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Gone Fishin'

~ …“Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men!”

Gone Fishin'

Monthly Archives: November 2011

The SPIRIT of FEAR

30 Wednesday Nov 2011

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Faith and Wisdom

≈ 2 Comments

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agape, children of Light, dunamis, foul demonic spirit, self-controlled, self-disciplined, sons and daughters of disobedience, sound mind, SPIRIT of fear, tormenting spirit, well-balanced

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear…” (2 Timothy 1:7a, KJV).

So many of us let our emotional barometers rule our lives instead of letting our moral compasses lead our way.  Although we experience a variety of emotions, with fear being one of the major ones, we need to know that there is a world of difference between having anxieties and misgivings over situations (even to the point that we tremble and shake), and having the kind of fear the Apostle Paul speaks about in 2 Timothy 1:7a. This kind of fear is much more than just an emotion. It is a SPIRIT!

A “spirit” of fear is an unclean or foul entity that is in league with Satan, who commands this foul spirit to torment nonbelievers. The way this foul spirit works in the sons and daughters of disobedience is by getting these unsaved people to conduct their lives according to the lusts of their flesh—to fulfill the desires of their flesh and their mind (cf. Ephesians 2:1-3). With believers, the Devil’s “spirit” of fear seeks to make God’s children unstable, unreliable, and uncertain about everything, especially everything God has promised His children in His Word.

Therefore, the “spirit” of fear is in conflict with the godly spirits of a sound mind (calm, well-balanced and self-disciplined mind), love (agape, the God kind of love), and power (dunamis, self-controlled might/physical strength), because these heavenly spirits are associated with God’s Holy Spirit and with His children of Light (cf. 2 Timothy 1:7b; Ephesians 5:8-12; 1 Thessalonians 5:5; James 1:6-8; 1 John 1:5, 7; 1 John 2:9-10; 1 John 4:18). In other words, God has given His children His godly spirits of self-discipline, self-control, and love so that His children will be protected from the demonic “spirit” of fear, which is nothing more than Satan’s smokescreen—his false evidence appearing real (F E A R).

Furthermore, the godly spirits of power, love, and a sound mind are the manifestations of God’s pledge (promise) to His children—His guarantee that His Holy Spirit will transform, fully conform, them to the image of Jesus the Christ (cf. Romans 8:1-30 and 2 Corinthians 1:22). So then, for believers to conquer the demonic “spirit” of fear, which seeks to hinder them from conforming to the image of Jesus the Christ, believers must guard their hearts (the centers of their individual physical, intellectual, mental, moral, and spiritual lives) against the external influences that attack believers’ measure of faith. Additionally, believers must trust in the true and living God, by turning their attention to (focusing on) the Lord, and by seeking God’s Divine Strength and Divine Wisdom to counteract every tormenting attack. In essence, believers must put into use God’s holy spirits of power, love, and a sound mind!

Last but not least, believers also must become bold, on fire for Jesus the Christ, Holy Spirit-filled followers of the Lord who cannot be controlled by the demonic “spirit” of fear. In fact, the only fear that affects these believers should be their godly fear: awe, reverence, an attitude of deep respect for, bowing down in worship of, and having an intense love and admiration for their Father who is Almighty God.  AMEN. 

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The Controversial MYSTERY: The Rapture

28 Monday Nov 2011

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Bible Prophecy

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Bride of Christ, carried off, caught up, controversial, Divine Truth's hidden understanding, harpagēsometha, harpazo, mystery, raeptius, rapiemur, rapio, rapture, rapturo, raptus, snatched up, sudden physical withdrawal, taken up, to drag off, to seize

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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 Corinthians 15:51-52, KJV; cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17)

The term “mystery” in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 (KJV) refers to a biblically hidden understanding about a Divine Truth that God purposely does NOT make unambiguous to people who are ungodly (unbelievers [Truth doubters, skeptics], or disbelievers [Truth pickers, choosers]). Nor does He reveal this hidden understanding to the people who are unsaved (nonbelievers [Truth rejecters]).

Furthermore, the clear-cut understanding about the particular “mystery” referred to in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 also was not revealed during the Old Testament times. Instead, in God’s own time, the Holy Spirit has made known the hidden nuances associated with this “mystery,” but only to the New Testament’s genuinely full of the Holy Spirit believers in Christ—the real Bride of Christ.

Now, while the Scriptures say that humans are appointed a time to die a physical death, and then they must undergo judgment (cf. Hebrews 9:27; Genesis 3:19; Ecclesiastes 3:20), the “mystery” apostle Paul writes about, which is the same “mystery” the Holy Spirit reveals, is that not every person who believes in Jesus the Christ will experience a physical death, before His Second Coming—before Jesus the Christ’s bodily return!!! As apostle Paul confirms in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, when Jesus the Christ returns to “snatch up” His CHURCH, the dead in Christ will rise first—their old bodies will be resurrected as glorified ones—and then their changed bodies will unite with their eternal spirits and souls. Furthermore, their glorified bodies will not be subject to diseases, sin, or death. After that, according to the apostle Paul, the living Christians will be “caught up” in the air where they will receive their glorified bodies as well, but the difference is that their perfected bodies will come as a result of their “translation” (their “Rapture”) rather than by way of a resurrection. However, just like the dead in Christ, living believers’ glorified bodies also will not be subject to diseases, sin, or death.

Because living Christians are going to be “caught up” or “snatched up” instead of resurrected, the apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:17, obviously is describing the “Rapture,” even though the actual word, “Rapture,” is not in the modern English translations of the Holy Bible. True believers, especially those individuals who are being led and taught by the Holy Spirit, know that the apostle is speaking about the “Rapture,” because the Scriptures are clear about these Bride of Christ believers being “carried off” of this planet.

Additionally, physical evidence that supports what the Holy Spirit has taught and led these believers to accept as Divine Truth about the “Rapture” comes from Jerome’s version of the Latin Vulgate Bible (completed between 382-405 A.D.), which became the commonly used translation of the Holy Bible among Latin-speaking Western Christians, because they used the Latin Vulgate Bible for 1,000 years prior to the Reformation Period. In essence, by and large, there is no other Holy Bible translation that has been used longer than the Latin Vulgate Bible!

So then, in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 of the Latin Vulgate Bible, which is an early translation of the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament, Jerome translates the Koine Greek word harpagēsometha, which is the passive voice and future tense of harpazō, into the Latin word, rapiemur, from which comes the English word “Rapture.” Moreover, from the Latin Vulgate Bible, the commonly used Latin words rapiemur, rapturo, raeptius,and raptus are all forms of the Latin word rapio, and the root word rapio means “to seize, to drag off, to carry off, or to snatch away.”

What cannot be disputed is the fact that in the modern English versionsof the Holy Bible, the New Testament Greek word, harpazō, which literally means a sudden and physical withdrawal, often is translated as “caught up,” “taken up,” or “snatched up”; thus, the next prophetic event, which is the “Rapture,” is in the Holy Bible. It is just that most of the translators who work on English versions of the New Testament use phrases like “snatched up” when they refer to this prophetic event.

Snatched up, indeed! Whatever words people want to use when they refer to the “Rapture,” true believers can rest assured that the “Rapture” sure enough is going to be the Greatest Snatch ever, because it will save God’s true believers from the hellish Tribulation Period! 

Can I get some down-home hallelujahs?  Let the redeemed of the Lord say so! AMEN.

 

For additional information, please read my blog posts: The Bridegroom Is Coming: God’s Ultimate Marriage Story; Who IS Rapture Ready?; Countdown to the Rapture; and Ready or Not, It’s Rapture Season

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Beware Of The Ditches False Shepherds Dig

28 Monday Nov 2011

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Faith and Wisdom

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barren withered and dry pastures, blind leading the blind, broad road, ditches, False Shepheds, False Spiritual Leaders, leaven metaphor for hypocrisy, Lord's voice, mini-parable, Pharisees and Sadducees outward religiosity, spiritual discernment, tree known by fruit

“And he spake a parable unto them, ‘Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch’” (Luke 6:39, KJV; cf. Matthew 15:14).

The reason why we need the Holy Spirit’s spiritual gift of discernment is because in the “institutional” church there are many sheep-looking hirelings/goats (false teachers, false preachers, false evangelists, false apostles, false pastors, false Christs, and so forth). We sheep, then, cannot trust that a sheep, is a sheep, is a sheep!  Sheep’s clothing can deceive, which is why—as a result of spiritually blind sheep following other spiritually blind sheep ahead of them, solely based on their outward physical appearance—the spiritually blind just end up leading the spiritually blind into a ditch (cf. Luke 6:39; Matthew 15:14).

Jesus Christ taught His blind leading the blind mini-parable about the Pharisees and Sadducees who had an outward appearance of religiosity (they thought they were holier and more righteous than their Lord) but inwardly were as rotten as rotten could be. These Jewish religious leaders had no spiritual fruit emanating from their heart, because the Holy Spirit of God was not in them. Thus, the people who were following these wicked religious leaders by sight eventually would end up becoming just as rotten, inwardly, because the leaven (hypocrisy) of the Pharisees and Sadducees would infect (affect) everyone with whom they come in contact (cf. Matthew 16:6, 11-12; Mark 8:14-21; Luke 12:1; 1 Corinthians 5:6; Galatians 5:9). 

