in the Kingdom of God
© 2004 by Gary W. Crisp
Fighting in the Church
A while back, I received a phone call from a friend whom I’ve known for many years. This friend was telling me about a
“situation” which recently occurred in her church. It seems one of the leaders of the church (a teacher, whom I’ve met) threatened to “punch out” one of the other members, because of some disagreement. Our friend didn’t really explain or go into detail as to what the problem was, and I didn’t ask for anything further (it just didn’t seem appropriate). I was happy to hear that the pastor of the church (whom I’ve also met) asked that leader to “step down” from his teacher’s position in the church. This leader taught on Wednesday nights, and the pastor did not feel it was right for one of the leaders in his church to “threaten” the sheep of the church (no matter how much that sheep might have aggravated that leader -- and no matter how much that sheep might have “deserved” a good throttling!). After all is said and done, I applaude that pastor. First of all, it’s not an easy thing to confront any Problem Issue in the church today, and to confront and discipline a leader is of even greater difficulty.
Now, whether that man remains removed from any teaching position (or any other position) remains to be seen; and whether that man and his family (which were an integral part of that church) stay in that church also remains to be seen, but the pastor did what he had to do. Some of us may be unaware of such infightings in and among brothers and sisters in Christ, but this has been going on for many years...well-hidden, for the most part, but it is and has been part and parcel of the Church in America of today. Not only fighting, but there are many things happening today which tell us -- if we are careful enough to listen -- that there are things “not quite right” in the Kingdom of God. And, of course, brother fighting brother is merely symptomatic of a larger and more serious Problem in the Body of Christ, and I will address that topic further along in this teaching. Just a little side note: I started to title this teaching: “Cannibalism, Prostitution and Incest in the Kingdom”, but because of the sensationalistic words and because it sounded a bit too gruesome, (and “offensive”) I chose not to. After reading this, however, you may see why that title is not altogether inappropriate.
A Line Being Drawn
One of the many things ocurring today is a “falling away”. I’m not necessarily speaking of the “great falling away,” so often spoken of, but a drawing back from Jesus Christ and the things He desires, the things He would prefer. A few years back, there was a movie made about a certain part of Texas History, and if you’ll allow me to digress a moment, I will share a very brief story from the great history of the state of Texas. It’s a well-known story of how 183 brave souls fought off as many as 4,000 attacking Mexican troops at the Mission San Antonio de Valera, or -- as some of you know it called -- the Alamo. As the story goes, a day or so before that last fateful day, the commander of the Alamo, Colonel William Barret Travis, drew a line in the sand with his military saber, stating, “All who would stay and fight with me, cross over”. Actually, there is some disagreement on how that initial “invitation” really took place, but the idea is there.
As history tells us, every man present “crossed over the line drawn in the sand” to stand beside, fight with and later die with Colonel Travis. It is a very moving story, one which Hollywood could not improve much upon, even though they tried, for there were a few famous names who died that March 6,1836, including the likes of Davy Crockett, James Bowie, J. B. Bonham and of course Colonel Wm. B. Travis. (Texas has honored all of the above-mentioned men, plus many of the other heroes of that day, by naming cities, counties, schools and various other places after them.)
This is where the title “Cannibalism, Prostitution and Incest in the Kingdom” would fit so nicely (and I will explain this more fully as we move along), for there is a “Spiritual Line” being drawn by the Spirit of God today, in the “sands of the church”, so to speak. It is a Line drawn, where He is clearly calling out: Who will stand with Me, fight with Me, and die with Me if need be? And I’m not just speaking of a “physical death”, but also a “dying to our own morbid self-lives” -- something most of us don’t want to think about, talk about, or hear anyone else talking about. This “Line being drawn” is a Line drawn that very clearly defines where we should go and where we shouldn’t go; revealing what we should do and what we shouldn’t do. One could even conclude that there is already a beginning of separation of the wheat and chaff (I say this even though I am very aware that most Christians believe this won’t happen till Jesus comes). But I do believe there has begun a separation of sheep and goats, of the clean and unclean, and of the holy and the profane. Of course, this Line was actually “drawn” nearly two thousand years ago, recorded by the Apostle John.
