Today, readers are warned against persistent errors and recurring thoughts that block our understanding of the signs for the Advent, and Second Coming of Jesus. As surely as Jesus must complete cleansing the Sanctuary in heaven before harvesting the earth, hearts and minds throughout the body of believers and all in covenant also must be cleansed and purified. The appearing of Messiah will be on a scale that requires more than a single voice crying in the wilderness. Christian believers are in need of a “wake up” call to re-examine their unspoken assumptions.
THE BATTLE AXE: Giving Forgiveness? (03/15/2014)—(5.) To err is human, to forgive is divine, and to only give “lip service” to forgiveness is hypocrisy. The giving and accepting of apologies pertain to courtesy, etiquette, and social customs. Many apologize to maintain relationships grounded in feelings. Forgiveness is always the display of divinity that resides within a believer, and speaks to maintaining right relationship with GOD. There are many difficult and dangerous challenges that Christian believers must accept. The necessary work of spreading the Gospel must go forward through one continuing expression of life. (See John 10: 36-38, KJV.) While mercy may only appear through judgment and where there is lawful authority, forgiveness appears where there is perfection (i.e., balance, completeness, distance (we say, impartiality, perspective), and stability). Consider again how Joseph was not in the place of GOD to condemn or destroy his brothers, yet, he was in position to make visible the divine willingness to forgive (Genesis 50: 15-22, KJV).
THE GOLDEN ARROW: When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. (Matthew 24: 15-25, KJV)
THE DOUBLE DAGGER: About the Second Coming? (01/18/2014); Unprofitable Servants? (01/19/2014); Recognizing True Prophets (05/02/2013); Jesus, A Party Animal? (05/03/2013); When Jesus Comes Back? (04/19/2013); What’s The Way Out? (04/20/2013)
Several popular Christian ministries based in the United States are now pursuing the mission of teaching the six signs of the end given by Jesus, the two given by the Apostle Paul, and eleven other occurrences given by the prophets through regularly broadcasting radio and television programs, and providing print media to our Nation, in Jerusalem, and throughout all Israel. Included are projects from Mike Evans (The Jerusalem Prayer Team), John Haggee (John Haggee Ministries), Perry Stone (Manna Fest), and Irwin Baxter (End Times). In addition to their raising alarms in response to such current events as the United States demand for peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders, these and other ministries are now preaching many sensitive Old and New Testament prophecies that pertain to the Second Coming of Jesus as Messiah. Naturally, their methods and motives are coming under scrutiny to the extent they are repeatedly making appeals for funds, and they participate in the cash economy of Israel by sponsoring and conducting holy-land tourism. However, they also are encountering deeply ingrained and hidden beliefs that appear as Christian prejudice and skepticism, and that can only be removed by correct knowledge of the Gospel.
Many Christian believers fail to realize that there are Bible prophecies of a third temple to be raised in Jerusalem. At this very hour, a temple institute exists, and modern day believers in the Covenant are preparing to build and restore the ancient temple. Many articles for the temple service have been re-created including the Ark of the Covenant. Christians may have read the many passages and verses that speak to these events numerous times. However, because their minds were set in a frame to say “Judaism is finished, and does not count anymore,” they did not properly discern the nature of these messages. Thus, where believers focus on promises from the Book of Revelation, many see the service of Jesus in heaven as our High Priest to be the “third temple;” and are fixed on the promise that there will be no more temple, for mankind will have free access to GOD and to the Lamb.
Following are a few points of recurring error and conflict that all should be alert to:
1. There is a single act a believer may perform that completes and finishes salvation. Included are reciting the sinner’s prayer; water baptism; making a sizeable financial donation (the $1,000 dollar seed) or tithing; perfect attendance at church functions; study of catechism, or instruction leading to baptism and confirmation; pilgrimage to cathedrals, conferences, holy shrines, Jerusalem, Israel, Rome, or various mega churches.
2. Christianity is a separate religion; and believers in GOD through Jesus Christ should have nothing to do with Israel, with Jerusalem, or with Jewish people.
3. There are multiple shared doctrines among the various world belief systems that make them basically the same. Differences among their methods and practices are primarily a matter of lifestyle and culture.
4. The spiritual goals of faith communities are all the same, and should continue to co-exist without conflict despite such diverse labels as Baha’is, Buddhism, Catholicism, Confucianism, Daoism, Hinduism, Islam, Jains, Parsis, Protestants, Shinto, Sikhs, Voodoo, and Zen.
5. Faith is personal and private, and pertains to ones own salvation and those with whom we have intimate relationship (ones spouse, family, co-workers, friends).
6. Believers can outgrow all their bad habits and weaknesses without “going public,” or having to make special efforts such as confession, fasting, and prayer.
7. Christ died at the cross to end the need for all divine law, ritual, ceremony, and tradition. Believers no longer have to attend church or participate in religious groups.
8. The actions and writings of scholars have the same spiritual merit and weight as the things shared by those who are strictly churchmen, clerics, or prophets.
9. Believers are correct to endorse what some call “replacement” theology. The new covenant church established by Jesus Christ was not supposed to complement and co-exist with the covenant of Moses, and has annulled or destroyed the sacred partnership with the Jews (also called “the law” in the holy writings).
10. There is no single shared discipline or lifestyle that is to be observed among all believers. Therefore, no one should be condemned for being different. All aspects of popular culture and social doctrines addressing economic differences, ethnicity, gender, nationality and race also have place within the Kingdom of GOD.
11. The same things provided from GOD to bring about gradual and successive spiritual change can also be used to alter carnal, material, and social things.
There is a lot more to be said, correctly applied, and spiritually apprehended. (For example (12.) What ever is held and spoken by a single Christian has been approved and endorsed by all. All believers have the same authority to acknowledge the authority of GOD, yet, all may not speak as ordained agents of GOD.) Even so, I trust this fragment will be useful. Be it unto you according to your faith.
Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. (1st Corinthians 13: 9, KJV)
THE BLACK PHOENIX
Washington, DC
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