Summary of the Book "Trump and Triumph"

The following summary will be on the back cover of my latest book, Trump and Triumph, to be released in August 2020:

  Why write a book about the mob that killed Jesus? Why include the modern-day mob? Because rebellion is the original sin, and with little originality, Satan uses the same method every time.

  Members of any mob all have the same attitudes — I want my way, and damn you if you are in the way. Adam and Eve formed the first “mob.”  They wanted Paradise their way, and they endeavored to undermine (damn) God because His Way was in their way.

  The Doctrine of Jesus Christ is the Way of love. Love does not obtain things quickly so rebellious people use force.  The Jewish mob feared Jesus and sought to destroy the Man who had the Power to heal their nation. The “beef” with Jesus was that the people would follow Him, and if they did, their own power would be diminished.

  The mob were an assembly of elitist do-gooders who sought justice their way: “They saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived they were uneducated and untrained men” (Acts 4:13). They considered them “deplorable Galileans!”

  Peter revealed that they were there for good. However, if things turned out well, the parties in power would lose it. To protect their positions a plan was hatched. “So that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name… not to speak at all nor teach the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:17-18). They were not after Jesus since Jesus was out of the way; they were after you! Judaism was a political power and they were afraid Christians would steal their power.

  Why Trump? They are not after Trump; they get to you through him. And there the screech owl’s (Lilith’s) egg was hatched, and the Roman Hoax was perpetrated. Jesus was a traitor. He had become a Roman in their eyes and the apostles had become Roman zealots.

(picture credit: Tech Sgt. Matthew Plew; USAF)

THE AMBIGUITY OF SHOULD, SHALL, AND WILL BE

  Bear with me for a moment of technicality but it is important: Languages cannot be perfectly translated to capture all the precision of the meaning. Oftentimes, context changes the meanings entirely and so does tense. The “tense” of a verb expresses time or duration; usually past, present or future tense. Generally, tense is determined by the translators who make assumptions as to the time and duration. At other times tense can be detected by the form of the verb itself.

  Consider the phrase “shall be saved” as in “And it shall come to pass, whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21). The time interval “come to pass” indicates a future event in that the past has passed. Therefore, “shall be” is the proper tense. However, “saved” is used in the past tense as if it has already occurred.

  Not to get overly technical but “shall be saved” is in the “future tense passive voice” which is “used to talk about an action that is going to happen in the future. In the passive voice, emphasis is put on the effect of an action rather than on the doer” (GrammarTop.com). Who decides where the emphasis is placed? The translator. The Greek word in that passage is “sozos” which can be used as “safe” or “saved.” The context must be considered, and the translator decides that.

  The King James Translators rendered it past tense as if it has already occurred. Based on the “assurance of salvation” that is reasonable. Certainly, Christians must trust that their hope is completed. In fact, Jesus redeemed all mankind, so the saving part has been accomplished. Jesus has provided the “ark” and now all that is necessary is to leave the past behind and board the “ship.” All are welcome on board, but the qualifier is trusting in the “ark” and God for safety.

  The door of the ark will be opened for an ample amount of time for all who will enter to enter. Then God shuts the door, as he did on the good ship “Noah.” The question remains; Was Noah and his family saved when they entered the ark or when the ark was on solid ground or sometime even later? Their earthly existence remained “safe” and as such they were “safe” until the death angel took them. Once they died, the door closed on their soul. It was a different “door” but if the eight had not come aboard, they would have died long before, both in body and spirit.

  Once, on board however, they could have jumped ship. The ark was built to God’s instructions and so long as they stayed onboard, they were safe. God would never have created turbulence to tip them over the guard rail because His boat was designed perfectly for the security of its passengers. Shem and Japheth remained reverent to God and their father. Ham did not. Although God had kept Ham safe, by his irreverence, he jeopardized his own safety.

  God cursed Ham and his seed. Scripture indicates that the seed of Shem and Japheth worshiped in the same “tent” — the tabernacles of God (Gen 9:27). The conclusion is that Ham did not worship the One True God and Scripture shows that to be true. Hence, Ham’s body was kept safe, but his soul was not. Ham, by getting on, saved his flesh (for a short time) but his soul perished.

  Ham’s soul should have been saved but it was not. Before he got on the ark, he had hope that God shall save him. His hope was that he will be saved in the end.

  The circumstances of Noah and God’s Ark is symbolic of salvation. The open door to the ark was open to everyone in a time when there were no races. All mankind should be saved, and the ark made it appear as it was already accomplished. That is the passive tense. The best translation of John 3:16 is that “whosoever… should be saved, as in the King James Version.” And how would possible salvation come about? By entering the door.

  What had the eight on God’s Ship to do? Endure the tribulation unto the end. When would that happen? When the waters were stilled and their feet on the promised land. Promised land? Certainly, they had confidence that they would not wander forever in the waters, as the Hebrews did during the exodus from Egypt. The latter lost hope and they never entered in. All aboard God’s Ark had a hope in the future. That is the same for Christians: 

He that endureth to the end shall be saved (Mat 10:22), “Let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation” (1 Thes 5:8), and “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb 11:1)

  Ham hoped for land as well so that he could be saved from drowning. His body was indeed saved but did he really endure all the way to the end? He had trusted God and the ark to bring him safety in th world, but had he to bring him to salvation?

  He endured turbulent waters, and he found solid ground when he stood on Arrarat’s precipice. However, there is no evidence that he was God’s “chosen and peculiar people” as were the Shemites and Japhetites. He may have hoped that both his body and soul would be saved, but that does not seem to be what happened. Satan can destroy the body and soul, and that is who should be feared (Mat 10:28). They are discreet and separate events. The converse of that is that Jesus can save the body or the body and the soul.

  Many times, God has saved my own body when it looked as if I would die. God opened the door for me, and I entered into His safety. Remembering that future events are dependent on time, and that salvation is future tense, then consider this: “Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed” (Rom 13:11b). “Salvation is the state of being saved” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). It is the exact state wherein a Christian is glorified as imperishable. Right now, believers are nearer that time than when they believed. What is it that they believed on that special day that regeneration began? That Jesus can and will save them… but if and only if they endure in their faith that He will! 

  Should be expresses expectation, shall be is used to express what seems likely to happen in the future, and will be is used to express inevitability. Acts 2:21 is translated in different versions as “shall be” and “will be.” John 3:16 is translated as “should not perish,” “shall not perish,” and “will not perish.” Words mean things and make a big difference. Certainly, with the ancients, they should not have perished because the Way was obvious; the path was there, the gate was open, and all could go in. They were without excuse.

  What if they had all got on board, and then the rain ceased immediately. They would think that they had not been saved. Most had to die so that the others were assured that they were saved. That gave them confidence that they had been saved. Saved from what? The deluge, but not necessarily that they would know that they were saved from the wrath of God. Noah knew that and apparently two of his three sons.

  They then trusted that at the end of their life that they would be saved as well. In fact, the safety they had on God’s Ark persuaded them that God is honorable, powerful, and true to His Word. Since God had saved their flesh, then they had the confidence that He will save their souls at some future time.

  When the Hebrews were safe from the biting fiery serpents, their flesh was preserved, and they understood from the lifeless dead Serpent in his “tree” that their souls shall be saved likewise. Trusting that to be true and promised, they continued on in the assurance that in the end, they would make it all the way to the Promised Land; not just their bodies in the land of milk and honey, but their souls in the Paradise of Aplenty! Moses did not make it to the Promised Land, but his soul made it to Paradise. That is known because the soul of Moses, in his form, was at the Transfiguration so that he could finally see the One who saved Him from perishing… his body all those years in the wilderness, and his soul from the world and the evil one.

  Apply that to all things in the Bible. Examine different translations. Rely on the ones that have continuity in context. “The Word” is Jesus, and when He said things, He meant certain things!

