Palm Sunday- A Prophetic End

        Each of the four gospels is designed to proclaim Jesus, and Who He is. Yet we find our Lord telling people to not go out and tell other people who He was after He had healed them and gave them the gospel. Why was this so? What was the reason Christ shut people down and instructed them to not tell others who He was?

            There were three types of occasions with people that Jesus instructed and commanded them not to broadcast to the local community who He was and what healing he had performed on them. If Jesus wished for the people to believe on Him, why would He not allow others to confess Who He is? Is it that Christians talk too much? Sometimes they do and sometimes not enough when it comes to exposing sin not just of others but of one’s own. Could this mean that Jesus may have had doubts about who He was?

            As a side note for instance, the church and moral leaders need to speak out more forcibly on the issue of police brutality toward unarmed black men. They have become judge, jury, and executioner for a simple misdemeanor infraction of the law, which does not carry or require the taking of a life on the part of the policeman. This is a “moral” issue and not a political one.

            The first people Jesus shut down were the demons. The second set of people commanded to be shut down were the people who were involved in being healed, who may not understand who He is, but who do have a story to tell about what He has done (Mark 1:44). Compare this healing to (Mark 5:43). The third set of people commanded to be shut down were His own disciples (Mark 8:30; 9:9).   Each of these situations has a different explanation. After having followed Christ around for some time and observed His healing and preaching, Peter and the disciples were able to confess Christ in (Mark 8:29). Their understanding was far from perfect when it came to Christ going to the cross. However, the obedience of the disciples kept them and Christ safe for awhile. The title of “Christ” or “Messiah” was a dangerous one. It would immediately excite people’s preconceived imagination about what the figure of Jesus was supposed to do given their misconception about the Messiah being a warrior to overthrow the Roman government. The title would make Jesus out to be to the Romans a rebel leader. And it would close people off to Jesus’ own self-definition of His role. Because of this Jesus always referred to Himself the “Son of Man, which simply means “human being.” However, in Daniel 7:13, the term Messiah means “One who receives power from God.” This meaning would put Christ in direct conflict with the Roman government and would make Him an opposing king or ruler against the Roman government which is something Rome would not stand for. This is the pressure Jesus did not want from Rome until He has completed His Father’s mission - to die for all mankind and offer us a gift to live eternally with Him (John. 14:2). So, He told His disciples not to say anything about His identity until He had “risen from the dead.”

            The people Jesus healed were another matter. Jesus was not looking for a following as a “wonder worker” (Mark 5:41-43). Jesus was looking forward to receiving lots of funeral requests. This would divert Him away from His major work. Jesus did not come to heal, but to preach the good news of the gospel. Healing was incidental to Jesus’ authentication as being the true Son of God, who has the power of God. So, he gave strict orders to the people not to let anybody know about Him raising a girl from the dead. It was Jesus’ intention to draw all the attention to God giving Him the credit, and not Himself.

            The mad man living in the graveyard in Gerasa couldn’t contain himself after he was healed went way beyond the community to talk about his healing. This excess publicity caused Jesus much problem (Mark 6:31). People who needed to see Jesus could not get to Him because of the excess crowd who was there just for the viewing and not healing.

            Jesus shuts down the demons. The teachers of the Jewish law associated Jesus with Beelzebub, “the prince of demons” (Mark 3:22). Any conversation with demons and receiving testimony from them would give the impression that Jesus had a relationship with them and thus encourage His followers to accept testimony from demons about the Son of God. This would threaten to make Jesus’ movement an occult movement. Jesus will not receive the kingdoms of this world from demons (Mark 4:9-10). The demons were attempting to short-circuit Jesus’ ministry by testifying to His real identity as the true “Son of God.” This is the reason Jesus never allowed the demons to speak or hold conversation with Him. He just cast them out as He met them. Jesus’ command to any demon He met was a sharp “shut up.” In doing so Jesus showed the crowd He was in control. “See and believe that the Kingdom of God has come.”

             We know of people or former practicing Christians who for one reason or another have left the church, left the faith. They may not have denied the faith, but not presently practicing the faith. For some this is a troublesome passage. Is there anyone who cannot be brought back to repentance? Can a person, who have shared the Holy Spirit and then be lost? Are such people eternally lost? What about the saying, though not scriptural, “Once saved always saved?”

