Bible Beats

And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.  (Dan 2:44)

There is a phenomenal movement taking place within Christendom.  It has spread across denominational lines, and is comprised of many different churches. There are several names for what some of their religious philosophies are, and some terms to describe each of them by their activities. Not all of their new ideas are actually new, and some are sprung from positions that are the products of centuries old debates. Many commentators have analyzed and classified them, and complete categorizations of their various parts, while they are interesting and have made a valuable contribution, do not want for more elaboration here.  Those who have proven astute in their power of scrutiny and reliable in their dedication are trusted to continue in their work.  The most general classification to gather the lot of them is used here as a departure point so that a primary doctrinal flaw which characterizes most of them may herein be treated.

They are emerging, and they are diverging, and they are missional, and they are self-help, and they are prosperity; they preach new reformation, new community, renewed mission, positivism, and personal wealth. In all, they are doing every sort of thing that resembles less and less biblical Christianity with each passing day.  All of them, though, despite the differing frays and braids and tassels of tastes, have one dastardly common denominator: they are The Raiders of the Messianic Kingdom.

(part 5) - see parts: (1) (2) (3) (4)

The gospel of the kingdom being preached today is not the biblical one because it is being preached out of season. We are in the harvest, and true laborers be few (Mat 9:36-38).  The kingdom to come will be planted in the future.  The social gospel calling for a utopian kingdom to be set up that is preached by men today is one being proclaimed from a motive of obtaining power.  Satan wants his turn on the world stage to rule in a new kingdom of man, and this surging urging desire in reflected in false prophets.  These men are the evil trees Christ spoke of, and their chief followers are their evil fruit they bring forth (Mat 7:15-16).  The social gospel is a well received gospel because it does not find fault with the individual, but only with his surroundings.

The social gospel contains the message that mans problems stem from a deficiency in some resource or service that can be humanly provided, and the person of the king is represented as an impersonal concept of social justice.  Success of this gospel is measured by the redistribution of material goods and power, and its induction of people content to be religious and work to obtain for themselves meritorious salvation.

These have recently been defined as people of faith, a category created to remove Christ from Christianity, trade political clout for doctrinal conviction, and combine all religions into a single value.  Their willingness to accept the concept of inclusion that proclaims all are the children of God despite the biblical qualification that one is a child of God only by faith in Jesus Christ (Gal 3:26) is for them their necessary confession of faith. There is no room in this world for the exclusionary gospel of salvation.  This is part of the reason that a growing number of pastors are not maturing there congregations to include a diet of the meat of Bible doctrine (Heb 5:12-14), and are, as Marie Antoinette did, telling them to be filled with only pastries (q.v.).

Here, another connection can be made with circumstances surrounding the French Revolution.  This comparison is between the evil servants spoken of by Christ and the French rulers.

After telling the disciples His second coming would be in an hour that they would not expect (Mat 24:44), Jesus describes two types of servants he will encounter upon His return.  He puts it as a question and provides the answer: “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing” (Mat 24:45-46).  It is altogether a different fate that awaits the other servant who entertains in his heart that the Lord is delaying His coming and begins to “smite his fellowservants;” which could include sheep, and other pastors.

The evil servant will also begin to “eat and drink with the drunken” (Mat 24:49), and the word for drunken here is not merely used to denote intoxication; it is the same as the one used metaphorically to describe the whore in Revelation who is drunk with the blood of the saints (Rev17:6).  The evil servant, though, will not escape the coming King:

The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Mat 24:50-51)

This is a hard saying, and it is best taken at face value. There are going to be shepherds claiming to be servants of Christ, or pastors, who will not be feeding their flocks the meat of the word.  They may be deluded by the size of their followers, and the riches they have obtained by them, and the works they have done to build the kingdom, and they will present these to the King.

The Lord has said that the followers they will gather around them are but “thorns” and “thistles” (Mat 7:16), and as for their works:

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (Mat 7:22-23).