(picture credit:  Harry Pettit, Senior Digital Technology and Science Reporter | The Sun)

SEEING IS BELIEVING

  At least three times, and maybe more, Jesus just appeared to people from out of nowhere. In one situation, Jesus appeared to the disciples while they were eating. (Luke 24:36). In another, the eleven apostles were gathered in a locked room and Jesus appeared to them, “And as they thus spake, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, ‘Peace be unto you, but they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed they had seen a spirit’” (Luke 24:26-37).

  Throughout scripture, heaven appears to be right here in earth. Jesus said, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Mat 6:10), and “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” (Mat 5:5).  Was not the one thief on the cross meek, and would not he be in Paradise that very day? It seems that the heavenly Paradise coincides with the earthly Paradise.  With that said, the “Promised Land” was the “Promise of Heaven.”

  Jesus died, but His “Ghost” was with the Father that day. As Jesus lay in the tomb, His Ghost was with God delivering the repentant thief. While Jesus was asleep, His Flesh and Ghost were independent, but after the resurrection, His Flesh and Spirit moved together. At death, Jesus “gave up the ghost” (Mark 15:37), but at His Resurrection, Jesus had His “Ghost” return in bodily form just as when He was baptized (Luke 3:22).

  The apostles were terrified because they thought they “had seen a spirit.” Indeed, they had! Jesus’s body, although it still had the scars, was of a different kind of Flesh. He had been glorified to the substance that Adam had in the Garden of Eden. Adam said, “Neither is our bright nature left us, but our body is changed from the similitude in which it was created first, when we were created” (1 Adam and Eve 23:7). [1] If that is correct, then Adam and Even had perfect (glorious) flesh in the Garden and a bright nature. With sin, their bright nature was exhumed from them, and when they were cast out of the Garden their flesh had changed. For that reason, they were no longer perfect and safe, so God provided for them a coat of flesh.

  Original sin was a new spirit and a new flesh (from that in the Garden). The Spirit of God which had been breathed unto Adam had been exchanged for the spirit of Satan that had been engorged into them. Their flesh was tainted, and they covered their new flesh with aprons of fig leaves. That was not appropriate to God, so He provided new docile flesh, likely from a gentle lamb. Hence, Adam and Eve got their Holy Spirit back but continued in life in a changed flesh. “Born again” (John 3:7) is a regenerated spirit and the rapture of the dead is a regenerated flesh. Baptism is symbolic of that day… the day when those who believe shall become new creatures. Of course, fully regenerated is back to the spiritual and physical condition at the time of generation.

  Adam and Eve apparently moved freely about the Garden and with their bright natures and bright eyes could see unto the heaven. While in the Garden, Adam and Eve had the bright light rest on them, but original sin deprived them of that bright light (1 Adam and Eve 13:6-7). With the bright light, Adam could see Eve and Eve could see Adam, and both could see unto the heaven and commune with God. John speaks of a transparent “sea of glass” beneath the throne. With their bright eyes in the Garden, Adam and Eve could see God plainly. And it appears that the prophets of old could see God as well!

  Jesus, when he appeared to the eleven, ostensibly from the heavenly realm right there, “He opened their understanding that they might comprehend Scriptures” (Luke 24:45). Jesus revealed truth to the apostles as He had the prophets. With bright eyes given to the apostles, they like the prophets before them, became the foundation of the Church (Ephes 2:20). Like them before us, Christians can have the same bright natures and bright eyes. Christians should be able to “see” what the prophets and apostles saw: “When ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ. Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit” (Ephes 3:4-5).

  Adam and Eve had been perfect (glorious) in the Garden. Outside in the wilderness, there was no “sea of glass” through which to see clearly. Their semi-transparent “sea of glass” was “understanding.” They finally got the Message from “the Angel of God!” They understood earth and heaven but could no longer travel freely between them. A wall, or perhaps a “hedge,” had been put between them and God. Travel between reality and the spiritual world required perfect bodies and perfect spirits — the Spirit of God, not the spirit of Satan. Hence, perhaps gravity kept them in their place. Perhaps “gravity” is the “separation” between the heaven and earth — between the waters and the waters (Gen 1:6).

  Examine “gravity” for a moment. It pushes down not pulls toward the Earth. It must be overcome and exists only where matter is present. It is as a dome over the earth and is part of the celestial sphere.

  A synonym is “graveness” and as such, gravity represents struggles and death. Perhaps, while Adam and Eve were in the Garden, gravity was non-existent. There was nothing to constrain nor restrain them but one Law and that was to revere God. (There was no Newton’s Law.)

  Lack of reverence is of grave concern. Outside the Garden lied the graves of the two. They would need to work hard — against gravity — to live. Likewise, when Jesus was Resurrected, or Regenerated, He too overcame the world and gravity when He arose into the heaven and traveled freely between the heaven and the earth.

  Whenever Christians are entirely regenerated, or perhaps “glorified,” then gravity will not restrict them, and the world will be overcome since the world is matter. When New Jerusalem returns to the Garden Paradise at its foundation (Jerusalem), there will be a new Earth and it will be as in Heaven. (Now capitalized because they are places, although by then not discreet places). Then meek Christians will have inherited the earth as is written (Mat 5:5). There will no longer be a grave, grave situations, nor gravity to impede the “new creatures,” who will be remade like the old — in the image of Jesus!

  Christians cannot see through the transparent “sea of glass” (Rev 4:6) like Adam and the prophets could, but they can understand what is in heaven through the Word. What Jesus spoke was scriptural. His Words were the very Words of God! Finally, the darkness was removed from the eyes of the apostles, and they too were willing to take up the Cross of Jesus and many did. John was preserved for the purpose of looking unto the heavens on behalf of latter-day Christians. (John 21:22-23). 

  Now for my personal experience: In my younger days, I could read scripture but failed to understand. I was much like the apostles who were blind until they saw the Spirit of Jesus in the Body of Jesus. For Paul, he had only seen Jesus in bodily form (if that), but when he was blinded, he saw the Spiritual Jesus. He knew it was Jesus because He looked like Jesus. I could not see Jesus in the flesh nor Jesus in the Spirit. I was totally blind to Jesus.

  Like the apostles who blindly followed Jesus expecting a Revolution, I blindly followed Jesus because that was a natural thing to do. God is not natural, and I had to cease thinking in a natural way. Saul never asked for blindness. He was blinded and could do nothing about it! When he saw the Ghost of Jesus, Saul was transformed. He understood. On the other hand, only John could see clearly through the sea of glass.

  Blind Bartimaeus, part way between blindness and vision, saw, “men as trees; walking” (Mark 8:24). His eyes were on Jesus as he was healed. He finally saw Jesus as the Tree of Life, and walking!

  I was as blind as Bartimaeus. I failed to see Jesus at all but only believed in Him, much as a child would the Easter bunny. I believed from my infancy, but I had never experienced a face-to-face encounter with God. (It may be that even Saul never saw God before either although his vision was quite good. If he saw anything, it was the “man” Jesus. He had not seen God until he was struck blind.)

  One day, right out of the blue, as I focused on the road while driving, I “saw” Jesus! No, I did not see the Flesh of God, but I understood His Holy Ghost! I believed before, but at that moment, the regeneration process started.

  A veil was removed from my eyes much as the curtain of the Temple was torn with the Purpose of Jesus fulfilled.  I saw Jesus, not only in the New Testament, but with new Spiritual vision, I saw Jesus nearly everywhere in the Old Testament. My sight was made bright when God revealed to me that the fire of Abraham with the sacrifice of his beloved son was as God would sacrifice His Son on my behalf.

 With new bright eyes, I began to see Jesus as the Tree of Life and Christian souls in he Garden. I understood that Adam “dressing and keeping” the Garden of Trees was serving and preserving his seed whose souls were already planted. I finally understood that Jesus actually did what Adam was assigned to do. I understood that Jesus is true Son of God and Adam a pretender. I understood that God took His prodigal son, Adam, and put a royal coat on Him to be a real royal priest someday. I understood men as trees; walking and that the Centerpiece who stood in the middle of the Garden Paradise was Jesus, the Tree of Life!

  I write my commentaries as an exploration of Paradise. I think that I understand heaven and earth and glorification. I have the hope that someday I see what I think I now understand!

