The Art of Deception
Despite what you may believe, there have always only been two forces at work in the world. Good and Evil. You don't need a first class education to see this. Though I had seen it before and even wrote here about it, I was still struck, again, at how evil 'He who controls this world' truly is. And reminded, likewise, how Good the Father is. Despite the blinding corruption of Evil in the world it cannot extinguish the Light.
I was struck again by the appearance of Noah on the SYFY channel this morning - but I shouldn't have (as a wound bleeds though the bandage, so does Sin into all facets of Life. Even more so now. The more blood that seeps into the bandage the more apparent the seriousness of the wound). Nine generations earlier the Lie began; questioning the veracity of God. 1600 years later came the Flood. The character of the world had changed so dramatically it had to be wiped clean of the filth born of that lie. [you don't need reminding of this, yet for purposes of laying out my thesis I begin here]
As with all things Hollywood, if you watched this movie, you saw a great lie. Personally, I find it hard to imagine the world then so rich with lush verdancy. 1600 years is a lot of time to transpire. And with child-bearing increased, it was literally teaming with life. And due to the depravity of Mankind, it was wicked and full of wanton violence. What began with innocence ended in wickedness.
A few of the falsehood you saw? the fallen angels were not rock creatures. In reality they were (are) beautiful; having been created by God; Noah, according to the Bible, didn't desire the end of all mankind on earth (which would have fulfilled the desire of Satan himself); We aren't told he had a crisis of faith, or misunderstood God's purpose in bringing the Flood; Noah did not want to kill his own grandchildren; Nor was there a stowaway on board... but for "dramatic license" this is what we were shown.
Licentiousness: the dissolute indulgence in sensual pleasure; that's all Hollywood is. A distraction that pours upon the viewer sensual pleasures. This is where we are today. A profligate race given to recklessness, wildly extravagant and wasteful; in a word - Licentious. Never in the History of man have we been this "profligate" in our every desire. Every era of history had its dictators, despots, 'Breads and Circuses,' lightly sprinkled with a few Godly men. Every era had its wanton destructiveness; its prudish hatred, and through it all, those which spoke against the profligations, and a return to the True Source of Godly wisdom. One would think that a message so universally hated would have been stamped out by now.
But God...
Everything we know today is built upon the knowledge of yesterday. For those of us who never learned how to make fire ourselves, hunt, or even grow food, we believe this marks our superiority. We've become elevated in Man's wisdom, but not in the wisdom of survival. When the power goes out and the gas no longer flows - neither to stove nor car - where does that leave us with OUR 'survival skills'? A few will sit pretty for a time, until the masses reflect on all the things they do not know by killing each other off and taking what they need and more. We are a wantful people. We always have been.
The Bible describes the downfall of Man starkly, if rather obliquely. It provides only Saliency; those things that really stick out, like a root that's bound to trip nearly everyone that passes by. Few ever think that root MUST be there if the trees are so large. The fall of Damascus, for example, is a salient fact - so says Isaiah 17 and Jeremiah 49. It is not YET a ruinous heap, though many could argue there is indeed much ruinous and heaping within Damascus. Yet still it stands. For roughly 2400 hundred years Israel had not been a nation, until May of 1948. How many people thought that the Bible could not be true because Jerusalem was controlled by Ottoman Turks? That the Bible described Israel as a nation 'Flowering' (Isaiah 35:2, for one)? These are but TWO small prophecies of the end times, and yet, they are true.
Clarence Larkin, author of "Dispensational Truth," wrote shortly after the turn of the twentieth century, about Israel being in her land again. Having never seen this, Larkin, perhaps hearing of the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, 1897, saw this and something pricked his prophetic spirit... perhaps. There were just as many and more signs indicating the prophecies were little more than chance happenings, the way "The Simpsons" seem to routinely 'predict' trends and happenings. After so many years they're bound to get a few things right. Right?
Despite what you may believe there was not always Good and Evil. "In the beginning God ... saw that it was Good." Evil didn't creep in until after the creation. Here, we get a glimpse of a Chiasm of sorts: Evil creeps in AFTER the creation and is allowed to stay Vs Evil tries to creep into BEFORE the Marriage Feast begins and is cast into outer darkness.
In this time, we are all faced with the stark reality that Evil does indeed exist (though you may not see it as such) and, by necessity, God must also exist. What God allows in one age, He doesn't suffer in others. What's 'acceptable' in one age is not accepted in another. Sin will not always interfere. The devil will not always reign.
I realize many of you may not see this, let alone accept it, yet it's true nonetheless. Nothing happening now is inconsistent with the Bible. Which, while giving a plethora of descriptors for the events it calls the End Times, you must realize that things just don't happen overnight, in an instant, with the snapping of ones' fingers - like a root tripping everyone who walk by. Unless the Bible gives it this property, the build up to these things will be gradual or, as in this day and time, with great swiftness. We tend to think (I know I did) that the events described in Revelation, specifically, would be stunning - and many will be - but a few, like the building of the Third Temple in Jerusalem will happen suddenly. The preparations have already been made, and approval of such building has already tacitly been given the green-light of approval from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Who would have ever thought that was possible just four years ago?