The Raiders of the Messianic Kingdom have said in their hearts “My lord delayeth his coming” (Mat 24:48).  What is implied here is that they see no benefit in serving the Lord because He will likely not return until the better part of their lives are over, or even passed away. Intoxicated with the idea of residing in the pleats of royalty, evil servants begin to set their own tables with a king’s supper and start a banquet they can partake of now.

To provide for their tables they will be marshaling their flocks to perform service projects and pursue visions for establishing their place in a kingdom on earth. They will sup with unbelievers and form alliances with sinners for material and political gain. Eventually, they will even break bread with those who shed the blood of the saints.

Many of these raiders are now meeting with and inviting political candidates to speak to their congregations who are supporters of taking innocent life by the abortion of babies; at any time and for any reason whatsoever.  Is bringing such a man before a congregation to beat numb their conscious not the same as the smiting of fellowservants? We shall know them by their works.

And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.  (Dan 2:44)

There is a phenomenal movement taking place within Christendom.  It has spread across denominational lines, and is comprised of many different churches. There are several names for what some of their religious philosophies are, and some terms to describe each of them by their activities. Not all of their new ideas are actually new, and some are sprung from positions that are the products of centuries old debates. Many commentators have analyzed and classified them, and complete categorizations of their various parts, while they are interesting and have made a valuable contribution, do not want for more elaboration here.  Those who have proven astute in their power of scrutiny and reliable in their dedication are trusted to continue in their work.  The most general classification to gather the lot of them is used here as a departure point so that a primary doctrinal flaw which characterizes most of them may herein be treated.

They are emerging, and they are diverging, and they are missional, and they are self-help, and they are prosperity; they preach new reformation, new community, renewed mission, positivism, and personal wealth. In all, they are doing every sort of thing that resembles less and less biblical Christianity with each passing day.  All of them, though, despite the differing frays and braids and tassels of tastes, have one dastardly common denominator: they are The Raiders of the Messianic Kingdom.

(part 4) - see parts: (1) (2) (3) (5)

Touching now on this ministry of Paul provides an opportunity to correct a misconception that he is the Apostle that did preach the Gospel of the Kingdom later on in his ministry.  The misunderstanding comes from Paul’s exhortation and farewell to the elders of the church of Ephesus when he takes his leave of them, and is found in Acts chapter twenty.  Without laboring a verse by verse exposition here, the passages necessary for the context are verses twenty thru twenty-seven, and the key terms in their context will suffice to dispel the error.

Paul used the phrase “preaching the kingdom of God” (Acts 20: 25) to be synonymous with teaching all “that was profitable” (Acts 20:20), and for this emphasis: “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:27).  Indeed, Paul testifies just prior to declaring he taught all things contained in the kingdom of God that he specifically preached the “gospel of the grace of God” to the Jews and to the Greeks (Acts 20:24).  Paul’s ministry, given to him by God, was “to testify of the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).  This gospel was centered on “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21).  He did not preach the Gospel of the Kingdom, which would be the coming of the Messianic Kingdom, but the Gospel of Grace which is in the kingdom of God along with everything else attendant to it in God’s kingdom.  The book of Acts closes with Paul: “Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him” (Act 28:31).  It is on these two instances of pointing out that Paul preached the whole counsel of God that the singular massage of the Messianic Kingdom is mistakenly extracted as the gospel Paul preached.

The kingdom of God is not the same as the Messianic kingdom to be received by Christ Jesus and established on earth; the kingdom of God encompasses everything that there is including time and eternity and all the knowledge therein.  It is entered into by a new birth as it is spiritual, and “cometh not with observation” (Lk 17:20, 21).  As he was one of the stewards of the mysteries of God” (1Cor 4:1), Paul did not shun to declare to the whole counsel of God, though he had many occasions to scold saints for requiring remediation on the first precepts of the faith despite the amount of time spent on them, and by some of them (1Cor 3:1-2).  We find ourselves in similar striates today.

