The End is Near [part 3]; a complete desolation of hearts ...

What do you fear the most?  Would the sudden and permanent rejection of your love top the list?  There is a reason for the expression “broken hearts”.  There is even a physiological condition that can pair with that expression so extremely it can actually kill you.  It is said that Jesus died of a broken heart while on the cross.  The separation from His Father was so intense while He bore the sin of the world, it killed Him.  And this fear of rejected love is something our God understands very well.  For it is God who suffers a rejection of His love from His creations, despite how passionately He feels about us.  When we tell Him no.  When we keep pushing Him away, until finally our time expires and the sleep of death cements the longevity of our rejection.  This is a fate for His children that our Father never wants to see, and our enemy simply revels in.  Satan is able to wound the heart of God by seducing His children away from His love to pursue happiness another way, a self-centered way.  These wounds may always be in the heart of our God who is incapable of forgetting the child He loved so much, but was unable to bring back to His side forever.  And the central tenant that underlies an eternity of life, or death, is love.

For those who embrace submission of the heart to Jesus Christ, maintaining that submission is all that matters.  As Jesus re-creates who you are, how you love becomes job one.  Shifting your love away from self to others, and then deepening it beyond all reason, and you will begin to see what harmony with God looks like.  Anything that might interfere with that life altering love, that transformation that only Jesus can bring, must be considered the enemy of souls, more specifically of your soul.  So when Jesus looks at world events, from the time of His disciples, until the end of all things – He is not worried about “when” the end will be.  He is worried that we might turn our hearts away from Him as time ticks by.  He is worried about the loss of even one child who decides there is a substitute for Jesus, another way to get to Nirvana, a different path to God – that all may sound good, but as they lead away from Jesus, they cut us off from the only transformation we are ever offered that works.  Jesus works.  His transformation will re-create you from who you are today, into who Jesus can envision you can become.  The “other” paths are distraction that lead nowhere, but to pain, and eventually death.

An eye that can see all of time in an instant, sees only the loss of His precious children, and seeks to take that loss down to zero.  The disciples asked for signs in the gospel of Matthew chapter 24.  But Jesus seeks to keep hearts in a path that will lead to His Father.  Anything that would distract from that, are the conditions, the prophetic warnings, He must relay to us – in hopes that by telling us what is happening, and what will happen, we will be warned against the distractions and keep our eyes ever on Jesus alone.  He picks up relaying a series of events that span our world’s history but share a common theme.  It begins in verse 15 saying … “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:) [verse 16] Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:”  Matthew when he writes this gospel already sees signs in the exploding Christian Church of problems that were not apparent when Jesus spoke these words.

The “abomination of desolation” has meaning even in the days of Matthew.  For it will precede the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem.  But it is not, as his contemporaries will reason, the desecration of the Temple by Roman actions.  Nor is it, as we might reason, the condemnation of Jesus by the Temple priests and leadership.  It is a more insidious thing, a more cancerous virus, that spares not men, nor women, nor children.  It is an abomination of hearts.  It is the seeking of power over love, of hierarchy instead of one-on-one leadership by Jesus to every believer.  It is the attempt at making salvation personal, by taking personal control over it, wresting it away from the hands of Jesus, and placing it in our own.  Making statements that “we” must do “our part” before God will do His.  It is the ceding of a pure gospel of 100% dependence upon Jesus, with the insertion of self into every facet of the gospel.  We put self on the throne and bump Jesus into the “co-pilot” chair.  It is stone hearts that understand a lust for wealth, and are mystified at those who would give every penny they have for another in need. 

The abomination of desolation puts man ahead of God, and it comes in a variety of forms.  From the audacious who believes he is the “vicar” of Christ; to the Islamist who venerates Jesus as “great” but not God.  It happens in modern protestant churches as we proclaim our responsibility for ending sin, instead of looking for that from Jesus alone who is able to see it done.  That phrase, that fear of God, had meaning to Matthew, but it had meaning during the dark ages, and it still has meaning today.  It remains a desolation of hearts that should strike fear into us all.  For we are its target, and may well already be under its spell, looking away from Jesus for the things that only Jesus could ever see accomplished. 

Jesus begins with an answer to the original question the disciples asked, the destruction of the temple as He continues in verse 17 saying … “him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: [verse 18] Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. [verse 19] And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! [verse 20] But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:”  These words reflect a sudden desolation.  The destruction of the Temple foretold by Christ would come with devastating effect.   The Romans would march angry over continued Jewish attempts at rebellion, looking to forever crush the residents of the Holy Land.  They would kill everything they touched.  They were not there for mercy, they were there in an angry state of revenge.  No amount of blood would be enough.  So it is in that context that Jesus warns His believers not to prize belongings over their very existence.  Take what you have on you.  Trust me.  And flee for your lives.  He offers sympathy to those nursing mothers, and asks us to pray that it does not come in winter, or on Sabbath.

The destruction of the Temple would happen many years after His death.  And yet Jesus is still asking us to pray that the flight from it would not happen on Sabbath.  Clearly, Jesus still cared about His Holy day.  It was not nailed to a cross as some have conveniently tried to argue.  And all of the activities one would have to do while fleeing for their lives would prevent them from enjoying the Sabbath as it was intended with their God.  So if flight happened another day, it would be better.  Not happening in winter allows for the fact that the person in the field was to simply drop everything and run.  No time to get extra coats or clothing.  True believers in Jesus Christ have always faced persecution, and have generally always run from it.  The running has the side effect of spreading the gospel to new places and so in that sense not a horrible thing.  But Jesus tells us that persecution because we love is something we are going to face, it is the way of things.

Jesus then seems to look across time from that time to this and sees a common tragedy as He continues in verse 21 saying … “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. [verse 22] And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.”  There was great persecution in the days of Rome, enough to turn the color representing the church from white to red in John’s prophecies.  It would continue and get worse during the dark ages.  And if the world had not opened up by the discovery of the Americas it might have extinguished those who look only to Jesus all together.  So do these days of persecution still lie ahead of us, maybe.  But there is certainly enough of it behind us to hope it is now in our past until He comes.  One thing is certain though, the devil will not go quietly, so as time moves closer to the end, you can expect his fury to grow to match the fire of people truly beginning to rediscover what it means to encounter Jesus personally.

Jesus then goes back to His earlier warnings, that even while He looked over a wide span of time were still ever present.  He continues in verse 23 saying … “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. [verse 24] 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. [verse 25] Behold, I have told you before. [verse 26] Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. [verse 27] For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. [verse 28] For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.”

One of the biggest remaining fears for Jesus across all time, is our tendency to put man in the place of God.  From false folks who claim directly to be Christ, to false prophets powered by the dark side of the supernatural world.  Their signs and wonders are great, but their message similar, a distraction from Jesus.  For those who value a “show me” mentality looking for supernatural proof of God, these false leaders will have great appeal.  But it is not the great acts that change the thinking, or create passionate love where there was none before.  Those are responses to a still small voice that changes the heart of each of us as we submit ourselves to Jesus alone.  Humans are only distraction to that, especially humans we begin to follow in place of Jesus (or in partnership with Jesus).  At some point the vultures will gather over the corpses created by looking away from Jesus.  A fate Jesus wants every one of us to avoid.

