Day: July 26, 2007

Leaky gods or Living Water

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

The men who were supposed to be the spiritual leaders of Judah had forsaken the LORD. They did not even realize their spiritual condition. That is a horrible thing for the “man of God” not to even notice that God is not present. The false prophets were prophesying by Baal, a false god, of pleasure. He was the god that took the place of the LORD in the hearts of Jerusalem.

Are things any different in the day in which we live (2007)? In my mind there does not seem to be any difference; with the exception of clothing, and location

In the text we look at today we see the LORD is bringing charges against the children of Jacob (v. 4).

HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD –

“Therefore I will yet bring charges against you,’ says the LORD, ‘And against your children’s children I will bring charges. For pass beyond the coasts of Cyprus and see, send to Kedar and consider diligently, and see if there has been such a thing. Has a nation changed its gods, which are not gods? But My people have changed their Glory for what does not profit. Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid; Be very desolate,’ says the LORD. ‘For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters and hewn themselves cisterns — broken cisterns that can hold no water.” Jeremiah 2:9-13 (NKJV).

The charge brought against them is Forsaking Him. What does it take to forsake the Living God? The answer to that is: Just by diliberately turning to another source of encouragement, and strength one forsakes the Living God.

Notice this charge. What other nation has forsaken their gods? None. Earlier in the Nation’s life they wanted to be like other nations by wanting a king. Read First Samuel, and you will see their request for a king. How is it that now they could not be like these other nations, and trust only in their God. The God of gods, the King of kings, and Lord of lords.

When a follower of Christ Jesus follows someone or anything else they lose the Glory that was theirs in Christ. The Psalmist wrote –

“Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but to Your name give glory, because of Your mercy, because of Your truth. Why should the Gentiles say, ‘So where is their God?’ But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see; They have ears, but they do not hear; Noses they have, but they do not smell; They have hands, but they do not handle; Feet they have, but they do not walk; Nor do they mutter through their throat. Those who make them are like unto them.” Psalm 115:1-8 (NKJV).

Why would someone want to drink water from a cistern, when you can have flowing fresh clean water? That is what had happened to the people of God. They had left the glory of the LORD to pattern their lives after that of death and darkness. Any time God’s people follow the world, the flesh and the devil we get out of His glory, ie., the Glory of God.

These cisterns God tells us of, are even leaky cisterns. They cannot even hold water. These cisterns would catch the water from what little rainfall they might receive, and dew falling from the roor of the mornings, then go out of the morning and find only a wet well, but no water to drink.

You become like what you worship. So beware.

Looking for Power

/ T. A. Blankenship / Leave a comment

There are some things in history which I find fascinating.  One of those fascinating things is to thing that some men who have wielded such power could be so blind to superstition.  Here is a story from a Reader’s Digest book called FACTS AND FALLACIES,  and the article is called “The Spear of Longinus”.  Now, Longinus  is supposed to be the name of the soldier who pierced the side of Jesus, “But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.” (John 19:34).

Here is the article —

“THE SPEAR OF LONGINUS’

‘IN 1909 IN THE Hofburg Museum in Vienna, a thin, pale, shabby young man stood before the treasures of the House of Hapsburg.  Jeweled crowns glittered in their cases.  But what transfixed the observer was one small item: the remains of a spear, dull and black with age.  The unprepossessing visitor was Adolf Hitler.  The object  he worshiped was the Spear of Longinus.

The spear is reputed to be the one that pierced Christ’s side as He hung upon the cross.  Hitler discovered that there were at least three other ‘holy’ spears in Europe at that time.  One was in the Vatican.  A second had been taken to Paris at the time of the Crusades.  Another was to be found in a church in Cracow, Poland.  But the spear of Longinus, named after the Roman centurion who wielded it,  had commanded most attention.  The reason: attached to its handle is a nail reputedly used in the Crucifixion.