This discussion about the kingdoms and which gospel is the appropriate message for today is necessary precisely because of pastors and teachers like Rick Warren and Bill Hybels who are failing to declare the whole counsel of God.  It will not do, as many pastors mistakenly contend, to say that those in the pew, or the sheep, bare the sole responsibility for feeding themselves, and that the pastors are only required to provide them with, as megachruch pastor Hybels of Willow Creek Church put it, “whip cream.”¹ This statement bares an amazing resemblance to the one credited to Queen Marie Antoinette who responded to the peasants inability to feed them selves with “let them eat cake,” or pastries, and whether hers or not it was indicative of the attitude of the royalty that precipitated the French Revolution.

The parallels between the Raiders of the Messianic Kingdom and the supporters of the French Revolution continue in the comparison of the social gospel that was being preached at that time.  There was then, as there is now amongst the Raiders, the expectation of ushering in a new kingdom of righteousness on earth.  The social gospel for this kingdom emphasized the power of man in obtaining that kingdom.  There was also a popular sentiment in France, and in England, that a deposed monarchy in France would remove the last obstacle to the kingdom’s dawn.

Our contemporary revolutionaries are the Raiders of the Messianic Kingdom who have identified biblical Christianity as a despotic monarchy to be deposed.  They share the popular sentiment that biblical churches are the main obstacle to ushering in their new kingdom.  They not only oppose these churches, they seek out smaller or aging congregations to take over their churches from the inside with marketing strategies on church growth, and new church management programs like Warren’s Purpose Driven Church paradigm.  The idea of relying on the Holy Spirit is dispensed with, and is replaced with utilizing the power of psychology through personality profiles and temperament testing to induct individuals into vocational categories for servitude in the new kingdom.

As the Raiders depend on their own talents and power to usher in the kingdom, they de facto replace accountability to God with accountability to man.  It naturally follows that they instate this accountability to man in their organizations.  An example of this are the various covenants Warren has his church members and even his readers sign that make them accountable first to him and his organization before being accountable to God.

The French revolutionaries also focused on man as the ideal depository in which only the requisite qualities of enlightenment (gospel) and opportunity (vocation) must be placed to alleviate his plagued condition.  Man, in this gospel, becomes the measure of all hope, and the man thus perfected the manifestation of the redeemed spirit.

The leaders of the revolutionaries, as the perfecters, also demanded accountability to man rather than God.  This is what made the French Revolution different from the American Revolution.  General George Washington refused to be king after vanquishing King George, and so the fledgling new nation was off to a good start.  In the aftermath of the French revolution, the militants in France were competitors for a kingship, and they were ruthless in extinguishing those suspected of not being accountable to them. There, the idea of man being the center, and the measure, of all things resulted in consequences so bloody it is referred to as the Reign of Terror.

Where ever the Gospel of the Grace of God, with the purpose of salvation, is replaced with the Gospel of the Kingdom, which purpose is to announce the arrival of the king and the setting up of the Messianic Kingdom, the result is that the message inevitably turns into a social gospel.  This is because the Gospel of The Kingdom that becomes the social gospel does not contain in its message the salvation of the sinner, but the comfort of the sinner in sin. The social gospel is a substitute gospel, or another gospel when preached in Christendom.  It is the gospel of apostasy which perverts the gospel of Christ (Gal 1:6).  As works is its central component, it makes men the servants of men instead of servants of Christ.  Thus, the priesthood of believers is abolished, and a new royalty rules over the laity.

Notes:

The Christian Post, May 02, 2007. http://www.christianpost.com/article/20070502/27197_Bill_Hybels_Unveils_Willow_Creek%27s_Future_Vision_for_Multiplied_Impact.htm  

The Bible is nothing if it is not provocative.  It describes not only the human condition, both cause and remedy, but it also tells of the time before the human race, and the universe after the race ends.  The Bible also reveals information about other supernatural beings, and their interactions with humans throughout time.  In fact, some things the Bible reveals about the unseen world seem so fantastic and dreadfully fearful that many down through history have chosen to interpret much of the Bible metaphorically, or otherwise spiritualize certain scriptures in order to fit them comfortably within the viewfinder of empiricism. Over the years Chuck Missler, of Koinonia House, has displayed no such temerity.

