Site Information

Site Age
12 Yrs, 111 Days, 11 Hrs, 3 Mins

Milestones
4/18/2022 - 25 Users Gained !

Site Info
Bookmark and Share

Bitcoin Stuff

Bitcoin Donations



1AKjJqVViFZGYat2BqerLPyYWscwVEPZht

Shoutbox

Last 25 Shouts:

 

Hidden In Him

March 15, 2024, 06:01:31 PM
Attention: To anyone viewing this site, I will be moving to another forum. I will leave this one up until the end of the year so viewers can still view the material here, but after that this site will be shut down.

If you have any questions, you can contact me privately by becoming a member.

 

Hidden In Him

March 15, 2024, 06:01:15 PM
Attention: To anyone viewing this site, I will be moving to another forum. I will leave this one up until the end of the year so viewers can still view the material here, but after that this site will be shut down.

If you have any questions, you can contact me privately by becoming a member.

Johnnyhoppy

February 24, 2024, 12:37:18 PM
awe-inspiring first encounter girls
 
 
 
 
https://url.epoch.tw/JM0wr

Johnnyhoppy

February 24, 2024, 12:02:24 AM
ripsnorting uncovered girls
 
 
 
 
https://url.epoch.tw/JM0wr

Johnnyhoppy

February 23, 2024, 10:39:30 PM
far-out unembellished girls
 
 
 
 
https://url.epoch.tw/JM0wr

ytmp3music

September 23, 2023, 12:39:24 PM
Titanic post! I couldn't coincide more with your points. It's happy to give some thought to such mindful insights shared here.
Youtube to mp3 converter
<a href="https://www.ytmp3.to">Youtube to mp3 converter</a>
 

Hidden In Him

March 02, 2022, 01:44:01 PM
What a beautiful Spring day! Glory to God!
 

Hidden In Him

January 07, 2022, 06:49:10 PM
Alive and well!  :)

Happy 2022! This is gonna be a good one. I can feel it, Lol.
 

MoreBloodWine

December 30, 2021, 05:29:20 PM
You alive Chris ?
 

MoreBloodWine

October 14, 2020, 06:17:44 PM
But ya, any PM's sent they should be made aware of via email, if they have notifications set for receipt of a PM.

But even if so, my newsletter blast can ignore such settings so anyone registered will at least get my message. But I can name them specifically in it for *** & giggles.
 

MoreBloodWine

October 14, 2020, 06:15:17 PM
Still need to check some things but that will be easy enough to do via PM.

When the site is re-opened. It is now, but tech locked down... but when it's "back". I can send out a newsletter, anyone who has an email attached that they still use will be made aware / be able to come back if that's what they choose to do.
 

Hidden In Him

October 14, 2020, 05:56:59 PM
You're kidding... That would be something. Any way to contact ShadowKen and Indybones? And maybe Pineapple, LoL. I suppose if it's all intact I could just message and it would go thru to email.
 

MoreBloodWine

October 14, 2020, 01:53:33 AM
@HIM: The MP is back, but it will need to remain in maintenance mode until I can re skin it / fix some of the underlying addons, But it is loading again... all data should still be intact.

I've already alerted spddmn's wife to let him know ;-)
 

Hidden In Him

April 27, 2020, 06:37:28 PM
And after checking, it wasn't done yet, LoL. Looks like it is now (hopefully).
 

Hidden In Him

April 08, 2020, 10:37:46 AM
This one's pretty good, LoL. Should be fun to put on video some day.  :)
http://www.spiritualwarbiblestudies.com/index.php?topic=181.msg207#msg207
 

Hidden In Him

March 10, 2020, 12:43:23 PM
 :) :) :)
 

MoreBloodWine

March 10, 2020, 07:02:44 AM
Everything happens for a reason, even if it's rewriting old works ;-)
 

Hidden In Him

March 07, 2020, 07:12:18 PM
My wife dislikes the idea that I'm rewriting studies rather than writing new ones, but the Lord is now opening up Colossians to me like never before, and some work needs to be redone. Very excited about the new insight!  :)
 

Hidden In Him

February 29, 2020, 02:19:44 PM
...get back to making sure studies were ready to put on camera when the time comes.  :)

So how's life with you?  
 

