Shall We Raise Aloud the Cry Again?

In the season of the First Advent, it is interesting to take note of some of the circumstances involved in the birth of Christ in that stable. The Gospel of Luke gives us a detailed account from someone who proclaimed in Luke 1:2-3 that he was an eyewitness from the beginning and had perfect understanding of all things from the very first; this, most likely, was from the beginning of Jesus earthly ministry. It would not be inconceivable to suggest that Jesus related to His Disciples the details of His birth and some of the more notable events of His youth; His circumcision, His presentation to the Lord in Jerusalem, the blessing from Simeon and Anna, and in Jerusalem with the doctors in the temple, all related in the Gospel of Luke.

The event that prompted the journey of Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem is a taxing of all the world (that was known to them of course) decreed by Caesar Augustus (63 BC to 14 AD, the first true emperor of Rome). Throughout history nobles, kings and dictatorial rulers have forced their subjects to pay taxes and tribute to fill their coffers. The common people and merchants had no voice in this matter; the military saw that it was done.

Following the Exodus from Egypt, the Israelites were instructed by the Levitical code to give 10% of their monetary wealth and livestock to support the priests in the temple. This, of course, was a matter of law handed down by God Almighty and not the demands of a king. Our Lord Jesus had somewhat to say on the matter of paying taxes: in Matthew 17:24-27, Jesus instructs Peter to retrieve the tribute money from the fishes mouth; and in Matthew 22:17-22, Jesus confounds the Herodians on the payment of taxes to Caesar by proclaiming that they should render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s. And we must not forget that Jesus chose to visit the house of Zacchaeus the tax collector (Luke19:1-10).

After the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of Catholicism, the emerging social structures of the Old World were primarily under the control of kings and self proclaimed dictators following the aforementioned traditions of taxation to fund their ambitions. In the ensuing centuries, England would develop into a parliamentary form of government while preserving the monarchy. There have been a number of civil uprisings throughout history perpetrated against unsympathetic tyrants because of unreasonable taxation. Notable among these are: the Jewish Zealots against the Roman Empire in the 1st century AD, the Peace and Truce of God (or Pax Dei and Treuga Dei) movement by the Catholic clergy against taxing church property in the Middle Ages, the Florentine tax resistance of 1289, the Norman tax resistance against Philip VI and John II from 1348 – 1351, the Amicable Grant revolt in England against unreasonable taxes and forced loans by Henry VIII in 1525, the English Civil War in 1627 in opposition to loans of Charles I without parliamentary sanction and ship money tariffs, and, not the least of which, the resistance to taxes such as the Stamp Act and Tea Tax levied against the American Colonists by the English Parliament in the 1760’s and 1770’s.

The American Colonists were used to high taxes; what was considered unreasonable, however, were the taxes levied against the American Colonists that were not collected from British subjects in England. The Colonists were not represented in the British Parliament and felt that their ideas and concerns about unreasonable taxation were not being heard; they considered themselves to be loyal British subjects with the same rights as their fellow British citizens in England. The Colonists were also forced to house and feed British soldiers without reasonable compensation.

Following the passage of the Stamp Act, it is generally accepted historically that Samuel Adams organized the covert group known as the Sons of Liberty in 1765. Samuel Adams and John Hancock could rightly be called the architects of the American Revolution. Their efforts were at the heart of the Boston Massacre (a protest that was met by force from British soldiers) and the Boston Tea Party. The motto of the Sons of Liberty was the cry heard throughout the New England colonies, “No taxation without representation”. These Sons of Liberty lifted high the political views of Montesquieu and Bacon which held that all men are created equal and that no person or governmental entity had the right to deprive any person of their God given inalienable rights to life, liberty, and free ownership of property. In 1775, the ‘shot heard round the world’ was fired at Lexington and Concord attesting to that call to liberty, while in Virginia Patrick Henry declared, “give me liberty or give me death”.

It would appear that we as citizens (those that have inherited from our forefathers the traditions of liberty and equality that were paid for with their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor) are again faced with a sociopolitical dilemma that threatens the very fabric of our society. Fewer than 600 elected officials and so-called representatives in Washington, DC are steering this ship of state toward a path of economic and social disaster.

Some 330 millions of people are being jerked around the current political and economic landscape of higher prices, rampant inflation, and higher taxes by our so called elected representatives. What’s worse is that there doesn’t seem to be any prospect of returning to our past glories of being the manufacturing giant of the world with one of the most vibrant economies among the industrialized nations. The irony is that we are supposed to be represented by those who are perpetrating this disaster; by those who have campaigned on a platform of doing the will of their constituents, the voters that put them in office. The ‘catch 22’ is that many of the voters that put them in office are totally ignorant of the ground from which this ‘tree of liberty’ sprang, and they will not learn of it from those who are in power.

In the light (or darkness) of this current sociopolitical environment, might we ask, are we really being represented in Washington? Is the will of all the people being heard in the halls of Congress, or, if heard, is it even being remotely considered? Is there a modern day Samuel Adams that could reorganize the Sons of Liberty anew? Might we again raise the cry, “No taxation without representation”? If the old ‘ship of state’ is foundering, could it be righted and refloated; or is rescuing as many of its passengers as possible the best we can do? You decide for yourself.

The God of Second Chances

I grew up in a rural area of central Arkansas participating in the normal activities of a youth in the late 1950’s. I went squirrel hunting with one of my friends, played junior high football, road my bicycle along the country roads of my community within a five mile radius of home, and generally engaged in the game of youth. Several of my friends and I belonged to a Boy Scout Troop and went to summer camp.

My Junior High football team was our league champions for the years that I played (not because of me by the way). There were only enough uniforms for 18 players, so the coach would have tryouts for the various positions he had to fill. Of course, there were always more that came out the first week of August than positions on the team. We spent the month of August competing with the others that wanted to play. The position went to the fastest, most skilled, most prepared to endure the heat and grueling training regimen. It was inevitable that some disappointed parent would ask the coach to give their youngster a second chance to compete for the right to be on a winning squad. Those second chances were rare indeed.

We go through our lives playing out the journey God has set before us. That journey sometimes leads down a path that we may have chosen unwisely or without properly following the Lords leading. Regrets in these circumstances are inevitable and valuable opportunities are lost; but we know that all things work together for the good to those who love the Lord (Romans 8:28). I am reasonably persuaded that Peter the Apostle would have wanted a second chance at answering the question at the fire side, “Surely you are one of them” (Matthew 26:70) instead of denying the Lord three times. It is interesting that in John 21, Jesus asks Peter three times, “Simon, son of Jonas, do you love me more than these?” Not really a second chance but a chance to repent in his heart and have a burden lifted. Do you suppose that Samson would have conducted himself more wisely with Delilah if given a second chance (Judges 16)?

There are a number of places in the Scriptures where circumstances of this nature present themselves; decisions are made, and lives altered. This is the nature of our walk with the Lord. There is one example, however, in the Book of Beginnings (Genesis) that is very interesting. Isaac, Abraham’s son of promise, was sent by his father to take a wife of Abraham’s family.

God had prepared Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel (meaning the house of God), to be Isaac’s wife. God would present Isaac with paternal twin sons from Rebekah; the older would be named Esau (meaning red and hairy) and the younger would be named Jacob (meaning supplanter or usurper). God, in His foreknowledge, already knew what they would do on their path for the LORD. In Genesis 25:23, the LORD tells Rebekah that two nations struggled within her; the elder would serve the younger who would be a stronger nation.

Isaac loved his elder son Esau because he was a keeper of the flocks; Rebekah loved her younger son Jacob knowing that the LORD had revealed that Jacob would be the father of the great nation promised to Abraham. In the course of things, Esau would sell his birth right to Jacob for a bowl of beans with bread regretting it later on (Genesis 25: 33-34); Jacob, at the bidding of his mother who would not trust in the LORD’s Providential authority, would deceive his father and receive the blessing of the first born (Genesis 27:1-29). In so doing, Jacob lied about his identity to his father claiming to be Esau and not Jacob. Jacob would carry the burden of these deceitful lying actions for much of his life. His deceitful ways would affect his labors for Leah and Rachel, the daughters of Laban.

