ESSENTIAL TRUTH
Firstly, a big thank you to those who subscribed during February. That is always encouraging, to know that there are some out there who know that something is seriously wrong in the culture today. Each night, as I watch the news, both for my little country of New Zealand, and for America, I think to myself, ‘It can’t possibly get any worse than this.’ And each night, it does exactly that. It is truly heart-breaking to witness human beings become so incredibly evil. Just a short few years ago nobody could have ever imagined that men and women, and boys and girls could conduct themselves in such disgusting ways. It’s truly frightening to see how the LGBTQ+ community has been so ‘normalized.’ They are even adding more letters and/or figures to that acronym as this community becomes more weird or queer, as gender has now become something that is fabricated.
When the pilgrims landed on the east coast of America all those years ago, they had come from a country where Christianity was being challenged or controlled by the government. These folks were more than likely true believers who had got to know God, learned to fear Him, & repented, to receive the Holy Spirit. Their lives were controlled by the Holy Spirit so that they did God’s will all the time.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Ezek. 36:26-27
It is not very hard to imagine that God was the instigator in this migration of believers to this New World. When the founding fathers devised the plan to bring order and legitimacy to this new territory, they [many of them] prayed to God for His wisdom and purpose in this experiment. What they came up with was so vastly different from anything that had ever been imagined previously, but, as time evolved, it was proven to be something beyond brilliant. Soon after that, America was placed in a place of great respect and even awe as so much development in every aspect of human life was advanced across the continent. America leapt ahead of every other country in science, engineering, medicine, transportation, technology, construction, and infrastructure, so that France sent a prominent historian and philosopher to the New World to find out what the secret to its great success was. At the time, there was a spiritual movement that has been called ‘The Holiness Movement’ transforming many lives across this New World. When Alexis de Tocqueville returned to France his report was simply: ‘America is great because Americans are good, and if Americans ever cease to be good America will cease to be great.’
How simple, and yet how truly profound, indeed. God’s word assures us that ‘righteousness exalts a nation.’ Prov. 14:34 Today’s preachers will tell you that if you ‘believe in’ or ‘trust’ or ‘have faith in’ or ‘come to,’ or ‘accept Jesus as Lord and Savior’ you are ‘clothed with the righteousness of Christ.’ This myth is never taught in scripture. In fact, scripture teaches us that ‘righteous’ simply means ‘doing what is right.’ Fancy that!! Gen. 4:7, Rom, 2:13, 6:16, 1 Jn. 3:7. Paul often tells us that righteousness is by faith, which we all know is dead and useless in the absence of works/conduct/actions. James 2:14-26
In the same sense, God assures us that evil advances in the absence of righteousness, or fear of Him.
I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before their eyes. Ps. 36:1
Who, then, are those who fear the LORD? He will instruct them in the ways they should choose. They will spend their days in prosperity, and their descendants will inherit the land. The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them. Ps. 25:12-14
The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the LORD are firm, and all of them are righteous. Ps. 19:9
So, when we know God well enough to fear Him, so that we are able to repent, God ensures that we will do His will, which is always ‘righteous.’ Jesus told us that it’s only those who do God’s will who get a welcome mat at the pearly gates. Matt. 7:21-23
Moses said to the people, do not be afraid: God has come to test you so that the fear of God will be with you to stop you from sinning. Ex. 20:20
Through the fear of the LORD evil is avoided. Prov. 16:6
Whoever fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for their children it will be a refuge. The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, turning a person from sin. Prov. 14:26-27
Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the LORD. There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off. Prov. 23:17-18
Blessed is the one who fears God, but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble. Prov. 28:14
LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the LORD; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken. Ps. 15:1-5
I guarantee you have never heard these scriptures from your preacher. They are all very important truths related to God’s message of salvation: God’s gospel. None of them have anything to do with believing in or accepting Jesus as your Lord & Savior. That is all semantics or fool’s talk. Only a fool believes in, or trusts, or has faith in someone they don’t know well. It is so clear to see that the gospel of today is false. Eighty-six million ‘believers’ have left their pews since the 90’s and still leave in droves today. We keep hearing of church leaders being found guilty of all sorts of crimes. Preachers frequently confess to their flock that they are sinners, and tell them all that they are as well. Clearly none of them have ever learned to fear God. God’s word assures us clearly that without fear of God we will not gain eternal life.