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[1] The Books of Adam and eve are canon in the eastern Church and seem to be scripturally cohesive.

(picture credit: "sea of glass" from Pinterest)

WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?

  Jesus was triumphant. He defeated death, not only for mankind but for Himself. The stone had been rolled before the entrance, sealed, and guarded until Sunday morning. Jesus arose on the deis Solis, the “day of the sun” from Greek astrology. Not so, it was the “First Day of the Dead,” the Son’s Day!

Now, what about Sunday? It has always been the first day of the week in Christianity and Judaism; to wit: “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made” (Gen 2:2). The seventh day was then and has always been the “Sabbath” — the Day that God rested from His work. Jesus was in the tomb, resting, on the Sabbath day. He was just “asleep,” as Jesus referred to death. (Mark 9:24). Since the “Sabbath” is mostly Saturday, then Sunday is the first day of the week.

  Now let is examine the millennial “seventh day.” Peter wrote, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Pet 3:8). Peter did not just come up with that, that came from the First Book of Adam and Eve, or perhaps, the writer of that Book and Peter both got that notion as God inspired them!

  Jesus will rest on the millennial “Sabbath.” That “day” will be His thousand-year reign. “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years” (Rev 20:6).

  “Blessed” is blissed. Bliss is glorified. Christians are part of the first resurrection. Jesus’s death and regeneration in a glorified body was the First Resurrection. Those who look to the Cross and His spilled blood and water beneath it are part of the First Resurrection. The sixth “millennial day” is the “day” that Jesus worked to save mankind. Jesus is coming on the sixth day, just as He promised Adam. The Adamic Covenant was that Adam would be saved in 5-1/2 “days” or 5500 years (1 Adam & Eve 3:2). In darkness, Adam and Eve shall only be twelve hours long, and when ended, light shall arise (1 Adam and Eve 2:16). That is one-half day. More on that shortly.

  “Bliss” for mankind is when Satan is cast bound into the bottomless pit, and Jesus has no work to do. The “first death” is mortal death. The “second death” is the death of the soul. The “first resurrection” then would be when the soul arises from the dead flesh, and the “second resurrection” would be when Jesus snatches up those who are dead in Christ (1 Thes 4:16). On the seventh millennial day, Christians who have been raptured will reign as “priest of God and Christ” one-thousand years: that is during Christ’s thousand-year Sabbath.

  The point to this background is that the Sabbath as the last day of the week is critical doctrine for the ontology (nature of creation) of the world and its eschatology (final events in the world). It is imperative to God who is the Beginning and the End — the Ontology and the Eschatology.

  Did you know that Satan slipped through a spiritual change and Christians neither saw it coming nor knew it happened? Officially since 1988, Sunday has been, not the first day of the week, but the last! (ISO 8601). Scripture does not make sense with that significant change, and that diminished God. In fact, although Sunday remains the first day of the week in the United States, in practice it is part of the “weekend.”

  The Great Tribulation is divided into hours in a day. The first three-and-one-half years are the first half of the Great Tribulation. Many believe that they will be raptured before that time. They are pre-tribulation adherents. Mid- tribulation adherents believe in the rapture half-way in the Great Tribulation period of seven years. In terms of “days,” that is also considered 3-1/2 years. One-half years is 12 months. It seems that Adam would be in the dark “twelve hours” or most likely the last six months of the first half of the Great Tribulation. (One year is also as one day in scripture.)

  Perhaps that can be applied to Jesus’s entombment as well. He certainly was not in the tomb three full days but only part of the day Friday, all day Saturday, and part of the day Sunday. The Sabbath Day is from night fall on Friday to nightfall on Saturday. Jesus surely “slept” on the Sabbath because that was His day of rest. According to Mark, Jesus was crucified in the third hour and died on the ninth hour (about 3 pm).  Jesus “awoke” from His sleep on Sunday morning, the “First Day of the Dead.” It appears that Jesus “slept” only during the Sabbath (Friday to Saturday evenings) but was quite busy in the tomb between Saturday Evening until Sunday morning.

  We know what Jesus did between 3:00 pm and nightfall: Jesus said unto him (the one of the two thieves on another cross), “Verily I say unto thee, ‘Today shalt thou be with me in paradise’” (Luke 23:43). His Holy Ghost was in Paradise with His father and the new creature — the malefactor who the Benefactor turned beneficiary. That day they would be together in Paradise! Surely the Holy Ghost whom Jesus gave up (Mark 15:37) accompanied the thief to Paradise to be with the Father. Perhaps that was the same time that His body was prepared in the tomb that His Ghost was busy. The first thing Jesus did was visit His Father!

  It does not appear that Jesus continued resting after the Sabbath. What was He doing? Delivering sins into Hell — all the sins of mankind. He surely did that in the darkness of night and was back by morning. Not His body, but His Holy Ghost. Perhaps Jesus slept only during the Sabbath and His Holy Ghost rested with His Body. Otherwise, although Jesus’s Flesh rested, His Spirit was quite occupied!

  Now back to the millennial “sixth day.” That is now. Something to Adam would happen on “day” five-and-one-half or on the sixth “day.” Perhaps that is the “day” that he will arise from the dust from which he was generated.

  Adam’s soul was safe from the evil one, but on the sixth “day” it shall be saved. When is “salvation?” It is when the body and soul are fully regenerated at the rapture of the dead. Adam’s soul is safe from the evil one, and in 5-1/2 spiritual “days” his body shall be safe as well. At death, Adam’s soul was made immortal, and after 5-1/2 days his “dust” would be as well. He would be taken to His Father by Jesus just as the thief on the cross was. As Adam’s seed, mankind took up their cross for Jesus, and that thief was the vicarious “day of Adam.” The rapture is the actual day of Adam.

  Where is mankind now? In the sixth “day” awaiting the Day of the Lord; a great day for Christians and a terrible day for those not safe (Joel 2:31). The end of the sixth “day” is eminent. The Christian era (Pisces) is from 6 BC to approximately 2100 BC. The era of the Antichrist is eminent. The sixth thousand-year day is about to end. Stay sober and vigilant because the Devil is cunning. He has already changed the first day of the Lord to the last day. What did Jesus do on His last day? Remained sober and vigilant of the Devil. He saved souls that day!

(picture credit: Therefore, God Exists - "5 Truths We Can Learn From The Thief On The Cross")

WAY OF THE CROSS

  Peter had cut off the ear of the servant of Caiaphas named, Malchus. Symbolically, since Malchus means “king,” Peter was rejecting authority. There is much debate about the meaning of cutting off the ear. The most appropriate reason is Jesus’s own words:

  Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. (Mat 18:8)

  Whatever offends anyone should be cut off. Jesus mentioned the hand and foot but honestly, what offends people the most? The eyes, ears, and mouth. The eyes and ears receive visual and audible information and the mouth broadcasts it. Of course, the most offensive is the brain, but lobotomies were surely not used until the 20^th century to cut off what offends.

  Why would Peter target the ear? Because, as the servant of Caiaphas, he should have known Jesus and should have known the writings of Samuel. God told David that he had cut off all his enemies (2 Sam 7:9). God did that… not David!

  Jesus could have cut down the mob out to get him, but Simon Peter cut off the ear of Malchus. How feeble; Simon Peter was standing next to God but he endeavored to do what God could easily do. He did not trust Jesus but trusted himself.

  People are everyone types of “Peters.” Rather than trust God for justice, most people are part of the mob. Some of the mob would be shouters, others encouragers for the mob, and others silent but they were all the mob. Peter was as bad as the mob because he took the law into his own hands.

Peter surely chose the ear of Malchus because he had ears to hear but had not heard. David long before had trusted God because, “Thou art great, O Lord God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears” (2 Sam 7:22).  Hearing is believing; Malchus knew scripture and had heard Jesus in person with every Word corresponding to Holy Scripture.