It is the desolation of our hearts that comes from putting man between us and God.  Our pastors should be admired and supported in the work they do – but not as a supplement or replacement of Jesus Christ.  We should not look to our pastors for an example.  We should look to Jesus for transformation of “our” hearts.  It is our heart that is important.  Not a collective reference to the hearts of men, but our particular heart that is important to our God.  Yes He feels this passionate for each of us.  But that does not diminish how He feels about me, or you, or the loved ones around us.  Each one extremely important to Him.  Each one, a child He wants back.  A child He desperately does not want to lose.  Because He loves us just that much.  As we look through the lens of Jesus across time we see Him desperately fighting for His children.  To keep each of us locked on Him, and safe because of it.  Looking anywhere else is a surefire recipe for disaster.

But His counsel was not over yet …

 

The End is Near [part 2]; the irony of persecution ...

To earn hate, you must love.  Ever tried putting a square peg in a round hole?  There is an old children’s toy with multiple shaped holes, that fit matching pegs.  The goal is simple; match the physical piece in the hole on the board designed to fit only that piece.  Toddlers begin playing with this toy and as their brains grasp the concept, they begin trying different pieces in a hole, until they find a match.  Really smart toddlers can visualize which piece might fit in which hole.  And aggressive toddlers look for a hammer designed to solve every quandary by pounding it in.  The world at its core is not too much different than the simple board.  When you are a part of the world, in harmony with the world, the world understands you, and you understand it.  Everyone is just looking out for number one all the time.  But when you encounter Jesus.  Not the stories about Him, or even the scriptures about Him, but Jesus Himself, up close and personal in “your” life – “you” begin to change.  Over time, your shape (who you are, how you think, and how you love) is radically different than anything the world has to offer.  And so the world hates you for it.  While you were one of them, you were just fine with them, and they with you.  But become something else, something they do not understand, and you will earn their hate.

And as it happens the world is full of aggressive toddlers all dragging around sledge hammers they fully intend to use on you to pound you back into the world-shaped-holes that is the point of the game.  But there is another class of player you may not see coming.  As it happens, many churches, and many more church members claim to be Jesus shaped.  They know that, cause they did it themselves.  Honed off a rough edge here and there and now see themselves as the authentic Jesus shaped pieces.  But even a simple view of what the church looks like, and what the world looks like, is often so close you just cannot tell them apart.  And predictably the world has no problem with churches that are shaped just like they are.  And no old-timers (like me), I am not talking about electric instruments in worship music, and using drama on the pulpit.  This is not about style.  This is about substance.  Our hearts look alike.  A worldly husband loves his wife (for a while at least).  So does the church goer.  But they both call it quits at just about the same rate.  The worldly person takes a drink on rare social occasions (to fit in).  So do most church goers.  The “sins” of both are pretty much equal, and equally frequent.  The church-goer claims the promise of forgiveness (the only difference) – but it does not keep them from repeating the same mistakes over and over again.  Aggressive toddlers pass right by this church crowd, because they have no idea they are a church crowd.  They both live the same.

An encounter with Jesus changes all that.  The mind begins to change.  How you think begins to change.  And it is Jesus that re-creates you, not “you” doing anything to accomplish the change.  All you do is submit to Jesus.  The church crowd does not it do it that way, and so they look a lot like the world.  The church crowd does it for themselves.  And so they fail over and over again.  Giving up to Jesus does not makes sense to them.  Anyone who would do that must be evil in some way.  And that aggressive toddler who drags around the sledge hammer, turns out to be the member of your church sitting right beside you in the pew.  When you love, more than you judge, you start not fitting in at church either.  The transformation Jesus effects in you, saving you, from you – is just too much to take for most church goers entirely.  And for those of you who think I am exaggerating, or just church bashing, hang on to your hats, this is going to be a bumpy ride.  When the end is near, all of this was foretold, by Jesus.

Matthew continues his overview of the signs the disciples had asked for in chapter 24 of his gospel to his Hebrew contemporaries.  Picking up in verse 9 it continues saying … “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.”  This imagery is quite a bit more savage than an aggressive toddler dragging around a sledge hammer.  It is more like living in one of Saddam’s torture prisons, or finding your way into a horrific train to Auschwitz under Hitler.  We are to be hated.  But not just generic hate.  Hated because of Jesus’ name sake.  Tortured and killed over it.  If you don’t live under a threat of torture or death, you may think that is due to God’s blessing.  Perhaps it is.  But if no one seems to hate you, you have to ask yourself, are you really any different than anyone around you.  And if you are all the same, it might be why no one has the time to even think about you, let alone hate you.  After all, how much difference are you really making, the way you live today?  This is not about being different for different’s sake either.  It is about being different because the core of who you are has been remolded and remade by Jesus.  To the point where you live differently, and you think differently, and you love differently.  To earn hate, you have to love like Jesus does.  That is what would make you different enough not to be understood, or accepted, just like He faced.

Jesus continues in verse 10 saying … “And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.”  And so it begins.  The transition from the world to the church, and yet the same hate finds it way of expression even within church walls, and church hearts.  The world does not need to betray or hate its own, it is already living in a way to please self, at the expense of others if needs be.  But the church is supposed to be loving.  When supposed to be, is not reality, offended begins the road to betrayal ending in full blown hatred.  This is us folks.  Don’t look at your neighbor to find the culprit here, look in the mirror.  We judge, often extensively, before we even begin to speak or socialize.  The least little defect or sin discovered in our neighbor is cause to hold ourselves in higher esteem, and shun them for the sinners they are.  This thinking understands judgment, and the hypocrisy of righteous living, but not the transformative love that would make supposed-to-be line up with reality.  Love is stronger than judgment.  For it is love alone that can conquer evil in the first place, and the last place, in us.

Jesus gets even more direct with the church in verse 11 saying … “And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.”  The world is not endangered by false prophets per se, they are only looking to make a buck off of them.  But the church depends on prophets to light the way forward.  When a false prophet arises, the message behind them is inherently selfish, and therefore pleasing to many – thus adopted by many.  A message of loving others unconditionally and passionately looks “hard” to the untransformed heart.  In fact, it looks impossible.  And it is.  At least for a human to do it.  But for Jesus, that is just a no-brainer He does every second of every day for each and all of us.  The “ease” false prophets preach is appealing to hearts lined up with the world.  We all look for ease and comfort.  It is natural.  But for the transformed heart, there is no time for, or interest in ease, there is interest in seeing you next to me in kingdom of heaven.  If that causes me a little discomfort it is worth it.  In fact, if that takes everything I have, it is still worth it.  And so, only post transformation, does the new way of loving begin to impact a new way of thinking, that finds the message of the false prophet dangerous to souls.

