

And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. (Exod 33:20)

     Why did God manifest Himself in the flesh? So that mankind could see Him and live. Indeed, Jesus is "the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6) and no one can come to the Father but through him. Jesus came so that mankind could "see the Father". Hence, God's Flesh - Jesus - is THE material evidence that God Exists. Jesus often said ego eimi - I AM.
     Therein is the evidence: that there is a real God, and Jesus is He. We need only ask, "What evidence is Jesus real?" Because many saw him perform miracles - not tricks - die, and be resurrected. Shin Lim nor any magician could not do that! Ceasing to be, then becoming again, would be a fine trick. However, God's tomb was guarded so that mankind would not be deceived. In other words, Jesus really died, and was truly resurrected!  Why did God do that "magic"? So that people know that it really  happened and that we could receive the same gift!
     Evidence are things which provide proof. Many who saw Jesus live, die, and live again, left depositions. Many cruel people tried to get the eye-witnesses to recant. They did not, and they were all tortured and/or died for the truth of Jesus.
     What proof do skeptics have that there is no God. Proof is unobtainable; only evidence can be weighed. I have presented the evidence that there is a God. Where is the evidence that there is not?
     Scientists eliminate spiritual "substance" as impossible. By their own admission they have created a scatoma in that spiritual power is their blind spot in their field of vision. Scatomas are biasness because they fail to understand how everything came about. They can't understand that some "thing" had to Create in the beginning. Christian must know who that Person Is:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men... And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-4, 14).

    The evidence is that Jesus is God. By faith Christians accept that.  Jesus is God's physical "substance", whereas, the Holy Ghost is God's spiritual "substance". God created, thus the Creator is the Father. Therein, we have the Holy Trinity - three substances in one Person. That "person" is Jesus Christ!
     Now why is faith in the unseen so important? We can't see God but we can see Jesus. Jesus's Purpose was to enable mankind to see God dying in our place. Why would God do that? He so loved the world (John 3:16). That fact is the motivation for what He can and will do: re-create the world and the repentant people within it!
   

The Serpent's Cross

    Who is that notorious serpent so often mentioned in the Bible? Why should we care about the serpent; after all it's Jesus who can save? Well, let's examine a few things about "him".

In that day the Lord with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan (wreath-like creature) the piercing (fleeing) serpent, even leviathan (wreath-like creature) that crooked (torturous) serpent; and he shall slay the dragon (monster) that is in the sea. (Isa 27:1)

     Who is this serpent? The real existence of the brass serpent. We see the "serpent" mentioned first in Genesis 3:1 as nachash which is defined by Strong's Dictionary as a "snake".  Moses put up an image of a snake on a pole that, when lifted up with intent observation, kept the Hebrews safe from the poisonous snakes on the ground which were killing all those who endeavored to save themselves. The intent observation is with sobriety and vigilance (1 Pet 5:8). The Serpent is the devouring lion, and keeping an eye on the serpent on the pole is sobriety and vigilance. Looking at all the wreathlike serpents in the ground was too no avail. What was efficacious was looking at the lifeless snake on a pole, held high, for any willing to look.
     The story of the brass serpent is one of trust. Do they trust themselves for deliverance from the poisonous serpent or trust God? The image on the pole symbolized the serpent already as if dead. The pole was representative of both the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the unrepentant thief on his cross. The Hebrews "saw" a double image: they saw on the pole, one malefactor who could not save himself and another who looked toward Jesus for Salvation. I don't believe that the image of the serpent represented Jesus on the cross at all! It represented Satan on his cross and Christians on theirs. Hezekiah had the brass image destroyed because it did not represent God, but the serpent:  

He (Hezekiah) removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. 2 King 18:4).

     Nehushtan in the original Hebrew has a double meaning: copper and harlot. Hebrews believe it represents the loss of present and future life. Where would they get that notion? From Genesis 3:1. It seems that Adam knew only of present life. He failed to understand future life!

     Copper represents lust and its goddess, Venus.(ancientsymbols.com). Venus is the embodiment of erotic- type love (eros). Venus in turn was from the Greek goddess Aphrodite, from the Phoenician goddess Astarte - the goddess of prostitutes. Brass represents harlotry, not God whose metallic symbol (Kingship) is gold!

    Thus, the Serpent on the Pole - Nehushtan - has a double but same meaning - harlot of harlots. We should know what harlots are because we all have seen them. Harlots are those who prostitute themselves for gain. Having another god in God's face (First Commandment) is harlotry or spiritual prostitution. Scripture refers to that as fornicating with other gods (2 Chron 21:11). 