  Simon Peter was punishing Malchus for failing to hearken unto God’s Word. Ironically, the name Simon means “listening.” He used violence but Jesus taught love. Just who was it that had ears to hear but did not hear? It was Peter. Why did Jesus restore the ear of Malchus? Because love does not come through violence. If Peter had listened to Scripture, how would he have responded? “If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:  For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee. (Prov 25:21-22). Paul quoted Scripture to focus better on that point — “Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (Rom 12:19).

  If there was to be vengeance, it would be vengeance from Jesus. Indeed, Malchus was surely cut off from the Lord for his grievous sin. Simon Peter was merely in the way of the Way Jesus performs. Wrath belongs to God and kindness to mankind. The mob was wrong but the “crucifixion” of Malchus’s ear would not be enough!

  Conversion can not be obtained by the sword. Muslims proselytize that way, but they are the religion of violence. Their “Jesus” (Isa) will return with a vengeance. Isa is more like Peter than Jesus! Angry Christians are more like Muhammad than Christ. Everyone, even Christians, have a natural desire to strike out at their enemies, but what did Jesus say? “I say unto you which hear, ‘Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you’” (Luke 6:27). Jesus followed His own sayings. What did he do? He restored the ear of Malchus; He healed His enemy. That was an act of love. What happened to Malchus in the long run? Likely, but nobody knows, that on Judgment Day Jesus will remind Malchus why his soul is in Hell.

  Simon (Peter) the “listener” failed to hearken unto the Words of Jesus. His vengeance was to cut off the ear of Malchus (king). Consider the Words of Jesus, “For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? (Mat 7:2-3).  Verse three could as well be written, Why behold the wax in thy brother’s ear, but not consider the log in your own ear?

  Peter denied himself as the person who had been with Jesus. Malchus even identified him later as the one who cut-off his ear. Peter should hope that when Jesus healed his ear, Malchus would be convinced that Jesus is the King, not he himself! Hence, Peter even denied his own identity, and by that denied Jesus.

  Jesus had said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Simon Peter, the “stone” (Stone-headed) “listener” had indeed denied himself, but he had denied Jesus as well. Simon, surely influenced by Satan, then in Judas, denied Jesus in much the same way that Judas did. Denying oneself is only part way to the Cross. Meekness is not the entire path. What did Simon Peter not do? He failed to take up his cross and follow Jesus all the way to His death. When Jesus was crucified, meek Simon Peter merely stood away and listened. What should he have done? Symbolically, he should have “washed” Jesus’s feet by begging to bear the “cup” of Jesus;  that he himself would bear the Cross.

  On either the fifth or seventh of the Stages of the Cross on the Way of the Cross, Simon the Cyrene bore the Cross for Jesus. Ironically, Simon Peter surely would have been ashamed. He could have borne the Cross that Jesus carried, all the way to Calvary unto death.

  The Old Testament (Torah) says, “God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant” (Gen 9:27). What does that mean? Worship was in tabernacles or “tents” in the times of Exodus before the Temple. “Tents” in that passage symbolize the Temples of the Holy Ghost in scripture. Of course, the Jews (Shemites) were God’s chosen and peculiar people, and finally Christian Gentiles (Japhethites) were as well. How about Canaan? They will serve Jews.

  Simon hearkened and carried the Cross for Jesus. Just as his name means, he “listened.” He picked up the Cross of Jesus and followed Him to the very last Station where Shem had placed Adam’s Skull. [1] The nationality of Simon the Cyrene cannot be proven, but since Greeks from Thebes had founded that city, many think that Simon was a Greek. Something about Simon stood out to cause him to be appointed by the Romans to carry the Cross. Since Libyans (wherein Cyrene lies) are dark peoples, the obvious guess is that Simon was of the dark race of Canaan. Noahic prophecy was surely fulfilled on Good Friday when Simon became the servant of Shem. Rather than the Shemite, Simon Peter, carrying the burden, the Canaanite, Simon the Cyrene did. Simon would become the servant instead of Simon Peter - a servant to the Lord. Simon would surely by that sacrifice become one of the “tents” of Shem. 

³¹ And after that they had mocked him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him away to crucify him. ³² And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross. (Mat 27:31-32) 

  Simon, probably considered a meek servant by the Romans, had been forced to deny himself by servanthood, but like any good servant, he did not object to laboring for Jesus. He surely had compassion and did what Simon Peter should have done. Simon the Cyrene denied himself, took up the Cross, and followed Jesus to His death. Simon, however, did not die. Jesus died in his place. He did for Simon Peter as well.

  How about Simon Peter? He was finally crucified upside down at his request so as not to dishonor Jesus (Foxe’s Book of Martyrs). Jesus knew that he would. Jesus said this to Peter:

⁸ Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. ¹⁹ This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. (John 21:18-19)

  When Peter was old, indeed, he stretched out his hands and was crucified upside down. He went by force to his death for Christ, where otherwise he would not have gone. Peter, by “picking his own cross” glorified Jesus. Once Peter “crucified” Jesus by his silence, but when he was old, Simon Peter was crucified to magnify Jesus.

  Finally, long after Peter denied himself, but failed to pick up the Cross of Jesus, he picked up his own cross and followed Jesus. Simon, became “the rock” (Peter) and the Church was built on him, the other apostles, and the prophets of old. How so? Ironically, Peter is buried beneath Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. He was part of the second layer of the Church but was preceded by the prophets. (Ephes 2:20).

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[1] Read the author’s book, The Skull of Adam, to understand the significance of that.

(picture credit: "Malchus" Wikipedia)

I AM - I AM NOT

  Interwoven within the mock trials of Jesus was a meaningful dichotomy. Mankind’s problem since original sin has been “I AM.” Satan, speaking through the Serpent’s mouth, had warned, “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 3:5).

  The translation is ambiguous since ‘elohym, the reference for God, is plural but is used for God’s One Existence. Whether it intends to be “as gods” or “as God” is not clear. It seems that since they usurped God’s Authority, they both became “as God.”  A “god” is One Being who is perfect in all aspects (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Ironically, Eve was one being who had been perfect (entirely good; Gen 1:31) but that was about to change. Likewise, Adam had been one being who had been perfect and that too was about to change.

  Hence, even as they were created perfect in the image of God, God provided them with a potential flaw. They did not exhibit that flaw in the Design and Build stages, but in practice, God knew it would be there. God has a “Will” — that is “the power of control over one’s own actions or emotions” (ibid). Adam could not control Eve, Eve could not control Adam, the Serpent could not control either them or God, none of them could control God, and God intentionally limited His control over them! Both Adam and Eve were endowed with their own “wills” in the image of God. Satan could not demand that they do things, but with their own will, things must come about of their own volition.

  Before, Adam and Eve had submitted to God and there was unity between themselves and them and God. That is the definition of “glorified.” Jesus prayed, “glorify Me together with Yourself” and added, “with the glory which I had with You before the world was” (John 17:5; NKJV). Before the foundation of the world, God ordained that His creatures be “holy and without blame before Him in love.” “Glorified” then is with God, in the image of God, holy, perfect, and in love with God; just like it was in the Garden before the lesser beings’ souls were emptied of the Supreme Being’s Spirit.

  Who exhumed God’s Spirit from Adam and Eve? The Serpent had no power to do so. God has the Power to give and take the His Holy Spirit, but that would be autocratic. Adam and Eve exhumed God’s Spirit from themselves, themselves! The Devil didn’t do it; the Serpent didn’t do it, and God didn’t do it!

  Look what they had done: God breathed life unto them (Gen 2:7). “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Mark 10:9).  Of course, God “joined together” Adam and Eve in marriage, but only He could put that asunder. God pulled Eve from Adam’s side, and only God has the Authority to do that. Adam and Eve usurped Holy Matrimony with God, in that the “marriage” was between woman, man, and God; and with that they were pretend God(s).

God Is without name, but said, “I AM THAT I AM” then shortened it to “I AM” (Exod 3:14). God is THE “Existence” and Adam and Eve were two other existences. God is I AM. Who were they? To be’s! With their rebellion they usurped God, and as such desired “to be” God. The English word, “sin,” comes from an ancient Danish verb meaning “to be.” Sin is ultimately “to be as God.”