Then Jesus boils down to the heart of the matter continuing in verse 12 saying … “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”  Ouch!!!  When sin abounds, love waxes cold.  When I try to fix myself, by deciding to be a good person, and then doing my best at it.  Iniquity continues to abound in me, and my love, my real love for others, waxes cold.  This result of failed self-salvation leaves me looking just like my worldly counterparts.  For all my religious “trying” I am no better than them.  This is because we love the same, think the same, and want the same things (most of it bad for us and others).  It is only my submission to Jesus that sparks a fire in me.  And the converse rule is also true.  When passionate love for others burns hotly through you from Jesus, sin is chased away.  Not just from your feet and hands, but from your hearts and desires and motives.  Change the core of who you are through submission to Jesus, and find love abounding and sin on the retreat because of it.  But that is not most of us.  At least not most of us today.  Too many (perhaps me included too often) are content to keep control of our own salvations, and thus watch our love wax cold in real time in our mirrors.  Just as foretold by the Savior we so desperately need.

But not all hope is lost as Jesus continues in verse 13 saying … “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”  Jesus did not fail, no matter how often you do.  And Jesus will not fail you, no matter how many times you might keep messing His victory up with your stupid.  Jesus truly is and forever will be the author and finisher of your salvation, your faith, and your re-creation.  For those who can humble themselves, relinquish the illusion of control, and turn over their own salvation to Jesus who does not fail, He will not fail.  The Kingdom of Heaven can begin immediately in the here and now for you, and grow every day until the end of all things.  That is way nearer than you might of thought.  This is not about the afterlife, this is about the now.  To be saved, is more than to be saved from fire, or death.  It is about being saved from the type of person you are now – barely distinguishable from the world.  It is about taking that personage of you dipped in sin, and re-creating it, infusing the passionate love of Jesus in your heart for others.  So much so, that you think differently, love differently, and start to have different priorities.  That is the gospel message.  Not the stories and parables – the real-life witness of Jesus in your heart every day.  Changing you from who you were, to who you will become.  “That” is the gospel.  To find living differently here and now and forever.

The stores in scripture were all written to introduce you to Jesus, who could then make them real, make them come alive in you.  Without the coming alive part in you, the rest is just words.  There is no gospel without your life as a witness of it.  Without “your” testimony of what Jesus has done in you, for you, perhaps in spite of you – the Bible is only a book other people may understand.  The power of the gospel is the power to actually change lives, yours, mine, anyone who hears it.  But better than to hear it, for anyone to see it come alive in you because of how much you truly love others (like only Jesus could).  That is the power of a gospel that must be preached.  Jesus concludes this section in verse 14 saying … “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

The world does not need your “church” or your denomination or even your doctrines.  It needs your love burning so brightly it forces them to turn their eyes to the same Jesus who turned your life around.  The world is in need of example, not speeches about possibilities of what could happen with Jesus, but realities lived every day because of Jesus.  That hate must face our love.  The hate will see that no physical pain, not even death, can cause a transformed heart to relent – because one taste of Jesus is worth everything else you ever had or will have.  There is a reason we will all cast our crowns at His feet and proclaim Him alone worthy.  It is because we are not worthy, nor will we ever be worthy.  But He loves us anyway.  And He will save us anyway.  Each of us from the person we messed up, to the person that only He can envision for us to become.  Once embarked on that journey; all persecution because of it is only ironic.  Because no amount of persecution would ever change in us what only Jesus could create in the first place.

It is this gospel that must be preached in all the world.  Not the concept of Jesus, but the reality of Jesus.  Not the judgment of the followers of Jesus always judging others and the world, but instead the passionate love of the followers of Jesus so steeped in love they begin to look like Him.  What that kind of love can do in the world is something we have yet to see - it could actually save it.  If those who dare to call themselves by His name would submit, and embrace that love, the world will turn over again.  The square peg round hole thing could hardly begin to describe what a difference that will be and perhaps is already becoming.

And Jesus was not done yet on looking forward …

 

Reaching Out [part two] ...

Ideology matters; perhaps never more than today.  What you believe will drive what you are willing to sacrifice for it.  And more dangerously, what you believe may strongly influence how much you are willing to make others suffer because they do not share your beliefs.  Belief underlies it all.  And our enemy is quick to introduce fear into that equation.  Combine fear and belief, and it is easy to believe others intend to persecute you for your own beliefs.  When you believe you might be persecuted, you form a defense against this persecution.  And a good offense is always a good defense, so belief and fear combine to drive violence into our world.  Whether threats are real or perceived becomes irrelevant.  The violence that ensues is measurable.  Perhaps this is why whenever our Lord introduced the supernatural of His Kingdom to mankind he always opens the greeting with “Fear Not”.

Where your willingness to inflict violence over your beliefs, becomes more important to you than traditional bonds of friendship and family … belief transcends reasonable boundaries and becomes fanaticism.  A fanatic puts his beliefs so high in importance, that even friendship and family must take a back seat.  Friendships of many years can be dissolved in an instant over a slight change in shared beliefs.  Churches split over them.  Cain kills Able over them.  Differences in our exact interpretation of beliefs cause us to cast aside friendships, a spirit of community, and even the blood bonds of family.  And in the mind of the fanatic, all of these must be sacrificed for the sake of what is more important.  Fanatics point to the words of Jesus on this matter, stating those who love parents or children more than they love Him are not worthy of Him.  But Jesus did not offer the example of committing violence against non-believers.  Rather Jesus offered us an example of redemptive love for ALL those who do not yet believe.  Yet the fanatic ignores anything in the narrative of scripture that countermands his beliefs and violent intentions, and passionately embraces any tittle of scripture that might support them, and so builds his ‘doctrinal epoch of cause’ to inflict violence where he sees fit.

The fundamentalist is a brand that has emerged in the last 50 years.  The fundamentalist is a unique and partial picture of the fanatic.  They wish a “return” to basic doctrines and are extremely passionate about these ideas.  However, their reactions range from pity & condemnation for those who do not share their beliefs; to outright violence against the unbeliever in order to prompt him to see the error of his ways.  If the unbeliever dies in the process, that is left to the will of God.  Islamic extremists tend to fall in the fundamentalist category.  But so do many Christians who are willing to kill over their beliefs, whether to defend themselves, or to “defend the faith”.  What separates the fundamentalist from the full-on-fanatic is the boundary of family-relationships.  When the fundamentalist is willing to discard, or remove, a family member over a dispute about beliefs – they have entered the domain of the fanatic.

You can see ranges of this in your own life, if we begin by talking about politics first.  Most solid friendships can endure a difference over presidential candidates and how they are doing.  Good friends just come to a place where they agree to disagree.  Or perhaps learn to enjoy a good round of debates where no one leaves angry.  Families usually do better at this still … but only because ‘they have to’.  The bonds of blood are way too important to lose over some idiot presidential candidate.  So each family member agrees to “forgive” the one who is “mis-informed” and they either don’t talk about it at all (so as not to get angry), or they reach a maturity level that allows them open discourse without taking it personally.  It is rare where a family is willing to break apart over a disagreement in politics.  Frankly, politics is just not that worth it.

But where it comes to your salvation (in a spiritual context); people do the stupidest things, in the worst ways imaginable – and then claim what they do is the direct will of God, as if God spoke to them and dictated the series of events and actions they must go do.  But God does not.  God does not whisper in the inquisitor’s ear; that in order to change this infidel’s thinking about religion, you need to continue torturing him/her in more and more severe ways.  If there is a voice in that ear, it is NOT the voice of the Lord.  Nor does God whisper in the voice of the ear of a self-described Muslim Martyr; that murdering the innocent will somehow send a “bigger” statement to infidels about how wrong they are.  Neither act accomplishes anything, but the degradation of the perpetrator.  And to ascribe these acts to the will of God is to blaspheme the name of God; yet the crime continues on every day in assorted variations until blasphemy is common place.