It is interesting that, in fleeing from his brother Esau, on the road to Haran that Jacob would have the Ladder Dream (Genesis 28:12-17) in which the LORD reveals to Jacob the very Gateway into heaven (said Gateway being the Lord Jesus). God begins to move in Jacob’s life in spite of his deceitful supplanting ways. Jacob names the place of his Ladder Dream Bethel or the house of God and the gate of heaven.

Following Jacob’s sojourn with Laban and his labors for Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, and Zilpah, he begins his journey back to his home land and the inevitable confrontation with his brother Esau. The LORD God had greatly multiplied Jacob with great flocks and the sons who would be the twelve tribes of Israel. The LORD has promised that Jacob would be the great nation of father Abraham and Jacob is now greatly repentant of his evil deceitful ways. Jacob has seen God’s host at Mahanaim (Genesis 32:1-2) and separates himself from the company of his caravan to be alone with his LORD (Genesis 32:22-30). Jacob wrestles with the “man” all night; he wrestles with his inner man of sin; he wrestles with his LORD for forgiveness and mercy, for reconciliation between him and his Savior. Jacob does not give up until God blesses him.

Then comes the moment of the light upon Jacob’s soul; the moment that he opens the door of his heart, revealing his true self. The LORD then asks, “What is thy name?” Jacob confesses that he is Jacob the supplanter, the usurper, the deceiver. Jacob had lied to his father Isaac saying that he was not the supplanter usurper deceiver but Esau. Now God gives him a “do over”; a second chance to admit what he really was and repent. Jacob in that moment is redeemed and God changes his name from Jacob the deceiver to Israel the prince of God. What a great story we have in Jacob’s journey from usurper deceiver to prince of God. In truth, we are all really given a “do over”; a chance to repent of the old man of sin and become children of the Most High God of all creation, to be born again. We all have the opportunity to become children of the God of the Second Chance.

Will We Know Each Other in Heaven?

It is a basic desire of the human psyche that one day we will see our loved ones in the heavenly hereafter. A number of ancient cultures practiced rituals with the purpose of preparing the dead for the journey, figuratively speaking, across the River Styx. Some Oriental cultures set up shrines in which to pray to their departed family members; many prominent families had departed loved ones that were the object of worship in certain ruling classes. Some Native American cultures buried their dead in high places looking to that day when they would see them in the Happy Hunting Grounds.

All of this rhetoric leads to the obvious question, what does the Bible say about knowing our departed loved ones in heaven? Will we be able to recognize anyone in heaven? In John 20:25, Thomas was not in the room with the other Disciples when Jesus appeared to them. Upon Thomas’ return, he said that he would not believe in the risen Messiah until he saw the nail scares in Jesus hands. It is apparent from this scripture that we will be able to recognize our Lord. Is the Trinity the only ones that we will recognize?

I Samuel 28:11-15 relates an incident in the life of King Saul when he approaches the witch of En Dor. The rule in the days of the sojourn of Israel in the Promised Land was that they were not to suffer a witch to live; so for this reason, witches were cautious when practicing necromancy (the summoning of the dead). As a side note, necromancy is considered a Satanic act; as such, any conjuring of the dead in séances would involve demonic spirits and not people from either Paradise or hades, and the heavenly abode of God. God is in complete control of all those entering and leaving hades, Paradise, and the present heaven. Now continuing our discussion of Saul’s experience with the appearance of Samuel; the witch of En Dor is startled at Samuels appearing knowing that she, in all likelihood, is not responsible for Samuel’s appearance, but in fact it is the act of God Almighty. The point of this reference is to demonstrate that Saul and the witch of En Dor recognized Samuel the profit when he ascended out of the Bosom of Abraham from down in the earth.

In Luke Chapter 16, Jesus relates a true account (not a parable because He begins by saying there was instead of He spake a parable) about a rich man and the beggar Lazarus. In this true story both the rich man and Lazarus die; the rich man lifts up his eyes in Gehenna (Greek transliteration of Hebrew word Hinnom), hell, hades being tormented in the flames, and Lazarus is in the Bosom of Abraham or Paradise; both places of which are down in the earth. Before the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, both places were in the earth separated by a great gulf, but close enough for the inhabitants to see one another. The rich man recognized Lazarus and Abraham calling out to them, and they both recognize the rich man; all of them retained their original names.

The Mount of Transfiguration account in Matthew 17:1-8 is an excellent example of recognizing those who have gone to Paradise. Peter, James, and John immediately realize that Moses and Elijah are appearing with Jesus in their transformed heavenly forms. They recognize them by appearance and by name. Interestingly enough, Moses and Elijah may appear once again as the two witnesses of God in Revelation 11:3-12. They will both have miraculous powers just as they had in their earthly ministries and they will both be recognized as such by the remnant of the Nation of Israel just as they were in days of old. No power on earth will be able to stop them for 1260 days, and their voice will be heard throughout the world until God calls them back as they are resurrected to life and ascend to heaven.

John’s visit and vision of the Third Heaven appears to have elements of him being able to recognize the Lord Jesus and the Saints of old dressed in white robes. In Psalm 147:4, God knows all the stars of heaven and calls them all by name and in Revelation 2:17 there will be new names in heaven for the Saints just as Abram was renamed Abraham, Sarai to Sarah, Jacob to Israel, and Simon to Peter. In Revelation Chapter 20, the names of all the redeemed will be written in the Lambs Book of Life and we will be known by our names. All names are important to our Lord; it is exciting for me to think that one day my Lord will look me in the eyes and say, I love you Jack; welcome to Heaven. Since He is omnipresent, He will be able to welcome us all by name at the same time at the marriage supper of the Lamb.

I am hopeful that I will recognize and be able to fellowship with my departed wife Cindy. We were married for 48 years and I miss her company daily which I was looking forward to in our retired years. There are many others of my past that I am equally excited about seeing again as I am sure that those who read this essay will likewise desire to see again. I believe that there is sufficient evidence in the Scriptures to support this position. I pray that this essay will give you comfort and assured hope.

Ye Shall All Likewise Perish

On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry eloquently expressed his love for liberty by proclaiming at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia that, in essence, he was not concerned about the opinions of others on the matter of freedom and liberty, but he was want to declare, “give me liberty or give me death”. Real freedom and liberty are fragile concepts. John 8:32 states, And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. The only real freedom and liberty are realized when we are freed from the bondage of sin and death by faith in the redemptive power of the Cross of Calvary.

America is the first nation to be established on the concept of personal freedom and liberty for all men by the rule of law, our constitution. The Founding Fathers knew that a government based on the rule of law must, of necessity, consist of a populace that is well mannered and respectful of the rights of others. In George Washington’s day, being well mannered ladies and gentlemen was the order of the day; to be otherwise was unseemly and distasteful, and often resulted in duels of honor.

Is today’s America the same one for which our forefathers shed their life’s blood? On May 24, 2022, Salvador Rolando Ramos (18 years of age) murdered 19 children and two teachers in a Uvalde, Texas elementary school before being shoot to death by authorities. Many of us can remember the University of Texas tower shooting in August of 1966 in which 18 student were killed and 31 wounded by Charles Whitman after he had murdered his wife and mother earlier that same day; he met the same fate as Ramos. These incidents pale in comparison to the American Holocaust perpetrated on the unborn numbering over 50 million since 1973 (Roe vs Wade). It is only recently that the Supreme Court has struck down this decision which should never have been heard originally by the court. On special occasions in the days of the Judges of Israel, the Moabites would sacrifice their children to their god Chemosh to garner his favor. Just whose favor is being garnered today in the sacrifice of the unborn? What has happened to our society? These were rare occurrences before prayer and Bible reading were banned from public schools.

From the Gospels we learn that our Lord Jesus had much to say about sin and judgment. In Luke 13:1-5, Jesus is confronting a group of hypocrites who claim that others have been punished for sins greater than theirs to which Jesus responds by saying, I tell you, Nay: but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. In Luke chapter 16, Jesus is teaching His disciples that God will surely punish the unrepentant Children of Israel relating the parables of the unjust steward and the rich man and Lazarus. God has always demanded obedience to His laws. God had already warned the Children of Israel on the Plains of Moab about unrepentant behavior before they were to enter into the Promised Land in Deuteronomy 8:11-20:

Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping His commandments, and His judgments, and His statutes, which I command thee this day: lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwell therein; and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; …and thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God.