  Jesus is God manifested in the Flesh “to take away our sins” (1 John 3:5). The Purpose of Jesus is to take away the sin in people’s hearts. I AM came in the Flesh to remove the “to be” from the hearts of mankind.

  Intertwined in the arrest of Jesus was positive identification of Jesus and Peter. Three times Peter denied Jesus before the cock crowed twice. The cock crowing represents a new day. Suddenly at daybreak, Peter was not one of them, he was someone else. His new identity was revealed with the light of the morning.

  The mob came after Jesus in the dark hours. Ironically, the Garden of Gethsemane may have been the midst of the Garden of Eden. The mob came to arrest Jesus, perhaps exactly where the Tree of Life stood. That was the customary place that Jesus took refuge from the world. They came to “Glory” to “Glorify” God. The crucifixion of Jesus would glorify God and Jesus prayed that… “Father, glorify Me together with Yourself!”

  In the dark, Peter was one of them.  He cut off the right ear of Malchus. According to Scripture, Peter had no right to do that. Whatever offends a person, that person should cut off themselves. Peter was circumcising Malchus’s ear, attempting to make him understand, but Jesus was about to provide the solution to that. By His blood, hearts could be circumcised; not just offensive hearing, offensive fornication, but the entire being!

  “Circumcision of the heart” is sacrificing oneself in entirely. It is allowing Jesus to glorify and make things as they were in the Garden. It is the removal of sin by God. Jesus death was to put away the desire to be and replace it with the image of the Great I AM.

  Now look at what Peter did. Three times, Peter denied Christ. The gospels recount Peter’s denials, but Luke may have been the one who got it exactly right; he wrote, “I AM not” (Luke 22:58; capital letters mine). Peter denied Jesus and denied himself. Not only was he not God, but neither was he Peter! Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Mat 16:24). Peter denied himself, but that was not enough or the intent. The last part was for Peter to take up his cross. He failed to do that. He followed Jesus but not all the way to the cross. He “stood down,” using the modern vernacular.

  Three times Peter was asked, Are you the guy who followed Jesus? Three times Peter denied Jesus and himself. He even denied himself to Malchus who painfully knew who Peter was. When Jesus, said “I AM” it is written, “They all drew back and fell to the ground” (John 18:6). Jesus was perhaps believed for a moment until the Serpent’s Spirit in Judas intervened.

  Peter denied Jesus and himself three times. Not one time did Jesus deny Himself. Jesus said three times when asked, Are you, You? “I AM he.” (John 18:5,8; Mark 14:62). The word “he’ in the Bible is not there. Is was added for context, and that is signified by the word being in italics. Jesus only said, “I AM.” He signified to the Jews that “I AM THAT I AM” (JHWH; Yahweh)!

  They should have known that by then. Forty-eight times in the New Testament, Jesus said, “I AM” but they had not heard that. Perhaps that is why Peter cut-off the ear of Malchus. When you read that before, did you hear “Yahweh” when Jesus said, “I AM?”

Many times, I was taught to hear Peter’s “I am not,” but only with study of the Word, did I understand that I AM means that Jesus is He. Peter’s denial is there for a reason. Perhaps what we should understand that we are not Him. We must deny our own existence and Glorify God’s Existence.

  Peter denied Jesus three times before the cock crowed. One crow for each time Jesus asked that His cup pass from Him. Jesus endeavored to convince the Father to take away His Purpose, but to no avail for by doing so, Jesus would have been denying himself.

  If Jesus had not filled the “cup” with His own blood, Judas would have. Unlike Peter, Judas denied himself, and took up his “cross” by hanging himself from a common tree. What went wrong with Judas? He attempted to elevate himself! He justified his own sins. He was the second sinful Adam who like him, tried to cover his own sins with fig leaves. Satan surely learned that technique from Adam and used it on Judas. Redemption, after all those years was under the “Jesus Tree of Life.” The “Judas Tree” with corrupt roots — the love of money — would not suffice!

(picture credit: "dead fig tree" by Fine Arts America)

THE PARADOX OF PERFECTION

KEY VERSE: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

  Jesus had a long conversation with the apostles before He was crucified. He first spoke in riddles then plainly. He spoke those things to still their hearts with peace. Despite tribulation, peace can be had in the world.

  Examine yourself; are you at peace? Personally, I am not because the world is tribulation. Just what is “tribulation?” It is the stress that you are having right now. It is caused by oppression and persecution — carrying a burdensome load and harassment, respectively.

  Examine the most stressed groups today. Protesters feel oppressed. The terrorist mob does not. They feel powerful and are making a show of it. The mob stresses the population. They are angry revolutionists who want power. The stress that they feel is hatred of the system, and relief for them is overcoming the world. With that, they seek socialist Utopia.

  Utopia is a fantastical world; “A place of ideal perfection especially in laws, government, and social conditions” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). For Utopia to exist because it would be perfect, the inhabitants therein must all be perfect. The quiz for today: Name one perfect person. For the socialists, there answer must be one of two; There is none. Or perhaps they might say, All those like me.

  Is the mob perfect? Is even one person in the mob perfect? Ironically, none in the mob would be allowed into a Utopian world for the minute that person entered, it would become imperfect. Therefore, Utopia is so far out there that it must be “an imaginary and indefinitely remote place” (ibid).

  Surprise socialists! With you there, Utopia is no more than a fantasy. With you there, it is worse than what you have because you are a “bad dude” who destroys systems.

  If there is no Utopia in the world, what then is there? Tribulation: stress, oppression, persecution, inhumanity, hatred, and falsehoods. This world has too much tribulation and not enough peace! However, open your mind and examine socialist societies. Think about revolutionary France, Bolshevic Russia, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, repressive China, and chaotic Venezuela. Those socialist countries are the Utopian (sic) societies in the world. If you think there is oppression and persecution now, just wait until Marxists rule!

  All governments provide tribulation because people despise authority. The most authoritarian were the totalitarian monarchies. Socialism resulted from aristocracies. Imagine a society without tribulation; it is so far removed that it is nothing more than an unobtainable dream, yet enlightened (sic) people still seek it. Certainly, Utopia could never be reached by violence because then it would exist of two groups of people: (1) Oppressors and (2) the oppressed. Utopia, if it is reality, would be totalitarianism revisited, and each time socialism has progressed, it turns out that it is worse than what was there before.

  Revolution and violence are not the way to peace, rest, and tranquility. The mobs in the nation are having a surrealistic pipe dream. They know what they seek is unobtainable using their methods. In other words, socialist revolutionaries are irrational insane people.

  Those white privileged and black powerful revolutionaries are insane, and their insanity is the tribulation most obvious in the world. They are driving themselves insane, but they will not go down alone. They intend to take the entire world insane and go down for their impossible dream. There is no Utopia in earth, so people have insurmountable obstacles and unrealistic goals. That leads to more stressful tribulation in their minds. The harder they try for the “perfect society” the further away it becomes!

  Jesus referred to “these things.” Of what things was He speaking? “These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service” (John 16:1-2).

  The Christians will be persecuted and killed, and those who do those things, think they are doing a service. Apply that to Jesus. When He was crucified, the mob thought they were doing God and society a service. They thought that they were doing Herod a service and Caesar as well. The very people that socialists treat as if they are sub-human parasites, treated Jesus in that same manner. Jews were an annoyance and inconvenience to the autocracies and were for all socialist movements. The epitome of Jewishness, Jesus by Name, was the most annoying and inconvenient to the mob.

  Because Jesus lives, Christians shall live. Because Jesus was persecuted, Christians shall be persecuted. Life, for a Christian, is tribulation. It is endured by hope that their lives will be turned around; that rather than dissension, there will be peace in earth. Christians hope for their own “utopian” Paradise. That is how Christians can live now and face tomorrow. Perhaps because Christ provides hope and neither Marx nor Caesars do, that is why Christians are persecuted.

