Doing some research on the occult, I came across an interesting story about the late Willie Rushton (co-founder of the satirical magazine Private Eye).
"Rushton died of a heart attack at Cromwell Hospital, Kensington, in 1996, aged 59. Remarkably, he had predicted this ten years earlier, presumably in jest, on I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. In the first episode of series 13, which aired on July 26th, 1986, Chairman Humphrey Littleton asked the panelists to"gaze into their crystal balls" and make predictions for 1996. Rushton said, "I'm sorry you introduced this round, because I just spotted a memorial service for myself in Westminster Abbey."
Source Wikipedia.
Ten years can seem like an eternity when speaking as Rushton did, be it in 'jest' or no. Back in July 1995 the writer's mother was very ill, and I remember being upset and helpless in her hospital room. Though not yet a believer, I obviously had a notion that there is a God, and from memory prayed something like this: "God, if you are up there and can hear me, please give my mother another ten years..please!" This was a real heartfelt prayer. Several weeks later, mother made a good recovery and was soon back to normal life, but yes, you've probably guessed it, and to cut the story short, she died exactly ten years later.
The two cases above are obviously very different; what Rushton uttered that day in 'jest' pronouncing on himself a public curse, was just plain stupid; and that only to draw a few cheap laughs from the audience! In my case, thinking mother was about to die, I thanked God for those extra years. After her death that prayer came to my mind, and I thought maybe if I'd asked for fifteen or twenty years-but where does it end? Back in 1995 in that hospital room, ten years hence seemed like an eternity!
Truly a man's life "is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." James 4:14.
Thursday 27 June 2019
Sunday 23 June 2019
Did Satan want Jesus to be crucified? A brief Bible study.
Looking at the accounts of Judas and Peter there are interesting observations to be made. "Satan entered into Judas.." (Luke 22:3) and as a result of Judas's betrayal the Lord was crucified. Yet, a little earlier in time when Peter tried to keep the Lord from the cross (Matt.16:22), Jesus said to him "Get thee behind me, Satan." Matt.16:23. On this verse Dr Gill writes; "it seems rather to mean the devil, who took advantage of Peter's weakness and ignorance.." That is, Satan was actually 'physically' present (or should I say spiritually?), though Peter could see him not. The Lord in no uncertain terms clearly informs us that it was Satan who was trying to take possession of Peter (as he eventually succeeded with Judas) in order to prevent His crucifixion. Subsequently Jesus told Peter "Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat." Luke 22:31. Of Satan, Peter writes in his epistle "your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." 1 Pet.5:8. What Satan tried to accomplish through Peter happened before what he eventually 'achieved' through Judas, and obviously if his mission through Peter had succeeded then God's plan of salvation for His elect would have failed miserably (an unthinkable thought!) thereby Satan would have dragged the whole of humankind into hell with him! (where we all deserve to be without God's free saving grace). We know that the Lord kept Peter on course; "I have prayed for thee, that thou faith fail not." Luke 22:32 Why couldn't have He prayed for Judas in like manner? But then Judas was chosen by God in Christ to perform his wicked act through satanic agency (John 6:70), yet it was done entirely of his own volition-his own 'free-will'! how can this be? How do we reconcile all of this? Jesus "knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray Him." John 6:64, so how could He possibly pray against a predetermined decree from His Father?
It is interesting that Satan tried to stop the crucifixion through Peter, yet 'achieved' it through Judas, and Judas was the chosen instrument to bring the crucifixion to pass! Was the episode in Matt.16:21 ff, the precise point in time that Satan learned of the cross? For, at this juncture was the first time the Lord places before His disciples a great and startling announcement that "He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer...and be killed." He had not then come to reign (see Acts 1:7), but to die; to save all those whom "the Father giveth Me" John 6:37-39. In the words of J.C.Ryle; "It is almost impossible for us to conceive how strange and incomprehensible these tidings must have seemed to His disciples. Like most Jews, they could form no idea of a suffering Messiah. They did not understand that the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah must be literally fulfilled; they did not see that the sacrifices of the law were all meant to point them to the death of the true Lamb of God." (page 199 Expository thoughts on Matthew).