The spear is said to have acted as a powerful talisman or charm for Constantine the Great, first Christian emperor of Rome; Charles Martel, who drove the Arabs out of eighth-century France; the emperor Charlemagne; and the Holy Roman emperor Frederick Barbarossa.  According to tradition, all who possessed the spear were victorious.  It was the mystical qualities of the Spear of Longinus that so fascinated Hitler.

An occult obsession

The man who revealed Hitler’s obsession with the Spear of Longinus was an Austrian scholar, Dr. Walter Stein.  He struck up a friendship with Hitler prior to 1914 and came to know the man well.

According to Stein, Hitler’s belief in the supernatural powers of the spear led him into the darker realms of magic and the occult.  he saw himself as a reincarnation of Landulf II of Capua, a terrifying ninth-century Sicilian tyrant who was also supposed to have obtained possession of the spear.  Stein believed that Hitler’s rise to power was aided by black magic and the Spear of Longinus.

When Hitler annexed Austria into the Third Reich in 1938, one of the first things he did was to revisit the Hofburg Museum, to claim his ‘Spear of Destiny.’  He arranged for it to be taken by special train, under armed guard, to Nuremberg.  There it was placed in a church that, on his instruction, was turned into a Nazi shrine.

When the Allies bombed the city, Hitler ordered the spear hidden in a special-purpose vault deep within the foundations of Nuremberg Castle.

Finally, on April 30, 1945, U.S. troops, who had fought their way into Nuremberg in the face of fierce resistance, entered the vault and came upon the spear.  Hitler, by then isolated in his bunker in Berlin, did not know this had happened.  But only hours later, he shot himself.

Today, the spear is back in the Hofburg Museum, and ancient relic with a notorious past.” 

From FACTS AND FALLACIES by Reader’s Digest, pp.304 & 305; published in 1988.

If there is a message we can learn from this and that is the worship of things will lead to death.  The worship of Jesus Christ alone, the One and only One who gave His life to save us, is the only true worship.

It is like the lust of the flesh and the lures of power to lead to destruction.  If you want true, pure power and authority it is only in Jesus Christ.

A Baptist State Church???

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

Once again I will be posting a quote from THE TRAIL OF BLOOD by J. M. Carroll.  This is from pages 51 & 52.  This is good information.

“21. We venture to give one early Congressional incident.  The question of whether the United States should have an established church or several established churches, or religious liverty, was being discussed.  Several different bills had been offered, one recommending the Church of England as the established church; and another the Congregationalist Church, and yet another the Presbyterian.  The Baptists, many of them, though probably none of them members of Congress, were earnestly contending for absolute religious liberty.  James Madison (afterwards President) seemingly was their main supporter.  Patrick Henry arose and offered a substitute bill for them all, ‘That four churches (or denominations) instead of one be established” — the Church of England, or Episcopal, Congregationalist, Presbyterian, and the Baptist.  Finally when each of the others saw that IT could not be made the sole established church, they each agreed to accept Henry’s compromise. (This compromise bill stated that each person taxed would have the right to say to which denomination of these four his money should go.)  The Baptists continued to fight against it all, that any combination of Church and State was against their fundamental principles, that they could not accept it even if voted.  Henry pleaded with them, said he was trying to help them, that they could not live without it, but they still protested.  The vote was taken–it carried nearly unanimously.  But the measure had to be voted on three times.  The Baptists, led by Madison and possibly others continued to fight.  The second vote came.  It also carried almost unanimously, swept by Henry’s masterful eloquence.  But the third vote had yet to be taken.  Now God seemingly intervened.  Henry was made Governor of Virginia and left Congress.  When the third vote came, deprived of Henry’s  irresistible eloquence, the vote was lost.’

‘Thus the Baptists came near being an established denomination over their own  most solemn protest.  This is not the only opportunity the Baptist ever had of becoming established by law, but is probably the nearest they ever came to it”

My how we should be grateful for our forefather’s who were wise in seeing the danger of being an established State Church.  This Nation would have been back to what many of the forefather’s of this Nation had fled.