  Have you ever met a person so unhappy with their own lives that they resent yours? That is socialism. They fail to value their life but envy yours. Why are black people protesting? They want “white lives” — not to necessarily be white but live like whites. One thing they are missing; white people live in tribulation as well. Everyone is in chains! Everyone, that is, except true Christians. Everyone is oppressed and put down. Rather than be like “whitey,” blacks and disenchanted people of all races should want to be like Jesus.

  But Jesus was persecuted and killed; why would people want to live like that? Because He was triumphant over evil, evil-doers, the world, Satan, and death. Christ lived, and life is less tribulation with Christ. Death is gain because it is escape from hatred and tribulation.

  Jesus told the apostles, “Be of good cheer!” How could they be cheerful; they were about to face their own personal and “Great Tribulations.” All the apostles suffered death for Jesus, excepting John who was spared and only boiled in oil (Foxe’s Book of Martyrs).

  How can anyone be cheerful knowing that the mob killed Jesus unjustly, that they themselves must die for the cause of Jesus? And that in the interim, they will be persecuted? How could they even be cheerful knowing that loved ones were going to Hell? Because Jesus overcame the world. Jesus made it through with majesty, and Christians shall also overcome the world.

  And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved. (Mat 10:22-23)

  Overcoming the world is enduring tribulation. How can the world be overcome? By enduring hatred. Christians should feel hated right now. If anyone is elated by what is going on in the world, they cannot be Christians.

  Why are Christians hated so intensely? Because theirs is the only true hope for Paradise. When Christians present themselves cheerfully in the face of the mob, the mob should be envious. Christians vicariously have what the mob only seeks by violent means. “Vicariously” is with great anticipation. Christians already enjoy the fruits of Christianity and the mob the fruits of sin. The anger you see… that is one of the many fruits of the evil spirit.

  Endurance requires perseverance in the face of persecution. No one enjoys being hated.

  Now for a personal testimony: I am hated. I am hated by some family members and those who I once considered friends. I am an imperfect Christian and a work of God in progress. With many imperfections, I would never fit into a socialist Utopia any better than the mob. Neither would I fit in nor deserve Paradise.

  Because I look to Jesus to defeat evil and the evil-one, knowing that I cannot do so on my own, Jesus will regenerate me to God’s original design when He generated the first man. All I need to do is stand still in the water as He washes me clean and fits me with a new coat of flesh.

Jesus already provided the animal for my new clothes. His Flesh will be my flesh because He was made sin for me (2 Cor 5:21) and had enough to go around for all those who trust His Flesh for safety!

  Some Christians even hate me. Why? Because their doctrine is perceived as more correct than my own. Personally, I endeavor to have no personal doctrine because the Doctrine of Christ is my doctrine.

  Some family members either hate me or lack respect. Why would that be? Because they know that I am imperfect. I never will be until I am glorified and made perfect. Are they perfect? All have sinned and come short of glorification.

  Glorification is perfection. Glorifying God is seeing His Perfection. Others cannot glorify me because I am imperfect. Only God can glorify me, and He will do that in Glory. Until then, I depend on Jesus’s blood and water to grow toward perfection. Like Utopia, that is a far away dream, but is my hope. I can never make myself perfect, and certainly Mr. Marx cannot, but Jesus can and will. The last stage of regeneration is glorification wherein sinful Larry is made entirely good just as Adam and Eve in the beginning!

  Why did the multitude hate Jesus? Because He was perfect. Why do people hate me? Because I am imperfect. The paradox of perfection is that imperfect people hate imperfect people but do not hate themselves. That paradox coincides quite well with Popper’s Paradox of Tolerance; that it is okay to be intolerant of the intolerant to eliminate intolerance.  Some of my own loved ones who are intolerant think they are doing God a good service by diminishing their love for me. Those loved ones have been trapped in the mindset of socialist doctrine. Popper, George Soros, and the mob would be proud of their “Doublethink!”

  “Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less” (C.S. Lewis). My response to that is, “Wisdom is not thinking you are perfect, but knowing that you are imperfect.” According to scripture it is, “With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again” (Mat 7:2). People measure themselves with false scales and others with true scales. Friends, family, and enemies… just like me, you too are imperfect!

SPIRTUAL "DEEP STATE" - TRIUMPHED

TRIUMPHED

  Jesus was “trumped” with all the accusations. When one failed, the accusers merely created another. Jesus created the world, but the mob created lies about the Creator! How ironic is that? Indeed, each time Jesus escaped death, the mob trumped up another charge. Donald Trump’s name is fitting for that occasion.

  Names in scripture always means things. Always, when names and places are mentioned in Scripture, explore the etymology of the name or noun. For instance, Saul means “questioning.” He questioned Christianity and Christians and persecuted them. When God began the regeneration process, Saul was renamed “Paul,” meaning “humbled.” Saul’s arrogance diminished and God humbled him.

  Another example is King Nebuchadnezzar. That king’s name meant, “Nebo, protect the boundary” (Douglas Harper 2001-2020). Nebu was the god of literacy, rationalism, and wisdom. Symbolically, Nebu would represent the Tree of Knowledge (aka; the Wisdom Tree), and socialist-types of thinking.

  Nebuchadnezzar had a statue of himself to which worship was demanded. By bowing down to Nebu or Nebuchadnezzar, it would have been a sin for Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego. With poetic justice, when the king was burning the three in the fiery furnace, he saw the “Son of God” (Dan 3:25), saving them. It was Jesus who protected the “boundary” as Jesus put a hedge between the heat and the three young Jewish men who had great faith.

    That background is to demonstrate that names means things in the Bible. Like it or not, God ordained Mr. Trump for some purpose. Perhaps that is to save America. “Obama” has no direct etymology. However, “Luo elders say 'Obama' does not have a solid translation in their Dholuo language but is similar to the word 'Obam' meaning 'crooked' or 'bending'" (Dealy 2008). Compare that to the meaning of Trump, “a dependable and exemplary person” (Merriam-Webster 2003). The contrast is substantial and from a religious standpoint is viable.

  The mob that killed Jesus had at least four groups: (1) zealots, (2) supporters, (3) onlookers, and (4) empathizers of Jesus. Zealots demanded their type of justice. Supporters cheered them on with, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” Onlookers were there because of the excitement, but empathizers were there because they were afraid of the mob but still supported Jesus from afar… but not very far! Surely, the zealots were the minority but the “loud minority.” As had been shown the week before at Palm Sunday, the multitude were the majority, but in this case, the “silent majority.” They stood by quietly while the mob had their way.

  If the mob had yelled, “Jesus is God” the supporters would have yelled the same. If the mob had yelled, “Jesus is a glutton and a drunkard,” the mob would have echoed that. Not only that, but when mobs yell things, not long after, they become the “cause of the day.” On the day that Jesus was in town, the cry was “Crucify Him!” and with that echoed from the small loud-mouth supporters, that became reality and the “cause of the day.”

  The “silent multitude” could have prevented mob justice, and “Judge Lynch” would have been shamed. All the apostles who followed Jesus would not pick up their own “crosses” and follow them until it was too late to save Jesus. No matter. Jesus had to die to save all the multitude because to the emotional crowd, Jesus’s life did not matter!

  The mob is always the vocal few but their amplitude and fidelity to their myth makes them seem more numerous. A tactic in the military is to make a few very loud and boisterous soldiers sound as if they are many. That is the mob’s tactic as well. And when the mob is vocal, the media echoes it. They make the small mob seem much larger than it is. By including the silent majority as part of the mob, the mob seemed big because those who were silent appeared to be included in the number who wanted Jesus crucified.

  There was no vote to impeach Jesus or to have Him abdicate His Kingship. The majority ruled and by staying quiet, it seemed that everyone polled wanted Jesus crucified. Mobs “vote” with their anger and loud voices. Those who remain silent, do not have their “votes” counted. Hence, the “silent multitude” in the death of Jesus were guilty as well. Christians especially, crucified Jesus by their silence, and in modern times, Jesus is crucified time and time again, by the majority of silent voices.

  One Christian wrote about the holocaust; that when the trains past their church, the Jews wailed and screamed. He said, when the train was coming, the Christians just sang a little louder so as to not hear the crying.