                This passage of scripture is part of a group of passages concerning people who cannot be forgiven or brought to repentance. Mark 3:28-29 refers to Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven (Matthew 12:31-32). The context is that of people observing the work of the Spirit through Jesus and calling it the work of the devil. This is a rejection of the evidence of their own experience. In 1 John 5:16 the scripture speaks of a “sin unto death” where prayer or praying is useless to retrieve such a person from the gates of hell (1 John 5:18). Rejecting Christ/God in any way places one in such treacherous danger (1 John 5:20-21).

                The issue is not whether God would forgive them if they repented, but whether there is any way to bring such people into repentance at all. The answer is No! Such people are like the stubble from the hay. The stubble produces nothing of value and is only good for burning (Matthew 13:40-43). Painful as it may be to contemplate, this is one of the realities of life that people can so harden themselves against God that nothing will keep them from hell.

                The people under review and discussion have been fully initiated Christians. They have gone through all the foundational teachings of faith, repentance, faith, baptism, and receiving the Holy Spirit, resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. Now if the previous Christian instructions received have been defective or in gross error, there would be a good reason for God to direct such person to go over them again. If there were no defective teaching in the first place, there would be no reason for the Holy Spirit to take them back over the teachings again. These are not half–trained, baby Christians, but one who have fully been “initiated and enlightened” in Christ and have tasted the heavenly gift of salvation and the Holy Spirit (Hebrew 6:4-6). One cannot help to think about that disciple, Judas, who can never be retrieved.

                 Which will have the biggest loss: the person who have tasted salvation and workings of the Holy Spirit and quit the faith for whatever reason, or the person who has previously gained salvation and blessing of the Holy Spirit and yet continually sins to satisfy the flesh, thinking Jesus will let them get away with it because they are active in church?  It appears that one of these people can repent and the other one cannot!

                In its truest context the author of this scripture has serious concerns about those who have accepted Christ will return to Judaism. The compassionate author is warning the Jews, as well as Christians today, not to apostatize, or fall away from the church. To do so is “to crucify the Son of God all over again.” Now in rejecting the faith they are declaring that the crucifixion was “correct” after all - Jesus was a blasphemer and not the Messiah. Such a public recantation exposes Jesus to public disgrace.

                Is this scripture hypothetical? Is it true that once saved, always saved? Jesus tells us that no one can pluck us out of His hand (John 10: 28).

                How many times have you felt like quitting the faith, the church, Jesus, simply because you could not hold on to your faith? Was it a sickness trial or loss which put you into a spiritual tailspin? The anxiety and hopelessness snuffed, or almost snuffed out your faith, joy, and faith in Christ?

                What about the atheist who never recognizes God in any form? One who has never tasted of God and yet refuses to recognize Him in any form? It is better to have Jesus and not need Him than to need Him and not have Him.

    The wife of Job may be one of the most misunderstood and mis-quoted women in the bible. She may have been incorrectly tagged as not being a faithful or good wife to her suffering husband. Especially, after she uttered the so-called and well-known phrase to her husband, “Why hang onto your religious integrity toward God. Curse God and die.” Did Mrs. Job really tell her husband to “curse God and die”, or did she utter something different and it has been mis- interpreted down through the years? Mrs. Job’s words deserve more attention. She spoke questionable words to Job and Job responded with words of reasoning - You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?”

      The word “curse”- (barak) in Mrs. Job statement has several meanings in the Hebrew language. It means curse, kneel, give thanks. It appears reasonable in the context of Mrs. Job and her husband’s faith and service in God, Mrs. Job would not be suggesting to her husband, despite her own pain, to “curse” God under any circumstances. The word “blesses” (barak) in Job 1:10 means “blessing”, even when the devil uses it. This word “barak” (bless) is used 325 times in the Old Testament; translated to mean bless most of the time (Genesis 1:22; Psalm 103:2).