Hidden In Him

February 29, 2020, 02:18:44 PM
I noticed you were still lurking around, LoL. Glad to see I'm not the only one happy about it.  :) Hard at work converting the garage into a recording studio & music room. Gonna be nice! The soundproofing is going to be work and money, but a lot of it is already purchased. In the meantime, I had to
 

MoreBloodWine

February 29, 2020, 01:59:43 AM
 :) :) :)
 

Hidden In Him

February 28, 2020, 05:43:50 PM
I'm officially going back to writing! Glory to God Almighty!! Having fun again already, and going to be going to work improving and the adding to the set on Colossians.

Blessings in Christ to all who visit,
Hidden
 

MoreBloodWine

November 02, 2019, 02:37:56 AM
I rarely ever used Tapatalk to log in to the site. Not sure if anyone ever actually did as the issue of it not working was never reported.

But for our mobile uses, certain things like this chat box will not be available through the app as this chat box is an addon itself. But all boards within the forum are available and currently confirmed working.

Ty & my apologies !
 

Hidden In Him

August 05, 2019, 03:21:06 PM
An excellent passage I am now writing a study on in the Book of Colossians.

"And I am now rejoicing in [my] sufferings over you, and filling up in my flesh what is lacking of the afflictions of Christ for His body's sake, which is the church, of which I became a servant
 

Hidden In Him

August 05, 2019, 03:20:49 PM
... of which I became a servant according to the administration of God having been given unto me, for you to fulfill the word of God, the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations but which has now been made manifest to His saints, to whom God wished to make known what

Show 50 latest

Recent Posts

Calendar

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?
March 29, 2024, 12:40:13 AM

Login with username, password and session length

Members
Stats
  • Total Posts: 363
  • Total Topics: 257
  • Online Today: 25
  • Online Ever: 827
  • (November 19, 2019, 08:59:00 PM)
Users Online
Users: 0
Guests: 48
Total: 48

Author Topic: James 4:13-5:6  (Read 3390 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Hidden In Him

  • Owner
  • Full Member
  • *
  • Join Date: Jan 2012
  • Location:
  • Posts: 303
  • Country: us
  • 30 Day Activity:
    0%
  • Karma: 3
James 4:13-5:6
« on: January 09, 2017, 12:58:13 PM »
Seduced By Greed, Into Weeping And Howling Forever

     Jews have had a long relationship with prosperity and wealth. The reason for this is simple. So long as they remained in covenant with the Living God by keeping His commandments, the Lord promised He would grant them the power to get wealth:

     And it shall come to pass, if you... observe and do all these commands which I charge you this day... all these blessings shall come upon you... blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed in the field. Blessed shall be the offspring of your body, and the fruits of your land, and the herds of your oxen, and the flocks of your sheep. Blessed shall be your barns and your stores… you shall lend to many nations, and not borrow. (Deuteronomy 28:1-5, 12 LXX)

     But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you the power to get wealth, so that He may establish His covenant which the Lord swore to your fathers, as it is this day. (Deuteronomy 8:18)

     These promises gave the Jew a type of boast. He had supreme confidence that he would prosper financially. But Satan was occasionally using this ancient confidence the Jews had to tempt them into becoming seduced by greed. When this happened, he could turn them from serving the true and living God to serving the god of Mammon instead.
     Such was the context behind the statements James now made to the rich merchants and landowners present amongst the early Christian congregations:

     Go now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and spend a year there, and do business and make money," you who do not know what tomorrow holds. What is your life? It is a puff of smoke. You appear for a moment, and then disappear. Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord should will, we will live and do this or that." But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Consequently, the one who knows to do good yet does it not, to him it is sin. (James 4:13-17)

     Financial prosperity was God's promise to obedient Jews, but what these men were failing to understand was this: With the appearance of Christ, a change had now come. For starters, He had not come to send peace but a sword. As He prophesied to His disciples, they would be hated by all men, especially the religious leadership, who would ultimately seek to have them killed.
     This is why Jesus warned them against two things: 1. Fearing those who could kill them, and 2. Covetousness, since their lives could be taken from them in an instant, in which case a life of accumulating possessions would end up having been a complete waste of time:

     And Jesus began to say unto His disciples... "My friends, I say unto you, You should not be fearful of those who kill the body, yet after these things are not able to do anything more. But I will show you Whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has the authority to cast you into Hell...  and when they bring you before the synagogues, and the rulers, and the authorities, have no anxiety about how or what you shall reply in your defense, or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you in the same hour what you ought to say... [But] watch and keep yourselves from all covetousness, for a person's life is not in the abundance of the things which he possesses."
     And He spoke a parable to them, "The ground of a certain rich man brought forth abundantly. And he debated within himself, saying, "What shall I do? For I do not have a place where I shall lay up my harvest. This is what I will do. I will tear down my storehouses and build larger ones, and lay up there all my wheat and my goods. And I will say unto my soul, 'Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your rest. Eat, drink, and be merry.'" But God said unto him, "Fool. This night shall they require your soul from you. To whom shall what you have accumulated go to then?" So is he who stores up treasures unto himself but is not rich towards God." (Luke 12:1b, 4-5, 11-12, 15-21)

 
     Secondly, Jesus preached that the kingdom of God was now at hand. And because all Jews knew that the Antichrist would of necessity have to appear before the Messiah did, it meant that the threat of death at the hands of "the lawless one" was a very real possibility as well. Jesus Himself had warned that the overthrow and destruction of the temple in Jerusalem was coming, and that many Jews would betray one another to their deaths:

     And having gone forth, Jesus departed from the temple, and His disciples came to Him to point out the [various] buildings of the temple. But having answered, Jesus said, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down... and they will deliver you up to affliction, and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. And many will be scandalized and deliver one another up, and hate one another. (Matthew 24:1-2, 9-10)
 
     Thus, James was warning these rich men that there might not even be a tomorrow. As we shall see, events had taken place since Jesus' resurrection which made it even more evident that the fulfillment of all things was now at hand. Thus, these rich men had virtually no reason to simply assume they would "go to such and such a city and spend a year there, and do business and make money." They instead now needed to be saying, "If the Lord should will, we will live and do this or that." But greed was blinding them to the point where they could not see the impending dangers of the times. All they could see was the potential to make more money.
     Sadly, such is again the case now. Many Christian preachers are likewise "believing God" for more prosperity, going along blissfully as if they are in no danger. The appearance of the Antichrist is still a ways off yet, so it would appear their pursuit of material things might grant them lasting happiness, but what they don't realize is that judgment now looms on the horizon for many in Christian ministry who have been seduced by greed, and are now exploiting the body of Christ. God is now calling them to repent, lest some find out only too late that by sowing to the flesh they ended up reaping eternal corruption for their reward. 


The Fate Of The Fig Tree That Produced No Fruit

     As already stated, one reason it was wise to simply say, "If the Lord should will, we will live and do this or that" was because Jesus very clearly preached that the kingdom of God was now at hand. The typical Jew understood this to mean that the Antichrist was likewise coming soon, and many would die at his hand. Jesus, in fact, had warned all Israel some fifteen years earlier that death and destruction now awaited everyone in Israel unless they repented:

     And some were present at the time, telling [Jesus] about the Galileans whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices. And answering, Jesus said to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were sinners above all Galileans because they suffered these things? No, I say to you, but if you do not repent, you shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen men upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think they were accountable above all the men who dwelt in Jerusalem? No, I say to you, but if you do not repent, you shall all likewise perish.
     And He spoke this parable, “A certain man planted a fig tree in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it but did not find any. And he said to the vinedresser, “Behold, these three years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and have not found any. Therefore, cut it down. Why does it incapacitate the ground?” But answering, [the vinedresser] said to him, “Sir, leave it alone this year also, until I shall dig about it and put fertilizer. And if it should bear fruit in the future, well. But if it does not, you shall cut it down.” (Luke 13:1-9)


     Jesus taught all these things in the context of discussing the coming kingdom of God, and how His disciples would need to be ready (Luke 12:31-40). The fig tree here represented Israel, the landowner God, and the vinedresser Christ. The Lord had been looking for spiritual fruit from the nation of Israel for years, yet found none. But with the arrival of Christ, in whom could be found all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3), the spiritual ground of Israel would now have every opportunity to grow and produce spiritual fruit. But with His arrival also came a warning: Unless they repented, they would all likewise perish at the hands of Rome, like those who had already died at the hands of Pilate.
     Now, by the time James was writing his letter some fifteen years later, a Roman Emperor by the name of Caligula had already arisen and attempted to fulfill the role of the Antichrist as described in the Book of Daniel. He was having a statue built of himself in the likeness of Zeus, and was secretly planning to have it transported to the temple in Jerusalem at Ann appointed time, after which the Jews would be forced to forsake their God and worship him or die. Though Caligula would not live to see this dream fulfilled, the stage had now been set. As far as most Jews and early Christians were concerned, all that needed to happen now was for another Emperor to arise and succeed at what Caligula attempted to do.
     These events would inspired the apostle Paul to tell the Thessalonians the following around 55 A.D.:

     Now we implore you, brothers, by the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto Him, that you not become quickly disturbed in mind nor troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as if written by us [intimating] that the Day of the Lord is here. No one should deceive you in any way if the apostasy has not [yet] come first and that man of lawlessness has been revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above everything that is called God or is worshipped, so as for him to sit down in the temple of God, exhibiting himself that he is God.
     Do you not remember that when I was with you I was telling you these things? And you know it yet remains for him to be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already on its way to realization, only he is holding back at present until he manifests out of the midst, and then shall that lawless one be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus Christ will annul with the breath of His mouth and depose with the brightness of His coming. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-8)


     The "mystery of lawlessness" here referred specifically to the mystery of how and more importantly when the "lawless one" prophesied in Daniel would finally make his appearance (see 2 Thessalonians, Study #3). And now, as of the rise of Caligula and what he had set about to do, it appeared only a matter of time. The mystery of lawlessness was already on its way to realization. It only remained now for the true Antichrist to be revealed in his own time. 
     It is in light of these events having taken place that James scolded these rich men for having “heaped up treasure in the last days” (James 5:3). The prophecies concerning the Day of the Lord were now apparently at hand, and they were still consumed with accumulating material wealth at the expense of becoming rich towards God.


Greed Was Leading To Theft, Cheating And Murder

     So why were these rich Jewish believers so blissfully unaware of the dangers of the current political and religious climate that they could arrogantly profess without doubt, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and spend a year there, and do business and make money"? Because they were seduced by greed. All they saw was money. They were even being seduced by it to the extent of not only being willing to cheat others for it, but in some cases arrange their deaths as well:

     Go weep now, rich men, howling over the miseries coming upon you. Your riches have rotted, and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and silver has become corroded, and their corrosion shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as fire. Behold, the wage of the workmen who harvested your fields is crying out, having been kept back by you, and the cries of those who have reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Hosts. You lived in luxury and self-indulgence on the earth. You fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You condemned, you murdered the just, who does not oppose you. (James 5:1-6)

     Rich landowners justified withholding payment to their workers by claiming they couldn't afford to pay them until after the harvest was sold. In reality, they often sold the harvest very quickly, and were just using an excuse to deny payment as long as possible. But then sometimes came something even more insidious and evil. They arranged for the murder of some of these men, by framing them as having broken Jewish laws worthy of the death penalty. If there were sufficient witnesses, one could be put to death for blasphemy (Leviticus 24:10-16), for Sabbath breaking (Exodus 31:14, Exodus 35:2, Numbers 15:32-36), or even simply for refusing to obey the decisions of the court (Deuteronomy 17:8-13).
     Rich landowners did this with two objectives in mind: A. so as not to have to pay the poor man for working his fields, and B. so as to seize upon his property after death. Poor men often had to put their houses down as collateral to take out loans from the landowners just to survive. Once the poor man had died, the rich landowner then sought permission through the courts to seize on his property, since the man still owed him. Secretly, this had been the objective all along. James, thus likened this practice to a livestock owner "fattening his heart in a day of slaughter." The poor man was his slaughter, through whose death he would make a great profit. Worst of all, he was doing this to a man who did not "oppose" him, i.e. had never treated him like an enemy, and therefore was like an innocent animal being slaughtered for a rich man's profit. 
     James referred to these deceitful practices among the rich earlier in saying, "From where do wars and fights arise among you? ... You desire, yet do not have. You murder and covet" (James 4:1a, 2a). Evidence that such practices had been going on in Judea for quite some time can be seen in the Book of Wisdom, a Jewish document dating to about 100 years before Christ. It serves as a historical record, providing confirmation that the rich had by this time already developed a very wicked attitude towards the poor, and saw no problem in putting them to death for profit:

     Come, let us enjoy the good things... let us take our fill of costly wine and ointments... Let us oppress the poor, just man. Let us not spare his widow, nor reverence the old grey hairs of the elderly. Let our strength be in the law of "justice"... [the poor man] proclaims that the end of the just is blessed... Let us see if his words are true, and let us prove what shall happen at his end. For if the just man be the child of God, He will hear him, and deliver him from the hand of his enemies. Let us examine  him with despitefulness and torture, that we may know his meekness, and prove his long-suffering. Let us condemn him with a shameful death, for by his own saying shall he be respected. (Wisdom 2:6-20)

     Notice the wording here. How would the man's wife become "a widow"? Because they would condemn him to a shameful death through the courts. How would they not "spare" her, nor "reverence the old grey hairs of the elderly" afterwards? By seizing hold of the poor man's property, and then leaving both his wife and his elderly parents with nothing.
     But James had a two frightful warnings for those carrying out such wicked deeds. Firstly, he would warn them that "the cries of those who have reaped [your fields] have entered into the ears of the Lord of Hosts." The typical Jew would have understood this to be a VERY foreboding statement. It was reminiscent of the same thing God said about those who had died at the hands of the men of Sodom (see Genesis 18:20-21). It meant His angels were now poised to execute judgment against them, just as He executed judgment against Sodom and Gomorrah.
     Moreover, the second warning is even more frightening, for James also told them, "You lived in luxury and self-indulgence on the earth," but "your gold and silver has become corroded, and their corrosion shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as fire." In other words, because they had served Mammon instead of God, the burning corrosion of their own treasures would itself testify against them that they were worthy of eternal torment.
     In this context, the phrase "you lived in luxury and self-indulgence on the earth" also brings to mind the story of the rich man and Lazarus, as told by Jesus:

     Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, making good cheer during the day in splendor. And a certain poor man named Lazarus was laid up at his porch, being full of sores, and desiring to be satisfied from the crumbs which fell from the table of the rich man. But coming, even the dogs licked his sores. And it came to pass that the poor man died, and he was carried away by the angels into "the Bosom of Abraham." And the rich man also died and was buried. And having lifted up his eyes in Hell, being in torment, he saw Abraham from afar, and Lazarus in his bosom. And crying out, he said, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering in these flames." But Abraham said, "Child, remember that you did fully receive your good things in your lifetime, and Lazarus likewise his evil things. But now he is comforted here, and you are suffering. (Luke 16:19-25)     


Judgment Will Begin With The Household Of God

     Again, these things were being spoken to the rich, who were considered by many as the most righteous amongst the early Jewish believers. Hence James was essentially addressing many who were regarded as leaders in the early church. Sadly, the church is now plagued by leaders who likewise appear to be serving the god of Mammon far more than God Himself. Is their judgment looming? Yes it is, because judgment is now set to begin at the household of God, and the Spirit is now prophesying that those within Christian leadership who were seduced by greed may have the most to be fearful of.
     As the Lord Jesus Christ Himself testified in A Divine Revelation Of Hell:

     "Listen to Me," said Jesus. "What you are about to see and hear is true. Take heed you ministers of the gospel, for these are faithful and true sayings. Awake, evangelists, preachers, and teachers of My Word, all of you who are called to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are sinning, repent or you will likewise perish."
     We walked up to within fifteen feet of this activity. I saw small dark-clothed figures marching around a boxlike object. Upon closer examination, I saw that the box was a coffin and the figures marching around it were demons. It was a real coffin, and there were twelve demons marching around it. As they marched, they were chanting and laughing. Each one had a sharp spear in his hand, which he kept thrusting into the coffin through small openings that lined the outside.
     There was a feeling of great fear in the air, and I trembled at the sight before me. Jesus knew my thoughts, for He said, "Child, there are many souls in torment here, and there are many different types of torment for these souls. There is greater punishment for those who once preached the gospel and went back into sin, or for those who would not obey the call of God for their lives."
     I heard a cry so desperate that it filled my heart with despair. "No hope, no hope!" he called. The hopeless cry came from the coffin. It was an endless wail of regret... A dirty-gray mist filled the inside of the coffin. It was the soul of a man. As I watched, the demons pushed their spears into the soul of the man in the coffin.
     I will never forget the suffering of this soul. I cried to Jesus, "Let him out, Lord; let him out." The torment of his soul was such a terrible sight. If only he could get free. I pulled at Jesus' hand and begged Him to let the man out of the coffin.
     Jesus said, "My child, peace, be still." As Jesus spoke, the man saw us. He said, "Lord, Lord, let me out. Have mercy." I looked down and saw a bloody mess. Before my eyes was a soul. Inside the soul was a human heart, and blood spurted from it. The thrusting of the spears were literally piercing his heart.
     "I will serve You now, Lord." He begged, "Please let me out." I knew that this man felt every spear that pierced his heart.
     "Day and night, he is tormented," the Lord said. "He was put here by Satan, and it is Satan who torments him."
     The man cried, "Lord, I will now preach the true gospel. I will tell about sin and Hell. But please help me out of here."
     Jesus said, "This man was a preacher of the Word of God. There was a time when he served Me with all his heart and led many people to salvation. Some of his converts are still serving Me today, many years later. The lust of the flesh and the deceitfulness of riches led him astray. He let Satan gain the rule over him. He had a big church, a fine car, a large income. He began to steal from the church offerings. He began to teach lies. He spoke mostly half-lies and half-truths. He would not let Me correct him. I sent My messengers to him to tell him to repent and preach the truth, but he loved the pleasures of this life more than the life of God. He knew not to teach or preach any other doctrine except the truth as revealed in the Bible. But before he died, he said the Holy Ghost baptism was a lie and that those who claimed to have the Holy Ghost were hypocrites. He said you could be a drunkard and get to heaven, even without repentance. He said God would not send anyone to Hell - that God was too good to do that. He caused many good people to fall from the grace of the Lord. He even said that he did not need Me, for he was like a god. He went so far as to hold seminars to teach this false doctrine. He trampled My Holy Word under his feet. Yet, I continued to love him."
     "My child, it is better to have never known Me than to know Me and turn back from serving Me," said the Lord.
     "If only he had listened to You, Lord!" I cried. "If only he had cared about his soul and the souls of others."
     "He did not listen to Me. When I called he would not hear Me. He loved the easy life. I called and called him to repentance, but he would not come back to Me. One day he was killed and came immediately here. Now Satan torments him for having once preached My Word and saved souls for My kingdom. This is his torment."
     I watched the demons as they continued to march around and around the coffin. The man's heart beat and real blood ran from it. I will never forget his cries of pain and sorrow.
     Jesus looked at the man in the coffin with great compassion and said, "The blood of many lost souls are upon this man's hands. Many of them are in torment here right now." With sorrowful hearts, Jesus and I walked on. As we left, I saw another group of demons coming up to the coffin. They were about three feet high, dressed in black clothes, with black hoods over their faces. They were taking shifts tormenting this soul. (A Divine Revelation of Hell, P.69-73).

     Notice the wording, "Awake, evangelists, preachers, and teachers of My Word... If you are sinning, repent or you will likewise perish." This is the exact same wording used by the Lord in Luke where it says, "And some were present at the time, telling [Jesus] about the Galileans whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices. And answering, He said to them... “if you do not repent, you shall all likewise perish." (Luke 13:1-3) 

     To quote again from a passage cited in the previous study, so too does God give similar warnings in another section of this same vision, specifically to those professing to be ministers of the gospel:

     "Listen, you ministers of My Holy Word. Do not teach My people to sin against their God. Remember that judgment begins at the house of God. Unless you repent, I will remove you for the sins you have taught My people. Do you think that I am blind that I cannot see and deaf that I cannot hear? You who hold the truth in unrighteousness and line your pockets with silver and gold at the expense of the poor - repent, I say, before it is too late. On the day of judgment you will stand alone before Me to give an account of what you did with My Holy Word... If you will repent and be ashamed of your sins, I will have mercy and compassion on you, and I will not remember your sins anymore. Pray that you may be an overcomer.
     "Awake to life and live. Repent to the people you have led astray and taught false doctrine. Tell them you have sinned and that you have scattered My sheep. Repent to them. (A Divine Revelation of Hell, P. 139)

     Today, there are countless ministers of the "gospel" making great “confessions of faith.” They are professing that they will make great profits, and reap great financial harvests. What they don't see is that the Lord is grieved by how they are teaching His people to be consumed with accumulating prosperity rather than truly serving God, and His displeasure with such "ministry" is about to manifest itself in increasing numbers of them coming under judgment, and in some cases dying.
     Is this an extreme statement? No. Instances of ministers having already died are now increasing. For more on this, see 1 Corinthians, Study #10.