  The same goes for abortion. When the unborn scream their silent scream, Christians just sing a little louder. When the socialists come for them, the silent majority sing even louder. The Church denies that Satan is Prince of the Power of the Air, and think denial eliminates him. Many Christians fail to believe in Satan and demons at all, and scarcely believe in Jesus! They do, however, believe in Marx’s “social justice” for the “common good.” The “serious crisis” that the world has now, is the very opportunity that the socialists have been awaiting. Marx is man of the hour, just as Jefferson Davis was when the states were in a very serious crisis in 1861.

  Choose wisely whose side you take. Some chose Davis, knowing full well that, “If the Confederacy falls, there should be written on its tombstone: Died of a theory.” (Davis 1881). If the United States dies, it should have on its tombstone, Died of a Socialist Theory.” The confederacy was not a socialist government, but the plantation system in the United States in the South was very much so.

  Jesus was finally trumped. He screamed in agony, “’Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ that is to say, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’” (Mat 26:41), as even God the Father had seemed to have abandoned Him. He had not. The Father had experienced death with the Son, and the Holy Trinity, all three, suffered death. As soon as the killing was over, Jesus “gave up the Ghost.” The Spirit of God had been transformed to the Ghost of Jesus by the experience of death. That God in all three substances died is significant. The Jews killed God, the Christians killed Jesus, and “whosoever” (John 3:16) killed killed the Holy Ghost, as they could have been the Temple of the Holy Ghost.

  It seems that the mob won the day. Indeed, most thought that Jesus was defeated. If Jesus did not die on the Cross, then He would have been defeated. Being persecuted as God’s Name was gain for Jesus. What happened? He was resurrected and is still King. But not of only the Jews but the entire world, the heavens, and is the King of kings!

  Who was defeated? Satan was. Remember the pole that Moses held up with the dead serpent on it… a lifeless brazen serpent? When anyone thinks that Jesus is dead, look only at the tree nearby. There Christians should see Satan dead as a fruitless fig tree, hanging lifeless from its branches. The Wisdom Tree had withered and with the Serpent still in it!

  Since Satan was defeated, who triumphed? Jesus remains alive to this day. Who do the people of the world accept as their king? By their actions, they stand under the Judas Tree and worship the Serpent with Satan in disguise as usual. Those who are not for God are against Him. Those standing silently behind the mob did not testify on behalf of Jesus, as is written:

  Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have. (Phil 1:27-30; ESV)[1]

The silent Christian majority to this day have been warned to, “not (be) frightened in anything by your opponents.” Why be frightened? Jesus arose did He not? Likewise, the spiritually brave shall be as well. That is what salvation is all about — trusting Jesus enough not to be frightened and depending on Him for safety. How did Jesus triumph? He is still King! He is still God. He is still alive! He shall return!

He shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Mat 24:31)

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1 Cor 15:52)

¹⁶ The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: ¹⁷ Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thes 4:16-17)

  Note that the mob loses and Christians triumph. The mob dies eternally, and Christians who trust Jesus’s sacrifice of Himself shall be glorified. The death of Jesus defeated death, and the mob, in the end were the ones trumped.

  His triumph is when Jesus returns in the flesh to resurrect the dead just as He was resurrected. What is more, those Christians who are still alive will be glorified to death… dead to the world, but alive to Christ. The “trump” (trumpet) shall be sounded to announce Jesus’s defeat of death. Imagine the mob when they wake up and there are no more Christians to mock, persecute, and kill! What will they do then? Who will they victimize? Who will they blame? They shall blame themselves.

  On the other hand, maybe not. They denied that Jesus is God. They denied His right to live, and they persecuted Christians. Likely, the mob will establish a “narrative” for the triumph of Jesus. Perhaps a virus or plague of some sort may have dissolved them into thin air. Just what excuse will they fabricate is not known at this time, but certainly they will make it sound viable and will chorus it all over the world. Being in love with masks, perhaps they will censor the event or mask it as if it never happened. Perhaps those remaining will be told that those they loved never really existed, then conditioned to believe that Big Lie — the absurdity that matter can just disappear without a cause. Is that not how the universe came about, and people believe that? People are prone to believe lies. That is a curse, and it is easier than finding the truth.

  Those who continued to trust Jesus after His crucifixion shall be saved. When is the time of salvation? “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation” (Heb 9:28). When Jesus comes the second time. Theologians say that the “second coming” is for the triumphal reign of Jesus. Paul made it clear, in that passage — that salvation is when Jesus appears the second time; the time after He was crucified.

  How about the President. The silent multitude may shout loudly on election day. They would be foolish to allow the mob to rule!

  Triumph for Christians is when they are saved. That is their “great day.” On the other hand, the “terrible day of the Lord” is when those He redeemed reject the redemption. Christians will rise triumphant when they are snatched up into the heavens… to a room in God’s mansion.

With that said, the “terrible day” is for the mob and their followers. There they will meet their Deceiver and will despise Satan for his scheming.

  Why did the silent majority just take up swords and free Jesus? Violence is not the Will of God. Anyone who kills innocent people are under the spell of Satan. Those who killed God certainly were. Not Satan personally, but his legions of demon angels.

  Peter tried vigilante justice, but Jesus chastised him and undid the damage that Peter did to the servant of the high priest. The Deep State is doing much damage in this age but that will be undone. The Book of the Revelation of John is a picture of things to come. In that vision, Satan is finally all the way dead, the heaven and the earth regenerated, and Heaven will again be visible on Earth. The harlot Babylon, old Jerusalem, will become virtuous again when New Jerusalem appears on its foundation of peace.

  Before Jesus was crucified, He rode on a donkey in triumph. He knew what would happen and who would be King. Some of the multitude did too, and they waved palm branches and shouted, “Hosanna to God in the highest.” That pales compared to the triumph of Jesus when Satan is finally defeated, there is no pretender to the throne, and all that will, shall be saved.

  Jesus is glorified, and in the end, Christians shall be glorified with Him. What makes glorification? The Presence of God and the subsequent absence of Satan. Satan could not physically appear in the Garden of Eden. He required a surrogate — that time the Serpent. He will never ever again appear in any form after the triumph of Jesus because the triumph is over evil and the evil one.

  Christians will triumph as well. They shall proudly display their new apparel, not the skins of animals as with Adam and Eve, but white linin stained with the blood of Jesus… and they shall not be ashamed! Jesus will appear as a majestic tree. He will stand tall by the River of God (Rev 22:2) where He stood before sin ever existed.

  That “Tree” in the Garden? That was Jesus. Even a blind may could see that. As Jesus was speaking and healing the blind man, that man, Bartimaeus, could finally begin to see. Before his sight was fully restore, he said, “I see men; as trees walking” (Mark 8;24). He was among the few who saw Jesus as the Tree of Life! That majestic “Tree” who triumphed on the “tree” of the Cross (Acts 10:39).

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[1] All quotes are from the King James Version of the Bible unless designated otherwise or if they are paraphrased. This quote is from the English Standard Version.

SPIRITUAL 'DEEP STATE" - TRIUMPHANT

TRIUMPHANT

  Despite the mob, Jesus was triumphant! The aftermath was not as destructive as it had seemed. Jesus had been beaten beyond recognition and He could not breath. Ironically, Adam, in the beginning had God’s Spirit breathed into him, but Jesus’s last breath was God’s Holy Spirit exhumed from His Son as He gave up the Holy Ghost.

Then Jesus could not breath. He said to His Father, “Why have you forsaken me?” As well put was, Father, I cannot breathe! With that, the Holy Ghost left Jesus but while Jesus slept in His tomb, His Ghost had some work to do.

  One thief had saw the injustice. Jesus’s last words to mankind was, “Verily I say unto thee, ‘Today shalt thou be with me in paradise’” (Luke 23:43). Jesus had not died, He was just “asleep” as he referred to death. While His Flesh slept, His Ghost was busy. The first order of business was to rid the world of sin.