     What Moses held up was the harlot of harlots... dead. Isaiah understood and saw that. Isaiah was born again because he trusted God's ability to destroy death. He saw what the apostle John saw - the death of the harlot of harlots, commencing with his baptism in fire - Satan's first death:

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. (Rev 20:1-3)

    If the reader continues on in that chapter, there is also a second death. Now does the reader understand? The brass serpent on the pole has double-symbolism: the Serpents 1000-year death in the bottomless pit, and his final destruction and the end of him. The Hebrews, by looking at the brass serpent, by faith, seemed to understand present and future death... finally, after all those centuries.
    If it had been God's will, the Hebrews could have died even after looking at the serpent on his tree. Physical death is just a sting, and is of short duration. Spiritual death is eternally dying, and they understood that Satan would feel the short sting (1000 years) but spiritual death as well.
     In parallel with the Serpent, the unrepentant experiences two-types of death. Scripture does not even consider physical death as loss, but only gain. (Phil 1:20-23). Then death is not even the aspect of losing mortality. Both the first and second death are spiritual deaths of different people and the resurrections of those who survive the deaths.
     Isaiah saw the first resurrection - when those who had not worshiped the beast (the Serpent) were made alive after one-thousand years. Then the Serpent will be unleashed again into the world, and those who were judged guilty suffered the second death, and those who were judged innocent the second resurrection. Thus spiritual resurrections are not resurrected two times, but two groups of  those who had died for Christ. Everyone will be resurrected one time, thus resurrection not reincarnation!
     The brass serpent on the pole has much significance. Regardless, all the reasons condense to one: Jesus defeats sin, and Satan. To be saved, anyone must believe that! Inevitably, the serpent on the pole represents the reason God came in the Flesh - to save mankind by killing the Serpent.
     We deserve death, and God didn't. He died that we shall not, but only God's Flesh died on the cross; God is still alive and well!
     We look at the cross in the midst of the trees in the midst of the Garden (Calvary), but what we miss is that there were three groups of trees in the Garden; God's, the Serpent's, and all the others. Jesus died on the cross for all the other "trees" and was resurrected to live forever. The third "tree" represented the Serpent and his legions who shall die and never be resurrected.
     I see life on two crosses, but the third cross was reserved for death. The cross of those who looked down at the snakes was the cross of the unrepentant thief. The cross of those who looked up at the lifeless Serpent was the cross of the repentant thief. The third cross, the one of the Lord, represents choice, and the hope of salvation.

Preferring Not to Know

     The most fateful words ever spoken was, "they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). With those words said, the only innocent man to ever exist died on the cross and his murderers knew not what they were doing, and the mob jeered and ridiculed him. He was made a laughingstock: called "King of the Jews" in derision. The people didn't know what they were doing because they preferred ignorance. Although, they were ignorant of what they were doing, "they were without excuse" (Rom 1:20).
     With those accusatory words, people are required to know the truth. In ignorance, they were still guilty but only if they had known, the deed would never had been done - no one would have murdered, and Jesus would not have died. Mankind would have been set free if they only had known the truth (John 8:32). Mankind is not free, though, because they cared not to learn the truth! Why do people prefer not to know? So they don't have to deal with the truth.
     Truth is inconvenience. Those who accept the truth have obligations that go with it. They must live the truth. That is certainly hard work, but to avoid the work, people conveniently turn their head to truth.:

Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. (Mat 15:14)

     Right this instant, the entertainment industry are the blind leaders. Much of what you care about is propagated by that group of blind people. Few entertainers know God firsthand, and care not to. Their fate is in their own hands. According to scripture, those in that rebellious occupation will surely condemn themselves to Hell. They do that by their unbelief as they are blind to spiritual truths. Not being satisfied with that, they desire to take you with them. The analogy is that blind leaders will lead blind followers to the "ditch". That is mild to say the least for the ditch is really a fiery pit where sinners following  Abaddon - the angel of death - will lead the damned right into it. Hollywood is led by Abaddon and most people follow the entertainment leaders.
     My point is not against the entertainers, but that people just don't want to know the truth. They would rather be entertained that realize what they are doing and to where they are led!
     Truth is profound. It has nothing to do with what we believe. It exists without our opinion or knowledge. It's there whether people know it or not!  The truth will set you free. Free from what? Lies! People have always preferred to believe the lie. The damning lie whatever it is, "you will not surely die" (Gen 3:4)! The truth is that you will indeed die. Like Adam, you may not this instant, but believing lies will eventually cause everyone to die.
     Something did happen after Adam ate of the fruit. He began to slowly die physically, but did not know it, and he died right then spiritually, and didn't know that either! He ate knowing what he did, whereas Eve ate knowing not what she was doing. As can be seen in Genesis chapter three, ignorance was not reason enough to escape punishment. Eve died out of ignorance as Adam died knowing full-well that he was disobeying.
     Could have Eve known? Surely so. Why didn't she know? She failed to ask enough questions of her mate. Adam knew. God had told Adam about disobedience and death. She was quite comfortable and content in ignorance, and was not vigilant:

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. (1 Pet 5:8)

     Sobriety is much more than lack of inebriation. It is being aware of what is going on. It's knowing what you and those around you are doing. It's knowing what the Serpent can and will do, and what God can keep you from doing. Why stay sober and vigilant? Because the Devil is stalking you like a roaring lion just waiting to devour you!
     You are food for the false gods, and by not knowing the truth, sacrifice yourselves to the lion. In effect, you hang on a broken cross beside Jesus and the Devil devours you alive. You are the unrepentant thief on his cross because neither do you know what you do. Jesus merely died. The thief was devoured. I prefer to be the other thief who was taken to Paradise that day. He looked on Truth, trusted the truth, and was set free from being devoured.
      Lions who are in no hurry devour their meal slowly. That's the way Satan is. He chews slowly and takes his time killing his prey for he has all the time in the world to do so. Your time is his time! As you read this, it may not be known, but you may be the Devil's "meal" right now. On the other hand, by reading and understanding the cruelty of the devil, and the justice of God, you may be spiritually safe right now. The devil chews at you but can't quite swallow because you are under God's protection. You are appetizing to the Devil but an inappropriate meal because of God's protection.
     What if you don't know the truth? Unbeknownst to yourself, you are in bondage and merely wait on being devoured (Gal 4:3). There are those who want you in bondage (2 Cor 11:20. Why would anyone lead you into bondage? Because they are slaves to sin themselves! They somehow know what punishment awaits them because of their conscience, and want you to share in their fate. Misery does love company, and miserable people want miserable company.
     Now for another point: How would you know? It is your responsibility to find out. Pleasure is there to prevent you from knowing. Generally speaking, it is mankind's nature to love pleasure more than truth, although the former condemns and the latter frees.
     What I write today is boring. It is not meant to be pleasurable reading. Many may quit reading because this commentary is the dissemination of truth. I write what I write for one reason: to save you from perishing. Because you did not know is not reason enough to be saved from perishing, and is not even a viable excuse.
     I am no Jeremiah, but he warned of destruction. No one wanted to listen to him because things seemed to be so great. They were dying but just didn't understand it. Soon, they were destroyed by their enemies and died. They were as good as dead but failed to realize it; not only mortally dead but spiritually dead as well. Mortal death was brought on because they were spiritually dead.
     It was not the Assyrians and Babylonians who caused the Hebrew nation to die. It was the Devil, and those two empires were his tools. Not to give the Devil undue power, God allowed Satan to have his way because he would save some of the Jews in the end.
    Our warning is that only a few will be saved. (Mat 7:14). Ten tribes are lost to oblivion of the twelve. Simple math may provide God's operative equation. How narrow is the way to salvation. (two divided by twelve): 16.666 %. Isn't it ironic that "1" is who God Is, and Satan is 666? God uses numbers quite often for the truth. Is it One God or is it the Beast? Just saying!
    I am dismayed. My daily readership ran as high as 700. Due to the fancy math of Google and Facebook, now my readership has declined because they want that you not know. My commentaries are not gospel but my words do reflect truth. Most out there put up blinders to keep you from the truth.

Communism and the Christian

Communism: Is it the Christian thing to accept? In a simple form, it means communal universal sharing. Let's examine what Mr. Wikipedia has to say about the ideology of communism:

Communism is a socioeconomic order structured upon the common ownership of the means of production and the absence of social classes, money, and the state... All of these share the analysis that the current order of society stems from its economic system, capitalism; that in this system there are two major social classes; that conflict between these two classes is the root of all problems in society; and that this situation will ultimately be resolved through a social revolution. The two classes are the working class—who must work to survive and who make up the majority within society—and the capitalist class—a minority who derives profit from employing the working class through private ownership of the means of production. (Wikipedia; "Communism").