The Children of Israel were to be God’s ambassadors to the lost world of idolatrous departure from the one true Holy Living God of all creation. An ambassador is expected to be on their best behavior at all times; they may be the only scripture a lost person may ever read.

There are those who say that the Bible is an antiquated document having no relevance to the problems of today’s modern technological society; the fact is, these words spoken in Deuteronomy chapter 8 so many centuries in our past ring out like the peal of a Sunday morning church bell calling out to the faithful believers to come and worship. These words fly to the core of the illness plaguing society today. The thrust of Deuteronomy 8 is that the Israel of the Exodus, miraculously delivered from sin and bondage being brought through great hardship in the wilderness, could become comfortable in their new found freedom and opulence in the land of milk and honey and embrace the idolatrous ways of the Canaanites in disobedience to the commands of the LORD God. These words are a warning to any who would forget that it is only by God’s power and might that they have this great wealth; a warning that when their bellies are full from God’s bounty, when their wealth has enabled them to live in sumptuous dwellings, when their bank accounts overflow with the gold and silver of the mammon of this world, and they forget from where they have come, and who has brought them this far, they will perish. So Israel did forget and suffered great hardship at the hands of their enemies during the period of the Judges and eventually leading to the Babylonian Captivity. The glories of the days of Solomon were fleeting. This is the fate of any nation that forgets that the Great Almighty God of the universe is the source of all blessings.

This great nation of ours, this jewel of liberty and freedom, burst forth by God’s grace and mighty power during a period in history when religious freedom was being paid for by the blood and sacrifice of martyrs (consult Foxe’s Book of Martyrs). Most of Christendom was under the control of the state religion, papal supremacy, and imperial monarchs. There was no room for personal interpretation of the Scripture guided by God’s Holy Spirit. Martin Luther and others of his view point had begun to challenge the erroneous interpretations of the Bible by the Catholic Church forced upon the unlearned common church members by religious church leaders like Cardinal Richelieu and George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury. Small groups emerged from the third century that followed the doctrines of the first century church like the Donatists, Waldenses, Albigenses, and Anabaptists; these groups rejected infant baptism and the authority of the pope and his bishops and priests.

God’s hand guided the pilgrims to the shores of this New World to raise up a nation that would emerge as a bastion of religious freedom. From 1620 up to the days of World War II, this country grew in wealth and power by God’s divine almighty hand just as described in Deuteronomy 8. We became the bread basket of the world, a strong middle class society lived in their own houses acquired by the sweat of hard work, and God’s Word was heard publically every day. We knew that it was by God’s might and power that we were so prosperous. The forces of evil could not allow this stronghold of freedom and liberty to go on unchallenged.

The Devil is a patient relentless foe whose movements into the fabric of our society were of small almost imperceptible steps; not on a grand national scale, but on the local level with an alderman here, a county judge there, a teacher in the class room, and so on and on until one day the trap was set; our social structure was being transformed while the local New Testament Church stood by and watched. There came a day when our children were no longer taught about our Pilgrim forefathers, when the Bible was no longer read in the schools, when the teaching of good moral values ceased, when the rewarding of individual effort in sports and scholastics was replaced by the concept of what is good for the group or society in general was more important.

In a social environment as described above, if the moral compass is removed, if the warnings described in Deuteronomy 8 are no longer taught, if reprobate acts and vile affections are deemed to be acceptable by those responsible for the education of our children, then we are on the edge of the precipice of destruction. The LORD God declared to Abraham that if ten righteous souls could be found in Sodom and Gomorrah, then God would spare it. George Washington set aside the fourth Thursday of November as a National Day of Thanksgiving to thank God for His bountiful blessings on this great nation. Today, the Thanksgiving holiday has just become another long weekend to pursue worldly interests; Halloween has replaced both Thanksgiving and Christmas as the most economically important holiday.

The warning in Deuteronomy 8 is that we are to, Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping His commandments, and His judgments, and His statutes, which I command thee this day. The only people who can forget the LORD their God are those who knew Him from the beginning; you cannot forget someone you never knew. In today’s society, there are fewer and fewer people who really know the Lord Jesus the Christ. On 09-112001, our nation was shocked into the reality that we are not invulnerable; we are no longer the greatest power in the world. In actuality, we forgot that God is the greatest power in the universe and it was always by His mighty power and protecting hand that we have come thus far.

Who’s responsible for this departure from the evangelical missions outreach of the Lord’s great commission, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15)? Is it the failure of one group or Christians in general? Have we become used to shopping for our household needs from the well stocked shelves of the nearest supper market? Only recently have we become aware that some of the shelves are not quite as full as they used to be. I actually went to Kroger a few days ago for a gallon of milk and they were sold out. The Lord will withdraw His bounty and protection from this nation if we fail to pay heed to the ways that the Lord has commanded us to obey. Many Bible scholars teach that the United States is not mentioned as a world power in the Revelation.

Abraham Lincoln stated in his Gettysburg Address that the Civil War was a test to determine whether a nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to equality for all men could endure slavery. Has this nation, founded on justice, equality, and liberty for all men, founded by men that believed in a well mannered populace, become a slave to the mammon and debauchery of this world and abandoned their Creator? This once great nation may likewise parish if we do not turn from our wicked ways.

Daddy, What’s Heaven Like?

Imagine, if you will, a child who has just been informed by a loving devoted parent that they have something very important to talk about with the child.
“Daddy has to go away on a long trip that will take a long time”, says the parent.

The parent tries to hold back the tears not wanting to cause the child unnecessary anguish in this difficult time for both parent and child. One of the greatest fears in children is to be separated from their parents and a loving parent will try to make this time of inevitable earthly separation more bearable. The parent begins to speak to the child in comforting familiar tones of love and devotion easing into the moment when the child will come to the realization of what the parent is so delicately relating.

The child asks, “Daddy, can I come too?”
“Not right now dear heart. The rest of the family will need you.”
“But Daddy, I need you. We all need you.”
“I know that you need me dear heart, but this is something that I must do; I have no choice.”
“Daddy, when will you be coming back?
“Very soon now I will have to leave. You will see me for a short time and then I will be gone for a long time.”
“Daddy, can I come and see you where you’re going?”
“Dear heart I must tell you something that will be hard to hear. Daddy is going to heaven.”

The child looks very sullen and remorseful. Tears begin to well up in those clear and trusting eyes. The child reaches out to the parent and the parent draws the child to his side. Finally the child realizes what is happening and asks, “Daddy, what’s heaven like?”

This is a very special moment that the father wants to relate in the most loving and hopeful terms of expression. Our Lord Jesus had a moment just
like this in the Upper Room at the Last Supper following the departure of Judas Iscariot the betrayer. His Disciples will be anxious about being separated from their Lord and Jesus wants to prepare them with the Words of truth.

In John 13:33 and following Jesus says, Little children, yet a little while I am with you, Ye shall seek Me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you, A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

I am sure that Jesus was speaking to His Disciples with tearful loving intreaties imploring them to be lovingly devoted to the welfare of one another.
In this solemn moment Simon Peter says, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.

It would not be presumptuous to imagine that this was a moment of heightened emotions for our Lord Jesus and the faithful Disciples that remained during this most difficult of situations.

Now Peter, who is the most outspoken of the Disciples, says, Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.

Well, we know how the Lord responded to this, revealing one of those moments of the Lord’s foreknowledge of the events of our lives. Peter would deny his Lord three times before the rooster crowed the morning alarm. Jesus must now disarm this moment of fleshly anxiety, and teach His disciples how to put on that armor of faith that they will need for the coming battle (faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God – Romans 10:17). They will hear the Word (the Christ) speaking directly to them as no others have heard up until now. Jesus now reveals a description of the Father’s house that has not been known up to this moment.

In John Chapter 14 Jesus continues, Let not your hearts be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye Know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto Him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.