I would think it inconceivable that Satan didn't understand from Isaiah 53 that the seed of the woman (Gen.3:15), the Lord Jesus Christ, didn't come to die to save His elect people! but, he didn't know exactly how this event of all events must take place. From Satan's vantage point, he was correct to move Peter the way he did, but Judas? Why then did he move Judas to bring about the crucifixion? It is said that after the Passover supper Satan put it "into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him." John 13:2. Satan, of course would use all humankind "to betray Him", but this dastardly deed fulfilled the prophecy in Zech.11:12(RV); "So they weighed for my hire thirty pieces of silver." Satan acting with all his masterful guile was fulfilling what was written in the OT prophets, but did he know that the chief priests would give Judas "thirty pieces of silver" for he didn't ask for that amount?
It is said that God "moved David ...to number Israel." 2 Sam. 24:1, and the parallel passage in 1 Chron. 21:1 reads "Satan... provoked David to number Israel." There is no conflict here, as some think, likewise in the case of Judas, Satan is merely an instrument (albeit a very significant one!) that God uses to bring His purposes to pass. Satan couldn't have the other eleven apostles for the Lord Jesus prayed for Peter and his brethren, but not Judas (Luke 22:32).
it was impossible that Satan could out-thwart God's eternal counsels, nevertheless, it is a worthwhile study to dig into "the deep things of God." 1 Cor.2:10.
To those that know the truth (to whom the arm of the Lord is revealed-Isaiah 53:1) the crucifixion is the greatest victory that has, or will ever happen in the annals of time-yet, how some think otherwise! (Matt. 27:42, Mark 15:31, Luke 23:35).
It is interesting that Satan tried to stop the crucifixion through Peter, yet 'achieved' it through Judas, and Judas was the chosen instrument to bring the crucifixion to pass! Was the episode in Matt.16:21 ff, the precise point in time that Satan learned of the cross? For, at this juncture was the first time the Lord places before His disciples a great and startling announcement that "He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer...and be killed." He had not then come to reign (see Acts 1:7), but to die; to save all those whom "the Father giveth Me" John 6:37-39. In the words of J.C.Ryle; "It is almost impossible for us to conceive how strange and incomprehensible these tidings must have seemed to His disciples. Like most Jews, they could form no idea of a suffering Messiah. They did not understand that the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah must be literally fulfilled; they did not see that the sacrifices of the law were all meant to point them to the death of the true Lamb of God." (page 199 Expository thoughts on Matthew).
I would think it inconceivable that Satan didn't understand from Isaiah 53 that the seed of the woman (Gen.3:15), the Lord Jesus Christ, didn't come to die to save His elect people! but, he didn't know exactly how this event of all events must take place. From Satan's vantage point, he was correct to move Peter the way he did, but Judas? Why then did he move Judas to bring about the crucifixion? It is said that after the Passover supper Satan put it "into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him." John 13:2. Satan, of course would use all humankind "to betray Him", but this dastardly deed fulfilled the prophecy in Zech.11:12(RV); "So they weighed for my hire thirty pieces of silver." Satan acting with all his masterful guile was fulfilling what was written in the OT prophets, but did he know that the chief priests would give Judas "thirty pieces of silver" for he didn't ask for that amount?
It is said that God "moved David ...to number Israel." 2 Sam. 24:1, and the parallel passage in 1 Chron. 21:1 reads "Satan... provoked David to number Israel." There is no conflict here, as some think, likewise in the case of Judas, Satan is merely an instrument (albeit a very significant one!) that God uses to bring His purposes to pass. Satan couldn't have the other eleven apostles for the Lord Jesus prayed for Peter and his brethren, but not Judas (Luke 22:32).
it was impossible that Satan could out-thwart God's eternal counsels, nevertheless, it is a worthwhile study to dig into "the deep things of God." 1 Cor.2:10.
To those that know the truth (to whom the arm of the Lord is revealed-Isaiah 53:1) the crucifixion is the greatest victory that has, or will ever happen in the annals of time-yet, how some think otherwise! (Matt. 27:42, Mark 15:31, Luke 23:35).
Thursday 13 June 2019
Should a Christian study prophecy?
Stupid question; if ever I heard one!
Yet there are a great many who profess to be Christians that frown on those who take up the study of prophecy; most especially unfulfilled. There are three millennial positions; a-millennial (no coming millennium-all millennial prophecies have been spiritualized away), post-millennial (Christ comes after His church have gained the victory through preaching the Gospel!), and pre-millennial (Christ comes to destroy the Antichrist and set up His kingdom on earth ruling from Mt Zion (heavenly and earthly). Obviously, only one of these millennial positions must be correct, or no?