Even where minds are so made up; even where opinions rarely change they only harden; the commission of the gospel lives on.  The message of the arrival of the kingdom of God, and the entry through Jesus Christ lives on, remains relevant, and is still good news.  To live a better life in the here-and-now is still an awesome concept no matter how badly I have screwed up doctrines, or how fanatically I am wrong about so so many things.  That good news dwarfs the condemnation of my fundamentalism, and has the potential to restore the relationships with family and friends my craziness has broken apart.  My entire life could be so exponentially better through Jesus Christ, and His gift is so easy to accept.  Even though our internet jungle of ever hardening circles of judgement remain, the gospel is bigger, better, and more powerful than that. 

Jesus knew the weird beliefs systems we would face.  Jesus knew how beliefs devolve into fanaticism.  Jesus knew even His own religion would fall victim to this horror.  But the gospel had to go out still.  Matthew continues the counsel of Christ resuming in chapter ten of his gospel picking up in verse 16 saying … “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”  No matter what the level of violence raised against the follower of Christ, violence in return, is not the response.  This text is very specific that the gospel is not spread on the point of sword.  Inflicting violence does nothing to change hearts, only love does that.  Responding to threats is not couched in excellent defensive postures and weapons of self-defense, it is couched only in love for the enemy who means us harm.  Wisdom is a better method of avoiding problems, than violence.  Being harmless makes us less of a threat than a posture of strength.  Let the Lord be our strength instead.

Matthew continues in verse 17 saying … “But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; [verse 18] And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.”  Jesus predicts the fury of organized religion against the pure message of saving grace.  He does not assure us deliverance against these heinous crimes, rather that we will surely endure them for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of the redemption of the man carrying the whip.  His own religion, that is, the religion Jesus setup with Moses in the desert will be the first to unleash the satanic fury of fanaticism against the simple saving message of Jesus as the Messiah.  But religious persecution is not the only brand His followers would suffer.  Religion would unite with the power of the State to continue and expand persecution of the followers of Jesus.  In the years to come, the corruption within the legacy Jewish religion would find its way into the Roman Catholic halls and extend the reach of persecution against groups like the Waldensians, and other smaller segments of people who believed in the saving message of Jesus Christ, not the absolute control of the organized church.  “Who” saves you has always been the ultimate question, whether singularly Jesus Christ, or some version of people claiming to be His sole church.

Jesus then provides His followers with the ultimate defense attorney for the upcoming “trials” in which they will be accused falsely, picking up in verse 19 saying … “But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. [verse 20] For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.”  We are nothing better than a conduit for the Spirit of God.  And to be that, we must get out of the way.  Preparation, is NOT required.  In fact, it should be purposely avoided.  That takes trust.  That takes confidence that we will not be making a fool of ourselves when the time comes.  But the fool in us will remain silent, while the Spirit that enters us will speak with a clarity, and emotional pull, that ONLY the Spirit of God can accomplish.  It is the well prepared of us, that provides no outlet for His Spirit.  We are too busy talking ourselves to let Him get a word in edgewise.  And while we speak our own well prepared words, it is evident we are truly fools.  For Satan can out debate us any day of the week, but against His Spirit, Satan is moot, and irrelevant.

The core of this counsel relies on a faith in Jesus Christ to save us.  To save us from ourselves.  To save us from situations well beyond our control.  And in the process, to reach out to others, and point them to the salvation of Jesus Christ.  The goal is not to be saved in a vacuum, but to spread out the witness of salvation, of what it means to be saved, in a community that is so desperate to see those effects in themselves.  And we do it so poorly.  So perhaps it is time now, to be still, to remain unprepared, and let our words become His words.  And there is no audience who we would wish to reach more intensely than the members of our own families.  Sadly, they will not always be willing to hear.  And worse we may discover fanaticism in our own ranks against the concept of Jesus Christ and his gift of salvation.

Matthew continues in verse 21 saying … “And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death. [verse 22] And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.”  Family will rise against family from the inside.  The blood bonds that should bind us in tolerance and love, prove brittle in the face of salvation and the name of Jesus Christ.  Our own families prefer agnosticism, they prefer methods of self-salvation, they prefer a nebulous god who can be reached through a variety of methods certainly not only through the Jesus Christ our silly scriptures describe.  Sad to think, that one sect of purported Christians, would turn in another, over doctrinal disputes of the how the remainder of scripture (outside of Jesus) is interpreted.  But that is our history, and will remain our future.  Power carries great allure, and once intoxicated with it, fanaticism is easy to achieve, even if at the death of a family member.  Keep in mind, the true followers of Jesus Christ are the victims our Lord describes … not the perpetrators.  If “Christians” turn anyone over to be killed, they blaspheme the name they carry.  Also keep in mind, our Lord does not promise us deliverance against the deaths our own families and the state and the corrupted churches would visit upon us.  Not everyone will get away, or find escape.  Some will die, perhaps many.  But to endure until the end is to keep our faith grounded in Jesus for our salvation, if not in this world, then in the far more important next one.

Matthew continues in verse 23 saying … “But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.”  Our response to persecution is to flee, not to confront it violently.  But the second half of this verse always stirs up controversy in its interpretation.  On the surface, it looks as though once the gospel is spread to all the cities of Israel (in the time of Christ), that the Son of Man will return in His second coming.  But it does not say that.  It says that He will “be come”.  Keeping in the mind the timing of this commission, and the quickly spreading fame of Jesus Christ at the time.  What may have been meant, is that the Son of Man will complete His mission for our salvation, and “be come” back to the throne of His Father.  It is natural for us to read this from our own perspective, and want so bad for the words “be come” to mean “returned to take us home”.  But the facts on the ground obviously dispute that, and we know Jesus is not a liar.  Therefore our understanding must be off, and another meaning must have been intended.

Matthew continues in verse 24 saying … “The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. [verse 25] It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?”  Look at the history of reformation within the church, any church.  When Jesus entered the house and religion of Israel, they called our God, Satan.  When Luther stood up in the Catholic church, his reputation was the first thing to suffer.  When the youth of our own churches rise, to embrace the homeless, or meet their peers where they are with the things they may be used to.  We, the organized body, the elders, the established and traditional members of the church, ALWAYS shun what is new, or what is different, of what looks “unholy” to us.  Just as the Pharisees of old did to Jesus.  Just as the Catholic leadership did to Luther.  Just as you and I do to our youth, fearing they bring the world into the church.  Odd that the results of the Spirit of God are always condemned as the workings of Satan, by those who profess to follow Jesus, but seem to have no real idea who Jesus is.