The fear of the LORD leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble. Prov. 19:23
Paul assured us that we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Phil 2:12. Luke shared this with us:
Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. Acts 10:34-35
Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers. Acts 9:31
It is as clear as crystal that salvation is not possible in the absence of fearing God.
The ‘gospel’ that has been preached ever since the Holiness Movement petered out during the civil war, has been semantics or fool’s talk with no mention of fear of God or working out one’s salvation with fear and trembling. It has been watered down to a stupid, meaningless, instant act or event, which has never changed a single life. It’s even described as a free gift from God that we simply need to accept by faith. This is all completely contrary to God’s message of salvation in His inerrant word.
Did you notice that the first Church lived in fear of God and their numbers increased? Today’s so-called Church is decreasing in numbers rapidly. The last church I attended had an associate pastor who argued with me regarding the fear of God. He could not understand how anybody could possibly ‘fear’ a God of love. I was never able to convince him that he was wrong, even after showing him that Jesus commanded us to be afraid of His Father. Matt. 10:28
I lived in the fantasy world of today’s ‘gospel’ for decades, trying to believe I was a child of God in spite of being a sexual predator. The pastors and elders I went to for counsel told me I was being too hard on myself!! What does that say to you? Yes, I watched one of them at the beach one day, seeking out the topless gals, and ogling them lustfully. And yet they sing songs like Victory in Jesus with great gusto and emotion, as if they mean every word of it. A pastor of a mega church in Dallas professes to daily sin on national TV but hosts a TV show called Pathway to Victory!!! It’s really hard to believe how any of them sleep at nights. I knew in my heart that I could not please God all the while I was a sexual predator. How any of them can manage to do so is beyond me. I watched a man in his sixties creep up to the windows of his motel one night to watch the ladies showering with the window open. He was a very ‘respected man of God ‘in the local community, and a revered leader in his evangelical church. I often wonder if I am so different from everyone else, because I despised myself for being what I was. Surely other men who are burdened with sexual sin [or any sin] must find it hard to live with that? Very sadly, it appears not to be the case.
For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness; with you, evil people are not welcome.
The arrogant cannot stand in your presence. You hate all who do wrong;
you destroy those who tell lies. The bloodthirsty and deceitful you, LORD, detest. Ps. 5:4-6
I guarantee you that your preacher has NEVER told you that truth, huh? Let me settle your mind now before you get over-excited. Yes, God does love all sinners. But that love is an active love called AGAPE. It is making an active choice with one’s will, to choose for the highest good of the other, regardless of personal cost. That is NOT an emotional love. So, God can hate sinners at the same time as He agape’s them. This message in Psalms five, ought to scare the pants off every sinner! It aligns with the New Testament’s truth that sin results in death.
God’s inerrant word assures us that to be a child of God one must deal with sin. God makes it abundantly clear that He cannot accept sinners into His kingdom.
Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Cor. 6:9-10
Paul, who was trained by Jesus to proclaim His gospel, wrote this. He clearly was never informed that the blood of Jesus forgave or washed all our sins away. The final and ultimate sacrifice Jesus made on the cross, is recorded in heaven and applied to any sinner who repents of their sins. The only sins Jesus forgave on the cross were those of the repentant thief.
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.
Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. Rev. 22:14-15
He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.
Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.