That's on them! What about ME?
What can any rational thinker, then, do? He MUST do one of two things, and one of two things only. He must either accept or deny the Truth. And what is truth? Let's ask Pontius Pilate...
In John 18:37, standing before Pilate, Jesus said,
"Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the Truth."
What was Pilate's response?
"What is Truth?"
By this time Pilate was probably tired of all the religious 'Jew-stuff.' He could see that Jesus was a just man and in no way deserving the judgment the priests had in mind, but what did he do? In Matthew 27:19, Pilate's wife warned him "...Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him." Even warned by his wife, he took the easy way out of all the Jew-stuff - all the folderol. He washed his hands instead: publicly, symbolically; as if to say, You want him dead? "Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him."
So, What IS Truth? The Gospel accounts are undoubtedly true. One Need only read Lee Strobel's work, "The Case For Christ" to see there could have been no tampering with the account of Jesus' death and burial, and the Gospel of John is quite clear on what Truth is... "Thy word is Truth" [17:17].
In Greek, the word for "Word" is Logos. John chapter one is replete with the word Logos, in context of the identification of Jesus, THE Logos; the Word. One needn't be a Biblical exegete, to understand what's being said here. Common sense, and a spoonful of sugar, will do nicely. If Jesus is the Word, and the Word is Jesus, it stands to logical reason then that Jesus is Truth personified. The religious leaders of the day (the Pharisee and Sadducee) were, in essence, killing Truth. Pilate, by tacit approval of the crime, is equally guilty of killing TRUTH. Isn't that where we are today? Isn't this the same modus operandi as was used in the Garden of Eden? 'Yea, hath God said?' The Same Lie? Let me ask you, then... Is it more dangerous to believe the Truth? Or a LIE?
Hearkening back to the 'stark realities' we are presently facing, I put before you a choice: You can get the vaccine, a precursor to the Mark of the Beast as described in the Book of Revelation; you can continue wearing your mask, an historic obeisance by silence; standing six-feet apart, removing any communal contact with others (you can't plan your escape if you're not allowed to huddle, now can you?), or you can deny them their desired outcome in this whole "Cattle Through the Chutes" thing.
When you stand before a judge who asks you: Do you "understand" the charges levied against you? What do you say? I'll tell exactly what you'll say. With your lawyers' "advice," you'll inexorably accept the truth of their charge(s), by "standing under" the Judge, thereby agreeing you are indeed their subject and accept their charge against you. In effect, you assent to their owning you and their power to do what they will, within the construct and strictures of their Law. The same Law you've been living under all your life. This Law has no power over you in regard to God, nor the freedoms He has innately given you.
In the film, Kingdom of Heaven, when Balian meets King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem for the first time, the King makes this very profound description of a man's duty to God, king and himself...
"A king may move a man, a father may claim a son, but that man can also move himself, and only then does that man truly begin his own game. Remember that howsoever you are played or by whom, your soul is in your keeping alone, even though those who presume to play you be kings or men of power. When you stand before God, you cannot say, ‘But I was told by others to do this,’ or ‘that virtue was not convenient at the time.’ This will not suffice. Remember that.”
I am imploring you to "Remember that." The End in coming to each of us. No man will answer for what YOU chose to do. Only you Alone. Other's will pay for their influence of you, but the decision was yours the whole time, and never anyone else's. We - mankind - either believe this is the only life there will ever be. Or, assuming there is more, that EVERYONE gets an opportunity to walk in the eternal sunlight of Heaven. But I remind you again of the devils' modus operandi.
Almost everything you see, know, hear, believe is a Lie-tainted Truth. You've been lied to all your life; by your parents (witting or unwittingly); your teachers, your friends, your pastors and priests or shaman or cultist; witting or unwittingly have all lied to you.
"The answers are so simple, and we all know where to look. But it's easier just to avoid the question" ~ 'On the Other Side," Kansas, Monolith.
That's what the Pharisee and Sadducee did. It's what Pilate did. It's what untold millions have done down through the centuries. It's what many more will undoubtedly do before it's all over for them. I beg you to turn around before it's too late. After all, that's all repent means: to Turn Around; have a change of heart.
You are Free in a 'Land OF the Free,' but you are only Brave if you demand what God has so freely given you, from the Courts and Police alike. The Home of the Brave no longer exists. America is the Home of the Cowed. Yet this true not of just America. Whether your governing documents describe where you live as the Land of the Free, makes no difference whatsoever. You are FREE because God made you so. You had no say in being here at all. But now that you are, according to the King of Jerusalem's movie-quote: When
you stand before God, you cannot say, ‘But I was told by others to do
this,’ or ‘that virtue was not convenient at the time’
You can continue doing what you're doing. Continue believing what you do. Continue being herded through the chutes by your so-called masters. Or we can say, in essence, 'No, I do NOT under stand.'" I do not believe you have the right to ask this or that of me. I am Free, and because I am Free, I will be BRAVE. Brave enough to reject the lie you insist I buy into, knowing all to well the price ~ my immortal soul ~ moving headlong, inexorably to the end appointed to us all.