But conspiracy is no match for the Holy Spirit.  Matthew continues in verse 26 saying … “Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. [verse 27] What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.”  The quiet conspiracies to put Jesus to death are now revealed as part of our scriptures for all to see.  The quiet betrayal of Judas revealed to everyone.  The denials of Peter reprinted in the light of day.  The hypocrisies of the Catholic church over the centuries, obsessed more with the power of popes, than the saving power of Jesus Christ.  And in our day, the quiet conspiracies that take place in government halls, or church board meetings, where the interests of power or financial gains are the number one priority; they will again be revealed for all to see, in the failures that are sure to accompany them.  Jesus is not interested in maintaining our earthly wealth, and even less in granting us power.  Jesus is interested in developing our sense of humble service, and our hearts to be willing to part with everything we own, for the sake of another’s benefit.  The former only distracts from the latter, and so it will be revealed for the folly it is.

Matthew continues in verse 28 saying … “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. [verse 29] Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. [verse 30] But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. [verse 31] Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.”  The message of the gospel is at war with the natural inclinations of the human heart.  Our embrace of sin made this so, and continues to make this so.  It is the power of Jesus, that can override what we would naturally want, and what we would naturally do.  That is the power of salvation.  What our opposition is prepared to do, the level of fundamentalism they will claim as justification for what violence they wish to inflict, is not a matter for us to fear.  The tragedy that fanaticism is willing to impose is not a matter for us to fear.  For our Lord sees all.  He knows us so intimately that He knows how many hairs sit upon our heads (even when that number is in constant decline 😊).  Our salvation rests in His hands not our own.  It is that message that Satan wishes to cover up.  He does not want the name of Jesus Christ spread he wants it silenced.  Killing a messenger does not accomplish that.  But altering a follower’s philosophy to be one of self does do the trick.

Satan has no need to silence a follower of Jesus who has no personal testimony to share.  Satan has no need to torture a “Christian” who is already very busy attempting to drive the sin from themselves, and from their desires.  They are already torturing themselves with their own failure.  And one day, they will reach of point of repeated failures until they give up, and advise others to do the same.  Satan could care less about the body, it is the permanence of the soul he is after.  Directing us away from Jesus Christ gives him a chance at getting that ultimate prize.  This is how the soul is destroyed.  It is not the ultimate fires that will do the work of destruction.  The destruction will happen long before, at the tips of our own fingers as we refuse to give Jesus our salvation, and hold on to it instead ourselves.  It was always the introduction of self into Christianity that Satan has long sought.  Do some amount of good deeds.  Give away some amount of money.  In effect, buy your salvation by the strength of your own hands and intentions.  He sold the lie to Cain, and continues to sell it to us.  And too many, who do not know Jesus personally yet, are avid consumers of this lie, to the destruction of their own souls.  That is worth fearing.

But even then Jesus says we need not fear, for our salvation is based in Jesus Christ, and not ourselves.  And the counsel for outreach was not concluded yet …

 

Union of Church and State ...

Is freedom for real, if I cannot pray, where and when I want to?  Prayer after all, is deeply personal, it is a private, often silent, conversation between myself and my God.  I do not ask others to join, and I do not compel them to.  So if I am unable to pray a blessing over my food, simply because I am in a restaurant in public, am I really still free?  There is no law preventing my expression of prayer in this public place as yet, at least here in the U.S..  Am I still free to pray in my office at work, behind a closed door, and perhaps only with others of like mind – has praying in the workplace taken a step too far?  Why then, if in my home life, at meals, and even at work, if I am free to pray; that I am restricted from praying in buildings and at events where my tax dollar is hard at work?  Why am I not free to pray in schools, or universities, particularly if I do not compel others to do so?

It is as if common sense has been a casualty of modern life.  I pray in my car all the time.  I find it actually an awesome place for prayer as I am usually alone, alert, and able to hold down a conversation (or request session as they too often are) with my God.  “How” I pray is altered, to accommodate the situation driving presents.  My eyes are wide open.  I pay attention to what I am doing.  Just as if I had a passenger sitting beside me.  I easily hold conversations with a human passenger.  I see no distinction with holding a conversation with God.  But, if using common sense, I become too distracted from talking in my car, then as the lives of others are equally at risk, I need to stop talking.  It doesn’t matter whether the person I am talking with is sitting beside me, at the other end of a cell phone, or in heaven above me.  We don’t need a law that forbids me to pray in my car.  Common sense should govern that decision.  And as it happens, very little distracts me while driving (and I drive like a typical old man, at or below the speed limit, and in no particular hurry to get anywhere).

So if we could simply rely upon common sense, I am certain there is a way to accommodate the beliefs of everyone in our schools, not forcing any participation, or denying it either.  Our freedoms should not tolerate the denial of our religious beliefs; BUT and this is a bit BUT; they should not compel them either.  My Atheist friends have just as much right to avoid participation in my prayers, as I do to offer them on their behalf.  My Muslim, Buddhist, or Jewish friends have just as much right to pray in the matter that suits them, with or without my choice to participate, as I do, to pray to Jesus Christ (again on their behalf, J and my own).  Common sense could find a way to make this work, and keep everybody happy.  But where common sense fails, is when any one group asserts dominance over another.  When followers of Jesus begin to think their prayers, and beliefs, are more important than those of other citizens, we get into all sorts of problems (and vice versa).

So instead of using common sense, and courtesy, to govern how we interact in public, we run amok in extremes.  Atheists declare no one can pray anywhere near them, in places where government tax dollars are hard at work.  This is an assertion of dominance.  But is it also an assertion of fear?  What has happened when instead of common sense, the church, that is to say the “right” church has unified with political or legal purpose?  And further what happens when that union represents the majority opinion?  You do not need to look back at the conditions that sparked religious pilgrims to run to our nation to see what religious oppression does.  Nor do you need to look at what history calls the “dark ages” when Catholicism elected to burn what it could not control.  There was a far worse time, a far worse event.  It was something Peter witnessed personally, and transcribed to John Mark in his gospel in chapter fifteen.

Picking up in verse 1 saying … “And straightway in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council, and bound Jesus, and carried him away, and delivered him to Pilate.”  The traditions of the feast frown on stoning this week.  And should the Sanhedrin have stoned Jesus, they would have had to take the sole responsibility for both trying Jesus in their kangaroo court, and killing Him personally with His blood on their stones.  Stoning Jesus, which was in their rights to do as permitted by the Roman Empire, might also spark an upheaval by the people at large.  Should the common people find them doing this horrific deed, the Sanhedrin itself might have gotten the stones.  So guilt, must find a way to kill Truth, and not be seen doing it. 

The Jews did then, what was unthinkable to do.  They delivered a Rabbi, The Rabbi, over to the Romans for Him to be killed.  Imagine how far their hypocrisy had taken them.  They hated Jesus because He did not conform to their authority.  Their version of scripture, demanded that the Messiah, conquer the Roman world, and setup a permanent Jewish Kingdom that would never fall again.  Jesus clearly had no intentions of doing this.  Jesus would not feed the hatred of Jews against the Romans.  Jesus never did a single act that would support rebellion, even against a pagan government, that was horrifically oppressive to His own people.  But then Jesus saw Romans with the same love He was Jews.  And this was unthinkable to the children of Abraham.  They had long lost any love for those who oppressed them, or those who did not believe like them, or those who simply had the misfortune of being born of different nations.  In short, they had universal hate, and very narrow love – but they were in the right religion, using the right Bible, and worshipping the right God (just not His Son).