The point here is that believers spiritually must be able to discern their Lord’s “voice,” because He is the ONLY Good Shepherd. Indeed, the Scriptures tell sold out for Christ believers that the Lord’s sheep will know HIS voice! Scriptures also say that HIS sheep can discern the difference between their Lord’s voice—HIS TRUTH, which is the entire WORD of God—and the strangers/hirelings’ voices—their “truths,” which often are examples of worldly wisdom or their own misinterpretations of the Word of God (or a combination of the two). Additionally, by the aid of the Holy Spirit and with the supernatural spiritual gift of discernment, Scriptures reveal to believers that Jesus Christ’s sheep not only can discern the difference between HIS voice and the voices of false Christs, false prophets, false teachers, false shepherds/pastors, and so forth, but also the Lord’s sheep immediately will flee from the presence of strangers/hirelings simply because they don’t know strangers/hirelings’ voices (cf. John10:4-5).

The bottom line is this: Jesus Christ’s voice is the ONLY way for today’s sheep to be able to distinguish between the voice of a true Christian (a sheep) or the voice of a pretend believer (a goat), because the Lord’s voice ALWAYS speaks absolute TRUTHS, which He can speak directly from His mouth, or through His Logos/the unadulterated written WORD. The Good Shepherd also can speak His absolute TRUTHS directly by way of the Holy Spirit’s prompting, leading and teaching, or indirectly from the lips of His faithful servants. However the Good Shepherd speaks, His sheep will know that His spoken Words will lead them to safe, secure, cultivated and well-stocked pastures, where spiritual nourishment and spiritual refreshment abundantly flow.  

His spoken Words also will warn His sheep to look out for the ditches false shepherds, and other false spiritual leaders, dig by way of their polluted brands of truth—lies and hypocrisies that cause naïve sheep to fall into the dug ditches. Then too, the Lord’s spoken Words will warn His sheep to watch out for the unprotected, barren, grassless, and arid pastures that false shepherds, and other fake spiritual guides, lead naïve sheep to, where no spiritual nourishment or spiritual refreshment can flow! In essence, the Lord wants His sheep to be alert and spiritually discerning so that, when they hear “unknown” voices, they will have the common sense to flee from the presence of those false shepherds (pastors), false teachers, false prophets, false Christs, and the like.

In a nutshell, what the Lord’s blind leading the blind mini-parable alludes to is this proverbial expression: Without prophetic vision people perish. Put differently, there is no way a spiritually blind guide can teach others how to see their faults, if the guide has been blinded by his/her own faults. Thus, this mentioned proverbial wisdom, along with the already described unsafe, barren, withered, and dry pastures both point to the metaphorical “ditches” the Good Shepherd says His sheep will avoid, as long as they let His Voice guide them (cf. Proverbs 29:18)! A word to the wise should be sufficient!  AMEN.

For additional information, please read my blog entries: Logos vs. Rhema and A Sheep, IS a Sheep, IS a Sheep?

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HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2011

21 Monday Nov 2011

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Poetry

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ardent affection, bountiful blessings, day-to-day adulation, favor of God, God's Traveling Mercies, peace of God, praise, purest action, SOUL Food, Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

THANKSGIVING comes but once a year,

Yet whether we are far or near,

Thanksgiving in its purest action,

Is our day-to-day ardent affection!

 

Praying you all will have: Bountiful Blessings… God’s Traveling Mercies… Lots Of Love…  AND  SOUL Food…!

 

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. ~ Colossians 2:6-7, ESV

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Your Self-Interest (Envy, Jealousy, Spite, Fear, Pride) Will Destroy YOU

18 Friday Nov 2011

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Faith and Wisdom

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absolute power corrupts absolutely, biblical principle, check yourself, eny jealousy fear spite pride, established "institutional" positions of power, laypersons, religious leaders, Sanhedrin Court, secular maxim, self-interest, true enemies of Christ, wreck yourself

Jesus The Christ's Greatest Enemies Were Religious Leaders

“He knew it was through sheer spite that they had turned Jesus over to him.” ~ Matthew 27:18, MSG

There have been many spiteful people who have used the 1960s’ “check yourself before you wreck yourself” secular adage in an intimidating way; that is, these malicious bullies have used the mentioned worldly-wise saying largely to scare truth presenters to the point that they stop speaking truthfully about these malicious bullies. Those truth presenters who didn’t stop what they were saying were promised a beatdown (a severe beating), which these vicious bullies invariably carried out. Notwithstanding this tough-guy style of censorship meaning, the intended gist of this “check yourself before you wreck yourself” old adage does not mean to intimidate the innocent. On the contrary, this wise saying is meant to warn the guilty.

As a warning to the guilty, the worldly-wise saying of “check yourself before you wreck yourself” suggests: You need to examine your decisions and actions, because what you said or did has put you in a presumably precarious position or a destructive predicament. More important, if you continue to say or do the same things, then you can expect serious trouble from your foolish decisions and actions. In essence, if you do not change your reckless ways, then you surely will reap what you sow!

Now it is possible that this “check yourself before you wreck yourself” old adage could be at least 2,000 years old, because this maxim’s true meaning certainly is what Pilate repeatedly implies every time he succeeds in keeping the Jewish religious leaders from achieving their goal of handing Jesus the Christ over to him for him to crucify. Moreover, this same maxim clearly is implied in the message Pilate’s unnamed wife sends to him. In her message, she is warning Pilate not to crucify Jesus because He is an innocent man. She warns Pilate, because in a dream she apparently received some hints about the terrible consequences that will come upon Pilate, perhaps even his family members, but no doubt the Jewish nation as a whole, if Pilate were to give in to the Jewish religious leaders’ demand to crucify Jesus the Christ. The author of the book of Matthew confirms the wife of Pilate’s disturbing dream and the subsequent warning, for the author writes:

While Pilate was sitting there on the judge’s seat, his wife sent this message to him: ‘Don’t do anything to that man, because he is innocent. Today I had a dream about him, and it troubled me very much.’ ~ Matthew 27:19, NCV  

Concerning dreams, the Holy Bible is replete with examples of Greeks, Romans, and even Jews (God’s chosen people) who believe that dreams often represent a divine will. Additionally, the Holy Bible also depicts these same Greeks, Romans, and Jews trusting that their dreams and the interpretations of their dreams are meant to guide them in their daily living. For these reasons, there can be no doubt that God has many ways of “checking” (examining) non-believers and believers’ sinful behaviors, and there can be no doubt that God’s “checks” could come directly from Him in the forms of dreams and visions, or prick consciences, or revelatory intuitions, or even indirectly like through the lips of loyal friends and family members.

Therefore, where the wife of Pilate, Pilate, Judas, and even the Jewish religious leaders who plotted against Jesus the Christ are concerned, what is undeniably divinely true in each of their cases is that God can use any way He wants to get anybody He wants to testify to His Son’s innocence. In other words, this Divine Truth about God having numerous approaches He can use to “check” non-believers and believers’ sinful behaviors is apparent in the lives of the Jewish religious leaders, Judas, Pilate, and Pilate’s wife. For sure, God’s varied “checks” are behind Him using these mentioned people to fulfill His Divine Will of declaring Jesus the Christ’s innocence to the entire world. Put differently, there is no doubt about God’s design—the way God chose to inform the world about His Son’s enemies, the Jewish religious leaders, who sought to crucify Jesus the Christ NOT because He was guilty of committing any sin or wrongdoing, but because these religious leaders’ were guilty of promoting their own self-interest.

Thus, to fulfill His Divine Will, God has a disloyal Judas’ guilty conscience move him not only to return the Jewish religious leader’s bribery (30 pieces of silver) but also to testify to them about Jesus’ innocence (cf. Matthew 27:3-4). Likewise, God uses Pilate, who has the power and authority of a Roman judge, to reveal to these same Jewish religious leaders that his intuition not only has informed him that Jesus the Christ is an innocent man but also that their spiteful, envious, and jealous behaviors are behind their demand that he (Pilate) crucifies Jesus the Christ. In fact, their self-interests (their spite for and envy/jealousy of Jesus the Christ) are the reasons why these Jewish religious leaders convince the mob to choose to release Barabbas, a proven criminal of both Rome and Israel, instead of convincing this crowd to choose to release Jesus the Christ, an unproven criminal of either Rome or Israel (cf. Matthew 27:12-18, 20-25). Then too, God even has Pilate’s wife testify to Jesus’ innocence, which was revealed to her in a dream (cf. Matthew 27:19).

The point here is that no matter the source of this God-designed “checking” (examining), which means His chosen source of either a dream, or a vision, or an intuition, or a conscience, or a family or friend isn’t the issue, for the Divine Truth is that if unbelievers would HEAR the “checking” (respond appropriately to what God is saying to them, because what He’s speaking is meant to stop them from yielding to the temptation to sin), then God’s mercy and grace could be extended to them so that they could be saved from destroying themselves. Unfortunately, not only unbelievers but also believers tend to respond inappropriately to God’s “checking,” and as a result many believers also end up wrecking (destroying) themselves.

