Be Wise Men

 

                                                 


[Matthew 10:16]

Let’s take a different look at the Christmas Story and see how we ourselves can learn from the mistakes Herod made.  We find in Matthew 2 that Herod, acting in the form of the Antichrist wanted to stop God's plan for the Messiah's birth and salvation of the world.  Jesus himself said that there will be many Antichrists [1 John 2:18]; Herod was the Antichrist of the moment; however I wish to discuss here what all Antichrist have in common. 

We inherently know that [1] they are against Christ, hence the term Antichrist, but let's look at what that means. A believer puts God first, [2] the spirit of Antichrist loves the world; a believer fears God and keeps his commandments, which is wisdom at its fullest [3] while the spirit of Antichrist is full of pride.  

[1]-Herod displays all three of these traits in the 2nd chapter of Matthew.  Herod proves that he is against Christ, against God's plan, when he desires and attempts to have the child (baby Jesus) killed [Matthew 2:16].

[2]-Herod loved the world; he loved his power, his throne, and would not relinquish it to Christ.  In Psalms 10:4-8, David describes the wicked man as thus: "4The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.  5His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.  6He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.  7His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.  8He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor."  Here, in these four verses, we find a correlation between the Antichrist spirit and pride; there are many such correlations in the bible.  In Hosea 7:10 we find that the prideful are told to return to God, which shows that their pride puts them in opposition with God.  We also find again, in Psalms 10:4-8, a startling description of a wicked man’s actions, which match Herod’s actions.  Herod has not saught after God; he puffed at God; he has said in his heart that he will not be moved, will not give up his throne to Jesus; Herod could not see God’s judgment of him, he was totally caught off guard when the wise men did not return; his mouth was full of fraud, due to his lies; finally Herod has murdered innocent children and fulfilled all of the actions which David has attributed to the wicked. 

[3]-Herod has shown his pride in several ways; first he has denied God, he has said in his heart that there is no God; if Herod had believed in God he never would have tried to kill God’s anointed Savior.  If Herod did believe in God, he still showed his pride because he thought that he could stop God’s plan.  He basically asked the priests in[Matthew 2:4], “where will God’s anointed be born, so that I can kill him?”  That’s Pride!  Secondly we find that Herod is upset when he finds out that he could not deceive the “Wise Men” and has in fact been tricked by them [Matthew 2:16].  Now if that’s not pride I don’t know what is:)  Herod is upset because he could not trick the wise men; his pride led him to believe that he was wiser than the wise men.  I’m sorry but that’s just funny to me. 

Jesus says in:

[1 John 2:22] Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. 

We find that Herod lies in Matthew 2:7 even as he denies Christ, and tells the wise men that he only wants to come and worship the child, when in his heart he has already planned to have Jesus killed.  If Herod had accepted Christ, there would be no desire to have him killed.  

The wise men proved themselves wise, and men of God, because they [1] believed God by following the star to Jesus [Matthew 2:9]; [2] listened to God and abided by the warning they received by not returning to Herod [Matthew 2:12 ]; [3] they overcame the world, they saw through Herod's deceit and received Christ [1 Corinthians 2:14].

I can give all the scripture and examples in the world and that will not be enough to convince some people, but to those that do believe that Jesus is the all powerful, God’s Son, and Savior of the world; I charge you; I compel you to be “wise men”.  Believe God, accept Christ, and do not return the way you came.  

Here is a link to my books: 

Touch The Mountain

1) And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. 2) And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: 3) And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.  [Revelations 14:1-3].

When reading this passage, one should wonder, "How can I touch the mountain of God?"  I say this because touching the mountain is not a trivial thing.  In the old testament Israel was commanded that if a man or even a beast touch the mountain of God, that it should be killed. {12) And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death: 13) There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount. [Exodus 19:12-13]}  Paul clarifies what it means to be shot through in Hebrews 12 by saying that they should be stoned or thrust through with a spear.

You may be wondering, but how can I touch the mountain or how can a lamb stand on mount Zion without being killed?  Well, this isn't a typical lamb, this is the Lamb of God; Jesus Christ, who took away the sins of the world.  This lamb was thrust though with a spear and raised from the dead on the third day by Jehovah God.  Also, let's not forget that the people of Jerusalem attempted to stone Jesus at one point [John 8:59].  So the people attempted to stone Jesus before they finally thrust him through; wow, look how the scriptures are fulfilled in Christ.  We have the opportunity today to touch the mountain if we accept the sacrifice the lamb made for us.  Paul spells out how to accept the gift of God in Romans 10.  You must first hear the word of God and accept the truth of it, that everlasting life is gifted by the Father through Jesus Christ [John 6:40].  Don't be like Israel was; when they heard the word of salvation, they asked that it not be spoken unto them .  This is the type of person that cannot touch the mountain  of God. [Hebrews 12:19]

My goal here is not to argue whether or not we are part of the 144,000; my goal here is to tell you that nothing unclean or profane can touch the mountain of God.  The blood of Jesus Christ is the only thing that can usher you into the presence of God; you must be saved and covered with the blood of Christ if you hope to touch the mountain.  Jesus said, no man cometh to the father but by me [John 14:6]; he is the only way to God, you must go through him.  Through the veil of his flesh [Hebrews 10:20].  We must come to God, not of our flesh, but as spirits, after we have given up our lives; after we have sacrificed the physical life for a spiritual one.  [John 4:24].  The lamb has set the example for us.  

