In Whom Should We Have Faith?
Jerry Wilhite, author I am sure there will be some offended with this study. When the truth is told and it in any way conflicts with what people believe, they either look at it and try to see the truth and accept it or are offended by it. The offense is easier to come by than the acceptance. So let's get started we shall only go back about 700 - 900 years to the Holy wars, and the inquisition, both of which were wrong. The Holy wars were driven by man, not God. No where in the New Testament are we told to protect and if needed comit an act of war for any lands. If anything the opposite was told to Paul and the apostles. Some see the burning and destruction of Jerusalem as a way of God getting the Apostles out of Jerusalem to the other parts of the world with His word. No God did not destroy anything, but He did allow the Romans to do just that. God had told the followers of Jesus to take the word out into all parts of the world, but decades later they all (except a few) were still where they should not be. Then Paul, who had a desire to take the word to the Jews, was not allowed to. He was told to go forth to the gentiles. Then in late 1st century, about 90 AD, we find John exiled to the Isle of Patmos where the Lord revealed to Him what would come. In the first 4 chapters of Revelation the Lord tells of 7 churches. We learn from this that there are basically 7 churches that the Lord considers to be the churches of that time and our time as well. Remember this is a revelation of what is to come, not what is or was. The 7 churches all except 1 were found to be no longer of the Lord. Only 1 church was found to be still pure and they are those who keep their heart and mind open to the Lord. They are those who listen and hear from God and remain obedient to Him. The others have fallen deep into some form of worldliness, following man and the flesh. In the mid to late 4th century a ruler of Rome and as of late a convert to the Lord decides to (base on good intentions) make it a law that to hold office or have any power one had to be of Christ. In time this led to many non-believers just saying they were when they were not. In time this placed non-believers into powerful positions of the church and government. Of course we were foretold about this by Jesus many times, below is one of the times: I am using the entire chapter 7 of Matthew because the entire chapter refers to what I am talking about in one way or another. Jesus outlines judging, and then goes into the problem of man not receiving what they seek, because they ask not. Then explains false prophets and how they will be known and at last compares any who are wise enough to see the truth and follow it with a parable of sorts. Matthew 7 1. Judge not, that ye be not judged. 2. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 3. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 4. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? 5. Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. 6. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. 7. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. 9. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 10. Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11. If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? 12. Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. 13. Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: 14. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. 15. Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 17. Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 19. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 21. 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. 22. 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? 23. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 24. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. 28. And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: 29. For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. If you read the above verses, especially verse 16, you will have seen Jesus says you will know them by their fruits. To understand anoint, imagine a dry sponge placed in a large bowl of water. When lifted out it is dripping with water. It is anointed with water, it has water, in it, on it, and through it, and this is to anoint. We also know from Luke 4:18 that Jesus was anointed with the Spirit of God. So to be of Christ is to be anointed (in, on and throughout) with God's Spirit. If we are of His Spirit and we want to know what fruit Jesus refers to, the Holy Spirit will explain that it is one of two only. Is of the world, the flesh, and ones own deeds. The other is the fruit of the Spirit. This fruit can only be found on those of Christ. Galatians 5 22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23. Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. Jesus also talks of those who outwardly, in all ways (except the fruit of the Spirit) appear to be of the Lord, doing deeds and acts that appear to be only those like Jesus Himself. The problem is wonders, signs, deeds; etc can be done by any with faith. The fruit of the Spirit can only be seen on those of Christ. Then Jesus talks about how He will not know these false Christ's come Judgment Day. So even early on Jesus knew there would be a problem and addressed it. By the time of the Inquisition the people had no way to read scripture and where told only what the church wanted them to know. The inquisition was led by men not of God, just the desire for power due to what one man of good intentions did in the 4th century. These people put people to death for reasons of appearance. A person could appear to be evil by their dress, walk or talk. Many were killed in the name of the church because they had no knowledge or education, and as such could not fight those accusing them. Those who might have fought for them would not out of fear of being accused because they defended them. It was like a form of the SS in Germany in WWII; they were only answerable to Hitler himself. These men of the inquisition were only answerable to the Pope, and the Pope chose each one based on their ability to do what they subsequently went forth and did. In both the 14th century wars and the ones in the 1930's to mid 1940's both had their form of SS. Men who would break into a home and take those therein, based on no real charges at all. It was more based on dislikes of a certain race of people, or their religious beliefs. Before, these people could have been those who had been ignored, never noticed, in dead end jobs, but were given power because of their devotion to the person in charge, Hitler or the Pope. It was not until the late 15th century that three major changes took place in the church. The Bible was printed in languages of the people, for the people to read. Martin Luther got hold of Romans and Hebrews and translated both. After reading them both he sent a letter to the Pope accusing him of being an anti-Christ. Of course Luther was excomunicated, but then others would follow. The Americas were discovered, a place for religious freedom. Of course over the centuries there were many evil rulers. For sake of time and space we are only covering a few to show the point that we have to be very, very careful whom we place our faith in these days. In the late 1920's the world's economy crashed and the world fell into world-wide depression. It was so bad that most would jump at any hope for hope's sake. Of course. at the same time in Germany, the leaders had done nothing or it seemed nothing to change the times or help the people. Then came a man who offered hope, but at the same time he had a way of mesmerizing the masses of people. Since he offered them real change and real hope they took him in, and gave him power. During this time he laid most of the blame on certain people, artists, intellectuals, Jews (because most were rich). There were other groups, but he took the people's lack and desire for more and a better time and placed the blame on those which he stated caused the problems. He drove hate to new levels, and people started acting on their hate, and driving these people to the camps, out of the country, and even killed them. Then as times got better, the people forgot their problems and believed the lies, how these people driven out and how at the same time things got better. So the masses believed the lie and they accepted it. So by having a lack of hope, a desire for better, then placing their faith in the wrong man, believing the lie and what happened was one of mankind's worse periods of history ever. Mankind fell to the lowest level, not all, but enough, more than just a few percent. Of course the deeper you would dig in the evil the more vile it became and unbelievable it was. How could people in the states believe after the war even seeing the pictures of such evil? To accept it fully, and that it was as bad or worse than it was, was to accept it was possible in them as well. That caused and still causes many not to believe and to make up lies, or twist the truth, to protect their fear of its being true or that it could happen to them or they could be a part of it in the future. So over time those (not all, but a lot) who had the power and were in charge and leaders turned out to be evil - not of God, but of Satan, even in the church. When we allow people to be our leaders based on hope of a better day, no matter his/her morals, or when we forget the past, then history is doomed to repeat itself. So always first and foremost listen to, and hear from God, and be obedient. Only place your faith in those who are of high moral fiber.
To understand better you need to understand Christ. Christ is a Greek word for Christos, and Hebrew for Messiah, and both translated to English mean to anoint(ed)(ing).
I could have gotten into details of what has and was done to people, but that is not what this is about. What this is about, is how easy it is to place our faith in the wrong people for the wrong reasons. When we vote based on pocket book over moral issues, or allow ourselves to place our faith in others we really do not know, then we become as the followers of Jim Jones, or David Koresh, or even Hitler.
3-3-4 H.O.M.E.