And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him:
but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
SUBJECT – THE GLOVES ARE COMING OFF!! [PT 6]
When I ended part 5, I had been addressing the issue of pastors, both men and women, that should not be in that position, because they have not been called by God, to be in that position, but rather, have attained these positions, because 'THEY' chose to pursue that office.
What led them to take this course of action, usually revolves around, their admiration of someone in that office, or being encouraged by others, to pursue it. Then, in the case of women, they wanted to prove they can do anything a man can do. All of this, without God's blessing. Therefore, they are simply operating, not as God's messengers, but, Baal's. Any time someone, male or female, is operating in any area, in the body of Christ, that is not ordained by God, they are in rebellion, which means, they are in sin.[sin being the transgression of God's Word, the law].
Everything that is wrong with this nation, and especially in the black community, has at its core, some preacher, with great influence, on others, operating as Baal's messengers, convincing themselves and others, that they are speaking God's message.
We have politicians, that, as I have mentioned earlier, think they are doing what is acceptable to God, in the policies they support, because, it is just the
'left' side of thinking, as opposed to the
'right' side, because of a misinterpretation of scripture, by a highly influential preacher. If I had a penny, for every time I hear preachers that support the
'left', and opposing the
'right', I would be filthy rich.
In our society, and around the world, the term
'right', is the indicator of something being
correct, perfect, acceptable, Godly, positive, and the like. To have preachers, fighting against what is '
right', is sheer lunacy, because we all know, or should know, if you are fighting against these things, you are fighting against God, and as a result,
YOU WILL LOSE!! And, if you will notice, things are going from bad to worse for us. And, when that happens, what do most of you do??? You seek the Lord, but, you seek Him through, these same people, that have brought this curse on you, in the first place.
In your mind, just exactly what, makes a good preacher??
A good preacher to you, is someone that, tickles your fancy, and pats you on the back, telling you that every thing is going to be alright. They tell you that your problems, are not your fault, but, the fault of the
'right', those religious fanatics that keep trying to mix religion, and politics.
Now, answer me this, with scriptures like, Psa 2
4:1 The earth is the
LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. John 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. How in all that is sensible, can any preacher think that religion, and politics, can be separate, when both are controlled by men, and men are under the control of God. Then, look at this scripture,
Rom 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? Do you see that little word,
'if'?? That means, for those of you that are not up, on your English, there is the possibility, of God not being behind you, in what you are trying to do. And, if that is the case, you are heading for destruction. And, the last time I looked, the black community is steadily declining in every area in this nation. With very few exceptions, every thing we put our hands on, or get control of, fails. Yet, these prophets of Baal, continue to reassure you, every thing is the fault of, what is essentially, the Righteous.
Well, Elijah was dealing with a people, much like we are facing today. They were confused, and didn't know, who to believe. And, he, being led by the Lord, did something that we don't see, much of, today, but should be the trademark of every Church in this nation, and that is, a demonstration of just who God is backing, and who He isn't.
In other words,
the time for talk, was over. It was time for action. And, unlike most preachers, in our community, he called them [the prophets of Baal, out]. Most of these so called preachers we have today, are busy trying to negotiate with every one, to find
'common ground.'
As the Rev. Al Sharpton said on his show, as I mentioned before,
'America is not a Theocracy, but a Democracy!!!' Translation: We[America] don't live by God's Laws, but by our laws.
He went on to say, 'What would happen if Islam, or some other religion got power, and changed the laws to have us follow their religion??'
That is a good point. Problem is, he is forgetting something. If the Church, were to stand by and allow something like that to happen, then, we would be getting just what we deserve.
If we look at it, every thing that is wrong in this nation, has, at its root, the failure of the Church, to stand up, when it should have. Prayer, and the ten commandments, removed from the public schools, and the Church, did nothing. The teaching of evolution, unopposed, by preachers, has led to generations of children, growing up in to adulthood, believing that they are nothing more than wild animals, then we wonder why they act like animals, in the streets. They have no conscience, because wild animals don't have a
conscience. The only thing they know, is to survive, as best they can. Kill, or be killed. That's it. And where are the preachers?? They are trying to figure out how to make it appear that there has to be a guilty party to blame, so that they can save their reputations.
Anyway, Elijah, put them all, the prophets of Baal, out there on front street.