      First, we must recognize the fact that Mrs. Job suffered everything her husband suffered. Job suffered the physical and emotional pain of all that which happened to him. Mrs. Job suffered emotionally and equally as much as Job. No wife wishes to see her husband in any kind of pain and especially the kind Job was experiencing. It could have been that Mrs. Job uttered those infamous words out of emotional love and pity for her husband not wanting to see him emotionally, physically down, and painfully suffering in his body; “It would be best for the both of us if you would just give up serving God and die, now that God has brought this misery upon us; or thank God for the good in our life, then accept death; “or get it over with” by dying. Mrs. Job’s reason was for relief of the emotional pain she was having. (Job 2:9-10).

      Plus, Job was also being accused by his neighbors and close friends as having done hidden sin and is now being punished for it by God. Mrs. Job had lost all alongside of Job- children, farm animals, house, and his economic support he had successfully accumulated for his family. Despite all which happened to Job, God never revealed to him or his wife why these trials and loss came upon their family. Mrs. Job was broken in the aftermath of this crisis; however, Job was heavy in his heart, but he never broke under pressure. He kept uttering words of faith - “Tho You slay me, yet will I trust You, God” (Job 13:15). Job was so assured of his faith and religious integrity, if proven wrong, he would allow any man to go and lay with his wife (Job 31:10).

      The truth of the matter is that the story of Job’s suffering is not the major focus or issue in this Book. The major focus in the Book of Job is God’s sovereignty - His supreme rule over everything, all the earth and the universe, including the devil. Therefore, God never spoke afterwards to Job about his trials and suffering. The issue was never about Job’s suffering, but about God’s Sovereignty. God used Job’s suffering to show all His sovereignty.                                                                                                                

       This is seen in the fact that God made everything about Job, which turned out bad, to turn out good in the end, simply because God is in control. The story of Mr. and Mrs. Job is all about God walking with them through the valley of death until they both came out on the other side with a happy ending. God will do this for His children today if they but trust Him. The mountain Mrs. Job had to climb was not a smooth one. The devil was attempting to put her and her husband in an unfavorable light with God. Job was almost tempted and was about to do the devil’s work and blame God at that point when he said, “I wish God had blot out the day I was born (Job 3:1-5). This was a sneaky and indirect strike at God. However, Job held on to his faith. Whatever Mrs. Job said it did not offend God. After all what Job, himself, went through, He did not sin nor offend God, or charge God with wrong (Job 1:22). God “barak” (blessed) Mr. and Mrs. Job. God gave Mr. and Mrs. Job beauty for ashes (Isaiah 61:3; Job 42:12-13). God can do this simply because He is in total control of everything, including Mr. and Mrs. Job’s suffering and the devil.

What are the Books of Life? Daniel, the prophet, was given the first vision of such Books as far back as 2,620 years ago.  God gave the Prophet the vision of these books about 600 years before the coming of Christ. These ‘Books’ can only be accessed by God in heaven and is God’s spiritual record of man’s life and moral behavior here while living upon the earth. The vision and message of the Books were initially given to the Prophet (Daniel 7), so that the world would have more than 2600 years to get ready for Christ’s return. When Christ returns there will be no excuse accepted for not being ready to receive Him, because we all have been told of the Books with our names in it hundreds of years earlier.

                The Book(s) of life is a set of Books kept by Heaven’s office, or St. Peter, maybe. Why St. Peter? Remember Christ gave Peter the “Keys” to the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 16:17-19). Peter was the first of the disciples to recognize the Deity and Son-ship of Christ.

 The Book of life is just what it says it is. Those whose names are in it will have eternal life when Christ returns. When we are first given life by God, while in our mother’s womb, God records our name immediately in the Book of life. Our names remain in the Book of Life as long as we do not reject Christ, Who comes to redeem each of us. In order to keep the blessings of God we must accept the Redeemer (the Savior) into our lives in order to keep our names in the Book of Life, which tended to be erased by the sinful disobedience committed by Adam and Eve in the Garden.  “For God has made Christ to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

                 In short, the more we commit un-repented sin in our personal lives, the more our name is being erased out of the Book of Life. This is how the Books are kept on our lives. Sin “debits” our lives, while repentance and keeping Christ in our lives “credit” our soul’s account and our names remain in the Book of life. It is not God Who erases our names from the Book of Life when we sin. We erase our names ourselves when we carry un-repented sins in our lives and allow them to remain un-repented. Some of God’s children have no idea just how much the devil wishes to get a hold of God’s Book of Life with our names in it. This Book is in God’s hand and that’s where it will stay until Christ returns.