But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” Rev. 21:6-8
He assures us in His word that Jesus mastered Satan on the cross, making it possible for Gentiles to become God’s chosen children as well as Jews. His death appropriated the death of our sinful natures: old natures: fleshly natures. Paul teaches us this plainly in his letters. Rom 6:6, Col. 2:11. But it does not happen automatically just because we ‘believe in Jesus.’ The demons believe in Jesus and they tremble. We must get to know God well enough to fear Him so we can repent and receive the Holy Spirit for forgiveness of sins. Acts 2:38
There is another truth in scripture that churchgoers simply cannot get their head around today. God NEVER hears prayers from sinners. There are a number of scriptures that assure us of this fact.
if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chron. 7:14
If I had been aware of sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; Ps. 66:18
If anyone turns a deaf ear to my instruction, even their prayers are detestable Prov. 28:9
We know that God does not listen to sinners. He listens to the godly person who does his will. Jn. 9:31
When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my face from you. Even if you offer many prayers, I am not listening. Your hands are full of blood! Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice Is. 1:15-16
He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the people of America [Judea] to do the detestable things they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually provoke me to anger? Look at them thumbing their noses at me.
Therefore, I will deal with them in anger; I will not look on them with pity or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them.” Ezek. 8:17-18
Today’s ‘gospel’ assures us that we can simply ask God to forgive us for our sins each night, and He does just that. That’s impossible in the light of the above scriptures. There is ZERO forgiveness in the absence of repentance. Repentance is a word that has been adulterated by preachers today. It is a once in a lifetime event when a sinner gets to know God, and how sin separates Him from any sinner. That sinner, due to his/her knowledge of God, desires to love Him, which obviously includes pleasing Him. The knowledge that He hates sin & has promised death as a result of sin, causes that sinner to feel so incredibly disgusted and ashamed of him/her self, that he/she hates sin as much as God does. That heart-centered emotion will stop him/her from sinning again. My experience was not exactly like that, because I was learning as I went on this journey. But after I had understood all of the above, I lusted sexually, or I masturbated [cannot remeber what it was] and was so terribly ashamed of myself for grieving God that I never want to experience that depth of shame and guilt again. It was such a painful, grievous, shockingly disgusting feeling, that I have not sinned again since because I NEVER want to experience that again. That equates to the Old Testament saints who stripped, put on sackcloth, sat on dung heaps, throwing dung dust and ashes over themselves, refusing to eat or drink for days. Can you imagine any of them sinning again after that ordeal? James describes in not quite as dramatic detail how repentance must be in Js 4:7-10
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
James does describe a very emotional event here, does he not? Such an event has never been associated with salvation in churches for 160 years now. But it is essential to allow God to ’lift a sinner up’ out of that evil pit.
When the bible [NT] uses the word 'believe' it has been translated from a Greek word, ‘pisteuo,’ which means: believe, trust, have faith in, with the implication that actions based on that belief, trust and faith will follow. It never means a mental assent. It demands action/works/conduct
Once we repent, the work of Jesus on the cross will be appropriated, and we will live in Christ where there is no sin. Jesus simply did away with the Old Covenant and ushered in the New Covenant which allowed Gentiles to become children of God by repenting. We do not have to sacrifice an animal at a temple somewhere, like the Jews used to do. Jesus made the final and ultimate sacrifice for sin, to enable the salvation of Gentiles. That was what His blood was shed for. It did not forgive us of our sins. Repentance does that. 2 Chron. 7:14, Acts 2:38, 3:19, Lk. 3:3, 24:47, Mk. 1:4
It’s truly alarming to hear what well-meaning folks who warm pews every weekend say or post on Twitter. They all talk like there is absolutely NO consequence for their sins. They, along with their pastors, unashamedly confess to being sinners, but have not a smidgen of guilt or shame, or grief that they have grieved the God they claim to love. It boggles my mind to attempt to understand this.
Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.
But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.
No one who lives in him sins. No one who sins has either seen him or known him.
Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
No one who is born of God will sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot sin because they have been born of God.
This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.1 Jn. 3:4-10 NIV
Most versions of scripture include words that men added when they compiled the modern versions. The KJV still has it correct I believe. I did not include those words, above.
America must experience a massive spiritual awakening in order for God to kick Satan’s scaly butt back to his pit. Not a revival, because today’s ‘believers’ have never been born again, so they have nothing in them to be revived. I researched ‘Christianity’ from 1992 to 2011 across America, and was broken-hearted as a result. I wrote a book declaring what must happen for the nation to be great again: to be exalted by God. Amazon or Barnes and Noble have ‘A Nation Broken.’ Please get yourself a copy and read it with a hungry heart and open mind.