Several years ago Missler was the only other Bible student that this writer knew of who also came to the conclusion that the toes of Daniel’s Image comprised of both iron and miry clay signified the disharmony between two separate species.  Where one new spices will mingle itself with the “seed of men” at the end of the last worldly kingdom indicates the tribulation period will witness a return of the Nephilim from Genesis, chapter six (Dan 2:43).  Again, the sons of God will take wives of the daughters of men, and superhuman monstrosities will result; neither fully human, nor angelic. The Lord said that one effect of this would be: “Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken” (Lk 21:26).¹

Alternately, and of late, Missler appears to have adopted a seemingly more liberal biblical interpretation on another subject brought into controversy.  It is this: that the prospect of finding oneself consigned to Outer Darkness is not the dreadful condition previously associated with it.  The reasoning Missler uses is to disqualify Outer Darkness as a description of hell, but this alone will not significantly recast it as more palatable, or make it any more desirable than hell itself.

If any think that Outer Darkness is anything but complete and final estrangement from Christ, the light of the world, for eternity; they have stopped paying attention where attention should be paid. The scriptures are clear, speak for themselves, and require no preconceived ideas about hell to conclude that Outer Darkness is eternity without God. In the Bible Jesus is portrayed as the antithesis to darkness and those who dwell therein:  “The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up” (Mat 4:16).   The shadows of darkness are where we find evil deeds, death, and alienation from God.  In contrast, Jesus is the light who can reconcile man to God and grant them eternal life with Him (Col 1:21; Joh 17:3), and those who have Him have light: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Mat 5:16).

The Term Outer Darkness is found only in book of Matthew where Christ used it three times.  In each of these instances there is no compelling scriptural support to interpret it as anything other than complete and final separation from God.   The scriptures need only be examined in their turn.

The first verse is found in Matthew, chapter eight:

And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Mat 8:11-12; emphasis added)

The rightful children of the Messianic Kingdom are the Jews.  Though God always has his remnant, the history of Israel is one of idolatrous hypocrisy were most of the Jews reject God to worship other gods and idols.  They rejected the King who came in the name of His Father, who was foretold to them by Moses and the prophets, and Christ said they will accept another who will come in his own name during the tribulation: “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive” (Joh 5:43).   At that time, the spiritual condition in Jerusalem is compared to that of Sodom (Rev 11:8), and fully two-thirds of the children of the kingdom will be cut off just prior the Christ’s return to Jerusalem to set up the Messianic Kingdom (Zec 13:8-9).  This verse in Matthew is taken from the incident of the centurion’s request for Christ to heal his servant, and Christ marveled at the Gentile’s faith, and prophesied salvation to the Gentiles.

The second verse is found in Matthew, chapter twenty-two:

And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen. (Mat 22:11-14; emphasis added).

The Gospel of the Grace of God is gone out over the world and it calls men to repentance to receive the gift of salvation though Jesus Christ.  Many have been called, but many also reject the offer.  Nevertheless, we who are chosen by the Father and are delivered into Christ’s hand (Joh 10:27-29) will attend the marriage supper of the Lamb in heaven as the Lamb of God’s bride, the Church (Rev 19:7; 21:9).  We are to be clothed in white robes signifying blood-washed purity (Rev 19:8); and none other attire except that which Christ only can provide for His Church will be permitted there. Here it is shown that mere professors of Christ who do not know Him are not part of the true Church who will spend eternity with Him.  Further, note that the man who is bound and cast out of the heavenly scene does not even remain as a friend of the Bridegroom.²

As the phrase weeping and gnashing of teeth is always associated with Outer Darkness, and is used only one other time where it does not accompany the term, it would be profitable to examine it where it is used to see if it carries any other meaning except that which supports the interpretation that Outer Darkness is complete separation from God.  Here it is used in Matthew, chapter twenty-four:

But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Mat 24:48-51; emphasis added)

This weeping and gnashing of teeth is to be found in Outer Darkness.  It is the anguish of those whose punishment is the portion of the hypocrites.  These are part of those whom God will eventually send Antichrist against to cut them off (along with a hypocritical nation; Isa 10: 6, 12-25).  There destiny is an outer darkness as compared to the light of the world reigning in the Kingdom and later in the Regeneration (Mat 19:28; 2Pet 3:9; Rev 21:1) where His brightness precludes any requirement for other illumination; including the sun: “And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever” (Rev 22:5).