Being in the right religion is no defense against a hateful heart.  Only transformation of hearts is a defense against hate, and only Jesus offers to do this work for us, for all of us, or each of us.  It is the transformed heart that loves its enemy, not seeks power over its enemy.  The Jews had decided that they must unite with Rome, even if only briefly, in order to kill Christ.  The Jews sought (and would find), the power of the Roman state, to end the life of the Messiah everyone had so long waited for.  But then, being the right religion is no defense against union with the power of the state.  Having the right Bible is no defense.  The only defense against union with the state, is a heart that loves.  This they lacked.  So history records, what it always records when Christians seek the power of politics – namely their downfall and failure.  And it begins with Jesus, and what a united Religion and State did to Him.

John Mark continues in verse 2 saying … “And Pilate asked him, Art thou the King of the Jews? And he answering said unto him, Thou sayest it.”  Pilate begins his examination of Jesus from an entirely different angle than the religious zealots who delivered Him there.  Pilate is concerned with only one thing; will Jesus oppose the authority of the Roman Empire.  He asks Jesus about His Kingship, but how Jesus acts, how He speaks, and what He says, gives no indication that He is any kind of threat to Rome.  In point of fact, His entire ministry has never been a threat to Rome, not once, not ever.  Conversely, when Roman officers sought the miracles of Jesus for their own families, they found them.  Jesus did not restrict His love for the Roman people, He flooded them with it, even soldiers of Rome, with Jewish blood upon their hands.  And financially, Jesus did not disrupt Roman taxes, He turned crooked tax collectors into honest ones.  Jesus publicly declared that Roman silver belonged to Caesar, that the hearts of men was what He was looking for, not their wallets, or wealth, which mattered not at all.

Pilate immediately senses what this is all about.  Julius Caesar, whose namesake had been preserved in Roman culture, was also betrayed by those who were jealous of his power and popularity with the common people.  John Mark continues in verse 3 saying … “And the chief priests accused him of many things: but he answered nothing. [verse 4] And Pilate asked him again, saying, Answerest thou nothing? behold how many things they witness against thee. [verse 5] But Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate marvelled.”  The Sanhedrin, the chief among them, then hurl every accusation against Jesus they think will anger Pilate, complete lies designed to make Pilate want the blood of Jesus.  For the church is never honest with the state, it lies to accomplish its goals.  It exaggerates, it omits, it manipulates truth, in order to kill The Truth, and nothing has changed in 2000 years.  Those in whose hearts are found hate, still hate today, for love does not seek power.

The Truth needs no defense.  It needs no defender.  God is self-evident.  Pilate looks at what is going on, he sees through the baseless and contradictory accusations designed to make him want the blood of Christ, but no such desire is found in him.  What develops instead is a state of marveling, as Jesus remains silent at the lies told about Him.  He does not counter the arguments of those bent on His destruction.  He does not yell back at them.  He does not try to hit back at them.  He does not use His vastly superior intellect to reveal to all “who” they truly are, as opposed to who He is.  Humans invariably do this.  Humans do this particularly when their life is on the line, and Jesus’ life was in the hands of Pilate.  Jesus should have been yelling.  He was not.  He said nothing.

How often modern Christians feel the need to defend God, and their own doctrines, at the point of the sword.  They have missed the lesson of redemption, of love that would remain gentle unto death.  Instead they use every story of violence in scripture (taking them out of context), and add a phrase, an eye for an eye, and feel justified in hating or killing what must naturally hate and kill them.  Satan was never going to change; it is why he is Satan.  The world was never going to love Christians; the world by definition does not know Christ.  The defense against the world, and against Satan, is not the sword, but a heart that loves unto death.  The martyrs of the past did more to spread the gospel than the wars to defend it.  Wars and killing in the name of God, only destroy the name and image of God, giving no one a reason to serve Him.  But a God who is willing to die so that I may live, a God (and His people) who love that much, give even that hardest enemy a reason to think twice, look again, and find what those people have.  Pilate is completely convinced.

John Mark continues in verse 6 saying … “Now at that feast he released unto them one prisoner, whomsoever they desired. [verse 7] And there was one named Barabbas, which lay bound with them that had made insurrection with him, who had committed murder in the insurrection. [verse 8] And the multitude crying aloud began to desire him to do as he had ever done unto them.”  Pilate has now decided to change tactics.  He is going to play some legal trickery of his own.  Pilate selects the most heinous criminal that the Jews are likely to hate.  Barabbas not only attempted insurrection against Rome, he murdered Jews in the process.  The idea of “no witnesses” is not a new one.  And what is more, the people of Jerusalem were aware of his crimes.  Pilate reasons that if Barabbas is made free his killing spree will resume.  Any witnesses against Barabbas (of which certain of the Sanhedrin were bound to be guilty) would have their own lives at risk.  Comparing Jesus, who does not kill or hate, against Barabbas who is sure to kill and hate, even Jews, perhaps particularly certain Jews who aided in his capture or trial – would be an easy choice.

Mark continues in verse 9 saying … “But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews? [verse 10] For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy. [verse 11] But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them.”   Even at the risk of their own lives, or at the risk of the lives of their people, the Sanhedrin wanted Jesus dead over Barabbas.  They inspire the people to ask for Barabbas.  But they are not alone in their work.  Satan is in attendance, as he often is when hatred is triumphing over love.  Demons come as well.  They move through the crowd delighted at the spectacle of hate on display.  They revel in the irony of having Jesus, the Son of God, standing in a mob of His own creations, bent on killing Him.  They add their screams to the mix, making the noise deafening, but decided.

John Mark continues in verse 12 saying … “And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews? [verse 13] And they cried out again, Crucify him. [verse 14] Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him.”  Pilate offers the nation of Israel 3 chances to avoid what is done to Christ.  He offers Jesus as an alternative to Barabbas.  He asks what should be done to Jesus after that, which is an opportunity to release Him outright yet again.  He then challenges the mob asking why, what evil has He done.  Three times the right religion could have changed its mind, regarding the killing of The Truth, but it did not.  It cried for blood all the louder.  The cries for blood that come from hate only get louder, in His day, or in ours.  Yet even still Jesus makes no defense, or does not try to out yell the mob.

This section concludes in verse 15 saying … “And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.”  Pilate makes one last effort, as distasteful as it is to him.  He has Jesus scourged unto death, one lash short of death.  In this act, he hopes to inspire sympathy in the eyes of the mob, in the eyes of the Sanhedrin.  But they will not be denied.  They see the pain, the suffering, but they are un-moved.  Instead of a release from the final punishment, this calculated risk fails, and only adds to the punishment.  When later unions of church and state arise, the pain is seen by all, and ignored by all.  People of conscience who believe differently than the majority are tortured and killed in front of many witnesses, and no compassion prevents it.  Compassion becomes yet another casualty of this union, for it thrives on hate alone, hate at the darkest purposes of its heart, hate where only Satan sees.