It is interesting that it was Thomas (the doubter) that asks of the way. It is important to take note in these words that heaven is a physical place of great mansion dwellings that our Lord wants to give us. The Lord will leave this space/time returning to Gods heaven to prepare a new place for us; a future place that did not yet exist in the days before the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord.

As the Disciples of our Lord had to face the sudden departure of the Lord, so many have had to face the loss of a loved one in their lives. How many times has this scene been played out in mankind’s journey through this mortal coil? Many people who are unaware of how the Bible actually describes heaven relate some common misconceptions as to the nature of God’s heavenly abode. Early painters from the renaissance period depicted the angelic messengers with wings and often related scenes of heaven shrouded in clouds. Children taken from families were often said to have gotten their wings in heaven becoming a part of the angelic host as little angels. Another common misconception is that we will be greeted at the gateway into heaven by Saint Peter who will determine if we are on the roll of the forgiven; if we are passed through the pearly gates, we will then obtain our wings and a harp, and take up our possession on some conveniently located nearby cloud.

So what will that New Heaven and New Earth be like? The New Heaven and Earth that will replace the present heaven and earth (Revelation 21:1), the memory of which will pass away forever from the minds of the redeemed of the Lord (Revelation 21:4): for we are told in the Revelation that there shall not inter into the New Heaven anything that defileth, that neither works an abomination nor makes a lie (Revelation 21:27).

We could say from Scripture that our Lord created in the beginning a perfect place for Adam and his help meet in the Garden of Eden; a place of perfect peace, of perfect provision, of perfect love and beauty; a place where our Lord could walk and commune with his lovingly created man and woman in the cool of the day. This place would have been man’s home for as long as he liked if the man obeyed the Lords commandments. God showed man what he could have if man would live the innocent life of obedience. This Garden of Eden was a physical place created for a physical man and his wife.

We all, of course, know what happened; the free will of a reasoning mind that God created in man for the purpose of fellowshipping with their Lord (Isaiah 1:18) was also the vehicle of death and destruction for God’s new creation. The Lord provided a way to be redeemed from death by using the free will reasoning ability of man to make a free will choice for either death or life (Ephesians 2:8-9). Man willfully chose to disobey and be cast out of a heaven on earth; so now man would have to willfully choose to be with his Lord in a New Heaven in the future that our Lord will prepare for those who willfully choose to have fellowship with their Lord Jesus the Christ who died to provide it for them (Romans 5:8).

As the old hymn says, “When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more, and the morning breaks eternal bright and fair; When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore, and the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there (James Milton Black, 1893).” Mr. Black had a real handle on this greatest of all events in man’s brief 6,000 year or so storied past.

Ecclesiastes 1:4 and Psalm 104:4 states that the earth will abide for ever; “for ever” in these verses is the Hebrew word olam or owlam which may be translated time out of mind, eternity, always time, last a long time, or for all time. The word “for ever” is only significant if time exists; if time did not exist, then “for ever” would have no meaning (“for ever” what or what “for ever”). In Revelation 10:6, the angel declares by the command of the Creator of heaven and earth in the beginning (reshiyth or chief first place of commencement) that time shall be no more. In other words we could say that the earth will abide as long as time exists.

We will gather on the other shore in the New Heaven and Earth in a place that will be in the presence of our timeless Self Existent One where time will no longer exist. There will be no need for the sun or moon (Revelation 21:23); the light of our LORD will illuminate the New Heaven and Earth and the sun and moon will no longer be needed for days and years. The New Heaven and Earth will be a physical place of immense beauty and architecture with the mansions of our Heavenly Father. Instead of a Garden of plants and animal kinds of perfect design, it will be a place of precious jewels and rare metals; those things that are uncommon on this earth and difficult to obtain will be common in the New Heaven and Earth.

Most people with a casual acquaintance of Christianity are of the opinion (or are hopeful) that most of those who believe in the existence of God will die and go to heaven. During World War II (WWII), there was a common consensus of opinion that nearly everyone that died fighting the evil of fascism would open their eyes in heaven. John Gillespie Magee was a Royal Canadian Air Force pilot who wrote the famous sonnet “High Flight” in which he declared that “Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of earth and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;” ending this poetic offering of a kind of pilot’s prayer with, “And, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod the high un-trespassed sanctity of space, put out my hand, and touched the face of God.” Magee was a casualty of WWII being part of that austere group immortalized by Winston Churchill’s famous declaration, “Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few.” This declaration was indeed quite true, but it was not an automatic ticket into heaven.

We find an enlightening statement in the scriptures as to the number of those who will find their way to heaven; Jesus states, 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: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it (Matthew 7:1314). The narrow path leads to the foot of the cross where there awaits a cross of our own that the Lord commands that we take up and follow Him. There are fewer and fewer who are willing to face the humility of a personal cross were our worldly desires must be crucified daily; a place in which the humble cry of those lost and undone in sins are crying out for the salvation of the Lord.

From Adam to the Cross of Calvary, all those of Adam’s race who died in obedience to God’s free gift of redemption were temporarily kept in Abraham’s Bosom in the earth (Luke 16:22-23); the lost were assigned to Gehenna hell (Luke 16:22-23) . At the moment in time of the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord, the captives with Abraham were taken to the present heaven of God (Ephesians 4:8-10) where we who die having obtained God’s free gift of eternal life will be united with them (IThessalonians 4:16-17). This uniting event will be the rapture of the saints of the past and present (those who passed on after the Cross) who, along with the captives of Abraham, will ever be with the Lord up in the present heaven. During the thousand years millennial reign of the Lord on earth, all of the redeemed in the present heaven will return to earth with the Lord. At the end of the thousand years reign will be the final battle and the White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20), after which the old heaven and earth will pass away and be replaced with a New Heaven and Earth (Revelation 21).

Those that are left behind in the present heaven and earth will be eternally separated from their LORD God Almighty within this mass/energy/space/time continuum. This space/time continuum will burn up in fervent heat (II Peter 3:10); and the souls of the lost, and the Devil and his fallen angels will be in this eternal flame. The Doorway (the Lord Jesus) will be closed to this space/time for ever.

Spies and Other Notable Characters

What is it about spies that make them so fascinating to us? Why do we follow their exploits with such interest? I have had the singularly unique distinction of having known some of these individuals personally. The tales that were told to me were more bizarre than fiction; the missions of individuals that secretly interred the strongholds of the enemy, dressed like one of them (for that is what spies do) in order to bring back the information that could turn the tide of victory and affect the lives of thousands. One of these men that I knew, John Harris an OSS officer from World War II (WWII), told me about eighteen (18) missions he carried out behind enemy lines (he was not supposed to survive half that many) gathering information about Nazi weapons factories. He insisted that he was in God’s hands at all times to which I emphatically agreed. There was a famous story written about one of his missions (Operation Crossbow). If I were to mention his name in conversation he would not be known to most people, but God knows who he is.

What motivates men and women to such deeds of unrewarded valor, for the few of them that returned home were not met with the parades of the hero’s or given public honors. They endured some of the most difficult training, spent arduous hours in study, learned a number of languages, and were taught to take life, if necessary, with impunity. The only spy’s names that most people know are the characters of fiction such as James Bond. It’s ironic that the character of James Bond was actually fashioned after real life super spies like William Stevenson (Ian Fleming worked for him in WWII) of the little known British Intelligence Group MI6 and ‘Wild Bill’ Donovan, the head of the OSS (Office of Strategic Services) being todays CIA. These clandestine individuals operated outside the normal chain of command answerable only to a very few high ranking allied leaders.

At the time, very little was known about the operations of Stevenson (code name Intrepid) and Donovan as they set about eliminating Nazi spy rings in America and England while establishing clandestine individuals in the enemy strongholds. It was through the efforts of a super spy (Juan Pujol Garcia code name Garbo) that the lives of thousands of allied troops were saved in the invasion of Europe in WWII. Garbo single handedly set up his own spy ring completely deceiving the Nazis while acting independently to defeat fascism. While the identities of spies were closely guarded secrets, a number of public figures such as Leslie Howard and Marlene Dietrich worked for the allies while
functioning in their everyday activities. Leslie Howard (the famous actor and defender of the inalienable rights of all men) was himself a casualty of war while carrying secret messages and Marlene Dietrich, who gathered vital information of Nazi troop movements, was on Hitler’s top ten list of people to be eliminated.