                There is no doubt this world is heading toward the end times and we are somewhere near that time. Time is winding up even though many are ignoring it. It is not good for Christians to forget we are nearing the end times. Jesus tells us to be also ready, for you know not the day or hour I shall return (Matthew 24:44).

                John, the Revelator, saw the very same vision and message of the Books Daniel were given some six centuries earlier.   As a matter of fact, what John saw, God had Him to write it down so we today could be informed of what’s coming “down the pike.” Some of the visions John saw were so uncomfortable, God told him to put down his pen and write no more (Revelation 10:4). Whereas, when Daniel got to this point in his vision God told him to stop writing altogether so as to not discourage the Jewish nation in the coming future.  What John wrote is what we have today to read, comprehend and believe (Revelation 1:11). Today there are many Jewish people who still do not believe in The Messiah. John saw the solution God had for this unbelief. God will take care of it when He sends out the ‘144,000’ Jewish preachers/evangelists to call their Jewish people and others into the fold before Christ returns (Revelation 14:3-5).

                When Christ returns to earth for the final time, there will only be the unrighteous left here upon the earth. All of Christ’s believers will have been taken from the earth during the Rapture and before the start of the Tribulation Period. The only people left on earth are the unsaved sinners, who have disobeyed and rejected Christ, their names removed from the Book of Life.  These will stand before the “Great White Throne” facing God’s wrath and eternal judgment for their evil works. Grace and Mercy will be no more.  Christ will judge ‘on the curve’ and some will be punished with fire more than others. However, the length of punishment will be the same for all - forever (Revelation 20:15). There will a Judge, but no jury, a prosecution but no defense, a sentence but no appeal.

                “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whom face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and the “Books” were open. And another “Book” was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the “Books.” The one “Book” is where our names are kept. The Books-more than one- are the Books which recorded all the good which the individual has done in his/her lifetime. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then death and hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the “Book” of Life was cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:13-15). This is how the Books will read!”

Many true-hearted Christians have longed for faith in their lives and have made an earnest effort to obtain it. God gives that person credit for wanting to possess Faith, even though many have misunderstood what faith really is and how God expects His children to use it. This is where it takes careful study of the Word of God so as to get the real and full meaning of this issue of faith.

                Jesus on more than five occasions, spoke directly to His disciples and defined faith for them. Our Lord gave object lessons as well, so that His disciples could understand the heavenly concept of faith and how it really works. Faith is basically a powerful “spiritual tool” which is used to establish a strong (to have confidence in), unbreakable sense of belief.  Not the quantity of our faith, but the reality of it.

                James, the brother of our Lord tells us in his Book (James 2:17-26) when he explains the difference between “faith and works.” What James is saying here is that the only thing faith produces is a good work for God. In other words faith without works is dead-no good. It is our faith in God which causes one to produce good works for God’s kingdom. Faith is given to the child of God so as to lead him or her to produce good works while here upon the earth. This give one cause to remember, we all will be judged out of the “Books of Work” referred to in Revelation 20:12. In short, our good works come from our faith or our belief in the person of Jesus Christ, our Savior.

                We are not to get confused about our faith when Jesus tells us in Luke 17:6, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to the mulberry tree to be planted into the sea and it will obey you.” First of all, Jesus was responding to his disciple’s request when they ask Him to “Lord Increase our faith.” This request came from the fact that our Lord was teaching the disciples about forgiveness and forgiving those who have offended them. The Lord required that the disciple not only forgive those who have offended them but also rebuke them with love and forgiveness so as to win them over (Luke 1: 1-4). The disciple felt inadequate to do this forgiveness at this point in their lives, so they ‘asked Jesus for more faith’ to be able to do this forgiveness thing.