God's written word says "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Rev.19:10, so should we not study prophecy and learn to understand what the Lord has to say on the coming climax of the age?
There is a spirit of ignorance that powerfully prevails in Christendom on the subject of unfulfilled prophecy, yet God has clearly revealed what will happen! I don't say that He has joined all the dots together in their minutiae, but certainly we know that wickedness will increase exponentially in these last days culminating in the appearing of the coming Antichrist who will rule for some three and a half years (Dan.7:25, Rev.12:6,14, 13:5) before the Lord "shall destroy him with the brightness of His Coming." 2 Thess.2:8.
I have personally listened to Christians fervently praying to God asking Him to stop this or that disaster, to halt a 'gay' pride march, stop the rise of Islam, and many other similar requests. Is it right to pray in such a way? this is the grand question. Turn the clock back to when the children of Judah went into captivity under the hand of Nebuchadnezzar for seventy years. Would God have listened to any prayer asking Him to stop the coming and certain captivity after Jeremiah His own ordained prophet had already prophesied such a judgment must surely come to pass? Lets hear Daniel on this matter; "I Daniel understood by the books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem." Dan.9:2; cf Jer.25:11-12; "And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon..." Likewise with Israel and Egypt in the time of Moses, God had "said unto Abram, know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years..." Gen.15:13. And we know that this came to pass for it is recorded in Acts 7:6; "And God spake on this wise, that His seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years." The first Christian martyr (Stephen) then goes on to describe the great deliverance God wrought through His servant Moses in the Exodus narrative. It is universally agreed upon by all serious students of prophecy that Nebuchadnezzar (Babylon) and Pharaoh (Egypt) are types of Antichrist; that is they fulfilled past roles of the future coming Antichrist, the "man of sin" himself will perform (2 Thess.2:3); yet with infinitely far greater vigour! Of this prophesied time it is written; "Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble.." Jer.30:7. (my emphasis). See also Dan.12:1 which describes the very same future event; "...there shall be be a time of trouble, such as never was..." Matt.24:21 and Mark 13:19 describe this coming hour-please read!
Therefore, written in God's Book are the Babylonian captivity of Judah and the Egyptian bondage of Israel; two major prophecies depicted in their unrealized and realized forms fulfilled-right down to their last jot and tittle!
Now, as regards the yet future and therefore unrealized prophecy in 2 Thess.2:8 regarding the coming Antichrist at the end of our present age, can Christians pray against his coming (and all his evil works that accompany it thereof?) if God has said that Antichrist will surely come? Such a suggestion is seemingly and simply insane-yet that is what many do! In our day there are professing Christians campaigning with great zeal against the building of mosques (take for example, Christian Voice and the proposed mega mosque at West Ham, London); they blindly cannot see that these mosques, have been, and will be built as a testimony against our nation for rejecting God in Christ and His Commandments!
To pray against what God has written and therefore ordained must come to pass must surely be a grievous sin? Especially from those who would have us believe that they are faithful stewards of God's word, such as Christian Voice, and indeed a whole host of ministries that also claim to be doing God's will. To those that pray against what God is bringing to pass in our day, the Lord's words to Peter in Matt.16:23 are surely appropriate here? "Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men."
It is incumbent on all true Christians to pray intelligently to God in Christ! Pray according to His will! "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." Matt.6:10. The Bible teaches that increasing wickedness will be the hallmark of the last days and all true Christians can do is pray to God as Christ our Saviour did for us in His great intercessory prayer in John 17:15 (RV); "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil one."
God is calling His elect out of this world,and we must "be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." 1 Pet.3:15. We should witness when the opportunity arises. True believers will suffer just for trying to live righteous and godly lives! "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse." 2 Tim.3:12-13! In the context Paul is talking about what it will be like in "the last days." 2 Tim.3:1 ff. See also Acts 14:22, Titus 2.12-13.
The apostle tells us "the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears." 2 Tim.4:3. We are now in a day when many think the old truth that "He which made them at the beginning made them male and female." (Matt.19:4) no longer applies-for we are now in a non-binary age! rubber stamped by those in power through the social re-engineering of that wicked and unstoppable LGBT* juggernaut! now approved by the police, the state education system, the monarchy, universities et al! When people accept this damnable lie, as many now do; witnessing the truth as it is in Christ seems an almost insurmountable task!