Another more infamous Spy (Diello code name Sisero), who operated independently for monetary gain, sold the Germans information regarding the date and place of the allied invasion of Europe; the information was never used even though it was accurate. Another, somewhat bizarre, account involves a Scotsman enlisted after his death from pneumonia. He was given the fictitious identity of Major William Martin (code name mincemeat); his body was set afloat near Gibraltar and was later found dead off the coast of Spain carrying presumably secret documents planted by British intelligence about Allied activities in the Mediterranean. Sterling Hayden (leading man in ‘The Asphalt Jungle’ and other notable films) was a Marine and an OSS spy smuggling guns to the underground in Eastern Europe. The well known actor Glenn Ford was a Marine and OSS spy operating undercover in Vichy France with the French underground; he received the French Legion of Honor for his exploits. There are others, known only in some obscure files, that could be mentioned and we may, indeed, owe many of them the very freedoms that we still enjoy today.

So few of these nameless men and women who fought and died, not for glory for they didn’t wear their nation’s uniform; not under their nations flag for many were recruited from within the enemy lands; and not for wealth because the few I had the privilege of knowing, as well as their cohorts, died within modest means; such a small number to have such a great impact. I can think of no other group with such a special set of abilities that held in their hands the fate of so many of their fellows, many of whom I am convinced were acting within the will of God, and affecting the very survival of many nations.
The activities of spies may be, both, in concert with the welfare of society in general or at odds with it. In Genesis 42:9, Joseph (whom God had raised to the position of political leader of Egypt) was yet unknown to his brothers as he accused them of being spies on the land of Egypt in order to work God’s plan for Israel culminating 400 years later in the Exodus. Following the Exodus into Sinai in Numbers 13, God brings Israel to the Wilderness of Zin and commands Moses to send leaders from the twelve tribes of Israel to spy out the land and bring back a report about the people of Canaan. Of course, we know that they all spoke of the great bounty of Canaan but ten of the spies feared the giants and the walled cities whereas Joshua and Caleb exclaimed that they could take the
land because God was with them. In Hebrews 3:7-19, we see the result of the spies report; the Hebrews disobeyed God resulting in forty years of wondering in the wilderness because of unbelief being outside of God’s rest.

At the end of the forty years, God brings Israel to the banks of the Jordan River to deliver to the children of the wilderness wanderers the rest that God had wanted for their parents. They cross the Jordan on dry ground camping at Shittim were Joshua sends out two spies to the City of Jericho (Joshua 2:1). The spies search out the house of Rahab the harlot which was a good cover in that it was located on the wall of the city and the harlots of the cities usually knew all the news about the people. Rahab lends aid to the spies by hiding them making a packed with the Hebrews for the lives of her family. After the fall of Jericho, Joshua again sends out two spies to Ai for information which, after some difficulty, leads to the defeat of the city.

In all, we have here spoken of 36 individuals either involved in spy activities or accused of the same spanning a time period of some 37 centuries affecting the lives of millions of people and the course of several nations both past and present; such a small number over such a great expanse of time affecting so many down through the ages. God has truly, in many cases, used the lives of these clandestine men and women though, often, they themselves may have been unaware of it at the time.

I will end this discourse with one last account. The activities of spies may be overt as well as covert (out in the open or under cover) and may be intended to do harm to God’s purpose. In Luke 20:20, the Pharisees sent spies pretending to be righteous believers trying to gain information that could be used to arrest Jesus. They ask questions that might capture the Lord in a seditious statement not knowing that the Lord knew their very thoughts and motives. The Lord was able to defeat their inadequate logic astounding them with His answers. Satan has used spies in the past and continues to use them today. There are those today who represent the forces of darkness by pretending to be saved just as there were in the past. We are informed in Jude 4,’For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness (lewdness), and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.’

They know who they are, what they are doing, and who they represent. To them it is not a game; it is a matter of life and death. We must be ever vigilant and try the spirits whether they be of God or the Devil (I John 4:1); ‘casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge
of God’ (II Corinthians 10:5). They are like the tares among the wheat (Matthew 13:25). Do not be ignorant brethren, the tares (spies) appear to be righteous but are actually filled with the rottenness of their master, the one that put them there; the wheat (true believers) that have studied to show themselves approved (II Timothy 2:15) know the tares by their fruit. The fruit of the tares is not love like the good corns of wheat but the seeds of discord and hate. The tares look much like the wheat in the beginning; it is the ignorant and unlearned baby Christian that is fooled by them; but fear not, the Lord knows who they are; we must continue to seek His wisdom and truth for the battle is not against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12) but against Principalities and Powers (these are orders of demonic fallen angles); the rulers of darkness and spiritual wickedness in high places.

Among the Most Human of Traits

When God created that most marvelous object of love (the heart, soul, and mind of man) He instilled within us a veritable bevy of emotions that are like finger prints on the individual psyches of mankind. Our Lord, as the Son of God, possessed all of the characteristics of the Almighty God Jehovah of Heaven in every way as the perfect God Elohim; as the Son of Man, He also possessed all of the characteristics of mankind in the flesh perfectly. He was the perfect God-Man. Does this mean that He also had all of those uniquely human emotions with which to deal? As the perfect God-Man, He certainly had intimate knowledge of the range of emotional responses of which man is capable, but with perfect restraint.

God created man not perfect, but innocent; uncorrupted by the knowledge of evil, but with a free will to choose. In man’s uncorrupted heart and mind were those Godly emotions of love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, meekness, kindness, etc. What we obtained from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was the imperfect evil manifestation of those ungodly emotions such as fear, shame, envy, covetousness, contempt, guilt, anxiety, confusion, etc. Insanity is the improper manifestation of those corrupted outwardly projected emotional responses within a person’s heart, soul and mind that cause inward damage to the individual’s normal God given psyche.

Adam and Eve walked about the garden naked, at peace with their state of being, unashamed receiving the love and personal attention of the Lord each day. The disobedience of the forbidden fruit brought about shame, fear, doubt, anxiety, and guilt as they sought to hide themselves; being cast out of the garden brought on more confusion, and emotional discomfort in the toil of their punishment as they now faced the prospect of death. Subsequently, their children were emotionally burdened when they learned that the sinful actions of their parents had such dreadful results. At this point, the parents and their offspring had to choose how they would respond to their new state of affairs; one son was truly repentant in Godly sorrow (refer to Solomon’s thoughts on sorrow in Ecclesiastes) making the required offering for sin whereas the other manifested those corrupted emotions of envy, covetousness and hate rising up to commit murder (envy and strife bring about confusion and every evil work, James 3:16).

Mankind is now born in an innocent state with corrupted flesh which will soon mature to a need for repentance and redemption. In man’s infant state we see the emotional expressions of uncontrolled outbursts of crying over physical discomfort, hilarious laughter in response to sensory stimulation, and rejection of food when being fed with a spoon. As the child matures to the toddler stage we see the display the negative emotional expressions of defiance and disobedience to authority without being taught to do so (on the contrary, the parents strive to instill obedience to authority for the child’s on welfare).

If a person matures into their teenage years and young adulthood without the redemptive loving salvation of Christ, they will be faced with those corrupted sinful emotions that will most likely cause them great pain on occasion. Fear can drive the individual to acts of desperation bringing pain upon themselves, and possibly others around them. God did not give Adam and Eve fear at creation (God hath not given us the spirit of fear but of power and love and a sound mind, 2 Timothy 1:7). In the first century church, we have accounts of the Christians going to their deaths at the hands of Nero singing hymns, and supporting one another. The Apostle Paul proclaimed that to live is Christ and to die is gain. The power of God’s love drives fear from the hearts of the believers; fear is overcome by trusting the Lord (Proverbs 29:25).