     First off, ideology is the beliefs and ideas of a group of people. Thus, Christianity is an ideology. The belief is in an Almighty, Loving God who planned eternal life for mankind. Like Communism, Christianity is a universal endeavor. God wants that all peoples to be saved. Where is salvation? Utopia. In 1516 A.D. Thomas More introduced the goal of Utopia - a place of communal ownership and prosperity.
     Utopia, in Christianity, is Heaven where all things are perfect. The differentiating idea between Communism and Christianity is about communal ownership. Utopia in Heaven is owned by God. Furthermore, God is the common focus of all the heavenly community, but the focus is on the King, not the commoners. Thus, heavenly Utopia is not communistic in practice but a Theocracy. The subjects of the Kingdom of God even wear different crowns:

1. Crown of life (Jas 1:12; Rev 2:10)
2. An incorruptible crown (1 Cor 9:25)
3. Crown of rejoicing (1 Thes 2:9)
4. Crown of righteousness (2 Tim 4:8)
5. Crown of glory (1 Pet 5:4)
6. Elders crowns of gold (Rev 4:4)
7. Son of Man and Conqueror's crown (Jesus's) (Rev 9:7; Rev 14:14)

     Let us separate the hierarchy in Heaven: The King with a golden crown, ruling elders with golden crowns, choirs with crowns of rejoicing, worshipers with crowns of righteousness, and all with crowns of life and glory. The commoners have the lesser crowns. Then we know that even Jesus was created a little less than the angels because he had human flesh (Heb 2:9) as he was subject to death!

     On the other hand, theoretical communism is the elimination of the social classes. Christianity, even in the world, has a hierarchy: (1) The King, (2) the patriarchs, (3) the prophets, (4) the apostles, (5) the bishops, (6) the elders, (7) servants, (8) teachers, and (9) the disciples. Like it or not, that was indeed a social stratum with a hierarchy. Each group had their importance, and of different degrees, but Jesus was not a "respecter of persons" (Acts 10:34). 

     The apostles argued who would be first in the Kingdom of God. Even "the publicans and the harlots" go into the kingdom of God before you (the Pharisees)" according to Jesus (Mat 21:31). Those people were the commoners. Like it or not, the order in Heaven will be more like the King and the serfs than social equality. Not being a respecter of persons is spiritual equality - that of which Lincoln spoke in the Gettysburg Address. On the other hand, all Christians are to be servants to the King, merely with different functions. Everyone is to serve God but do so by serving others:

But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant. (Mat 20:26-28)

    Therefore, the very reason for sharing is different! The social stratum of the Kingdom of God is tempered by everyone doing the common good. What is the common good? To serve the King to obtain eternal life in an heavenly Utopia. Christians don't work for each other but to serve the King! Not to pay pecuniary tribute, but gratitude. The focal point is on the King and not the "masses". Christians serve them to demonstrate their love for the King!
     Communism seeks to eliminate the state. Christianity's goal is colonialism - to expand the state. Of course, the "state" is the Kingdom of God, and that is wherever the King happens to be. The Heaven and the earth are His Kingdoms, although they both have a pretender to the throne - Satan.
     Christians are to expand the state. Jesus instructs how to do that:

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost... (Mat 28:19)

    Communism is universal as well. There is a difference: Communism desires to have a community in the world which shares. That is humanism. The rich young capitalist man in the New Testament did that! He elaborated on all he had done for his fellow man, but did nothing for the King! (Matthew 19:16–30; Mark 10:17–31; Luke 18:18–30). The Greatest Commandment has a corollary: charity to others is the means to manifest charity to God. The people must do so willingly because it is the Doctrine of Christ, not the ideology of Communism!  The Kingdom of God has a King. The Commune has only commoners, or so they say!
     In Communism, property is paramount. It is "given" by some and belongs to all. In Christianity the property is of no interest, and is called "the world":

Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world. (Tit 2:12).

     Property, or material things, are a cause for concern. Christians are to have hope in the unseen, called "faith" (Heb 11:1). Lust of property is sinful. In Communism, lust for property is envy, desiring what belongs to others. The very notion of Communism is a focus on the world. The outcome of Christianity is denying the world in favor of God.
     Property ownership is by the government under Communism. In Christianity, the world belongs to Satan who is "Prince of the Air". Who owns the property is alike in both cases but in both cases, the "owner" is not the rightful heir. As the government in Communism assumed control over the land, Satan assumed ownership of the world. He is the pretender to the throne, and Communism has no throne but an autocracy
     Christians are to leave property, take up their cross and follow Jesus (Mat 6:24). Communism is when everyone drops the cross and follows the government.  Where they lead the serf will follow. On the other hand, for Christians, they are to follow only the King.
     "The meek shall inherit the earth" in Christianity (Psalm 37:11) but the "earth" which they inherit right now is not of this world. It's peace in the City of God which will come down after the lusts of the earth is cleansed:

Him that overcometh (the meek) will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. (Rev 3:12).