Why God Has No Choice But To Bring Judgment

     The answer to this question is simple: Because instead of preaching life to God's people, many are now in effect carrying out what amounts to spiritual mass murder through the messages they preach. In short, their leadership is bringing spiritual death, not life. This is made clear in one of Kathryn Baxter's more recent books concerning the visions of Hell she was given by Christ Himself:

     As I looked, I saw something down below the mountain that seemed to be an enormous tree, about a hundred feet high and a hundred feet wide, standing in the middle of an area surrounded by muck, dirt, rocks, and fire.
     Very quickly, we were down the mountain, and standing next to that huge tree, which was full of corruption and evil and had a horrible stench, like death. I said, "What is this, Lord Jesus?" He said, "This is Satan's tree of evil." Immediately, the tree changed so that it appeared healthy. It looked like it had good fruit on it. I said, "Oh, my Lord, what does this mean?" He said, "Keep watching." I looked again, and the tree had turned to gold; then it turned to silver, and then it turned back into the corrupt tree that it really was. Jesus said, "I have called My bride to be trees of righteousness (see Isaiah 61:3). Satan therefore has a tree of evil to corrupt My bride, enticing My people with gold, with silver, and with many corrupt ways."
     As I watched the tree of evil, its fruit became full of worms and maggots and fell off the branches. Jesus said, "The fruit that people are bearing is like that. They are not using My Holy Scriptures to be humble, kind, and forgiving, and to keep from greed, lust, and the love of money. Their god is money." As Jesus said that, the tree again turned to gold; there were big gold coins all over it. I thought, Oh my God, it is an illusion, isn't it, Jesus. He said, "It's an illusion that the devil is using to deceive his bride... Tell My bride to awaken to truth and righteousness, and to repent of their sins, to truly repent... People say, 'Well, what about Abraham and Isaac and Jacob? They had abundance.' Yes, and you shall have what you need, and some of you shall have abundance to help and filter back into the kingdom of God. But, My bride, you have greed in you. You have the spirit of greed and lust. Repent, My bride, of greed and lust." (Baxter, A Divine Revelation Of Satan's Deceptions, P.142-144)     

     The key point here is that the "fruit," i.e. the preaching, being produced out of the mouths of many today professes to offer "abundant life" to believers. But any message that fixates the mind on material things is a message that ultimately leads to spiritual death, not life. Many such ministers love to quote 3 John 1:2 as a justification for their message, but John told his readers, "Beloved I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers." This is how to teach Christian prosperity properly: By first and foremost ensuring that believers' souls are prospering spiritually. Yet today the soul of the church is anything but prosperous spiritually. On the contrary, the Spirit is implicitly warning that we are "wretched, poor, pitiful, blind, and naked" (Revelation 3:17). How could these words in any way be construed to be telling us our souls are prospering? The reality is we are starving to death spiritually, and it is because the spiritual "food" we are being presented today has maggots crawling in it.


A Word Of Encouragement To The Materially Wealthy

     One final word to those who already do possess material wealth: Does all this mean that those who possess earthly riches have no hope of leading a spiritual life? God forbid it. In reality, those already blessed with earthly riches are at an advantage, because their wealth provides them the opportunity to more readily devote their lives to pursuing spiritual matters, should they choose to. The obstacle, however, is that lucrative jobs and careers often require nearly all a person's mental energy during the typical week. If this is you, and you recognize the importance now of becoming rich towards God, simply begin praying to Him repeatedly and consistently that He show you ways you can begin devoting increasing amounts of time to Him. Be prepared for the possibility that He may lead you to begin down-sizing your lifestyle. But also be open to the possibility of Him revealing ways you can hand responsibilities over to others, thus freeing you to focus more on God.
     But beware of making rash or hasty decisions on any such matters, or you may regret it. Rather than relying on yourself to figure everything out, simply begin seeking Him incessantly, for months or years if need be, until you receive confirmation in your spirit that the course of action you have been considering is the right one. If you pray incessantly to Him He will begin putting thoughts and ideas in your head. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you, and eventually you will develop an ear to hear His voice clearly, and know what the Spirit is leading you to do.





« Last Edit: February 01, 2022, 08:06:47 PM by Hidden In Him »