I can almost hear Antichrist's footsteps!
*We really are coming up on the down-train in this evil age. Regarding the recent successful prosecution of the serial paedophile Bob Higgins, Hampshire police said "This case shows just how important it is that complaints are taken seriously and allegations are thoroughly investigated when they are made. Unfortunately, complaints made by some victims in the 1990s weren't treated in the same way as they would be today," added Assistant Chief Constable Ben Snuggs. (BBC News 13/06/2019).
And this is good news! what true Christian wouldn't say a hearty "Amen!" to this?
Yet, for all this, we now find ourselves in a day when men are invited into primary school classrooms dressed in drag promoting the perversions of transsexualism, transvestism, sodomy, alternative lifestyles, self gender identification, and all their wicked associations via the LGBT movement through their "history month" and "pride month", and other initiatives to children as young as nine and less! Of this wicked predatory sexualization of minors; these sexual deviants would lower the age of consent-and where exactly would they stop? What is the ultimate goal of the LGBT movement other than a total degradation of what were normal family values based on biblical principles? It seems anything and everything is on their agenda, provided it is antagonistic to God's word.
You really couldn't make all this up! schools should be a safe haven for impressionable youngsters, yet they are being taught to accept the vilest of perversions as normal. Really, what hope have they? Many schools today have high security fences and even security guards patrolling the outer perimeter yet they invite the Trojan Horse in unaware of the dangerous subterfuge! Back in 2002 after receiving the revelation that Noah's flood was a true and literal event; I took my daughter out of the state primary school and put her into a Christian school that taught creation as fact. But what we are faced with today makes that dilemma almost pale into insignificance!
How bad things must have been in "the days of Noah"?
"As the days of Noah were, so shall also the days of the coming of the Son of man be." Matt.24:37.
Yet there are a great many who profess to be Christians that frown on those who take up the study of prophecy; most especially unfulfilled. There are three millennial positions; a-millennial (no coming millennium-all millennial prophecies have been spiritualized away), post-millennial (Christ comes after His church have gained the victory through preaching the Gospel!), and pre-millennial (Christ comes to destroy the Antichrist and set up His kingdom on earth ruling from Mt Zion (heavenly and earthly). Obviously, only one of these millennial positions must be correct, or no?
God's written word says "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." Rev.19:10, so should we not study prophecy and learn to understand what the Lord has to say on the coming climax of the age?
There is a spirit of ignorance that powerfully prevails in Christendom on the subject of unfulfilled prophecy, yet God has clearly revealed what will happen! I don't say that He has joined all the dots together in their minutiae, but certainly we know that wickedness will increase exponentially in these last days culminating in the appearing of the coming Antichrist who will rule for some three and a half years (Dan.7:25, Rev.12:6,14, 13:5) before the Lord "shall destroy him with the brightness of His Coming." 2 Thess.2:8.
I have personally listened to Christians fervently praying to God asking Him to stop this or that disaster, to halt a 'gay' pride march, stop the rise of Islam, and many other similar requests. Is it right to pray in such a way? this is the grand question. Turn the clock back to when the children of Judah went into captivity under the hand of Nebuchadnezzar for seventy years. Would God have listened to any prayer asking Him to stop the coming and certain captivity after Jeremiah His own ordained prophet had already prophesied such a judgment must surely come to pass? Lets hear Daniel on this matter; "I Daniel understood by the books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem." Dan.9:2; cf Jer.25:11-12; "And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon..." Likewise with Israel and Egypt in the time of Moses, God had "said unto Abram, know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years..." Gen.15:13. And we know that this came to pass for it is recorded in Acts 7:6; "And God spake on this wise, that His seed should sojourn in a strange land; and that they should bring them into bondage, and entreat them evil four hundred years." The first Christian martyr (Stephen) then goes on to describe the great deliverance God wrought through His servant Moses in the Exodus narrative. It is universally agreed upon by all serious students of prophecy that Nebuchadnezzar (Babylon) and Pharaoh (Egypt) are types of Antichrist; that is they fulfilled past roles of the future coming Antichrist, the "man of sin" himself will perform (2 Thess.2:3); yet with infinitely far greater vigour! Of this prophesied time it is written; "Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble.." Jer.30:7. (my emphasis). See also Dan.12:1 which describes the very same future event; "...there shall be be a time of trouble, such as never was..." Matt.24:21 and Mark 13:19 describe this coming hour-please read!