     The focus of the Christian is not on this world but the world to come. On the other hand, Communism fosters a desire to have more than "peace on earth" but for everyone to have a piece of the earth. The world is not the home of the Christian, but is the lust of Communists.
     Communism is a socioeconomic order. In Christianity, "prosperity" is not material but spiritual. Jesus said:

"For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. (Mat 26:11).

     Jesus could have ended poverty with one mere thought. He did not! Poverty is the punishment for mankind for disobedience (Gen 3:19). The importance in Christianity is serving the King, In Communism, they should have no king to serve. Ironically, the abuse of Communism has a triumvirate of sorts - the elite who rule the commoners. The government in Communism is a league of some who see themselves as kings - all pretenders to the throne much like Satan. Of course, pure unadulderated Communism would not have that as its purpose, but original sin makes that the purpose. People all have sinful problems, and Communists are no different:

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. (1 John 2:16)

     The world is the desire of Communists, and the fruits of the land are lusts and pride. With those lusts, the property they wish to obtained will be ruled by those who are the fittest.
     Communism is by survival of the fittest. Although they espouse care for the weakest by the strong, in actuality, their hearts are not so much on the people but the property. Communism depends on the weak dying out. In Christianity, prosperity is for the weak!
     Survival of the fittest is the ideology behind all "isms". In Christianity, the focus is on the weak. Christians are to diminish themselves and elevate God (John 3:7). In Communism, everyone elevates themselves at the expense of God. "Godless Communism" is called that for a reason - the government becomes their god.  Positively comparing Christianity to Communism is heretical. It is not the state who creates wealth but God. "By the sweat of his brow" means that mankind must work hard for what they have. The Authority won't hand it over on a platter. In Communism, the "platter" is huge and well-laden, but it is laid well by the sweat of others' faces!
     In Christianity, giving is charity. In Communism, it is the law. That's enough in itself to end any comparison because the Law is what puts people in chains! Freedom is beholding to God only. Beholding to an institution of any kind is failing to acknowledge grace.
     Under Communism production is only for the able. In  Christianity, everyone is able with few exceptions - only elderly widows and orphans are not expected to not work:

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. (Jas 1:27)

     Other scripture indicates that "visiting" is providing for. Communism has a wide umbrella under which too many sluggards crowd!

Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: (Prov 6:6)

The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat. (Prov 13:4)

    Of course, Communism wants that none be sluggards just as Christianity, but human nature is to be sluggards. Most people want the prosperity of others. That is such a problem that God commanded against that. God's command against Communism is clear:

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. (Exod 20:17)

     The basis of Communism is coveting what belongs to others. They want the property, status, and production of those who sweat to earn what they have. Communism's goal is no money. That sounds good but money is not the problem - in Christianity "the love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Tim 6:10). Christians take the word "money" too literally. It is avarice - capitalistic things. Communism is supported by capitalism. Communists have avarice - they desire things pecuniary. Christians desire eternal life, and provision is merely the outcome for that modest desire!
     Thousands of books could be filled with differences. I will stop here. However, Communism is not pure any longer even of it ever was. Human nature is always the same. Communism in modern times seeks division. Christianity, on the other hand, seeks unity. Communism breeds hatred - jealousy for what others have. Christianity should breed charity - giving not because it is required but desired! Communism divides people, genders, families, government institutions, the educational system, the work force, and even manual and automation labor between good and bad. Since religion is the most vile institution in their eyes, Christianity is the first to go in the Communist system.
     Why is that? Because religion competes with the soul of people against Communism, and Christianity is the most powerful competitor, along with Judaism. Communism understands religion as no more than to drug people into having false allegiances. Why would they want the masses to serve God when they could be serving the government?
     That word "masses" is also differentiating. Christianity is an individual religion which is good for the well-being of everyone and pleases God. Communism is a religion of  the masses and ends up being for the good of the state. Leaders retain power by controlling the masses. Christianity is about freedom, and Communism all about control!
    I prefer loving my neighbors because God desires that. Communists patronize their comrades because the government demands that! I prefer loving God because that is my will. Communists want the government to be loved because that is their command. There is not really much that anyone could favor enough to compare. Communism is a cunning ploy by the Serpent to shirk God's authority. Communism is not a government for the people but against them. It is the government of Satan whose rule is the law of sin.