It seems a long way from my ability to pray at a school or university event, and a driving hate that would kill my Lord.  Christians do not see the path, or connect the dots.  Instead the mantra of our day, is that Christianity is under attack.  As if Captain Obvious had nothing better to say.  Of course Christianity is under attack; it will always be under attack, but it is under attack from within more than it will ever be from outside.  The temptation to crave power, and seek it as a defense, is not a relief from attack, it is a magnification of attack.  The only true defense is love, a love without limits, or preconditions.  A love that is not an excuse for sin, but an escape from sin.  The transforming power of the Love of Jesus on the heart, is the only antidote for a world filled with hate, that would do its best to inspire the same within us.

If perhaps we can resurrect common sense, and learn the lost art of courtesy, then let our love drive us to pray when and where and how it is needed.  Perhaps our love will allow us to be more tolerant.  Perhaps our love will inspire us to look first to the redemptive needs of our neighbors, and we will find a way to be seen for what we are … the followers of Jesus, who are known for extreme love, and a constant quiet connection with Him.

 

Three Beasts [part two] - The Rise of Blasphemy ...

In a war between good and evil, there was to be a three pronged attack by the enemy of souls.  First there was to be a direct assault on heaven itself.  Next would be an attempt to control the conscience of men and kill any that would not comply.  Finally the plan would be to control commerce, and simply starve or kill those who would not comply.  Control is the name of the enemy’s battle plan.  Control has always been his mantra.  Death has always been his tool to achieve compliance.  To avoid his penalty all one need do is make a gesture of humility to his supremacy.  It has always been thus.  In the wilderness after Christ had gone without food or water for 40 days, after he was emaciated and nearly dead from His human frailty, it was in His worst condition that the evil one would come to Him with 3 temptations.  Turning stones into bread, or throwing Himself from a high point would have been for Him to “prove” His divinity by using His power, but for Himself not others.  The first 2 tests were ones of identity.  Prove who you are.  Scripture was cited as justification for these taunts, as a reason to do what was suggested.  The first two temptations would have had the Creator deny who He was, through a misuse of power upon Himself.  The third temptation was the last one, and the last one to come upon us all.  A simple gesture of humility to the authority of Satan who rules this world; for Christ he promised to transfer ownership without the hard path of choosing to die.  For us, he promises to allow us to retain our lives and live any way we wish, once we publicly acknowledge “who” is in charge.  Though it begs the question … of what value is the promise of a liar?

A challenge to our identity; a challenge to “who” we acknowledge as our leader publicly, this is the game plan of the enemy of souls at the end of all things.  John begins to reveal his battle plans in chapter 12 of his book of Revelations as the first of three beasts is revealed.  The first to emerge is the dragon.  The dragon is Satan himself.  In our previous study we learn the dragon persecutes the woman for a period of 1260 years.  The dragon and his angels make an all-out assault on heaven itself, a war that occurs in heaven, where he is defeated by Michael and his angels and cast out, no more to be in heaven accusing the brethren before God both day and night.  The sanctuary is cleansed from the stench of his accusations.  Our salvation arrives through the strength of the blood of the Lamb.  The first assault on heaven itself has failed.  The first beast has not been successful.  He will need allies.  He will need help.  He has only one species upon which he can use his corrupting influence, the species of men.  So the dragon must raise up allies in his war, and so begins John’s revelations in chapter 13 of his book.  He outlines the battle plan of the enemy, the three beasts intended to bring victory to the cause of the enemy of souls.

John begins in verse one … “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. [verse 2] And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.”  In round one, the dragon has only recently been defeated and cast out of heaven with his entire evil angelic army for a second and final time.  Round two now begins.  John watches a new beast arise from the sea, from the vast amount of people in the earth.  The characteristics of this beast are nearly identical to the characteristic of the dragon himself.  The dragon had seven heads, so does this one.  The dragon had ten horns, so does this one.  The dragon only had seven crowns, but this beast has ten.  Then come the other differences, whereas the dragon is the top of the food chain in the animal kingdom, this beast is composed of elements to make him as fierce as possible.  However he is unable to be simply another dragon.  The dragon himself reserves the right to remain at the top of his kingdom.  So this beast is built like a leopard for stealth and speed, with feet of a bear that carry claws that can climb and tear away enemies.  He has the mouth of a lion, both to speak and to consume any who defy him.

But the last characteristics of this beast are the most telling of the plans of the enemy.  The dragon “gave him his power”.  The power of this beast is a gift, not of God, but of the dragon.  The dragon also gives him “his seat”, or his throne, or the location from which his kingdom will emerge.  Lastly the dragon gives him “great authority”.  This beast will not simply be a king of a single kingdom.  If he were, he might simply be just a bear, or a leopard, or a lion.  Instead this beast has parts of many types of animals all composed into one.  His authority will not simply be over one group or type of people, but instead will be great, and will span many groups or types of people.  His seat will be recognized by many peoples and kingdoms not just one.  His authority will span borders.  And all of these characteristics have their origin from the dragon himself.  It is the dragon who establishes this beast.  This beast is a tool, an ally of the dragon – he is NOT the creation of our God.  Of course, when Satan approached Christ with his temptations, he did not reveal himself as who he was – choosing rather to appear as an angel of light.  When Satan comes to us, he does so in disguise.  If our choice was laid out before us clearly between good and evil, we might just choose good.  This is not an outcome he will allow.  Therefore he presents us with choices that look nearly the same – the best of two evils, or six to one / half dozen to the other.  Many paths to God, all we need do is to choose one.  You get the idea.  The real choice between good and evil is obfuscated by intent so we are unable to pick the right one.

John continues to detail the plans of the enemy in verse 3 … “And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.”  John chronicles the history of this new beast, keeping in mind it had seven heads, one of them is wounded to death.  One head is removed, but six remain.  If one was to truly attempt to kill this beast, all of its heads might need to be removed, its entire power structure might need to be taken down.  But to only kill one leader when others remain in place, does not achieve the desired effect.  The deadly wound was healed, and “ALL the world” wondered after the beast.  The power and authority of this beast is again cited as universal, not simply limited to one kingdom or region or empire.  The characteristics that identify to us a corrupt system of power and authority begin to emerge.

John continues in verse 4 … “And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?”  At last, the dragon reaps the rewards of his intentions since he became who he is.  Those who follow the beast find themselves worshipping the dragon behind the beast.  Through the worship of the new beast, they by default are worshipping the old dragon; for this beast is the creation of the dragon, and this beast was “given” his power by the dragon.  His power is so great it causes men to exclaim “Who is like unto the beast?”  and again on a similar theme express “Who is able to make war with him!”.  This is the gesture of humility the dragon has always sought.  This is the acknowledgement of “who” is in charge he has always fought for.  It comes from men, as they witness the power of the beast and the authority he has been given.  Despite receiving a deadly wound, he is healed.  And it is after his healing that there is universal recognition and amazement at his authority across the earth.  Indeed it might be easy to wage war against a single kingdom, but how does one wage war with an enemy that is already within your borders, as well as the borders of all your neighbors?