In John, chapter six, we see the miracle of the five loaves and two fishes, where Jesus, using the disciples, multiplied the food to feed over five thousand people. There was plenty of food left over (twelve baskets full), and that night Jesus went for a walk... on the Sea of Galilee! The following day found that same multitude He’d fed looking for Him, but Jesus told them they only followed after Him because He had fed them, not because He had performed miracles before them (verses 26 & 27). And here begins His important teaching on Who He is and what He is doing there before them. They ask Him (v.28) what exactly should they do to “work the works of God”, to which He replied, “This is the work of God, that you believe on Him Whom He has sent.”
Believing on Jesus is so absolutely important. Believing He Is; believing He has done all that He can do; believing His Words; or even believing the words of those he sends our way, whether it be through the Gospels, the Epistles or those ministers He has called and sent to us today. Jesus said we could do the works of God by just simply believing on Him. Oh, but believing, truly believing, is not really that simple, is it? Let’s move on in John, chapter six.
Who Is Jesus?
John 6
Jesus said “I AM the Bread of Life. He that comes to Me shall never hunger, and he that believes on Me shall never thirst”. What He was telling them, as well as us, was that He was and is our All in all; there is no lack; there is no need to look elsewhere; there is no other Lord or God or Ruler like Him. And, if this is so, then why do we look elsewhere? Why do we not trust Him and believe on Him the way He has asked? Ah, but you say we do...let’s look a little further at John, chapter six.
The Words, spoken by Jesus here, very plainly reveal what He had come to do, and Who He Is that had come to do it. The Jews, however, “stumbled” at this saying, as do some of us, when “push comes to shove”. Verse 52 says the Jews fought, quarreled and argued amongst themselves at these Words, but the best was yet to come. “Push” was getting ready to “shove”, for Jesus went on to say:
Walking No More With Jesus
Moving on to John 6:66, the verse I call the “apostasy verse” (666 being the number of man and the number of the beast -- Revelation 13:18), we read: “From that time (the time Jesus spoke those Words that clearly marked a Spiritual Line) many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with Him.” This was the point in time when many who had followed Jesus (perhaps even from the beginning of His Ministry), would turn from Him and follow Him no more. But let’s be fair and understand something here: One of the very most important of the Jewish laws was that they should not eat (or drink) any blood. Not too many years ago, a Jewish man (my wife’s former boss) gave us some fish he had caught while on a fishing trip. One of the things he told us to be certain to do was to cut away a “blood vein” that was in that particular fish. Even though he would not be eating it, he still could not resist the urge to tell us not to eat the blood.
And to eat of a human’s flesh...this was unthinkable! This was cannibalism...! This was punishable by death. As these Jewish people heard these Words of Jesus, they must have not only thought Him to be crazy, but they must have also thought Him to be extremely blasphemous of their law and their teachings. But, the truth of the matter was -- they simply could not grasp the Spiritual Truth He was laying before them -- they could not see the Spiritual Line being drawn. And so, as John tells us, many of them followed Him no more. This is a very sad portion of scripture, and yet it is there, it is true, and it is for us to see and to consider.
Now, next I’d like to cover something that may not seem significant or necessary to many of you, but we will venture there nonetheless. I will address this in greater length a little later, but let me just mention this in passing, to sort of “prepare” some of you. Any thing, any Truth, any Principle of importance to the Kingdom of God will almost always be twisted and perverted by satan and his demons. Quickly allow me to just mention that cannibalism, vampirism and lycanthropy (werewolves) are more than mere movie story-lines. I am not saying I think there are vampires and werewolves as the movies may portray them, but we have learned recently of certain people who are
“possessed” of some kind of spirit that causes them to believe they must drink human blood or eat human flesh, in order to survive.