Lust drives the unsuspecting heart to acts of debauchery and the evils of the flesh; pride leads to destruction, and envy to every evil work (James 3:16). In Galatians 5:19, we see those sinful manifestations of the emotions we obtained from the forbidden fruit, but there is a Balm in Gilead. If we walk in the Spirit, we will overcome the evils of the forbidden fruit. In Jay Adams’ book, Competent to Counsel, we find the principle of Nouthetic Confrontation; confronting an emotionally unstable person with the Power of the Holy Spirit. Unregenerate man is often unable to deal with fears, doubts, guilt, shame, choosing rather to withdraw into a world full of delusional images of safety fabricated in their own minds. The Bible states that we are to cast down imaginations (images) and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (2Corinthians 10:5).

Does all of this mean that we should walk around like gloomy emotionless automatons or like Spock in the Star Trek television series? I should think not. Jesus, in perfectly applied anger, cast out the money changers from the Temple with a whip as the perfect judge of all men who, in His divine
nature, hates sin. This, of course, does not mean that He would not forgive them. God loves the sinner who has but to repent to obtain forgiveness. Jesus wept for the children of Israel wanting to gather them to Himself; Jesus was sorrowful at the death of Lazarus, and expresses joy over the saving of a single soul. He was compassionate toward all those around Him, and expressed love for everyone; these are strong emotions. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon states that Godly sorrow is better for a man’s soul than worldly mirth and laughter, but on the other hand Proverbs states that laughter does us good like a medicine. It all comes down to the power of love, faith and trust; the love of God constrains us, tempers us. Hate has no place in a heart full of love for all those around us. We live in peace with nothing to fear but fear itself (those immortal words of Franklin D. Roosevelt), with death only a doorway into eternity.

Ye Shall All Likewise Perish

On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry eloquently expressed his love for liberty by proclaiming at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia that, in essence, he was not concerned about the opinions of others on the matter of freedom and liberty, but he was want to declare, “give me liberty or give me death”. Real freedom and liberty are fragile concepts. John 8:32 states, And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. The only real freedom and liberty are realized when we are freed from the bondage of sin and death by faith in the redemptive power of the Cross of Calvary.

America is the first nation to be established on the concept of personal freedom and liberty for all men by the rule of law, our constitution. The Founding Fathers knew that a government based on the rule of law must, of necessity, consist of a populace that is well mannered and respectful of the rights of others. In George Washington’s day, being well mannered ladies and gentlemen was the order of the day; to be otherwise was unseemly and distasteful, and often resulted in duels of honor.

Is today’s America the same one for which our forefathers shed their life’s blood? On May 24, 2022, Salvador Rolando Ramos (18 years of age) murdered 19 children and two teachers in a Uvalde, Texas elementary school before being shoot to death by authorities. Many of us can remember the University of Texas tower shooting in August of 1966 in which 18 student were killed and 31 wounded by Charles Whitman after he had murdered his wife and mother earlier that same day; he met the same fate as Ramos. These incidents pale in comparison to the American Holocaust perpetrated on the unborn numbering over 50 million since 1973 (Roe vs Wade). It is only recently that the Supreme Court has struck down this decision which should never have been heard originally by the court. On special occasions in the days of the Judges of Israel, the Moabites would sacrifice their children to their god Chemosh to garner his favor. Just whose favor is being garnered today in the sacrifice of the unborn? What has happened to our society? These were rare occurrences before prayer and Bible reading were banned from public schools.

From the Gospels we learn that our Lord Jesus had much to say about sin and judgment. In Luke 13:1-5, Jesus is confronting a group of hypocrites who claim that others have been punished for sins greater than theirs to which Jesus responds by saying, I tell you, Nay: but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. In Luke chapter 16, Jesus is teaching His disciples that God will surely punish the unrepentant Children of Israel relating the parables of the unjust steward and the rich man and Lazarus. God has always demanded obedience to His laws. God had already warned the Children of Israel on the Plains of Moab about unrepentant behavior before they were to enter into the Promised Land in Deuteronomy 8:11-20:

Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping His commandments, and His judgments, and His statutes, which I command thee this day: lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwell therein; and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; …and thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God.

The Children of Israel were to be God’s ambassadors to the lost world of idolatrous departure from the one true Holy Living God of all creation. An ambassador is expected to be on their best behavior at all times; they may be the only scripture a lost person may ever read.

There are those who say that the Bible is an antiquated document having no relevance to the problems of today’s modern technological society; the fact is, these words spoken in Deuteronomy chapter 8 so many centuries in our past ring out like the peal of a Sunday morning church bell calling out to the faithful believers to come and worship. These words fly to the core of the illness plaguing society today. The thrust of Deuteronomy 8 is that the Israel of the Exodus, miraculously delivered from sin and bondage being brought through great hardship in the wilderness, could become comfortable in their new found freedom and opulence in the land of milk and honey and embrace the idolatrous ways of the Canaanites in disobedience to the commands of the LORD God. These words are a warning to any who would forget that it is only by God’s power and might that they have this great wealth; a warning that when their bellies are full from God’s bounty, when their wealth has enabled them to live in sumptuous dwellings, when their bank accounts overflow with the gold and silver of the mammon of this world, and they forget from where they have come, and who has brought them this far, they will perish. So Israel did forget and suffered great hardship at the hands of their enemies during the period of the Judges and eventually leading to the Babylonian Captivity. The glories of the days of Solomon were fleeting. This is the fate of any nation that forgets that the Great Almighty God of the universe is the source of all blessings.

This great nation of ours, this jewel of liberty and freedom, burst forth by God’s grace and mighty power during a period in history when religious freedom was being paid for by the blood and sacrifice of martyrs (consult Foxe’s Book of Martyrs). Most of Christendom was under the control of the state religion, papal supremacy, and imperial monarchs. There was no room for personal interpretation of the Scripture guided by God’s Holy Spirit. Martin Luther and others of his view point had begun to challenge the erroneous interpretations of the Bible by the Catholic Church forced upon the unlearned common church members by religious church leaders like Cardinal Richelieu and George Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury. Small groups emerged from the third century that followed the doctrines of the first century church like the Donatists, Waldenses, Albigenses, and Anabaptists; these groups rejected infant baptism and the authority of the pope and his bishops and priests.

God’s hand guided the pilgrims to the shores of this New World to raise up a nation that would emerge as a bastion of religious freedom. From 1620 up to the days of World War II, this country grew in wealth and power by God’s divine almighty hand just as described in Deuteronomy 8. We became the bread basket of the world, a strong middle class society lived in their own houses acquired by the sweat of hard work, and God’s Word was heard publically every day. We knew that it was by God’s might and power that we were so prosperous. The forces of evil could not allow this stronghold of freedom and liberty to go on unchallenged.

The Devil is a patient relentless foe whose movements into the fabric of our society were of small almost imperceptible steps; not on a grand national scale, but on the local level with an alderman here, a county judge there, a teacher in the class room, and so on and on until one day the trap was set; our social structure was being transformed while the local New Testament Church stood by and watched. There came a day when our children were no longer taught about our Pilgrim forefathers, when the Bible was no longer read in the schools, when the teaching of good moral values ceased, when the rewarding of individual effort in sports and scholastics was replaced by the concept of what is good for the group or society in general was more important.

In a social environment as described above, if the moral compass is removed, if the warnings described in Deuteronomy 8 are no longer taught, if reprobate acts and vile affections are deemed to be acceptable by those responsible for the education of our children, then we are on the edge of the precipice of destruction. The LORD God declared to Abraham that if ten righteous souls could be found in Sodom and Gomorrah, then God would spare it. George Washington set aside the fourth Thursday of November as a National Day of Thanksgiving to thank God for His bountiful blessings on this great nation. Today, the Thanksgiving holiday has just become another long weekend to pursue worldly interests; Halloween has replaced both Thanksgiving and Christmas as the most economically important holiday.

The warning in Deuteronomy 8 is that we are to, Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping His commandments, and His judgments, and His statutes, which I command thee this day:. The only people who can forget the LORD their God are those who knew Him from the beginning; you cannot forget someone you never knew. In today’s society, there are fewer and fewer people who really know the Lord Jesus the Christ. On 09-112001, our nation was shocked into the reality that we are not invulnerable; we are no longer the greatest power in the world. In actuality, we forgot that God is the greatest power in the universe and it was always by His mighty power and protecting hand that we have come thus far.