Come touch the mountain:

22) But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23) To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24) And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.  25) See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: [Hebrews 12:22-25].

Cremation

I am writing this post because I have heard people, that I care deeply for say something over the years, that has occupied my mind during some sleepless nights; I am not sure that everyone will ever agree upon the correctness of cremation.  I say this because the bible clearly uses it as a form of punishment, however few can make the correct distinction between how someone was killed for violating the law, and why the manner in which they were killed affected their remains.  Simply put, they were killed in specific ways for a reason.

Again, I do not agree with cremation, because in the bible it was used as a form of punishment.  In Leviticus 20:14 the law requires that a man be put to death by burning with fire if he has sex with a mother and her daughter.  Now, because in the bible, each form of capitol punishment used had a specific purpose and meaning, it is significant that the violator's body is destroyed by fire.  In Leviticus 21:9 again burning by fire is used as a form of punishment for whoredoms committed by a priest's daughter.  Now I am sure that someone will argue that burning by fire was used as a means of killing the violators, and that it has nothing to do with dishonoring their dead bodies.  Well, let's look at another example.   

Now in Joshua 7:15-26 a man named Achan, his family, and all his animals are stoned to death first, then their bodies are burned with fire, and lastly they are buried, because Achan has violated the commands of God.  Here the violators are clearly dead already before their bodies are burned/cremated.  So they are killed, cremated, and then buried.  Clearly here the destruction of their dead bodies by fire is part of the punishment.  These examples lead me to question why anyone would want their bodies purposefully cremated as a means of burial?  I am against cremation even if it is only a symbolic form of punishment.

Let's look at another example; In I Samuel 31, Saul and his sons' bodies were desecrated by the philistines after their death, which caused their friends to cremate their bodies (probably to prevent the philistines from further desecration).  Now does this support my argument against cremation?  I think so.  Remember God took the kingdom from Saul's house and turned his back on Saul (I Samuel 15), so in many ways he was similar to Achan as discussed earlier in Joshua 7:15-26. A man that has been refused by God could be considered accursed. Both Achan and Saul's house had to be cremated; even if you say that Saul's cremation was by coincidinece, I will remind you that the holy spirit works through what men percieve to be conincidence (John 11:49-52), but in truth, God is over all and controls all.  I will simply ask this question in closing.  Why suffer dishonor or worse by allowing yourself to be cremated?

Saving a Soul

I have heard this biblical saying used many times; [the saving of a soul covers a multitude of sins.]  Now, men normally refer to this saying in this regard, [if you save a man's soul you will be forgiven for your sin, the act will cover your own sins.]  I submit to you that this saying should not be used in that manner when referring to the flock of Christ.  Now I would like to state here that Jesus Christ is the central figure in resolving all questions concerning the bible, because he is the central theme of it, and fulfilled the scriptures.  Let's examine the scripture...

(My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins).   [James 5:19-20]

(1)  The passage is a bit perplexing because it starts out by using the term "strays from the way" suggesting to readers today, that the person is saved but backsliding.  In referencing Ezekiel 3:20, I am only using this as a reference because Ezekiel is old testament...the person discussed was blameless concerning the law but unsaved, because salvation comes through Christ, who had not been sacrificed at that time.  Therefore James is referring to an unsaved person; sinner and unsaved are one in the same in James 5:19-20.  We are descended from God and need to be brought back to our creator, or turned back to the truth.  Let's look at the passage in another way...

(My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and a saved person in the person of Christ turns him back, let him know that Jesus Christ will save his soul from death and salvation will cover his multitude of sins)[edited mpg remix]

Now by using Christ as the central theme of the bible and only path to salvation, we see that the saved person is acting in the person of Christ, only Christ can lead a sinner to salvation.  We also know that it is Jesus Christ saving the sinner's soul from death and this gift of salvation covers a multitude of sins.  It is Christ covering all of the repentant person's sin.  Now we know that this verse is referring completely to the sinner because the saved person(acting in the person of Christ), which led the sinner to Jesus, is already covered from sin and needs no additional covering; he is already covered by the blood of Jesus.  Peter agrees that this substitution is correct because he wrote that love covers a multitude of sins [1Peter 4:8] and Jesus is love.  


Now, we know that this passage, James 5, is referring to the benefits a sinner receives when accepting Christ as Lord & Savior.  Now I will say that if this passage is used when referring to a minister as the person leading the sinner to Christ, it should be seen in a totally different light; if referring to a minister it means quite the reverse.  Explain you say, explain indeed!