                Jesus realized the impossibility of forgiveness which lay within the hearts of the disciples. That is why the parable of the tree being uprooted is spoken as “seeming an impossibility for man.” It is here where one errors in their belief about faith and what faith can really accomplish. It is here, we must read and remind ourselves of God’s sovereignty (total control) (Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27).  God can do all things. It is God who performs all things impossible for man. It is God Who performs the great works of our faith and not faith, itself. Faith only believes and produces good works. This is what Abraham did when he, without hesitation, was ready to sacrifice his son (Abraham’s work of faith) at God’s command. God was only testing Abraham’s faith in Him.

                There is the belief that if one gets up a load of faith somehow, they can do a lot of great things. This is not true. It is not faith which can or will perform the great work needing to be done, it is God and Him only. Faith only gives one the strong confidence to believe God will perform this prayer request thing for you. Being that God is Sovereign He may or may not do the impossible at our faith request. God always does and gives what is best for us when He answers our faith request. This is especially true when we pray the prayer of faith relative to the sickness of our loved ones.

Yet God says He ‘will give us the desires of our heart’ and ‘no good thing’ will He withhold from us (Psalm 37:4, 84:11). Our prayers must always be in the will of the Father- Thy will be done.

                So if we have faith in God and truly believe in Him, then we believe and trust that He will always do what is best for us when we pray in faith - in belief.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

The disciple, Mark, was the first to write and record the Gospel. Mark recorded many of the works and teachings our Lord did as he began His ministry among the people. Jesus always spoke what was obvious to the people in order to get over the principles of living holy and being sin free.   In the Book of Mark, chapter 4, pressed in between the teachings of the “Parable of the Sower” (God) and the parable of the “Mustard Seed”(Faith-which comes from “hearing”) is found a short teaching of “Light Under a Basket.” Jesus associated all three of these small but powerful teachings with our ‘hearing’ the truth. There is a serious warning our Lord attached to this teaching. Jesus took the “Light under a basket” theme and associated it with our ability to hear the truth and act upon it. Later, Luke in his gospel recorded the very same teaching in Luke 8:16-18 (AD 50’s-Mark; AD 60-Luke).

                “Do not hide a lamp (knowledge) under a table. But put it up high so that all can see from it.   A great source of knowledge comes from what others tell or teach us. Therefore, take heed to what and how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him.” In short, those who seek and hear truth and knowledge for their own good, will be given more. Those who do not seek to hear truth and knowledge, what truth and knowledge one has will be taken from them (Mark 4: 24-25; Luke 8:18). What good is it to tell a person, “the Gospel is sent to save and give you eternal life, if that person cares not to hear the truth? Jesus meant for His disciples (and us) to hear this for we all are expected to be carrying the gospel in the future.

                Hear was a clear warning to Christians to be sure that one hears only the truth and live by it. This was the time that our Lord spoke only in parables as He taught. The disciples found Jesus alone and asked Him why He spoke only in parables (Luke 4: 10). Jesus answered, “To you it has been given to know the ‘mysteries of the kingdom of God’; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn and their sins be forgiven them” (Luke 4:11). The disciples give us believers a hint, whenever we are seeking the truth and do not understand - ask someone who can tell you, even the bible.

                 Mystery refers to something previously unknown that God is revealing to His followers (Ephesus 3:1-7). “Those who are outside are people whose hearts have become hardened through unbelief. To such persons Jesus spoke only in riddles to them. It was very obvious to Jesus that He was not going to waste His time teaching the truth about certain issues, when He perceives   the hearers were not really listening or believing what was being said. Why waste time listening when you know you are not going to act on what you have heard. This is just like being told one must forgive an offense, while deep in one’s heart he/she knows they are not going to do it.

                Jesus speaking in parables was His way of filtering out the non-hearers, while the hearers, seeking truth, would be able to glean the truth for their own understanding and will be able to apply it to their lives for their own good.

                Jesus spoke the obvious when He questioned whether a lighted lamp is meant to be put under a basket or bed? “Is it not to be set on a lamp stand? “For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but it should come to light…If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

                When Jesus put the two thoughts together about light and hearers of the truth, what He was saying, “eventually everything hidden will be publicly displayed, including the meanings of these parables and the glory of the coming Messiah. And the disciples will be instrumental in bringing light to God’s plan for the world.

In the Bible when Jesus told the people to watch out for the devil “For he is going around roaring like a hungry lion seeking whom He may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). I have come to believe that the devil’s main target was every mother on the earth. I still think this.