In Judas’ case, as a follower of Jesus the Christ who did not respond appropriately to Jesus the Christ’s leadership, it appears that he betrayed the Lord out of spite, primarily because the Lord constantly had refused to function as the political and militaristic Messiah-King that Judas, the Jewish religious leaders, and the nation of Israel, as a whole, had been promised. In other words, Judas betrayed Jesus the Christ, because he believed that the Lord betrayed him by not being the kind of Messiah-King that He apparently had the potential to become. Be that as it may, when Judas realized that the same Jewish religious leaders who bribed him also had condemned Jesus the Christ to death, Judas’ genuine remorse for his betrayal kicked in; as a result, as previously mentioned, he went back to these religious leaders, the ones who paid him to betray Jesus, and not only confessed his sins to these Temple priests, interpreters, teachers, and observers of the Law, and other Jewish elites, but also avowed to them that Jesus the Christ was an innocent man. When they would not hear him, but rather mocked him, the guilt that Judas felt from his betrayal and his inability to set things right no doubt caused him to hang himself.

Now these Jewish religious leaders’ inappropriate response to Judas’ confession of sin and his protestations about his Lord’s’ innocence only showed how much these religious elites were not concerned that Judas had realized he had sinned against the Lord and thus needed to repent of his decisions that were going to guarantee that Jesus the Christ’s blood eternally would be on his hands. Moreover, instead of these Jewish religious elites realizing that they too had sinned against Jesus the Christ by condemning an innocent man to death, their self-interests of spite, envy, and jealousy caused them to decide to assuage their guilt by using the returned “blood money” to purchase a potter’s field. Then, after making the potter’s field decision, they proceeded to escort Jesus the Christ, early in the morning hours, from the Temple to Pilate’s home, where they demanded that he crucify Jesus. Furthermore, while the New Testament does not directly tell what happened to these Jewish religious leaders who were responsible for Jesus’ death, Acts 4:5-12 and verse 18 do suggest that after His crucifixion the Jewish religious leaders responsible for Jesus the Christ’s death continued to reject the Lord as the Son of God and Savior of the world!

In Pilate’s case, because he neither responded appropriately to his own sense of the Lord’s innocence nor his wife’s message, he gave in to the Jewish religious leaders’ demands to have Jesus crucified instead of protecting the innocent Jesus the Christ. Indeed, because he feared what would happen to his political career if the growing mob began to riot, more than he feared punishing an innocent man, and/or more than he feared his wife’s disturbing dream, he chose to sentence an innocent man to the cruelest kind of death. Therefore, because Pilate sacrificed Jesus the Christ to preserve Roman rule and his own career, Pilate’s fate, according to Eusebius Pamphili, the Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, the “Father of Church History,” and author of Church History, writes in Book II and Chapter 7 that Pilate also committed suicide. His suicide happened some time shortly after the Lord’s crucifixion and after Pilate was recalled to Rome to be tried for his brutal treatment of the Jews in Samaria.

So then, for today’s believers, it is important for us not only to realize the wisdom in the “check yourself before you wreck yourself” secular maxim, but also it is important for us to understand the principle the Lord teaches in His wise biblical saying: “A person’s enemies will be members of his own family” (Matthew 10:36, NCV; cf. Micah 7:6). For sure, the Lord’s greatest enemies were the Jewish religious leaders—the Temple (House of the Lord) high priests, important Jewish elders, and members of the Sanhedrin Court (Pharisees/Scribes and Sadducees). Certainly these religious leaders were Jesus the Christ’s greatest enemies, especially since these individuals were guilty of allowing their envy, jealousy, and spite to be the impure motives for why they maliciously condemned Him to death.

Because of Jesus the Christ’s public humiliating yet righteous accusations and condemnations of His enemies, specifically the Pharisees, these Jewish religious leaders along with other Jewish elites plotted together to find any fault in Jesus the Christ that they could use to have Him killed (cf. Matthew 12:14; Matthew 26:4). Consequently, when He was brought before the Sanhedrin Court, the Lord’s greatest enemies had premeditated that they would seek false testimonies against Him, an innocent man, so that they ultimately could sentence Him to death (cf. Matthew 26:59-61; Matthew 27:1). Indeed, their promised Messiah-King, Jesus the Christ, prophesies that,

The Son of Man must suffer many things. He will be rejected by the Jewish elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of the law. He will be killed and after three days will be raised from the dead. ~ Luke 9:22, NCV

Definitely history has shown that from the time of Jesus the Christ until our current day, where organized “religion” has been concerned, genuine followers of Jesus the Christ’s greatest enemies have been the “institutional” church’s religious elites who, while full of their own self-interest, no matter whether that self-interest is envy, jealousy, spite, fear, or pride, heartlessly have attempted to judge others without ever first judging themselves. The bottom line is that wherever there is any kind of spiritual superiority there also will be people who condescendingly and hypocritically judge others in harsher ways than they judge themselves. What makes this kind of judgment belittling and two-faced is the fact that too often the religious leaders who think they are the religious elite have behaved far worse than the people they are judging harshly. These hypocrites, thus, are the ones who truly need to examine their decisions and actions—their condescending and hypocritical judgments—because if they do not “check” (examine) themselves, then they surely are going to wreck themselves.

Unfortunately, too many religious leaders, from Christ’s day until today, neither examine themselves nor respond appropriately to God’s “checks” (His ways of examining sinful behaviors) before they judge others. Indeed, too often the religious leaders who are teaching or preaching against adultery, or theft, or idol worship, or other sins, are guilty of committing adultery, or theft, or idol worship, or other sins while they are judging others by contemptuously mistreating, mocking, and/or discriminating against believers who only have committed some unintentional or trivial offenses. This kind of hypocritical judgment is addressed in the book of Romans. The Apostle Paul writes:

What about you? …You trust in the law of Moses and brag that you are close to God. You know what he wants you to do and what is important, because you have learned the law. You think you are a guide for the blind and a light for those who are in darkness. You think you can show foolish people what is right and teach those who know nothing. You have the law; so you think you know everything and have all truth. You teach others, so why don’t you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal, but you steal. You say that others must not take part in adultery, but you are guilty of that sin. You hate idols, but you steal from temples. You brag about having God’s law, but you bring shame to God by breaking his law. ~ Romans 2:17, 19-23, NCV (cf. Isaiah 52:5; Ezekiel 36:20) 

At the heart of this brand of hypocrisy (perceived spiritual superiority that actually is corruption) is the fact that the “institutional” church’s traditionally established positions of power eventually cause the self-interests (envy, jealousy, spite, fear, pride, and so forth) that become corruption’s starting points. In other words, where the Christian lifestyle is concerned, envious, jealous, spiteful, fearful, prideful and/or territorial pastors, Sunday School teachers, worship leaders, and so on, have elevated themselves to the positions of exclusive spokespersons. In addition to appointing themselves as the ONLY ones who know and therefore should be the ONLY ones who teach or preach God’s Word to “church” members, these individuals make sure that they let each “church” member know that he or she attends worship services and Sunday School classes not for the purpose of participating in discussions about these “spiritual” leaders’ personal interpretations of Scriptures but rather so that each member can be lectured to by these often dictatorial men and women.

Furthermore, as dictatorial “spiritual” leaders, these men and women do not encourage feedback or criticism, mainly because they do not respond well to feedback or criticism. Put differently, as a result of institutionalism, the earlier mentioned traditional “church” positions of power have become corrupt. Perhaps another wise saying by a well-known historian, politician, and writer best describes this brand of hypocrisy (perceived spiritual superiority that actually is corruption):

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men. ~ John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton

Without a doubt, there are many believers, especially those professed Christians who are religious leaders, who never “check themselves before they wreck themselves.” Without a doubt, there also are many condescending and hypocritical religious leaders and laity in the “institutional” church who are the greatest enemies of the household of faith’s sons and daughters. For these reasons, authentic believers, those Christians who not only profess that they believe in Christ but also make every effort to live just like their Lord lived, should not be surprised when the greatest source of hostility against them comes from the “institutional” church’s attendees, which in most cases includes religious, political, and cultural leaders, or those who think of themselves as the religious, political, and cultural elite.

This hostility (persecution) that comes from the “institutional” church’s laypersons and religious leaders, who think of themselves as being the “institutional” church’s religious, political, and cultural elite, is a harsh reality for worldwide believers.  However, instead of being shaken by laypersons and religious leaders’ hostility (persecution), true believers must realize that it shouldn’t matter if this hostility (persecution) manifests itself in life-threatening situations, like the kind of persecution Jesus the Christ and the early ekkelsia down to the current day global ekkelsia have had to face. Neither should it matter if the previously mentioned hostility manifests itself in various forms of condescending abuses, mockeries, and prejudices, like the kind of persecution, for example, many American Christians often have had to face.