Therefore, written in God's Book are the Babylonian captivity of Judah and the Egyptian bondage of Israel; two major prophecies depicted in their unrealized and realized forms fulfilled-right down to their last jot and tittle!
Now, as regards the yet future and therefore unrealized prophecy in 2 Thess.2:8 regarding the coming Antichrist at the end of our present age, can Christians pray against his coming (and all his evil works that accompany it thereof?) if God has said that Antichrist will surely come? Such a suggestion is seemingly and simply insane-yet that is what many do! In our day there are professing Christians campaigning with great zeal against the building of mosques (take for example, Christian Voice and the proposed mega mosque at West Ham, London); they blindly cannot see that these mosques, have been, and will be built as a testimony against our nation for rejecting God in Christ and His Commandments!
To pray against what God has written and therefore ordained must come to pass must surely be a grievous sin? Especially from those who would have us believe that they are faithful stewards of God's word, such as Christian Voice, and indeed a whole host of ministries that also claim to be doing God's will. To those that pray against what God is bringing to pass in our day, the Lord's words to Peter in Matt.16:23 are surely appropriate here? "Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men."
It is incumbent on all true Christians to pray intelligently to God in Christ! Pray according to His will! "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." Matt.6:10. The Bible teaches that increasing wickedness will be the hallmark of the last days and all true Christians can do is pray to God as Christ our Saviour did for us in His great intercessory prayer in John 17:15 (RV); "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil one."
God is calling His elect out of this world,and we must "be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." 1 Pet.3:15. We should witness when the opportunity arises. True believers will suffer just for trying to live righteous and godly lives! "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse." 2 Tim.3:12-13! In the context Paul is talking about what it will be like in "the last days." 2 Tim.3:1 ff. See also Acts 14:22, Titus 2.12-13.
The apostle tells us "the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears." 2 Tim.4:3. We are now in a day when many think the old truth that "He which made them at the beginning made them male and female." (Matt.19:4) no longer applies-for we are now in a non-binary age! rubber stamped by those in power through the social re-engineering of that wicked and unstoppable LGBT* juggernaut! now approved by the police, the state education system, the monarchy, universities et al! When people accept this damnable lie, as many now do; witnessing the truth as it is in Christ seems an almost insurmountable task!
I can almost hear Antichrist's footsteps!
*We really are coming up on the down-train in this evil age. Regarding the recent successful prosecution of the serial paedophile Bob Higgins, Hampshire police said "This case shows just how important it is that complaints are taken seriously and allegations are thoroughly investigated when they are made. Unfortunately, complaints made by some victims in the 1990s weren't treated in the same way as they would be today," added Assistant Chief Constable Ben Snuggs. (BBC News 13/06/2019).
And this is good news! what true Christian wouldn't say a hearty "Amen!" to this?
Yet, for all this, we now find ourselves in a day when men are invited into primary school classrooms dressed in drag promoting the perversions of transsexualism, transvestism, sodomy, alternative lifestyles, self gender identification, and all their wicked associations via the LGBT movement through their "history month" and "pride month", and other initiatives to children as young as nine and less! Of this wicked predatory sexualization of minors; these sexual deviants would lower the age of consent-and where exactly would they stop? What is the ultimate goal of the LGBT movement other than a total degradation of what were normal family values based on biblical principles? It seems anything and everything is on their agenda, provided it is antagonistic to God's word.
You really couldn't make all this up! schools should be a safe haven for impressionable youngsters, yet they are being taught to accept the vilest of perversions as normal. Really, what hope have they? Many schools today have high security fences and even security guards patrolling the outer perimeter yet they invite the Trojan Horse in unaware of the dangerous subterfuge! Back in 2002 after receiving the revelation that Noah's flood was a true and literal event; I took my daughter out of the state primary school and put her into a Christian school that taught creation as fact. But what we are faced with today makes that dilemma almost pale into insignificance!
How bad things must have been in "the days of Noah"?
"As the days of Noah were, so shall also the days of the coming of the Son of man be." Matt.24:37.