                 The devil came after Eve was in the Garden before she knew what had hit her as he tricked her into disobeying God. The pain of a mother, Eve, hearing the news that her oldest son had killed her youngest son in the field wasn’t a good day either for Eve. The devil got into the heart of Sarah, the wife of the Abraham, and started the on-going and present-day war between the two brothers, Isaac (Christian) and Ishmael (Arabs). Then the devil went after Mary, the mother of Jesus, when she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit, so as to get her stoned to death by the Law of Moses, because she was not yet married to Joseph. The devil punished the mothers in Bethlehem with much sorrow and grief when he directed Herod to send soldiers into Bethlehem to kill all boy babies two years and under in an effort to catch the two-year old baby Jesus in a dragnet and kill Him (Matthew 2:16-18). Then the devil drug Mary, the mother of Jesus through a dark agony, whereas, Mary saw her first Son publicly marked, whipped and crucified right before her eyes. No mother wants to see her child hurt under any circumstances, unless she is the one doing the hurting out of love and chastisement. The devil is still doing the same work and warfare against all mothers today. Mothers should be aware of this spiritual fact and stay in prayer to defeat him (James 4:7). All who have and have had mothers should forever praise and thank our mothers and the spirit of our mothers who are waiting for us on the “other side” for all that they have done in raising us was done at “no charge.”

                As we study the New Testament Gospel in detail we will see that Jesus was paying special attention with many women during His entire ministry so as to bring them out front, so to speak, to let them be an example of how God uses women in His plan of salvation. This included the mothers of several of His disciples. In short, Mothers and women are so important in the New Testament ministry of Jesus Christ. God included Rahab, a prostitute in the city of Jericho, and one of only three mothers listed in the genealogy of Jesus Christ, who was the great grandmother of King David.

                In a sense, the Catholic Church has long sanctioned the attention given to Mary, the mother of Jesus, in many of their annual church celebrations. The Universal Church holds high the status of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Every church should celebrate the status of Motherhood and keep this value before the people. The reason as to why the devil is always after the mother is simply because of her role appointed to her by God. She is the mother of all living things. Every life which comes into this world comes through a mother, whether it is human or animal. If the devil can make a strategic strike with the mother and take her out permanently, he will more than likely defeat God’s plan of salvation for man. This is why God will not allow this to happen. Every child of God cannot allow this to happen either. We must pray for all mothers at all times.

                A sad state of affairs just recently took place in one of our states which experienced the death toll of mothers in the rest homes who had died of the Killer virus. There was no one to claim their bodies for a decent burial.

                To give us an idea of just how much Jesus loves mothers, let us take a look at this bible story found in Luke 7:11-17. It is the story of a gift which our Lord gave to a particular mother. A mother who was down, out, and grieving the loss of her only son, who was undoubtedly her only means of support. It was customary for young sons, the only man in the house, to take on this important responsibility.

                This mother has now lost a major mean of her daily economic support now that her son was dead. A large crowd was following Jesus as He entered into the gated town of Nain, a small village 15 miles SW of the sea of Galilee. Jesus met this widow and her mourners as He entered the village as they carried the body of her son out to bury him. Jesus broke all social and religious protocol and stopped the funeral procession for His heart was filled with sympathy and compassion for the mother. “Don’t cry,” mother, encouraged the Lord. Then He went over to the coffin and touched it. The bearers stopped. “Young man,” He said, “come back to life again.”

                 Then the young boy sat up and began to talk to those around him! And Jesus gave him back to his mother. What a Mother’s Day’ gift that was. And this Jesus did at no charge.

                This is what our Lord did for us. He died and forgave our sins and a chance for eternal life. This He did at no charge!

               There are two things which puts us into a stage of excitement or motivation: Faith and Fear. Faith is defined as confidence or trust in a person or thing. Fear is defined as a belief in someone or something which is dangerous, likely to cause you harm, pain or threat. Today, as we labor under the conditions which the killer virus presents to us, we more than likely are dealing with the fear factor which this virus brings as oppose to the faith which is also available to us as Christians.