What should matter is the bottom line, which is that in spite of the kind of persecution any believers suffer, and regardless if this hostility (persecution) comes from laypersons, religious leaders, or non-believers, the Divine Truth is that authentic believers can trust that God has many ways of “checking” (examining) non-believers and believers’ sinful behaviors. Indeed, in order to keep self-interests (envy, jealousy, spite, fear, pride, and etcetera) from raising their ugly heads in Christ-like believers who are being indescribably tortured, brutally murdered, or condescendingly mistreated, mocked, and/or discriminated against, God uses many sources when He is “checking” (examining) sinful behaviors, and those sources include but are not limited to dreams, visions, consciences, intuitions, and loyal friends and family members. This “checking” is why God absolutely expects His born again, saved, and full of the Holy Spirit children not only to remember that He uses various “checks” to warn both the persecutors and the persecutees that they are dangerously close to wrecking themselves but also to know that He specifically counts on His persecuted Christ-like believers to first hear what He is saying through the sources He uses for His “checks” and then respond appropriately.

Once again, the point here is that only when either non-believers or Christ-like believers HEAR God’s “checking” (respond appropriately to what He is saying to them, because they know that what He’s speaking is meant to stop them from yielding to the temptation to sin), will they then be able to make the right decision(s) to avoid wrecking (destroying) themselves. For sure, wrecking themselves is the end result for the people who decide to ignore God’s “checking,” refuse to accept the fact that they need to examine their own motives for their sinful behaviors that often immediately follow their choice to proceed with their own self-interests!

Put differently, the right response born again, saved, and full of the Holy Spirit believers are expected to give to God’s “checks,” especially when they are being persecuted, is the response Jesus the Christ gave. In essence, true believers MUST remain faithful unto death, if they ever hope to receive their crown of life. As John the Revelator writes: 

Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer for ten days. But be faithful, even if you have to die, and I will give you the crown of life. ~ Revelation 2:10, NCV

Without a doubt, God’s Divine Truth, which He soberly expresses in the above verse, is that regardless of the frequency, abundance, or severity of His children’s afflictions, authentic believers’ sufferings and hardships in this life will be relatively brief, which is what the 10 days in the above verse signify (cf. Genesis 24:55; Genesis 31:7, 41; Numbers 14:22; 1 Samuel 25:38; Nehemiah 4:12; Job 19:3; Daniel 1:12, 14, 20). Now sometimes the shortness of the frequency, abundance, and severity of their sufferings might suggest that death is imminent. However, in the above verse, God is promising His children that the shortness of the frequency, abundance, and severity of their sufferings just means that each one of their sufferings soon would end!

Furthermore, for the purpose of helping His children cope with their relatively brief afflictions, God also has given them the Hope of Glory, which is that supernatural HOPE God has placed in them for them to know that they know that they know they will receive all of their promised eternal rewards in Heaven, including their crown of life. This HOPE, thus, is an incentive for them to remain faithful unto death, even if they do not die from the frequent, abundant, or severe afflictions. Therefore, while they are enduring their earthly persecutions, including those sufferings that result from religious leaders and laypersons’ corruption of the “institutional” church’s established positions of power that these great enemies hold, God wants His true children to let their HOPE of GLORY and their trust in God’s ways of “checking”—the ways He examines them, or causes them to examine themselves, meaning their own motives—be what keeps them from complaining, worrying, or, more important, giving in to the temptation to allow any sinful self-interest to move them to respond to their sufferings in sinful ways that could lead to their own ruin (i.e., wrecking or destroying themselves).

Let the redeemed of the Lord say Amen, and say amen again!

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A Revived Roman Empire Is Unlikely

11 Friday Nov 2011

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Bible Prophecy

≈ 2 Comments

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Arab/Islamic Caliphate, EU, EU's 2012 economic growth predictions, Financial Armageddon, mixture of clay and iron, politically and militarily unstable, Revive Ottoman/Turkish/Islamic Empire, Revived Roman Empire, The European Commission

In my February 6, 2011 blog entry, The Ten Horns and The Little Horn: Good and Bad News for Edom, Moab and Ammon, I write:

There are numerous reasons why the…Beast cannot be a reincarnation of the Roman Empire, especially not where the European territories or western leg of that empire are concerned. The western leg disintegrated politically, economically, and militarily nearly a thousand years before the Ottoman Empire defeated the Byzantine Empire. Even though the eastern leg, which became known as the Eastern Roman Empire or the Byzantine Empire, centered around Constantinople/Byzantium/Istanbul located in Turkey, lasted until 1453, this portion of the Roman Empire also gradually declined politically. Additionally, the Byzantine Empire became isolated from the rest of Europe.

Consequently, the most important reason why there will not be a revival of the Roman Empire’s western or European leg is because Europe’s political and military world supremacy no longer exists. In fact, two World Wars, economic and political crises, individual European states’ defense budget cuts, and a loss in momentum for a united Europe are key factors that explain why Europe’s reign as the dominant political and military superpower has declined.

Now, since the biblical signs are pointing to the imminent return of Jesus the Christ, then the nearness of the Lord’s Second Coming means that, right now, Europe is way too weak, politically and militarily speaking, for it to become an overnight dominant global power. For sure, it would take far too many years before Europe could ever be in another world dominance position, if ever; indeed, not one country in Europe qualifies to be the rising Beast, for not one European country is currently strong enough to be considered a politically and militarily dominant world power.

Therefore, since Europe, Italy or even Rome’s present-day political and military factors indicate that most biblical prophecy scholars were wrong about an end time revived Roman Empire, then the question that should come to mind is: Who is the Prophet Daniel and Apostle John’s Beast? Once again, Apostle John’s head number eight and Prophet Daniel’s Beast number four are the Beast with seven heads and ten horns, and this Beast will be the Islamic Empire, which is the reincarnation of head number 7 or the Ottoman Empire (a.k.a., Turkish/Islamic Empire).

The above lengthy quotation was my thinking earlier in this year. Now that Europe is looking at an inevitable financial Armageddon, there can be no doubt that countless individuals’ belief in a Revived Roman Empire needs to be revisited! In fact, because of October 2011’s focus on Greece, Portugal, Spain, and Ireland’s debt yields, because of November 2011’s recent news about Italy’s debt yields, plus the fact that the current economic focus is on the sudden disintegration of Italy’s financial situation, which continues to add to the sudden disintegration of the euro zone, and, lastly, because of the bleak 2012 economic and employment growth predictions made by The European Commission, which is the executive body of the European Union (EU), it should be obvious that Europe is now politically, militarily, AND economically way too weak to be considered an existing, or in the near future, superpower.

As a result of Europe’s contagious economic meltdown, there no longer is a definitive connection between Prophet Daniel’s interpretation of the ten toes on Nebuchadnezzar’s statue and end time biblical prophecy scholars’ conclusion that these 10 toes are symbolic of this 21st century’s present day politically, militarily, and economically unstable EU that eventually will stabilize and become aware of which specific 10 nations were meant to be the EU’s dreadfully powerful Revived Roman Empire! Furthermore, even though the Prophet Daniel interprets these 10 toes as a kingdom or empire that will not remain united  (cf. Daniel 2:41-43), serious biblical prophecy scholars cannot conclusively establish that Prophet Daniel’s interpretation means these 10 toes belong to a 4th consecutive kingdom, which in context would mean Rome. At best, such an interpretation is an educated guess rather than a Divine revelation.

The truth of the matter is that the 2 legs of iron could belong to the Ottoman/Turkish/Islamic Empire instead of the Roman Empire. Why? Well, because the Ottoman/Turkish/Islamic Empire controlled much of southeastern Europe, most of the present day Middle East, and parts of North Africa. This empire also consisted of the four great Islamic Caliphates (political and religious systems of governance), which are the Umayyad Caliphate, the Abbasid Caliphate, the Fatimid Caliphate, and the Ottoman Caliphate.

It is important to note here that the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750) is the first great Islamic Caliphate (dynasty or empire) but the second established Islamic Caliphate. What makes the Umayyad Caliphate a great Islamic Caliphate is the fact that this dynasty lasted less than 100 years, yet it is responsible for establishing the largest Arab-Muslim state in history. Moreover, in this Caliphate’s less than 100-year existence, Islam expands so quickly that it touches regions in India, China, North Africa, and Spain. At its largest extent, this Caliphate covered over 5 million square miles. For these reasons, it might well be that Apostle John, in Revelation 17:10, is referring to this Caliphate when he speaks of the seventh consecutive king/kingdom that had not appeared yet, but would come to power and remain in power for just a short time!

What is for sure is that, like the Roman Empire, the Ottoman/Turkish/Islamic Empire also achieved great western (European) and eastern (Middle Eastern) territorial gains.  More important, even if the 2 legs on Nebuchadnezzar’s statute were symbolic of the ANCIENT Roman Empire, just because those 10 toes are attached to those 2 legs doesn’t automatically negate the possibility of those 10 toes representing an altogether different kingdom than a Revived Roman Empire! 

The point here is that God’s Word never unequivocally supports the traditional end time Revived Roman Empire theory. In fact, where end-time prophecy is concerned, the only time the Ancient Roman Empire is unmistakably identified in Scriptures as a successive empire that has ruled over and persecuted the nation of Israel is in Revelation 17:10, but even then the Roman Empire is presented as the 6th consecutive king/kingdom and not as the Prophet Daniel’s 4th Beast (Empire or Kingdom), which also is the Terrible Beast (Empire or Kingdom). For the record, the first five of those successive empires are Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Medo-Persia, and Greece.