John continues in verse 5 … “And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.”  The identity of this beast is coming into view ever clearer.  The element of time is added to this revelation in the form of 42 months, or 3.5 years, or 1260 days, or time – times – and half a time.  This beast has its hay-day, it has its primary power during the same period when the dragon pursues the woman into the wilderness.  A mouth is given to speak “great things”.  Proclamations from this beast emerge, and carry weight across the entire world.  What this beast says cannot easily be ignored.  Its sayings are carried across borders and affect people in all nations.  What any given king may proclaim has effect within their own borders, but outside of them, has little impact.  Not so with this beast, the great things he speaks are carried into kingdoms across the earth.  But with the proclamations come blasphemies.  Blasphemy is when one assumes the authority that only belongs to God.  Satan blasphemes when he looks for worship that only belongs to God.  He blasphemes when he demands our worship.  So this beast acts the same way.  This beast looks for our worship to go to him, instead of to God.  This beast proclaims himself worthy of worship that only belongs to God.  This beast proclaims his authority is equal to that of God, and in so doing proclaims blasphemy to the world.  When taken together with the time element of the dark ages, only one power fits the characteristics of this beast.

John continues in verse 6 … “And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.”  The blasphemy or claims of equivalency with God are targeted at His name, and His tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.  To require men to divert their worship from the only God who is heaven, to those who walk this earth blasphemes the name of God.  To require men to prostrate themselves in “holy” sites built upon the earth, and pay homage to buildings dedicated to the worship of the beast blasphemes the true tabernacle that is built in heaven alone.  To require men to pay homage to likenesses of saints, or angels, or even of Christ is to blaspheme those that dwell in heaven.  We are not to worship our fellow saints, or angels, but Christ alone – not in the form of stone, wood or canvas, but in spirit and in truth.  To divert worship away from God and on to the beast is the blasphemy this beast undertakes.  He could not hope to achieve this feat if it were clearly revealed as to what he was doing.  Instead he must use old tricks.  He must come in the form of an angel of light, in disguise, quoting scripture and misusing the word of God to affect what he desires.  If the choices were made clear, we might choose against his evil, and that outcome is not something he can allow.

John continues in verse 7 … “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.”  Persecution against the true saints begins.  Persecution that is successful.  He simply kills those who dissent.  They are forced to hide in the wilderness or be killed.  The persecution of the saints, the war against the true followers of God, takes place not in just one land, but in all of them.  The power of this beast extends over “ALL kindreds, tongues, and nations”.  The same time frame in which the dragon pursues the woman or church of God into the wilderness, is the same time frame in which the tool of the dragon makes universal proclamations, blasphemes, and persecutes the true followers of God.  The war against the true followers of Christ is waged across the globe, anywhere there is true worship occurring.

John continues in verse 8 … “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”  The results are staggering. All that dwell upon the earth worship this beast under threat of death.  We are forced to deny our identity as belonging to God and worship this false god.  But for the mercy of our Lord, all would be lost.  But for the interference of God, we would LOSE this fight.  It requires a Savior to be saved.  The Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world, who chose to die for us, even before He created us, has a book of Life.  Those who would choose to follow Jesus Christ alone, and look to Him for salvation as its only source, find their names written in this book of Life.  Our names are not written there without our consent, or our choice, but only as we allow God to place them there.  As we choose to follow Jesus Christ alone, as we assent only to His authority, we become followers of Jesus Christ.  We become part of His true church.  And as such, our names are written in the book of Life.  Martyrs in this world we may be, but servants of the Most High we find ourselves as well.

John continues in verse 9 … “If any man have an ear, let him hear. [verse 10] He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.”  John then offers wisdom regarding the irony of the condition of this beast.  He that leads into captivity will go into captivity.  Those would attempt to compel the conscience of men, find their own conscience has been compelled.  Those would attempt to enslave others into a false system of worship away from the true God, have themselves already been enslaved.  Those who would kill with the sword, must in like manner be killed with the sword.  War gives birth only to more war.  Killing gives birth only to more killing.  This is the fallacy of the government of Satan, it is built upon a foundation of death that leads to only more death.  Death itself becomes the only relief from the pain this existence carries with it.  But the patience and faith of the saints realizes the fallacy of Satan, and will NOT be compelled to join it.  Patience in the face of suffering.  Faith in the face of unbelief and blasphemy.  Those who put their trust in Jesus Christ, find they are saved, not from the pain of this world, or death that is inherent in our current existence.  But those who trust in Jesus Christ to save them, find themselves saved from the evil that lies within us.  We are given a life that begins here, and has no end in the next reality.  The beast can do nothing to alter this course.  For our Savior is truly our savior.

When considering the time frame in which the power of this beast is at its pinnacle, and combined with the characteristics John reveals to us in these texts, the only power that meets these descriptions is the Papal power that emerged during the dark ages.  It is the power and quest for power of this system that causes it to become the beast.  The main goal of the dragon is control.  Those who would use religion to exert power over other men have always been firm members of the dragon’s organization.  They exist is many more faiths than just that of Catholicism.  Islam honors its prophets to the point of killing those who defame them in any way.  Cults are generally founded on the charisma of the leaders and require strict devotion from any who offer themselves to it.  And there is many a Protestant preacher who looks to enrich himself with the offerings of his parishioners with no concern to their spiritual welfare or his own.  When religion is used as a form of control, power is gained, and power is the tool of the dragon.

This is not a condemnation of those who adhered to the Catholic faith during the dark ages.  Nor is it a condemnation of those who believe in the Catholicism of today.  Instead it is a much broader condemnation of any who would seek to compel the conscience of others away from Jesus Christ and on to any other alternative.  Most chilling of all is our tendency to divert worship from God and on to the works of our own hands.  We have no time, or make no time, to serve God or others, instead electing to serve only ourselves or our families.  When we act to exert pressure upon others, to co-opt their morality and force them to adhere to our own, we act as agents of the dragon in this time and in any other.  We blaspheme God by diverting worship away from Him, thinking ourselves as equal in importance to God.  We do this when we believe our salvation is achievable through the power of our own will, our own actions, our own ideas and interpretations of scripture.  Salvation comes from Jesus Christ alone.

The Catholic system of the dark ages sought to alter that premise.  They enacted a series of proclamations that diverted attention away from Jesus Christ, and sought to uplift the Catholic church as equal in the mission of our salvation.  To pay financial remunerations for entrance into paradise, is to make the kingdom of heaven a whore.  To change His day of worship and alter His laws no matter what the motive, is to take the authority that only belongs to God to one’s self.  To worship and give reverence to great works of art, in lieu of serving only our unseen God is to blaspheme those in heaven and break the commandments of God.  To persecute those who do not share our beliefs, and kill those who would dissent, is to take on the character and power of the dragon in his cause.  Love is the ally of God, hate and control are not in His arsenal.  For us to believe we are equal with God, whether by divine proclamation, or by how our lives are lived always serving the man in the mirror, is to blaspheme against God.  We are NOT His equal.  We are NOT worthy of worship or honor in any form.  There is but one who is worthy of worship.  He alone is our Creator.  He alone is able to outline His laws, His precepts, and His scriptures.  To obey is due only to Him, not our fellow man, or ourselves.  We cannot alter His laws, as we cannot alter the definition of what it means to love others.  When we seek to supplant His ideas with our own, we become part of the dragon.  When we submit to Jesus Christ alone, the dragon has no power over us.

But there was to be one more beast and form of attack to come before the end …