                The question is, “Do we have cause to fear, or do we have cause to exercise our faith? When we study the bible to see what it says about pestilences (viruses), why they come and for what reason do they come upon the people of God. Is God aware when plagues come upon His people and what is God’s record in handling these viruses when they come upon the people? The more faith we have the less fear there is, the more fear we have the less faith we will have available to help us.

                Plagues have been with us since early bible times with a plague brought upon and followed the Philistines in their cities when they conquered the Ark of Covenant from Israel (1350 BC), (1 Samuel 4:22-5:1). Then there was the incident of a plague among Israel due to an act of fornication which took place in the eyes of Moses (Num 25:4; 7-9). These incidents give God’s children real cause for real fear. It also gives the unbeliever cause to tremble, as well.

                `To put this Corona virus in perspective, there were at least 13 plagues which ravished the world including America, whereas, thousands and thousands of people lost her lives. It was the cholera which took its toll in America. The plagues were Cholera, Yellow Fever, Bubonic plague in 1334, which took the lives of more than 150 million people world-wide- remember the nursery game as a child: “Ring around the roses a pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down.”

                There was the typhoid epidemic which killed over 100,000 people, Tuberculosis, the Spanish Flu, Asian Flu, Hong Kong Flu, Aids which took over 30 Million lives. Then there were  Small Pox, the Scarlet Fever, which took thousands of lives to date.  In 165 AD the Middle East lost 5 million to a plague. In Mexico 15 million souls were lost due to a plague in 1500 AD.  

                 We can ask the important question, “Did God have anything to do with all of these plagues and loss of innocent and not so innocent lives? Or was it our enemy who was allowed to pour out havoc upon us and the world without God doing nothing about it. Does God have any control over any of this? What good will our faith be if God is not sovereign and not in control. If God does not have control, we then have a right to be in fear of these dreadful diseases. Yes, we have a right to be afraid of this virus because innocent and non- innocent people are dying in numbers. True faith will come to us when we honor God with our fasting and prayers to stop this virus. We can have the best of both worlds when we worship God, repent of our sins which will lead to Scientist to finding a cure vaccine for this awful virus.

                It is good that we encourage each other to be mindful of the fact that God will take care of its own. However, there are moral conditions of obedience in which God and His Word protects us.  Is God pleased with the world today in terms of the moral compass which it follows? Is anyone publically testifying to the fact that God allows plagues to come upon the people as the direct result of their sins? In short, our very own sins bring such wrath down upon us. Instead everyone is saying, we are going to get through this together without addressing the possible cause of the plague. Some churches are choosing to be “politically correct” by not dealing or preaching the biblical reasons this virus may be upon us, our sins. We should get through this plague, but also we should be praying prayers of repentance for ourselves in addition to interceding in prayer of repentance for those who do not know God and God wants not only their moral attention, but also their fellowship.

                In 1849 , Zachary Taylor, the 12th US president and Governor Daniel Haines of New Jersey, both declared separate days of fasting and prayer in the US July 3, and August 1, respectively to halt the onslaught of the cholera here in the America. Many people died during this era. Shortly after the New Jersey fasting and prayer vigil, the disease in America came to a sudden stop. Did these two politicians know something we, today, should know. And that is God is forever in control.  Let us listen again to the Words of God and Moses found in Exodus 14:31, 20:20 respectively. “When the people of Israel saw the mighty miracle the Lord had done for them against the Egyptians, they were afraid and revered the Lord, and believed in Him and in His servant Moses.”, “And Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear; for God has come to test you, so that you may not sin.” He that has ears let him hear!

           Many Christians are not fully aware of the great spiritual warfare which the devil/anti-Christ brought against the believers, who had been waiting on the Good News of the Gospel, since the prophets of old began to tell of the coming of the Messiah. The Messiah, who is to come and take away the sins of the world. This great spiritual warfare began when it was announced to the world through the Angels, John, the Baptist, and the Prophets of Old (Luke 4:18-21). The devil wasted no time warring to stop the gospel from entering into the world. This was done in an effort to keep all pending believers from receiving the “Good News of the Gospel” which is a message of grace, forgiveness, redemption and life eternal (John 3:16).