Furthermore, when it comes to Prophet Daniel and Apostle John’s end-time visions, neither of them says that he specifically saw any images in his vision that remotely resembles the Roman Empire or the continent of Europe, nor does either man use any symbols or metaphors that clearly represent Rome, the Roman Empire, or Europe. In fact, where Prophet Daniel and Apostle John’s biblical end-time visions are concerned, there is no Scripture in which either man ever mentions ANY symbolic animal that represents the Roman Empire or Europe.

In contrast, in end time prophetic Scriptures, the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, and Grecian Empires (Beasts, Kingdoms) that are mentioned specifically in Daniel 2, Daniel 7, and Daniel 8 are symbolized as animals—correspondingly, those animals indisputably are the Lion (fine gold head; Babylonia), Bear and Ram (silver chest and arms; Medo-Persia), and Leopard and Goat (bronze belly and thighs; Greece). Moreover, when it comes to comparing and contrasting the book of Daniel’s 4th Beast (Empire) to the book of Revelation’s 7-headed beast with 10 horns, the one difference that stands out is that Revelation’s Beast (empire, kingdom, mountain) is NOT depicted as ONE animal, but rather as a Leopard-Bear-Lion, or three animals all rolled up into one (cf. Revelation 13:1-2), which also would mean that Daniel’s 4th Beast has to be a synthesis of Beasts 1, 2, and 3, all rolled up into one (cf. Daniel 7:3-6)! 

Interesting to note here is the fact that neither Rome nor Europe are territories/regions belonging to either the Babylonian, or Medo-Persian, or Grecian empires. Plus Rome and Europe are not even a part of the eastern division of the ancient Byzantine (Roman) empire either, because the ancient Greek city of Byzantium (Romans’ Constantinople and Turks’ Istanbul) was in Anatolia. Moreover, ancient Anatolia (Turkey) was considered to be located in Asia Minor. Yet, for some reason so many end time prophecy scholars still claim that the Antichrist will come out of a European Revived Roman Empire!

Be that as it may, Daniel’s 4th Beast (cf. Daniel 7:7) and Revelation’s 7-headed beast with 10 horns (cf. Revelation 12:3; 17:3, 9) represent the descendants of the Babylonian and Medo-Persian empires, and the descendants who primarily are from the eastern part of the Macedonian or Greek Empire. In Apostle John’s day, the descendants of these three empires still lived in the same geographic location, which is the Middle East (Iraq [or Babylonia], Iran [or Persia], Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Pakistan, Afghanistan [or Alexander the Great’s Greece]). However, from 632 A.D., and forward, one by one these above-mentioned nations became Islamic countries. Currently, they are still Islamic countries!

Now, irrefutably, the Holy Bible is largely about the Middle East, specifically the nation of Israel and her enemies—those nations who have persecuted her. Therefore, because modern-day Syria and Lebanon (Greece), Iraq (Babylonia), and Iran (Medo-Persia) are Islamic countries, then perhaps the reason why the Prophet Daniel and the Apostle John never mention any symbolic animal that clearly represents the Roman Empire—why they do not write about any animal that conclusively would support the widely-accepted belief that the legs of iron and the part iron, part clay feet and toes on Nebuchadnezzar’s statue symbolize the Roman Empire and the Revived Roman Empire, respectively—is because Prophet Daniel’s 4th kingdom/4th Beast/Terrible Beast and Apostle John’s composite Beast (Leopard-Bear-Lion) do not describe either a Roman Empire or a Revived Roman Empire.

The truth is that, according to Revelation 17:11, the 8th kingdom, or the Antichrist’s kingdom, is the Resurrected 7th consecutive kingdom that was the Leopard-Bear-Lion, or the 3-in-1 composite Beast of Revelation 13:1-3. Moreover, this 7th consecutive kingdom that was also is the Beast that is not the ruling empire in Apostle John’s day, which means the 8th kingdom IS NOT a Revived Roman Empire. Put differently, the 8th kingdom rises out of the 7th successive kingdom, and the 7th successive kingdom follows the sixth, which is the Roman Empire. Furthermore, this mortally wounded 7th successive kingdom is the Umayyad Caliphate—the kingdom that after it appears it lasts for a short period of time (cf. Revelation 17:10). In other words, the 8th kingdom is the resurrected Islamic Caliphate, because the Caliphate, or Muslims’ original systems of political and religious governance that were established in Islam after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, finally was abolished 1924. 

As previously mentioned, the Holy Bible is largely about the Middle East, specifically the nation of Israel and her enemies—those nations that have persecuted her. Without a doubt, many of Israel’s modern-day enemies are the Muslims in the Islamic nations that surround her; furthermore, many of these Islamic nations are not economically strapped! Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that the prophesied revived end-time empire, the one that presently is building and rising exponentially, is the kingdom of Islam (Mystery Babylon).

For sure, more and more end times’ prophecy teachers are declaring that the kingdom or empire that ushers in the Antichrist will be a kingdom made up of Muslim nations. More important, Islam will be the political and religious systems that govern every aspect of Muslims’ lives, especially the Muslims living in the Middle East.  For these and other reasons, Islam definitely is Mystery Babylon. 

Since Islam is the book of Revelation’s Mystery Babylon, then the only past empire that best fits the descriptions of Prophet Daniel’s 4th Beast and Apostle John’s composite Beast is the Ottoman/Turkish/Islamic Empire. Indeed, what makes the resurrected Islamic Umayyad Caliphate or the Revived 7th consecutive kingdom such a dreadful and terrible Beast is the fact that Islam promotes Sharia Law, which is considered to be Islam’s legal and moral Law. As such, Sharia Law directs ALL Muslims in every aspect of their individual life, including daily routines, familial and religious obligations, and financial dealings. Moreover, Islam also promotes idol worshippers and enemies of Christianity.

Without a doubt, these above-mentioned facts about Islam are why most non-Muslims have come to recognize just how dangerous Islam is, and why many of these enlightened non-Muslims also have concluded that Islam truly is a twisted version of the Gospel of Christ. The sad truth is that Islam continues to grow rapidly throughout this world, in spite of the fact that many people worldwide consider Islam to be the quintessential false religion.

So then, the bottom line is that instead of today’s EU nations proving that they will fulfill the traditional Revived Roman Empire theory, these EU nations are proving that said theory has no merit. That is why many eyes are on the Middle East and the resurrecting Ottoman/Turkish/Islamic Empire, which clearly is rising to superpower status. For sure, only people whose eyes are spiritually blind are the ones who cannot see, or the ones who refuse to see, that a Revived Ottoman/Turkish/Islamic Empire best fits the book of Daniel’s descriptions of the Terrible Beast that not only swiftly but also brutally crushes and devours the remnant indigenous cultures living in the territories conquered by Babylonia (Prophet Daniel’s Lion), Persia (Prophet Daniel’s Bear), and Greece (Prophet Daniel’s Leopard)—people and regions which the Roman Empire acquired but did not crush and devour.

Now historically, there are two major Empires that together, shaped, controlled, and affected the Middle East, and they are the Arab/Islamic Caliphate and the Ottoman/Turkish Empire. As a world power, the former officially began in the Umayyad Caliphate era, specifically in 661 A.D., almost 200 hundred years after the western part of the Roman Empire had collapsed. At that time, this Arab/Islamic Caliphate ruled over the Middle East, and other regions in Europe and North Africa, from Damascus, Syria. Following the Umayyad Caliphate was the Abbasid Caliphate, and the Fatimid Caliphate followed the Abbasid Caliphate, and then ultimately the Ottoman Empire followed the Fatimid Caliphate. So then, the Ottoman Empire began to rule over the Middle East from around 1299 A.D., and, while expanding its borders into regions in Europe and North Africa, the Ottoman Empire continued to be the ruling kingdom until approximately 1924 A.D. Once the Islamic Caliphate was abolished in 1924, the Ottoman Empire, which is one of history’s largest and longest-lasting empires, came to an end.

Be that as it may, once Revelation’s seventh consecutive kingdom, which begins with the Umayyad Caliphate, finally appeared in the 7th century (661 A.D.), it did everything it could do to sustain Islamic civilization, primarily by erasing any lingering residue from the Babylonian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman empires. In particular, this major Caliphate (661-750) focused on removing the aforementioned former empires’ presence in the Holy Land. In fact, once the Umayyad Caliphate moved the Islamic capital in 661 A.D., from Mecca, Saudi Arabia to Damascus, Syria, this great Caliphate immediately began to expand the Islamic Empire.

Indeed, by building the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount in the then Palestinian Jerusalem, which was completed in 691 A.D., and by building the Great Umayyad Mosque of Damascus on the ruins of the Basilica of St. John the Baptist, which was completed in 715 A.D., the Umayyad Caliphate successfully was stamping out the residue of Babylonian (Lion), Persian (Bear), and Grecian (Leopard) cultures and languages, along with the Roman Empire’s culture and languages. Indeed, by constructing the mentioned two structures, by minting Islamic coinage, and by mandating that, instead of using the Greek language, the Arabic language now would be used on public records, the existing Umayyad Caliphate not only significantly was confirming its on-going campaign to designate the public areas in Palestine (Jerusalem), Israel and Damascus, Syria for Islam but also the Umayyad Caliphate speedily was establishing the largest Arab-Muslim state!