Who’s responsible for this departure from the evangelical missions outreach of the Lord’s great commission, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15)? Is it the failure of one group or Christians in general? Have we become used to shopping for our household needs from the well stocked shelves of the nearest supper market? Only recently have we become aware that some of the shelves are not quite as full as they used to be. I actually went to Kroger a few days ago for a gallon of milk and they were sold out. The Lord will withdraw His bounty and protection from this nation if we fail to pay heed to the ways that the Lord has commanded us to obey. Many Bible scholars teach that the United States is not mentioned as a world power in the Revelation.

Abraham Lincoln stated in his Gettysburg Address that the Civil War was a test to determine whether a nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to equality for all men could endure slavery. Has this nation, founded on justice, equality, and liberty for all men, founded by men that believed in a well mannered populace, become a slave to the mammon and debauchery of this world and abandoned their Creator? This once great nation may likewise parish if we do not turn from our wicked ways.

The Garden and the Giants in the Earth 2

The sin that was perpetrated by the serpent (Devil) within the Garden of Eden may well have been the seeds of the giants that were born to the ‘daughters of men’ before the Great Flood of Noah. The curse that God pronounced upon the serpent served to remove him from looking at man face to face subtilely and cast the serpent at man’s feet; without subtile cunning the serpent was no longer any use to the Devil to beguile and tempt man. God physically transformed the serpent (who apparently was upright) and set him at enmity with man. This would not set the Devil back for long for now there was born unto Adam and Eve two sons, Cain and Abel. The Devil found a willing instrument in the heart of Cain. Fortunately for man, the Devil and his Fallen Angels are not omnipotent, omnipresent, or omniscient; the Devil cannot read mans mind or know the future as does God Almighty and he can only be in one place at a time.

In the first two chapters of Genesis, God created man, woman, and all that is in the earth from the elements of the earth; God commanded man to be fruitful and multiply, to replenish the earth, to subdue the earth, to tend the Garden, and forbids man to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God did not create the demons or fallen angel spirits at this time from the elements of this universe for He declared at the end of the sixth day that His creation was very good; there was as yet no evil in this new creation.

When God leads and commands us, He also provides us with the authority and tools to obey His commands. For Adam to be able to subdue the earth and have dominion over it, Adam would have to be endowed with extraordinary abilities and powers; the mental acuity to organize the work, the strength and authority to subdue any creature or event, the ability to be any place he needed to be at any time, the intelligence to plan for future events, and any other ability necessary to fulfill Gods command.

In this respect, Adam and Eve (as well as all living earthly things) are elemental flesh and blood; mans dominion and that of their progeny is over the physical world. The Devil and his Fallen Angels are spiritual beings (not of the elements of this world) that have been cast down to earth from God’s heavenly realm with certain limitations but with equally formidable powers and abilities; they are not said to have been created in God’s image as we. In fact, the Cherubim and Seraphim appear much differently than men being described in Scripture as having wings. The Devil (the anointed cherub of Ezekiel 28:14) has succeeded in introducing the battle between good and evil; sin is now in the physical world and Satan’s hatred for God and the man created in God’s image is without precedence. The Devil partially understands the prophecy that the Lord pronounces between he and the woman. It is the children of man that must be slain; Cain must slay his brother Abel as the instrument of the Devil’s hatred; the seed of the woman must not flourish to be able to bruise Satan’s head (Genesis 3:15).

Again, God is pronouncing judgment on the Devil and his instrument of evil. As God cursed the serpent above the cattle and beasts physically changing the serpent to limit his usefulness to the Devil, so God curses Cain from the earth which is Cain’s natural dominion as a son of Adam; Cain is now a fugitive (wandering, fleeing from others) and vagabond (wandering, not given to having a family place or issue) from the earth. Cain complains that this condemnation will make him the object of the avenger of blood; a person that will take vengeance and kill him for his crime against righteous Abel. Then, as with the serpent, God incorporates a physical change that would limit Cain’s influence and protect him from the avenger of blood; this would actually harm the perpetrator more than Cain who is already condemned. God places a mark (oth) on Cain that will make him easily identifiable and shunned by others.

The word oth can mean a physical mark but, more interestingly, it can be a sign or characteristic; the Rainbow sign of God’s promise is an oth. In the future, if Cain were to choose to disguise himself, a mark could simply be covered. How, then, may God change Cain in such a way to deny him the ability of disguise; to force Cain into the life of a fugitive and vagabond? I suggest (render my scientific and scriptural opinion) that, as God cast the serpent to the ground at man’s feet, God chooses to make Cain a giant; a person taller than any other man that would be born of women. Cain would not be able to disguise his size and could be seen from afar; he could be more easily avoided and his size might discourage the avenger of blood. This would explain how the gene for giantism came to be in the preflood society and God’s future judgment against all giants; Cain is of the elements of this world. All of these judgments, of course, against the serpent and Cain came directly from The Word that became flesh and dwelt among us; the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the maker of heaven and earth. The Devil only knew a little piece of the future told to him by the Lord about being bruised by the seed of the woman and her understanding was equally limited in that she believed her deliverance was closer at hand.

So now Cain makes his way to Nod on the east of Eden but not alone as God’s judgment had intended, for one of Cain’s sisters disobeys the judgment against Cain, has mercy on him, and presents him with a son (Enoch) who will aid Cain. As I have conjectured, Adam and his descendants are men of unusual ability and longevity. Enoch builds a city and his children become merchants and artificers of the goods that tempt men to the mammon of the world. As the numbers of the descendants of Cain reaches into the millions (due to the long life of preflood mankind and the number of years they could propagate), they undoubtedly build more cities. The genetic trait of the mark of the giant spreads through all of the line of Cain as the changes in the serpent spread through its kind; Genesis 6:4 states that giants were already in the earth before the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men.

While Cain and his tribe spread their influence over the earth, Seth begat a son (Enos) and the Bible states that, at this time, men began to call upon the name of the Lord; this could mean that men no longer had a desire to walk with the Lord but were content to worship from afar. It is apparent that not all of Seth’s progeny stayed true to God but strayed to the cities and commerce of the Cainites (Genesis 6:2 states that the sons of God saw the daughters of men and took wives of them). They began to be polluted with the sin of Cain and the gene of the giant until one day when the earth was filled with humanity, even the sons of God (those that still worship the now unseen God of creation) began to turn to the daughters of the giant.

There are many that believe that these sons of God (the ben Eloheem) are angelic beings, but God’s heavenly angels are spiritual messengers and not created in the image of God as we; there is no giving and taking in marriage in heaven. They are not made of the clay of the earth as man. The fallen angels are no longer Godly but demonic spirit beings and not flesh and blood; not some incubus creature taking lustful women in sin. They influence the evil flesh of willing human instruments; we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12). At this point, God repents that He has made man and declares that in 120 years mankind will be judged. The Devil is now rejoicing; he has finally seen to the pollution of all the seed of the woman and believes himself to be safe from the prophecy of the Lord about the woman’s seed. The Devil does not realize that God always has a remnant that has not bowed the knee to Baal (the Devil).

It would be prudent at this time to discuss the term the sons of God as seen in Job at the auspicious assembly of the host of heaven with the dubious appearance of Lucifer; in this case, not all of the hosts of heaven have the designation of angel as has been discussed. All are the creation of God and as such may be called the sons of God; there are no family lines indicated among the heavenly hosts as declared by Jesus in Matthew 22:30 (no giving or taking in marriage in heaven). In all, the term the sons of God occurs twelve times in the entire Bible. In Hosea 1:10 the children of Israel shall be called the sons of the living God, in John 1:12 God will give the believers the power to become the sons of God, in Romans 8:14,19 they that are led by the Spirit and are the manifestation of God are the sons of God, in Philippians 2:15 those that shine as lights among the crooked and perverse nations are the sons of God, and in I john 3:1-2 the Father has bestowed His love on us calling us the sons of God. One thing appears obvious in these references to the sons of God; the term is not applied to the fallen demonic spirit beings that were cast out of heaven and no longer in Gods service. All we who choose to trust and do the will of God, both in heaven and earth, are the sons of God; the ben Eloheem.