                The devil’s “warfare of discouragement” actually started in the Garden with Adam and Eve. However, this warfare became very serious when the Lord was about to enter the human domain by birth. It was the devil who tried to get Mary, the mother of Jesus, stoned to death for being pregnant without being married. For all practical purposes, it was satan who gave the orders to kill all the boy babies two years and younger in Bethlehem and  the surrounding areas in order to catch and kill, the heralded new- born king, Jesus, in a dragnet (Matthew 2:16-18). It was at the Mount of Temptation the devil challenged Jesus, the Son of God, as to His allegiance, promising Him the world if He would fall down and worship Him. This temptation took place soon after John had baptized Jesus in the river Jordan, prior to the starting of Jesus’ ministry.

                The time came during Jesus’ ministry, when He had to recognize the powerful, unseen spiritual warfare going on against Him and His kingdom work. For His disciple’s sake, Jesus pointed out and warn them of the on-going warfare. Jesus uttered these words warning of ”violence” as a response to the Gospel and  His cousin, John the Baptist’s inquisition, who had been arrested and put in prison by King Herod.  John sent two of his own disciples to Jesus seeking confirmation whether He, (Jesus) was the Messiah, Who was to come? Jesus recognized that the Old Testament prophecy of His appearance is now complete, and the way is now paved for the Messiah’s entrance into the affairs of men-John’s job is also completed. (Matthew 11:13). Game on, its war time!

                Jesus had just finished lauding the great work that John did in preparing the way for His coming (John 11:11). For many who believed on the coming Messiah rushed and flocked to Him when He first appeared and followed Him, heard Him and were blessed. Then our Lord spoke these words of warning, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it away by force (Matthew 11:12).

                What Jesus was referring to in these verseswas the opposition He, John and believers of all ages will be facing as they advanced the kingdom of heaven. They will face every type of evil and misunderstandingas they lived the Christian life. At times, evil (violence) will interfere and attempt to destroy your faith in God. This “spiritual” warfare will continue until our Lord returns.

                In addition to the ugly things satan did, as listed previously in his spiritual warfare against the coming kingdom of God, He also was very angry at John the Baptist for doing such a tremendous job of paving the way for Jesus’ coming. Satan had John’s head cut off while he was in prison (John 14: 8-11). This was done because John confronted the King Herod with the truth, that is, he had taken his brother’s wife (Herodias) and lay with her.Celebrating the king’s birthday, with her daughter’s pleasing dance before him and being prompted by her mother, the daughter asked that John’s head be brought to them on a platter and it was done (Matthew 14:4-8). This is a prime example of how violence will interfere with one’s faith with intent to destroy it.

                What our Lord was also saying in addition to the “the kingdom of heavens suffers violence.” Our Lord also suggested that we need to learn how to do some violence back to the enemy. This is what our Lord meant when He said, “and the violent take it by force.” This means we, as believers, should “go on offence” whenever.  However, do not do so without Christ at your side and being in His will (James 4:7). We are not to be afraid to take back from satan.  

                In Joshua 18, the people had just arrived into the Promised Land and was at the point of dividing their land appointments. Initially God had told the twelve tribes to kill and run everybody out prior to their taking over the land. Of the twelve tribes, only five of them accomplished what God had told them to do.   So there was a hold up in the transition with the other seven tribes. Then God sent Joshua and confronted the scared and hesitant people and encouraged them to get on with God’s land assignment. How long will you neglect to go and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers has given you? Under Joshua’s leadership they pursued and conquered the land. Here they took the land by force under God’s blessing.

                 Then there was the lady who had suffered for more than 18 years with a bleeding disorder and had spent all of her money with the doctors with no results except she was now broke. Then remembering she was a child of Abraham and of the Promise, and was one of those believers who was waiting on the Messiah to come (Luke 8:40). The woman then purposed in her mind, if I could just touch the hem of His garment, I will be made whole. (Luke 8:44). We have no idea how long this woman held this kind of faith toward Jesus, but when she got the chance she went for it and got totally healed. This woman took her faith in hand, ignoring all the social customs for women in public of that day and she pressed her way toward Jesus. She probably had to slap more than a couple of hands, which were trying to hold her back, but persisted in getting to her Lord and was healed. Her violence was insisting on touching Christ and being healed. In short, this means “war.”