As a result of the Ottoman/Turkish/Islamic Empire’s rapid and forceful on-going devouring and breaking into pieces of the earlier mentioned 4 previous empire’s persistent presence, today, in Syria and Israel there are Palestinian Arabs who practice Islam in what was Grecian and Roman territories. Additionally, the nations of Iraq (Babylonia) and Iran (Persia) are currently Islamic nations! In other words, the lingering residue was removed successfully!

Once again, it should be evident that the Prophet Daniel is predicting that the Ottoman/Turkish/Islamic Empire is that seventh consecutive kingdom Apostle John writes about, and, thus, the 4th Beast (Empire) that crushes its predecessors’ people and divides up the lands that were once part of the Babylonian, Persian, and Grecian empires, which as earlier mentioned the Roman Empire acquired but never crushed or devoured. Now, it is important to point out that the Ottoman Empire also began as a heterogeneous mixture of ethnic groups and religious creeds. Furthermore, as this empire tried to untangle itself—free itself from its mixed populations’ conflicting interests, rival groups, and antagonistic religions, this Islamic kingdom became partly strong and partly brittle. Thus, the prophesied significance of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue having iron toes mixed with clay was beginning to be fulfilled (cf. Daniel 2:41-44).

Certainly, just like iron and clay really do not mix, Islam (both the political and the religious systems) and any other world religion or global political government do not mix, either! Thus, when the Antichrist’s kingdom, the 8th kingdom, becomes the Revived Ottoman/Turkish/Islamic Empire, his empire’s beginning heterogeneous mixture of ethnic groups and religious creeds, which are symbolized by the iron and clay toes’ inability to unite, once again will need to be untangled. This process will leave the Antichrist’s kingdom partly strong and partly brittle, until the removal process is complete. However, before the Antichrist can fulfill the untangling process, Jesus the Christ will have returned back to Earth to set up the final earthly kingdom this world will ever know. Before doing so, the Lord will pulverize any lingering residue from the Antichrist’s 8th kingdom—a kingdom, which is a mixture of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay (cf. Daniel 2:45). Hallelujah!

Having said all that, it should be clear that the EU is in no way prepared to be the prophesied one-world government with a one-world religion and a one-world economy. Only the rapidly increasing worldwide Islamic nations are prepared to be the prophesied one-world government (Sharia Law) with a one-world religion (Islam) and a one-world economy (oil). 

Moreover, because God is allowing His Holy Spirit to teach and enlighten more and more contemporary believers and spiritual leaders about the real truth, which is that there is going to be a Revived Ottoman/Turkish/Islamic Empire, more and more full of the Holy Spirit believers are realizing that the present day politically, militarily, and economically unstable EU is just confirming that the Revived Roman Empire is a theory that NEVER will be proven true. Additionally, more and more full of the Holy Spirit believers are realizing that, even though the Revived Ottoman/Turkish/Islamic Empire, when its Caliphate is restored, will appear to be politically, spiritually, and economically very stable, that because of the prophesied mass evangelism that will take place during the Tribulation Period, after said empire is fully resurrected, the Antichrist’s inability to unite all of the mixtures of cultures, languages, and the newly arisen conflicting spiritual beliefs—Islam and Christianity—will cause political, military, and economic instability to increase within the Antichrist’s kingdom!

Lastly, as a result of the above-mentioned Divine revelation knowledge, more and more born again and saved believers will be seeking the Baptism of the Holy Spirit so that they will be sure to have the power to think right, live right, and be prepared right so that they will not miss the imminent Rapture!!!! A word to the wise should be sufficient! Amen!

 

For additional information, please read my blog entries: The Ten Horns and The Little Horn: Good and Bad News for Edom, Moab and Ammon and Mystery Babylon

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Hurt By Your Physical And Spiritual Families

09 Wednesday Nov 2011

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Faith and Wisdom

≈ 1 Comment

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Baptism of the Holy Spirit, believers who hurt believers, doing the Perfect Will of God together, dunamis power, having all things in common, koinonia or fellowship, koinos or common, physical and spiritual families, physical and spiritual friends, realistic expectations, sharing community of believers

I will be your father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. ~  2 Corinthians 6:18, NCV; cf. 2 Samuel 7:14

For more years than I care to remember, I used to think that no one had the power to hurt you like your kin—your natural family members plus your closest friends who are like family. Now that I am older and wiser, I know that living a godly life, one in which you not only desire to do good works for others but also are fulfilling your desire, does not mean that you can expect ANYONE to treat you right, and that includes your physical family, your dearest friends, or your spiritual brothers and sisters.

Indeed, whether in part time or full-time ministry, these days the same truth resounds: You cannot control how either your natural or your spiritual family responds to you, even if in godly love you say and do the right things. In other words, even if you are living as close to a Christ-like lifestyle as is humanly possible, you still cannot expect godly love, unconditional fidelity, or fair treatment from all or any of your blood relatives (no matter whether they are believers, unbelievers [lack belief, or faith in God], or disbelievers [refuse to believe in God, or reject that God exists]). Likewise, you cannot expect godly love, unconditional fidelity, or fair treatment from all or any of your friends (no matter whether they are believers, unbelievers, or disbelievers), nor can you expect godly love, unconditional fidelity, or fair treatment from all or any of your spiritual brothers and sisters (no matter whether they are seasoned believers, unripe believers, or blasé believers).

Moreover, even though Jesus the Christ defines His spiritual family as follows: “My true brother and sister and mother are those who do what God wants” (Mark 3:35, NCV), the sad truth is that in this 21st century it often is very difficult to tell the difference between those so-called Christians who ONLY outwardly appear to be living “a godly lifestyle,” and those genuine Christians who both outwardly and inwardly are truly demonstrating the kind of lifestyle in which the Perfect Will of God is being carried out. Consequently, this sad truth is why it is unrealistic to expect that every one of today’s “churchgoers” will have the same love and concern for you that they have for themselves, because another sad truth is that very few of this century’s “churchgoers” are keeping both of the Lord’s greatest commandments. Jesus the Christ says that those greatest commandments are:

…Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind . . . Love your neighbor as you love yourself. ~ Matthew 22:37 and 39b, NCV

The point here is that, unlike the loving, caring, and sharing spiritual family that is depicted in Acts 2:44-47 and Acts 4:23, 32-37, modern-day “churchgoers” no longer have ALL things in common, meaning they no longer share everything (cf. Acts 2:44b and Acts 4:32b). The reason why this last statement is irrefutably true today is because many of today’s “churchgoers” have moved far away from those godly teachings found in the early chapters of the book of Acts.

From the beginning of the birth of the New Testament ekklesia, or assembly of the “called out ones,” the early full of the Holy Spirit Day of Pentecost disciples revealed, by way of their Christ-like behaviors, that an intimate relationship with God and Jesus the Christ only is obtained through belief AND baptism. Put differently, having a Grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit initiated belief in Jesus the Christ and receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit are central to the “koinonia” idea of fellowship in Acts 2:42. Moreover, because these early Christian believers had ALL things in common (cf. Acts 2:44; Acts 4:32), they were able to have fellowship or “koinonia.” It is important to note here that the Greek word for “common” is “koinos,” and “koinos” is the root word from which “koinonia” is derived!

Furthermore, from the way that fellowship or “koinonia” is used in Acts 2:42, it is clear that this word denotes a relationship that is dependent on more than one individual. Fellowship or “koinonia” is an interdependent relationship. More important, prior to the Day of Pentecost’s outpouring of the Holy Spirit, fellowship or “koinonia” never was used to describe man’s relationship to God, which is why fellowship or “koinonia” doesn’t just mean being together, like sitting “in church” during Sunday morning worship service, or having a potluck dinner, and so forth. The real spiritual meaning of fellowship or “koinonia” is doing together—that is, fellowship or “koinonia” means ALL believers are doing God’s Perfect Will together. Unfortunately, most of the 21st-century Christians worldwide have ignored this latter meaning!

Spiritually speaking, fellowship or “koinonia” refers to an inner “oneness”—a spiritual relationship between believers and their God, their Savior, and every Household of Faith sibling. This combined relationship ultimately expresses itself in an outer display of co-participation with the infilling Holy Spirit, which results in the accomplishment of God’s Perfect Will on Earth. Without a doubt, the early first century born again and saved believers’ behaviors make it clear that the only way they could produce the kind of “oneness” that results in a community of believers having ALL things in common is when they ALL are: 1. filled with the Holy Spirit, and 2. fellowshipping not only with God and the Lord but also with other brothers and sisters—true believers—the ekklesia/ecclesia or the assembly of “called out ones”!

As mentioned earlier, most of the 21st-century Christians worldwide have ignored the true meaning of fellowship or “koinonia,” which, once again, refers to doing God’s Perfect Will together. A telling sign that proves that they are unmindful of God’s preferred way for believers to interact with one another is their misplaced priorities. More times than not, most “churchgoers” only pay attention to the obvious inconsequential facts: believers are not perfect, and some people unintentionally hurt others. Yes, it is true that believers are not perfect; yes, it also is true that some believers unintentionally hurt others. But the overlooked salient point here is that even when the most godly believers, who are full of the Holy Spirit, uncharacteristically blow it by hurting others, they quickly respond to the Holy Spirit’s convicting and leading, which make them sensitive to the Divine Truth—they need to apologize to the people they have hurt plus seek the hurt ones and God’s forgiveness!