  The mob could not see it, but The Ghost of Jesus first took all the sins if mankind and deposited them in Hell (Ephes 4:7-10). Jesus suffered death but He never went to Hell. That would have been defeat. Jesus was triumphant, not defeated.

  The mob could do nothing to His Ghost for “it” was in another realm. Neither could Satan disturb Jesus for he was left hanging in the Judas Tree.

  Jesus emptied His “Cup” in Hell. It had been emptied when He “gave up the Ghost” but imbued with the sins of all mankind. Once over the bottomless pit, perhaps in the Holy of Holies beneath the Foundation Stone, Jesus emptied His Cup into the Well of Souls where the spirits of the dead, perhaps, will be heard on Judgment Day.

  Jesus trumped Satan! Satan was left hanging, and Jesus slept. While the Ghost of Jesus was defeating sin, the ghost of Judas was swinging to and fro, waiting on some swine to pass by would be a good guess. The Spirit of Jesus would Comfort mankind and the Devil would only search for some other dark angel to lead the mob. Jesus had died, but His Doctrine was very much alive.

  Just as Adam and Eve had failed to understand death, it appears that Satan did as well. He thinks Jesus died; he was misled — Death is gain. Jesus, then, accompanied the soul of the thief who showed kindness to Paradise that day. The thief, not breathing only hours before, had the Spirit of God breathed unto him. I can’t breath became I can breath freely because their was no impedance to God’s Holy Spirit. The Devil no longer had a “choke-hold” on that sinful man.

  Satan had smothered the man, but death had removed the death angel’s hold on him. Jesus, by His death, had set the man free from death. A thief before, Jesus freed the man from sin, and his soul was regenerated. There was no waiting line! The apostles had come to Jesus several years before, but by dying the man went to the front of the line. The man’s “cup” was filled with the Spirit of God and living waters had quenched his thirst. The last had been first just as Jesus had said.

  Just as one man was safe from the Devil on that day, anyone who longs for their “cup” to be filled with Jesus is also safe from the evil one. Regeneration, just like generation,” is when the dust has life breathed unto it. The process of regeneration is when both the body and spirit are saved from the evil one. He that endure to the end (of tribulation) shall be saved and that occasion is when Jesus appears in the sky to snatch up the living and the dead.

  Adam sinned. Jesus covered him and his mate with a “coat of skin” for protection from the world and the Serpent. Although “safe,” Adam would not be “saved” until the time came for his dead flesh to be regenerated. The redemption of his soul and dust was on Calvary as promised and written in Genesis 3:15.  The Word told Adam, that he had “raised him when he had fallen” and “Yea, the Word that will again save thee when five and a half days be fulfilled.”

  Adam thought that would be five and one-half days to the end of the world, but “these were 5000 and 500 years; and how One would come and then save him and his seed.”  God had made His Covenant with Adam, “When he was by the tree where Eve took the fruit and gave it to him to eat” (1 Adam and Eve 3:2-7).

  Jesus was triumphant when He was resurrected and so will Adam and all who are born again. Adam and Eve received “bright natures” and corresponding “bright eyes” (1 Adam and Eve 3). [1] Their natures had changed. That is the characteristic of fallen people who have been lifted-up by Jesus.

  Just as Adam long before had fallen, Jesus was knocked down. He had done no wrong as Adam had, but had corrected by His death what Adam had caused by his own spiritual death (Rom 5:10).

  Some of the women disciples came to the tomb, surely to anoint the dead body of Jesus with some myrrh. They expected to see a dead man lying still, but the angels told them they would witness something different:

⁵ And the angel answered and said unto the women, “Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. ⁶ He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. ⁷ And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.” (Mat 28:5-7)

  Jesus overcame death! Satan had not and never will. The mob followed Satan and unless they repented, will follow him to Hell where their sins await them. The thief followed Jesus and that day he too was triumphant. Jesus defeated death for him so that he needed not.

The thief is in Paradise awaiting the great day for his “cup” to be restored to life when God breathes His Spirit and makes him a living soul again. That is the great day that he shall be saved, and regeneration is complete. He will be just as before; not before he ever sinned, but before even Adam sinned.

  Where was Judas and the unrepentant thief that day? Satan took them to Hell when he tired of hanging with Judas.

  Who triumphed the day the mob got violent? Jesus and the remnant who trusted Him; a few women and one thief. Only a few ever knows what is going on in the spiritual world. The thief knew and so did perhaps three or four women: two Marys, Salome, and Johanna. There was a great and “serious crisis” that day, and only a few took it seriously. Soon after, Jesus convinced all the apostles, and then he ascended triumphantly into the heavens.

Not long after seeing His Father, the Holy Ghost of Jesus came down when the disciples were of one accord (Acts 2:1). The Ghost of Jesus is always here but reveals himself only to those in unity with the Spirit of God. Mobs are never of God but against God. The “spirit” that drives mobs is the unholy spirit of Judas.

  Back in the Garden, the Word saw His female creature standing under the Judas Tree with the Serpent and was jealous. Right there, surely in that same spot, the Serpent saw four women standing under the “Jesus Tree of Life” and he was jealous. Jesus trumped Judas, and foiled (bound) the Serpent of old!

  Who lost? The mob! They followed the wrong spirit. The mob was jealous, angry, violent, and hateful. Many in the mob that murdered Jesus thought they were doing right. They were protecting Yahweh. Ironically, they were protecting Yahweh by destroying “Ya’s Son the Savior” (Yeshua).

  Today, mobs are an everyday event. It is their day of vengeance for perceived injustice. To whom does vengeance belong? “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord’” (Rom 12:9).

  When the mob of any era seeks vengeance, they are pretend “gods” whose judgment is harsh. “Judge not; condemn not” (Luke 6:37) and by the same metric that you judge God will judge you (Mat 7:1-3). What should people do for their enemies?

²¹ If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: ²² For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee. (Prov 25:21-22)

  When there are mobs, they are unjust. Why do Christians protest peacefully if they even protest? Because they are not mobs. Mobs hurt, destroy, and hate. The mobs today that espouse “love” are intolerant haters. Each time there is violence on the streets, it is as if crucifying Jesus all over again.

  Who will prevail? That has been revealed but only those with bright natures and bright eyes know the outcome. The demon mob and its leader are cast down to Hell, and Jesus is triumphant, as John saw it:

¹ And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. ² And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. ⁴ And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. ⁵ And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, “Write: for these words are true and faithful.” ⁶ And he said unto me, “It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.” ⁷ He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. (Rev 21:1-7)

  Socialism will not create the “new Earth” (Utopia). God will! Mobs tear down great cities; God restores them and makes them great again. Marx and his doctrine will be destroyed. Citizens in Paradise will have the “common good” just as back in the Garden of Eden, but for those who “thirst” after God, not Marx, He will provide a fountain of water flowing freely. There will be milk and honey for all just as God promised Moses.

No one will need to sacrifice for the needs of others, but God will provide all they need and desire. What changes? Their desires? No longer will citizens of the Garden want fruits that do not belong to them, but God Himself will freely provide just as He did before Satan deceived.

  Rather than mobs taking what is not theirs, he that overcomes the world and its false philosophies and hatred, “shall inherit all things.” The belligerent mob will not control the Earth, but the meek shall inherit it!

  The mob thought they had a dead pretender to the throne when Jesus died. Little did they know that the true pretender was dead on a nearby tree. God remained King and still is. There was no sign over Judas’s head, and he was buried as a pauper. Jesus overcame death and the grave! Who won during the time of the greatest and most “serious crisis” ever told? Jesus sits on the Throne even today, and He is triumphant over death! He is the “Omega.”

Never follow the mob. Their destination is perdition. There is one Way for eternal “well-being” and the Greatest Commandment is the “prescription” — Love conquers all! (1 Cor 13).

  Love is not being as a child. What do children do? They terrorize until their demands are met. Christianity addresses that childish attitude with,  “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things” (1 Cor 13:11).

  Children may triumph over parents and often do. Parents may trump each other’s authority. However, the mob will never trump God nor triumph over Him!

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[1] The books of Adam and Eve are canon in the eastern church.

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