I realize much of this may be repulsive, shocking or even unnecessary to mention to many Christians, but we need to understand: There is real evil in this world; real, dark evil, and we -- as Christians -- need to wake up and become aware of this fact...not afraid, but aware. And, sadly, this awareness has literally multiplied over the past thirty or forty years. Most of us know about the horrendous murders and lifestyle of Jeffrey Dahmer -- a killer who ate portions of his victims (and these kinds of predators are increasing as the days grow darker). Then there are the Ted Bundys and John Wayne Gacys and other serial murderers who are nothing less than hunters of human life. I say this not to shock or scare anyone, but I say this to awaken us, to warn us! -- because I still know of Christian parents who allow their children (and I’m speaking of children the ages of three to fifteen) to “wander about” by themselves in malls, in parks, and in other very unsafe places where predators search for their next victim. As Christians, we should not be fearful (and I am not suggesting that, in the least), but we should, as Jesus said, be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves”. In other words: Be aware of and wise to the enemy’s tactics -- just never use any of his ways.
And, finally, we know that there are still certain pagan cultures that not only eat human flesh, but they will hunt down humans for their feastings --- in spite of some social philanthropers and church claims that there are no more pagan people of this nature in the world today. We will deal with this in a more complete way a little later, even seeing how we now have a kind of
“spiritual cannibalism” going on in our churches and in the Body of Christ. Many cultures and many countries live and breathe these “legends” of vampires and werewolves and other assorted demons, and they have countless stories and traditions in their local folklore, but these “legends” are true blasphemies and terrible lies in direct reference to the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. The devil took Christ’s precious Truths of Redemption and turned them into vile reflections of those Truths. That any person must “live off of” the blood or flesh of other humans is truly a blasphemous perversion of Godly Truth. Now, having established that terrible thought, let’s “slow down” a bit, let’s change gears, and I will tell you about a certain part of my life, though it may seem extremely inconsequential and quite possibly foolish to some of you.
Myths, Fables & Faith
Monsters?If you’ve read our Personal Page, you will no doubt conclude that my younger brother and I (when we were children) went to see many a Saturday matinee at the Plaza Theater, our local (actually our only) movie theater. This was in the fifties and on into the early sixties, and, for those of you who may not know, most of the movies coming out of the fifties carried with them a sort of “message” or moral. They tried to be “responsible” or “influential” or something -- I’m still not really certain as to their true motives. Whatever the motives, the fact is that my brother and I grew up on “monster movies” and horror movies, and they all seemed to come to the same sad conclusion: Atomic and nuclear testing would be the death of us all. If not from the blast itself, then from the mutated monsters it would create.
The following is is partial list of the “monsters” I can recall: Giant Grasshoppers, Enormous Spiders and Huge Scorpions (this one scared me for years!). There were Giant Shrews and the Giant Gila Monster (both of which were financed and filmed in the Dallas-area, by local radio magnate, Gordon McClendon). There were Giant Crabs and there was even a Giant Deadly Praying Mantis! There was also a Mutated Colossal Man and even the Giant 50-foot Woman (beautiful, but deadly). Then there were the assorted giant ants (who can ever forget Them!) and other bugs, rodents and even rabbits (yes, it’s true -- “Night of the Lepus”, or something like that, although this movie came later than the sixties). Most, if not all of these movies, were very dumb escapist flicks, but the not-so-subliminal messages were always there, lingering just slightly below the surface.
According to Hollywood (and the socially-minded activists in the movies of those days), atomic tests were responsible for “creating” or “awakening” many make-believe monsters: Godzilla (currently the most famous), Rodan, the Blob, Mothra and various other creatures. I do not mention all of these films to glamorize or even encourage movie-going. I’m simply saying that it was a part of our lives as children, and that it helped my brother and myself to stay “free” from the misery and the pain of our real home lives (again, read our Personal Page). But escapism is no real answer to the problems of life. Neither is fantasy, or living within a fantasy world or clinging to fantasy things. I know this now, as an adult and a Christian, but I did not know this as a child --- so please do not write to tell me how sinful I was as an unsaved kid...I have long ago come to terms with that knowledge. And I have shared all of this to merely help make a point...coming up next.