Come now... Let us reason together
Anyone who has ever went to a concert, unless they sat safely in their assigned seat, can tell you how chaotic and hot the press of fans are the closer one gets to the stage. And how near impossible it is to pull back, get a breath of relatively fresh air, and pile back in and return to where you were. It's ugly. It's exhilarating. Some leave the concert convinced they had a good time, while soaked with sweat and a funk even the Waffle House waitress can identify through the smell of bacon, eggs, burnt toast and coffee. Looking back, yeah, I had a great time. Looking a little deeper back, what did I achieve beside a 'fond' memory of foolishness, and songs I cannot now remember? I have the memory of KNOWING I was there, the impressions it left, but what else?
Imagine now, being unable to escape the press... what would you do for just a glass of water?
Again, imagine if you can a man so thoroughly beaten by men accustomed to the art of torture; who had learned after a couple hundred years experience, the proper methods to employ - just the right place... here, not there; this nerve, not that one - in order to keep a man alive for days. That would be torture indeed! Iraq used(s) torture, as does Iran and nearly every nation on earth - including America. Are any of these nations as brutal as was Rome? Jesus was a strong, healthy man, so what about the brutality of what was done to Him allowed Jesus to survive the scouring, His apparent lucidity as he hung on the cross, His surprising lack - all things considered - of blood-loss, and His extremely unusual death mere hours after He was crucified? Especially when so experienced of men (Roman soldiers certainly were) had perfected the art of torture.
Comparing the two experiences: the Concert's press, and the Crucifixion of Christ... the two are hardly comparable. But again, imagine being unable to escape the press; never a drop of water, nor cool breeze, nor any escape whatsoever from the overwhelming oppression. That's the choice you have in these waning days of your life. It's not about the waning days of the world, it's about YOUR LIFE in it - and whether you'll have any part in the next.
When you were born, your feet were set inexorably on a path only you could follow. Yes, other's share your path and a few actually share the larger road, but they do not walk in your shoes. They do not experience what you do. They say things like, Remember when we? ... Remember when I? ... You loved that! ... I loved it too! When we say things like this, we're sharing experience, but not sharing shoes. Your experiences are YOURS. Their experiences are THEIRS. You may share the experience, but never do you or they answer for each other when you both get to the front of the line. When you're standing before God.
"But I was told to do this ... that was not convenient at the time"
Each of us will give an account for what we do in our bodies... everything: every sin, every time we mocked Jesus, every time we praised Him. Even those times we tried to pull others off the narrow path that leads to life everlasting and onto the path that leads to destruction. Everything.
Were it only a matter of doing what's right... well, who's judging us? Shouldn't we be more concerned about what HE thinks is right and wrong? rather than our own perceptions?
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."
~ Proverb 16:25
I know full well that I am not perfect. NO sir! I get things wrong every hour by hour. But I have an advocate awaiting me in the courtroom. The sentence is sure... I WILL be condemned... were it not for Jesus, my lawyer.
Every moment, every day prior is recorded, and the tally keeps building, worsening the debt for which I'll have to eventually answer - neither you nor I can ever hope to stop building upon this debt! What was it the penitent thief asked Jesus while suffering his last moments on the cross next door?
"...we [are] indeed justly [condemned]; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this [Jesus] hath done nothing amiss! Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom."
That's all it took to be saved. 1) He accepted that he had sinned; 2) He recognized his need of a savior; 3) He recognized Jesus as that savior; and 4) He asked to be remembered [by Jesus] in that day. The 15th Chapter of 1 Corinthians, verses 1-4, puts it this way:
"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS according to the scriptures; And that HE WAS BURIED, and that he ROSE AGAIN THE THIRD DAY according to the scriptures..."
That's all you have to believe. Did the Thief on the cross next to Jesus DO anything other than believe? What could he do nailed to the cross next door? Yet other's, like the pharisees of our day, will surely say,
"Yes, that's all you have to do, but... you also need to believe this... don't do any work on Sunday... don't eat meat... do this and don't do that... read this... believe this new doctrine... Oi! And for heaven's sake! Stay away from them!
Did Jesus do any of those things? Why do you think He was crucified by the religious leaders of the day? They were more concerned with tradition, Moses and the Law and all their silly, onerous rules, which Jesus did not keep. Nor did He teach them to the people. What He did do was call them hypocrites when their hypocrisy showed, and honestly tried to make them see their error. He didn't hate them, He wanted to make them see HE was the reason for everything... NOT Moses. He was the 'reason for the season,' so to speak.
That is all I want you to see here. It's not what a certain preacher on TBN says. It's not what your friend at work says. It's not even what I say. It's what the Bible says. And the Bible says you're fast running out of time to make a choice. I genuinely hope you make the right choice. And I genuinely hope to see you There.
For the record, that choice MUST be Jesus. He is your only hope.
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