Sadly, where fellowship or “koinonia” is concerned, too many of today’s “churchgoers” are uniformed and, thus, unaware that the aforementioned overlooked salient point specifically explains why the 1st-century Christians in the early chapters of the book of Acts were able to have all things in common, while they did the Perfect Will of God together. Once again, the ONLY reason why these early believers were able to have all things in common, while they did the Perfect Will of God together, is because they ALL were FULL of the Holy Spirit! In other words, if born again and saved believers are not full of the Holy Spirit, have not been baptized or filled with the Holy Spirit, which provides the power, strength, desire, and determination to come together, share in the Perfect Will of God, and never intentionally hurt anyone, then neither 1st-century Christians nor modern-day Christians would ever be able to genuinely do what the 1st-century Christians in the early chapters of the book of Acts did.

Needing to be full of (baptized with) the Holy Spirit is even-more necessary today, because there is more and more evil in this world, and this increased lawlessness not only has caused the love of many to wax cold (cf. Matthew 24:12), including professed Christians’ love, but also it has caused too many professed Christians to accept the lie that believing “churchgoers” hurting other believing “churchgoers” is the norm for today’s Body of Christ or ekklesia. Certainly, the Divine Truth is that God has never said that a believer hurting another believer is an acceptable norm. That this kind of behavior is unacceptable to Father God is proven true by the fact that He expects all believers to be overcomers in every area of their lives, by being holy as He is holy (cf. 1 Peter 1:13-16). Being made holy is the reason why God has made the Baptism of the Holy Spirit available to ALL believers, rather than just for 1st-century believers!

There can be no doubt that the believers who are not baptized with the Holy Spirit are relying on their limited amount of mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical strength to get them through life’s adversities, and to many of these individuals’ credit their limited amount of mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical strength has been enough for them to be able to bounce back from many adversities much quicker than others ever could. However, since the infilling Holy Spirit is the only One who can perform the necessary supernatural inner spiritual surgery that rids hurting people of their negative emotions and feelings, and since the infilling Holy Spirit is the only One who can help believers with any and every thing that humans possibly could need His help with, including loving and forgiving those people who hurt believers, as well as making believers holy (perfect), then it should stand to reason that every believer needs the infilling Holy Spirit’s unlimited supernatural power (dunamis), strength, and assistance.

For sure, without the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, in spite of our best efforts to do what’s morally and ethically right, regrettably, there will be some Christians who will take what we say or do the wrong way and then deliberately plan to get even by saying and/or doing unspeakable things to us that not only will bring us to our knees but also will keep us down (will keep us from getting up from and getting over the hurts they caused us). However, with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, when we have been repeatedly blindsided with unexpected negative criticism, unexpected rejection, unexpected backstabbing, and so on, we will be led to conclude that, while we must continue to love and forgive everybody, we must stop expecting the individuals (who frequently and purposely hurt us) to be loving, caring, sharing, friendly, wise, patient, or trustworthy people.

Indeed, God tells us in His Word that we should NOT put our entire trust in any humans (cf. Psalm 146:3; Micah 7:5). The absolute Truth that we totally can trust is that, without fail, only God will NEVER hurt us! For this reason, we also will be led to conclude that we need to place our expectations upon God, instead of placing them upon our fellow brothers and sisters, because only God will be forever faithful to His promises in His Word and, thus, will NEVER let us down!

Now where our Christian family and closest friends are concerned, Almighty God also tells us in His Word that He faithfully promises that He will be our father and that we will be His sons and daughters (cf. 2 Corinthians 6:18; 2 Samuel 7:14). Additionally, Jesus the Christ also tells us that He is our friend. He says:

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I heard from my Father. ~ John 15:15, NCV

Then too, in King Solomon’s book of Proverbs, Scripture also tells us that “Some friends may ruin [us], but a real friend will be more loyal than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24, NCV; the [us] and the blue text are this blogger’s emphasis). So then, for believers, it should be obvious that Jesus the Christ not only is the epitome of the kind of “friend” who sticks closer than a brother but also He faithfully is believers’ joint-heir brother (cf. Romans 8:14-17).

Lastly, most of us will agree that a true friend is someone who consoles, advises, helps, guides, defends, supports, and sometimes intercedes for us. For those of us who are born again and saved believers, this true friend is the Holy Spirit, who, depending on which English translation we are reading, is called a comforter, counselor, advocate, paraclete, helper, teacher, intercessor, and guide (cf. Romans 8:26-27; John 14:15-17, 26; John 15:26; John 16:7-11, 13-14).

The bottom line is that the ONLY spiritual Ones believers ALWAYS can trust and ALWAYS can expect to receive the same degree of godly love, unconditional fidelity, and fair treatment from are their holy family and holy closest friends. This family and those friends are also known as Father God, Jesus the Christ, and the Holy Spirit!

Wade Family..Uncle Jesse, Aunt Eleanor, Mom, Cookie, Aunt Ed

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Works In Progress

06 Sunday Nov 2011

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Spiritual

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being made holy, imputed righteousness, inner holiness, inner righteousness, lukewarm Laodiceans, perfected, Positional Sanctifcation, Progressive or Practical Sanctification, promised Holy Spirit dunamis power, whole soul, Work In Progress

God's Son, Spirit, And Word Are At Work In Believers' Lives

Each Christian Is A Work In Progress

We are works in progress. Even though we wear Jesus the Christ, who is our righteousness (cf. Romans 3:21-26; 2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:27; Colossians 3:12), and even though we are justified or declared righteous, which means we are able to stand before God JUST as if we had never sinned (cf. Romans 4:24-25; Romans 5:1; Titus 3:5-7), the often untaught truth is that we are NOT fully holy. The other untaught truth is that not all of us who are calling ourselves Christians are being perfected. Indeed, only those of us who ARE BEING made holy (cf. Hebrews 2:11; Hebrews 10:14b) are the ones who are works in progress! 

It is crucial that those of us who are works in progress understand that Jesus the Christ’s “imputed” righteousness does NOT save us, does NOT make us inwardly righteous, and does NOT make us inwardly holy. The writer of Hebrews, for example, makes it very clear that we are “…being made holy” (10:14b, NLT), which means we are in the purifying or sanctifying process (cf. Hebrews 2:11; Philippians 2:12-13). Now if we are going through a sanctifying process, then it should be evident to us that we still sin—inwardly and outwardly.

The Apostle Paul confirms this truth about born again and saved people who still struggle with sin. Using himself as an example of what ALL believers experience at one time or another, Apostle Paul makes it clear that self-determination or self-will is NOT a powerful enough force to wage war with our own sins, because the end result of our self-determination or our self-will always will be us struggling with our sin in our own strength! For this reason, the apostle says that what we truly must be Spirit-driven believers; that is to say, we must have the supernatural power (dunamis) of the Holy Spirit working in our lives, if we ever hope to become true overcomers (cf. Romans 7:15; Romans 8:2-6, 10-11). Therefore, according to God’s Word, while we participate in this purifying (sanctifying) process, by allowing the Holy Spirit to prompt, guide, teach, and conform us to the image of God’s Son, we can be assured that by God’s Grace, His Word, and the power of His Holy Spirit we eventually will become holy or perfected, sinless believers (Romans 8:29; 1 Corinthians 15:49; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 4:14-15; Ephesians 5:26-27; Philippians 3:21; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 1 Peter 1:13-16).

Briefly, the Holy Spirit’s ministries are: to extend Jesus’ ministry and glorify Him (cf. John 16:7-15); to regenerate unbelievers’ spirits so that He can bring the lost to FAITH in Christ (cf. Ephesians 2:1, 5 and 8-9); to bring hearers of the Gospel under His influence by teaching them in the Word of God (cf. Romans 10:6-17); and to lead, guide and sanctify believers via an internal process of sanctification. Because sin continues to dwell in believers’ mind, will, and emotions, these specific areas must be purified (cf. Romans 12:2; Ephesians 4:23-24; Colossians 1:21-22; 1 Peter 1:13-16, 1 Peter 1:22).

Now as works in progress, we should know why we need the Holy Spirit’s progressive sanctification. We need the Holy Spirit’s constant refining and shaping, because before we can be wholly sanctified our “hearts” (our individual whole SOUL) must be made perfect. Moreover, since the perfection of our whole soul, body, and spirit does not occur instantaneously, at the moments when we are born again and saved, then it stands to reason that this perfection takes the progressive sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit to make us holy—to perfect our whole soul, body, and spirit (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:8; 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 7; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 1 Peter 1:15).