The evil servant here spoken of is an apostate.  He is the last person described by Christ in His Olivet Discourse where He explains the signs of times at end of this age. This servant characterizes the great falling away, or the Apostasy (2Th 2:3).  He is a false prophet who smites the saints by introducing damnable doctrines of demons (1Tim 4:1-2) into their congregations (this includes psychology as psychoheresy), and makes merchandise of them by marketing these heresies in the churches.  There are many of them today, and many are notorious.  Do not be fooled into thinking that their sin is only of gluttony and drunkenness.   The “drunkenness” here referred to is the same cited in Revelation where the mother of all harlots (prostitutes) is shown to John, and her sins given:  “And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration” (Rev 17:6; emphasis added).  The Greek word for drunken here is used metaphorically for one who sheds blood or murders profusely.

Today’s evil servants suck the blood out of the saints in tithes and offerings, and in programs and other merchandise.  They threaten those with cursing from the law who cannot be cursed after that Christ was made a curse for us (Gal 3:13), and they compel the Gentiles to live as did the Jews (Mal 3; Gal 2; Heb 7).  Never once are they teaching the whole counsel of God; that no man is justified by the law (Gal 3:11), and that any who are of the works of the law are under the curse, as he must continue in all things of the law to do them (Gal 3:10).  These things cannot be done in practice as the old priesthood is done away with in Christ, our High Priest, and could never be completed in principal under that Levitical Priesthood, which atonements pointed towards completion in Christ.  These evil servants will join the hordes of hell after the rapture of the church in killing all who refuse to take the mark of the beast, or worship his image; drunken with their blood.

The third verse is found in Matthew, chapter twenty-four:

His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.³ And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Mat 25:26-30; emphasis added)

Those who are Christ’s are not classified as the wicked, as this servant is, after that they are justified through Him.⁴  The parable of the Wheat and Tares further clarifies the hopeless state of Outer Darkness; the place of weeping and gnashing of teeth.  “So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. (Mat 13:49-50; emphasis added). Here we are told that the wicked are to be cut off from the just, their actual punishment in the Lake of Fire is specified (Rev 20:15), and their eternal misery is exemplified (”weeping” increased to “wailing” for emphasis, as it is in connection with Mat 13:42).  It is true, as Koinonia House asserts, that Outer Darkness is not a description of hell, but it is not, as they suggest, just another place “within the Father’s House” where the light doesn’t shine.⁵  Remember what was said at the beginning of the Lord’s ministry on earth: “The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up” (Mat 4:16; emphasis added). The Outer Darkness, and its comparative phrase “great light” are used analogously to emphasize the complete presence or complete absence of God in Christ (Isa 9:2); especially as it pertains to the next life for those who either accept or reject Him in this life. In the three times Jesus uses the term he did so to show complete separation from God, and that the type of persons who are going to experience that separation are categorized as the wicked, and are defined by their behavior.  Outer Darkness is representative of the condemnation.  If any cannot see that, they must by needs sake move closer to the light.

Notes:

^2. Some argue that the man in this parable was not cast from the presence of the Lord for eternity for they reason he was already in the kingdom. Firstly, it should be noted that none of this has taken place yet. Secondly, it should be pointed out that this is merely a scene upon which is painted an illustration.  To see the faultiness of such reasoning one need only apply it to another such scene: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Mat 7:21-23). Could it not also be argued that the ones speaking to the Lord were in the kingdom? Certainly, but not wisely.  For then would there be workers of iniquity there whom our Lord was ignorant of.

^3. Him that “hath not” hath not Christ.  The idea here is that Christ cannot remain dead in a born-again believer anymore than He could remain dead in the tomb.  A person who sets Christ aside is one among the trees that bear no fruit, and are hewed down and cast into to the fire (Mat 7:19).  “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid (Mat5:14; emphasis added) .