Angels?
Speaking of things in a world of fantasy or unreality, I know of people who believe in things that are not real, holding on to them as if they were factual and true. I know of those who believe in vampires, werewolves, aliens (as I’ve previously mentioned) and other demonic creatures (and I’m particularly speaking of that false world of Greek/Roman/pagan gods and godesses), but then there are also those who believe in various fantasy or fairy-like creatures (and much of this supernatural and occultic stuff gets into the area of witchcraft --- an area we’ll delve into in much more detail later). And, because all of this “supernatural” stuff is now touching on the world of Christianity, it is here I would like to take a look at something in which I am truly and sincerely amazed at times.
One of the concerns I have is the many Christian web sites I have visited over the years, some of which are filled with angels or angelic-like creatures (and some people seemed completely “obsessed” with them), and many of these little beings are nothing more than cupid-like fairies. Oh, they may be “cute”, but “cute” isn’t necessarily Truth. I want to be careful here, because I do not wish to offend anyone, but, brothers and sisters, let’s be honest and let’s get serious. If you absolutely insist on showing angels on your pages, at least have the foresight and the integrity to study out what angels truly are. They are not these cute little benign cupid-types, nor are they the chubby, rosey-cheeked cherub-creatures we see on so many web pages. Even the smaller or lesser (if there is such a thing as lesser) types of cherubim or seraphim are fiery, ominous and glorious creatures. Here are but a few scriptures; please, my friend, if you disagree with what I am saying (or if you feel the least bit offended by my words), at the very least please read these verses: Genesis 3:24; 2nd Samuel 22:11; Psalm 18:7-14 and Psalm 99:1; Isaiah 6:2 & 6; Ezekiel 9:3, 10:1-22 and 11:22.
For your convenience, you may go to this link: Angels and read all of the above verses.
You will see from these verses that angels, cherubim and seraphim are majestic, glorious, awesome creatures, created to surround the throne of heaven or accompany the Lord or other angels in some great task or duty. Angels have a great and wonderful service they perform for the Lord, but they are not, and I repeat not for our amusement or pleasure. Do I believe that my words will change anyone’s thinking or beliefs? No, and that is really not the point of these words. I have said all of this because I could not say what follows, unless I first dealt with this aspect of Christians and Christian sites I see day in and day out, in and on the WorldWideWeb.
Please, please, please, dear saints, let us be courageous enough to promote and speak and share the Truth with those who may not know or understand the things of God, for there is much untruth out there right now, and people are searching for answers. Though some are now cancelled, there were several TV shows that portray such a perverted view and a worldly perspective of who angels are and what they do, but please do not be misled by such things. The Lord’s angels are righteous, uncompromising servants who cannot be tempted or diverted from their service. And, in spite of the many Christians who believe otherwise, they do not sit around, impatiently awaiting their “next” assignment.
And...perhaps even more importantly, neither are angels deceased Christians, earning their wings or doing charity work or doing any other kind of noble deeds from beyond the grave! The television angels we see are no where near what true angels are like. Trust me. May we be bold and accurate in what kind of truth we give to those who may be searching for Truth! Now, the pages I mentioned that had these “cute” little depictions of angels...these are all dear Christian people, I’m sure, and I know they must love Jesus with all of their hearts, and I would not want to purposely hurt the feelings of any of them, but some of them are apparently caught up with the fantasy part of the Christian life. Dear saints, we need to come to terms with reality, dealing with and facing the Truth of the Gospel and what it should mean to us.
Also...another thought along this line: There is -- in all of us -- that part, that area, that desires to know God. It is a “spiritual void” (as I have heard it called), and each human has this “need”, as it were, to search for and (hopefully) find God, in Jesus Christ, the Lord. Some of us find Him quickly and easily...others search in and among all of the false religions and cults out there. My own sister did this, for many, many years --- searching in first one false religion, then another --- until just recently she truly found The Way: the Lord Jesus Christ -- finally making her true, solid and sincere profession of faith. As I said, there is a void, and this void can only be filled --- our longing can only be satisfied --- our hope can only be realized in coming to and surrendering to Jesus Christ, accepting Him as our only Lord and Savior. There is no other way...all of these “other” ways are not only false and deadly --- they will also lead to years of frustration and defeat.