Wednesday 12 June 2019
The Curse of Meroz. Judges 5:23-24.
Curse ye Meroz, said the angel of the LORD,
Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof;
Because they came not to the help of the LORD,
To the help of the LORD against the mighty.
Blessed above women shall Jael
The wife of Heber the Kenite be,
Blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
Judges 5:23-24.
Notice here the "curse" of Meroz and the "blessing" of Jael; they contain lessons for all time. No place can now be identified as Meroz. That is unnecessary; but when its people were called to help towards God's cause they refused! It was a negative rather than a positive sin. Some now who are unconverted boast and delight in neutrality. It gives less trouble and they call it their religion. They are not atheists, but like Meroz, they do nothing. They do not want to know the Truth; arguing, that "as one says one thing and another another, how are they to know what is right?" instead of taking the trouble to find out from Scripture. It is a despicable thing to say "I don't join anyone;" so remember the curse of Meroz. You must either love or hate Christ, for not to love is to hate. Ponder on 1 Cor. xvi. 22, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be accursed when the Lord cometh!" The curse of Meroz lies on such, and it stretches on to the coming of the Lord and to Eternity!
Among Christians too, are some who confuse earnestness with fanaticism; but read Christ's words to the Laodiceans . Does He like lukewarmness? Why do you go on without making sure what is right? Being a resolute follower of Christ is not being a fanatic. Each one should ask himself whether he is with God's people or with the world. The people of Meroz were not in earnest. They only begged to be let alone; but if these truths are from God, they do concern one and all. Some are like Meroz as regards work for the Lord while there is much around waiting to be done. All God's servants are called to serve now. Have you a work for God every day like you have in earthly things? You know what your work in life is; so you should your work for God. All are called to do something and not be idle. There is a curse on spiritual inactivity which brings spiritual disease. The soul gets dulled and all interest in Divine things dies out. So be earnest and active; not neutral and selfish. You must be either with Christ or against Him.
Jael was not like Meroz, yet not perfect. She had no right to tell a lie but she was right to kill Sisera, though she should have done it in a right way.
Studies in the Book of Judges.
From pages 16-17 HARD WORDS FOR HARD TIMES. JUDGES.
By Dr C.Y. Biss.
Curse ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof;
Because they came not to the help of the LORD,
To the help of the LORD against the mighty.
Blessed above women shall Jael
The wife of Heber the Kenite be,
Blessed shall she be above women in the tent.
Judges 5:23-24.
Notice here the "curse" of Meroz and the "blessing" of Jael; they contain lessons for all time. No place can now be identified as Meroz. That is unnecessary; but when its people were called to help towards God's cause they refused! It was a negative rather than a positive sin. Some now who are unconverted boast and delight in neutrality. It gives less trouble and they call it their religion. They are not atheists, but like Meroz, they do nothing. They do not want to know the Truth; arguing, that "as one says one thing and another another, how are they to know what is right?" instead of taking the trouble to find out from Scripture. It is a despicable thing to say "I don't join anyone;" so remember the curse of Meroz. You must either love or hate Christ, for not to love is to hate. Ponder on 1 Cor. xvi. 22, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ let him be accursed when the Lord cometh!" The curse of Meroz lies on such, and it stretches on to the coming of the Lord and to Eternity!
Among Christians too, are some who confuse earnestness with fanaticism; but read Christ's words to the Laodiceans . Does He like lukewarmness? Why do you go on without making sure what is right? Being a resolute follower of Christ is not being a fanatic. Each one should ask himself whether he is with God's people or with the world. The people of Meroz were not in earnest. They only begged to be let alone; but if these truths are from God, they do concern one and all. Some are like Meroz as regards work for the Lord while there is much around waiting to be done. All God's servants are called to serve now. Have you a work for God every day like you have in earthly things? You know what your work in life is; so you should your work for God. All are called to do something and not be idle. There is a curse on spiritual inactivity which brings spiritual disease. The soul gets dulled and all interest in Divine things dies out. So be earnest and active; not neutral and selfish. You must be either with Christ or against Him.
Jael was not like Meroz, yet not perfect. She had no right to tell a lie but she was right to kill Sisera, though she should have done it in a right way.
Studies in the Book of Judges.
From pages 16-17 HARD WORDS FOR HARD TIMES. JUDGES.
By Dr C.Y. Biss.
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