He told the people, 'We are going to have a test, to see just whose god, is the real God.' He then directly addressed the prophets of Baal, and told them to 'call on god, and have him send proof of his power, by sending fire down from Heaven, and devour up a sacrifice, that you have chosen.
Mind you now, you have one man, confronting 400.
When you see the odds, you would say, he, Elijah, has got to be a nut. Well, if you consider it, the true believers in Christ, the ones that put all of their faith in Him, are always in the minority. They are the ones that the world, and a lot of Christians, consider to be off of their rockers. Yet, time and time again, they always come out on top, despite what is happening to everyone else.
The idea that someone would dare challenge someone else's religious beliefs, is, to us, something that you just don't do. That is a sign of disrespect. We are supposed to show, love. We are supposed to support them in their beliefs, if, we want to have peace.
Do unto others, as you would have the do unto you. Sounds good, but, it is full of holes.
First, if I want to have peace with someone, I want to have it with God. Why?? Because, if He controls the minds of men, and the things that they do, if He gives them the breath they breathe, then why would I go against Him, to try achieve something with someone, when even they don't have the ability to do anything, if God doesn't let them do it??
Most Christians today, especially in the black community, take the position that God, is just the God of the Christian, and He does not involve Himself with the ungodly [this includes those of other faiths, as well as the atheist,] They figure that they can take a stand that, in order to show the Love of Christ, refrains from doing anything that offends others. The problem is, God wants us to tell them, despite what it may seem.
The Great Commission to the Christian, is,
Mark 16:15-16 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
So, we have a mandate from Christ, to preach the gospel, to everyone. If, in the process of telling someone about Christ, and they say they don't want to hear it, then, at least you have done your job.
However, if we look at the last part of verse 16, where it says,
he that believeth not shall be damned, think about this. If God is not willing for any should perish [go to hell], and He says that is what will happen to those that reject Christ, then, for a Christian to take the position of showing the Love of Christ, by not telling them what they are headed for, is a lie.
You can't love someone, and sit back and allow them to continue on the path to hell, without, at least warning them, of the danger. And, even if they don't want to hear it, you don't compromise with them. To compromise, is to give them the idea that they have God's approval. And as such, they are less likely to want to change.
As I mentioned earlier, the mess we find ourselves in to day, in this nation, and especially in the black community, is because of Christians, or should I say, those that think they are Christians, running around here thinking that they are promoting Christ, when in actuality, they are doing the work of the Devil.
However, they don't see it like that, because how can someone prove that what they believe is erroneous??
The only way to do it, is by demonstrating it.
You see, when Jesus preached the gospel, part of the gospel[the good news], included demonstrating it.
Mat 4:23-24 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. And his fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.
If you are a representative of Christ, and you can't demonstrate the gospel, like Christ says you should do, then, you need to check yourself, and what you believe.
There is nothing wrong with the gospel. There is something wrong with you.
Much of what drew the people to Christ, was not what He was telling them, but rather, what He was doing[see the part of scripture above that is underlined. What drew them to Him, was Him showing the full power of the gospel.
This may seem like I am being hardcore about this issue, but, the gospel, without demonstration, is not really the gospel. At least, not as it is intended to be.
If and when you get sick, what do you usually do?? You go to the hospital. Why?? Because that is where you go to get healed, because that is what it does. It has the reputation of being able to make people well.
Well, as we all know, there are illnesses that they don't have any cure for. In that instance, the only thing they can tell you is, they can make you comfortable, while the illness runs its course, or kills you. They are limited in what they can do.
If we look at what Christ did. Everyone that came to Him, no matter who they were, and what they were suffering, He healed them. He made them whole. Well, that same process, is what He wants His people to do.
Getting back to Elijah, he knew that the people were confused by all of these different messages about who God is, how many gods there were, whose god was the strongest, what he demanded, what was right and wrong, and the whole 9 yards. As a result, the nation, suffered. Because they had gotten away from God, and really didn't think He was aware of their suffering, because they were not seeing any progress in their lives. So they were running helter skelter, trying to find their way back to Him. So they were running to all these false preachers. That's much the same thing that we have today. Whenever times get bad, we are inundated with the devil's preachers coming out with all types of remedies. But, God, is not with them. He will demonstrate who He is backing, through demonstrating it, with power.
More next month.
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