Now, before we move on, I feel I should quickly tell you that I believe in the angelic beings which God has created, and I firmly believe that, as Paul explains in Hebrews 1:14 -- “They (angels) are all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them (we, who are believers) who shall be heirs of salvation.” This is their job; this is their calling; this is why God created them, to minister to us and for us --- but most definitely not to be commanded by us, and certainly not to entertain or amuse us (I have been aware of those who not only prayed to angels, but also commanded them about, to do their bidding).
I respect the job that angels have, even though I have never personally seen one. Even so, I know for a fact that there have been times in my life where I knew the Lord had sent angels into the fray to withstand some onslaught of the enemy against me. And there have been at least two times in my life that, without Divine Intervention, I might have been killed. I believe in angels of the Lord. I believe in a Heavenly Celestial Realm; I just do not believe that this is to be our focus or even an interferring side-line to us.
I have said this in other teachings: If the Lord so desires to send an angel into some battle in which I am involved, I am grateful and I will praise Him...the LORD, not the angel! Let us be so certain and careful where our allegiance lies; may we be sure of where our focus is, for Jesus said, “This is how you do the works of God (and thereby please Him), that you believe on Him Whom He has sent,” meaning to believe on, cling to, trust in and rely on Jesus...that’s all. Don’t add to it, don’t take anything from it. Not Jesus plus angels; not Jesus plus saints; not Jesus plus anything else...
...Believe on Jesus. Period. Exclamation point!
Truth or Facts?
Now...concerning myths and such. We should know: There is no myth that someone has not made into some kind of truth, and there is no truth that someone has not made into a myth. Many ungodly people and most secular humanists strive to teach their beliefs that all the talk of the Lord’s Creation, Noah’s ark, Israel’s Great Deliverance through the Red Sea, and even the miracles of Jesus (including His Death, Burial and Resurrection) are all just simple myths developed by simple folk who would like to have some simple hero to worship and some simple hope to which they may cling.
There is nothing new about this mindset. All of God’s Truths have been perverted in some way or another at some time, by someone, somewhere along the line. Truth would not be Truth, though, if it were not valuable enough to be counterfeited or attacked. The very fact that there will be and are false prophets and false teachers tells us that Jesus will send us true prophets and true teachers.
Some of these misguided beliefs are those people who believe in and cling to the notion that there are spacemen who helped create many of our cities and cultures, as well as our world order, including the development of our civilizations. Then there are people who want to believe that there are aliens who randomly abduct people (all for our betterment); there are those who rely on the hope that there are friendly spirits with which to speak and from whom they can receive guidance. However, these friendly spirits are nothing more, nothing less than demons! Do not be deceived! And then there are the “thinkers” and intelligentsia who know for a scientific fact that this world was “accidentally” produced by various powerful gases and atoms colliding and exploding, until just the “perfect” amount of life-sustaining force was available for some one-celled animal to “decide” he (or she) would like to advance on up to the next level. This, dear saints, is called evolution.
Those who believe in evolution often laugh at our simple faith in things that are spiritual; they sometimes mock us because we very simply choose to believe in the existence of a Creator-God Who loves us; and they cannot understand that their beliefs and their insistence in evolution is sheer lunacy. I have heard it said that it takes faith to actually believe that “all of this” (meaning the world we live in and its surrounding universe) just “came about” by some random collisions and some accidental merging of gases. To believe “all of this” just accidentally or randomly happened takes more faith than it does for the youngest of Christians to simply lean on, rely upon and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Creator of this whole universe. And besides -- mis-placed faith is not really faith at all. It is not even faithlessness. Believing in something that is not Truth is simple futility. Futility and frustration. And, eventually, emptiness.
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