For sure, the main reason why we must cooperate with and surrender to the Holy Spirit’s progressive sanctification is because sin dwells in our “hearts,” even after we are born again and saved (cf. Proverbs 6:14; Matthew 15:18-20). Now the Scriptures use “heart” in many ways, for sometimes “heart” = our MIND or UNDERSTANDING, sometimes “heart” = our WILL or DETERMINATION, sometimes “heart” = our AFFECTIONS or EMOTIONS, sometimes “heart” = our CONSCIENCE, and sometimes “heart” = our whole SOUL. Put differently, the Scriptures tell us that our “heart” is the fountain and seat of our spiritual life, for our “heart” includes our thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes, endeavors, conscience, and intellect. Now, because our whole soul, body, and spirit cannot be completely sanctified (purified, perfected, made holy) until our “hearts” are sanctified/purified, then it stands to reason that we not only must be sanctified/purified from the guilt of sin but also sanctified/purified from the power of sin!

The point here is that we born again and saved believers immediately have received positional sanctification through Jesus the Christ so that we can stand before God justified (made righteous) and sanctified (perfected), for the Apostle Paul writes:

God has united [us] with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin. ~ 1 Corinthians 1:30, NLT (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:2; the bracketed inserted word is this blogger’s emphasis)

Keep in mind that in order for God to look at our outer appearance, He has to be looking at sons and daughters who are outwardly righteous and holy, which the Holy Spirit accomplishes with His immediate supernatural work of positional justification and His initial supernatural work of progressive sanctification. However, even though God has called us to Himself so that, in addition to giving us the gifts of salvation and the Lord’s “imputed” righteousness, He also wants to give us His gift of fulfilled sanctification (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:13). Yet before we can become the saints that God intends for us to be, His Word makes it clear that we must be progressively sanctified, which means that in us true works-in-progress believers God’s Holy Spirit constantly is working on making us holy. That is to say, even though through Jesus the Christ, God’s Grace, and the power of the Holy Spirit God instantly made our outer righteousness and sanctification immediately available to us, we must be full of the Holy Spirit (Baptized in the Holy Spirit) before we ever can cooperate with and surrender to the Holy Spirit’s supernatural workings, or before we even can have access to His mighty workings that clothe us with the supernatural power to be witnesses, the supernatural power to be ministers (servants), the supernatural power to be miracle workers, and the supernatural power to be changed in to the image of Jesus the Christ (cf. Matthew 3:11; Mark 1:8; Mark 16:17-20; Luke 3:16; Luke 24:49; John 1:33; Acts 1:4-5, 8; Acts 5:12, 16; Romans 12:1-2; Colossians 3:10).

To be sure, there is “more” to being born again and saved than just receiving salvation and the indwelling Holy Spirit, and proof of this point is seen in the command Jesus the Christ gives His disciples in Acts 1:4. The Lord doesn’t command His disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they are born again, or saved, or justified, or put in to the Body of Christ, because they already had been born again, saved, and justified, and therefore they were Body of Christ members who had the indwelling Holy Spirit (cf. John 20:22). That’s why, by commanding His disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they are clothed with the Holy Spirit’s extraordinary power or dunamis, the Lord makes it very obvious that there is more than just salvation and the indwelling Holy Spirit that God wants to give His children (cf. Acts 1:8; Luke 24:49). By obeying Jesus the Christ, His disciples not only received the promised Baptism of the Holy Spirit (the promised dunamis that came in an initial infilling and in an indefinite amount of recurrent infillings) but also they received radically changed lives.

Likewise, this same promised “more” is for those of us who are today’s believers (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:20); without a doubt, the Lord wants ALL of us to be filled with (baptized with) the promised Holy Spirit (cf. Ephesians 5:18). Furthermore, it is through our obedience to the indwelt Holy Spirit and the Word of God that the promised Baptism of Holy Spirit’s power (dunamis) is able to fill us, initially. This first infilling will cause us to work together with, while yielding our whole body, soul, spirit, and entire life to, the Holy Spirit’s mighty workings. Thus, our never-ending cooperation and surrender will allow the Holy Spirit’s progressive sanctification to work on the inside of us. That is to say, in due course, by God’s Grace, the power of the Holy Spirit, and our willing participation, we will be fully transformed in to the image of Jesus the Christ. Put differently, it takes much time before we consistently begin to behave, think, and speak like Jesus the Christ (cf. John 17:17; Romans 8:29; Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Ephesians 4:14-15; Ephesians 5:25-27; Colossians 3:10; 1 Peter 1:22; 2 Peter 1:2-4)!

The bottom line is this: Even though God wants to sanctify our whole soul, body and spirit (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:23), His Holy Spirit cannot complete the process of sanctification (holiness) until we cooperate with and surrender to Father God’s Holy Spirit, by first receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Certainly, only when we are full of the Holy Spirit is He then able to purify our MINDS by convincing us to think differently. In other words, being full of the Holy Spirit is the only way that we can receive the help we need to understand that we must change our individual mindsets … set our minds on the Holy Spirit’s desires (cf. Romans 8:5-8; Romans 12:1-2). The next thing that the infilling Holy Spirit does in us is to purify our WILLS, which He does by leading and prompting us to produce His fruit–the fruit of the Spirit—by convincing us about our need to deliver the works of our old sinful nature over to death so that we then can walk in the Spirit (cf. Romans 8:12-14; Galatians 5:16-25). Next, He purifies our EMOTIONS/AFFECTIONS by giving us God-centered emotions/affections, which is achieved once the infilling Holy Spirit puts God’s love in us, the love that motivates us to produce the fruit of the Spirit (cf. Romans 5:3-5; Galatians 5:22; 2 Thessalonians 3:5; James 1:2-4), and achieved by correcting our wrong emotions/affections with the Word of God that is in our “hearts” (cf. Romans 15:4; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 4:12).

Once again, we immediately have been outwardly sanctified through Jesus the Christ so that we can stand before God justified (declared righteous; our positional sanctification; cf. 1 Corinthians 1:30), sanctified (declared holy; our progressive sanctification; cf. John 17:17), and glorified (declared perfected; our final sanctification; cf. 1 John 3:2). In other words, once we are born again and saved, we are allowed to put on Jesus the Christ—allowed to wear Jesus the Christ, who not only is our justification or righteousness but also our sanctification or holiness. However, we know that we have to work out our own salvation by carrying the salvation that God put inside us to its ultimate conclusion, which means living a Christ-like life (cf. Philippians 2:12). We also know that we have to work on our inner righteousness (our own “heart’s” motives and desires for why we obey God and why we devote our lives to living for Jesus the Christ), making sure that our inner righteousness exceeds the hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees’ inner righteousness, and/or the inner righteousness of conscientious moralists (cf. Matthew 5:20; Titus 2:11-12).  Therefore, it should stand to reason that we have to work on our inward holiness, as well.

As mentioned earlier, in order to release the Holy Spirit’s additional progressive sanctification, we must cooperate with and surrender to the indwelling Holy Spirit’s conviction about getting infilled by Him, which means we must accept God’s gift of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit so that we not only can receive His Spirit’s power (dunamis) but also so that we can cooperate with and surrender to the infilling Holy Spirit’s progressive sanctification. Why? Well, basically it is because we need both the indwelling (presence and authority) and infilling (power and ministry) of the Holy Spirit.

Likewise, we also need both the presence and authority of Jesus the Christ’s “imputed” righteousness and the power and ministry of the Holy Spirit in order to produce our own inward righteousness. We also need the presence and authority of God’s Holy Desires and Perfect Will in us and the power and ministry of the Holy Spirit so that our whole SOUL (our “hearts”), spirit, and body can be purified—can be made holy (cf. Ezekiel 36:26; Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 2:13; Hebrews 13:21)! Essentially, we need both the indwelling and infilling Holy Spirit before we can do our part in God’s plans for making us inwardly righteous and inwardly holy.

Now in today’s churches there are many “spiritual” leaders who understand justification, and they do an excellent job of teaching justification to their “church” members. However, too many of these spiritual leaders have a weak understanding about progressive sanctification and, therefore, they either do not teach or they only half-heartedly teach their members about the Holy Sprit’s process of sanctification. While these same spiritual leaders, those who have a weak understanding about progressive sanctification, are quick to point out that there is nothing anyone can do to be saved, their biggest failure is ignoring the need for them to teach believers in Christ how to live and walk in the Holy Spirit, once they have been born again and saved.

The reason why this last statement is so true is because these negligent spiritual leaders either are fearful about teaching their members controversial subject matter like the Baptism of Holy Spirit, or they are ignorant about the importance of being Baptized with the Holy Spirit, even though the Word of God clearly explains that this baptism is necessary so that believers will have the power and the desires to yield to ALL of the mighty workings of the Holy Spirit, to be witnesses for Jesus the Christ, to be effective ministers (servants), to be powerful miracle workers, and to be changed in to the image of Jesus the Christ.

Moreover, because these same spiritual leaders (and their church members) have a weak understanding about progressive sanctification, the process of sanctification often becomes nothing more to them than a list of moral directives or some vague notion concerning doing good works. For this reason, a clear distinction must be made between the indwelling and infilling Holy Spirit. The above reason also is why a clear distinction must be made between the work of the Holy Spirit in justification and the work of the Holy Spirit in progressive sanctification. Furthermore, if these distinctions are not taught, then the spiritual leaders with their weak understanding about progressive sanctification will no doubt be responsible for creating the last days’ lukewarm Laodicean Christians (cf. Revelation 3:14-22)!

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Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen

Sanctified Child

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