There is some difference of opinion as to the identity of the sons of God in Genesis 6:2-4 which are referred to twice. The common thread that runs through the references stated above is that they are all worshipful, loving, faithful, believing servants, and children of the Most High God; in only three cases are they His faithful, worshipful host of heaven. Since the sons of God in Genesis take wives of the daughters of men and the spirit beings of the host of heaven are not made of the elements of this time and space not engaging in marriage, then it would be more logical to conclude that they are faithful, believing descendants of Seth who still worship God. God commanded Adam and Eve, and their descendants, to be fruitful and multiply creating them with the biological means to do so; the spirit beings of heaven do not give and take in marriage and we are not aware of a command of God for them to be fruitful and multiply.

There are those who claim that fallen angelic spirit beings have impregnated human women to produce, what was termed by Adolf Hitler, a super race of people (mighty men, men of renown). We should be careful when elaborating on the activities of the spirit world; a world that we know little about with the exception of what we are given from the Scriptures. In Matthew 1:18 it states that Mary was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. This is intended by God to be a unique onetime event of a miraculous nature; the virgin birth of the son of God (the Christ). God’s Holy Spirit placed the perfect holy seed containing the perfect genetic code of mankind within the Virgin Mary’s’ womb to be born as the perfect Son of God. Only the All Mighty powerful God of the universe can do this. God’s Holy Spirit was the vehicle through which this event took place. In this way, the Holy Son of God had the untainted sinless blood of the God-man to be offered for the sins of the world. This event is far above man’s ability to understand or comprehend in its entirety.

We know that Satan’s goal is to subvert every aspect of God’s redemption of mankind. Let us suppose that Satan has planted a thought in the minds of sinful man regarding the activities of spirit beings with human women. If the ben Eloheem of Genesis chapter 6 are proposed to have been fallen spirit beings that fathered a race of super humans, then why couldn’t Satan father a son, an antichrist if you will, that could claim to be the fulfillment of the prophecy and redeem Israel from their great difficulties as shown in the Revelation. If you think that this is farfetched, consult the 1967 novel by Ira Levin Rosemary’s Baby; it might just shock you. Further, if fallen spirit beings could have fathered a super human race, then why aren’t they doing so now? Do fallen demonic spirit beings have the power to place a human type seed within a human female to produce a hybrid human/spirit being? Nothing in this universe occurs outside of God’s divine power and authority. The sinful nature of man was a result of a willful choice by Adam and Eve acting upon the free will that God gave them. God did not create the spirit beings to have the ability to produce offspring (no giving and taking of marriage in heaven).

We need to take care when attributing to fallen spirit beings powers relegated only to the Holy Spirit of God. If fallen spirits could impregnate human women, then it could be inferred by the lost world that virgin births are not so special, and that the Virgin Birth of our Lord Jesus may not be that special. My fellow Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, take care not to blaspheme the Holy Spirit of God by diminishing in any way His mighty power and works. Consider the possibility that the sons of God are all those who are dedicated to following and putting their trust in God as when Christ declared in John 1:12, But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God; even to them that believe in His name. Certainly the heavenly angelic beings would fall in this group as well as we who believe in Him. The ben Eloheem of Genesis 6 could just as well have been human descendants of Seth that had not yet rejected God’s salvation offered by Noah as he preached to pre-Flood mankind.

So for 120 years, God directs Noah and his three sons to build the ark (they could also have employed laborers), the vessel of salvation, the way to preserve the seed of the Savior through Shem and his righteous wife. God judges the ground because of the righteous blood of Abel that stained it and for the evil seed of the giant that has polluted all mankind. So how does the seed of the giant come through the flood when all flesh has died in the waters of judgment? Think of where all of the giants of the Old Testament are found; in the line of Ham. Since Ham was a righteous descendant of Seth, his wife must have been a penitent daughter of the line of Cain. In her were the genes of the giant.

Case in point, when Ham saw the nakedness of his father (Noah), his two brothers covered Noah; when Noah awakes and knows what has happened, he does not curse Ham. Ham’s sin was no greater than that of Noah’s drunken nakedness and eventual stupor. Noah curses the son of Ham (Canaan) and his wife who carries the evil gene of the giants; the apparent willing instrument of the Devil that has begun his attempt to continue the spiritual attack. Several centuries later, when the Hebrew children of the Exodus reach the land of Canaan, they find the same walled cities and the giants as in the days of Cain. This time, God uses the Hebrew children of faithful Abraham to destroy the remaining symbol of Cain’s seed, the giants of the land of Canaan. God uses David to slay Goliath with five stones from the brook in the valley of Elah; David slings one stone into the forehead of the giant, the other four stones being for Goliath’s brothers. Eventually, David and his ‘mighty men’ slay most of the giants of the land and the rest are now history.

So what did man and the serpent learn from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? Before Adam and Eve ate of the ‘forbidden fruit’ they were innocent and unmindful of the concept of good and evil. They only knew the things that were told them by the Lord who walked in the garden in the cool of the day. Our Lord seems to enjoy the garden environment; then as now, our Lord speaks of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, kindness, temperance, mercy, forgiveness, generosity, helping our neighbor, worshiping our Heavenly Father and all of those things that bring us to a position of peace and rest. Adam and Eve were like computers awaiting a processing system and the data to assimilate; unlike computers, however, they had the free will to choose and reason for themselves. It is quite possible that before the serpent beguiled Eve, he took of the ‘forbidden fruit’ then knowing good and evil making the serpent a more formidable tool in the Devil’s hands. This is conjecture and not scripture, but it seems to fit the pattern.

Satan, Lucifer the shinning fallen cherub, the Devil, was and is capable of making a choice to obey and follow God’s commands or to rebel and seek to be equal with God. Lucifer’s minions followed what he did because of the hierarchy of the spirit world. Michael and Gabriel chose to be faithful to God’s authority and their angelic groups followed them. All of the angels are spirit beings created to serve God and do His bidding along an apparent hierarchical command; they are beings without age living forever. Angels are not elemental flesh and blood as has already been said but spirit. They do not assume flesh and blood but are capable of indwelling flesh and blood creatures who are willing subjects. As a point of argument, if demonic fallen angels could become flesh and blood and have carnal knowledge with mankind, they could produce fleshly creatures possibly ageless with abilities beyond mortal men. Does such a demonic half flesh, half spirit army exist? It may be lurking in the wings awaiting the Great Tribulation but it will not be the spawn of Satan; it will be from the judgment of God against faithless mankind. The demonic spirits control willing subjects like a puppet master does his puppets or like a ventriloquist does his dummy. Our defense is to resist them and their evil; allow the Holy Spirit to strengthen the armor of faith within us. If we resist, they will have no choice but to flee as a fugitive from us.

The knowledge of evil learned by the serpent, Adam, and Eve was that of lies, deceit, hate, whore mongering, necromancy, sorcery, idolatry, lasciviousness and lewdness, fear, unbelief, abomination, murder, theft, disorder, ciaos, unrest, blasphemy and all such sinfulness as is against the goodness of God. Many of these things are appealing for a season to our sentient nature. They feel good for a time; a drunken state of mental escape, a drug induced euphoria, a lustful satisfaction of a sexual event in the pit of sin, a thrill of doing something dangerous with the adrenalin charge; all of these are addicting to that evil nature that man, through Adam, has come to know from the ‘forbidden fruit’. To resist that evil and bring our sentient, sinful natures under subjection is described quite well by the apostle Paul as he brings his body into subjection to the Holy Spirit and feeds the good nature ignoring the sentient satisfaction we as sons of Adam often relish. We have a free will choice to make; the satisfaction of the flesh for a season or the eternal bliss of communion with God and peaceful rest for eternity. We as descendants of Adam have the knowledge of good and evil and the ability to reason with God to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. No other creature of creation has the ability to trust our unseen LORD with faith, we alone possess an immortal soul, we alone are capable of worship. Turn a troop of monkeys loose at a church alter and you will have to clean up the mess.

There was another tree in the Garden; the Tree of Life to which God blocked the way by the Cherubim with the flaming sword. God has provided Himself as sacrifice for the sin of mankind and the serpent; the Lord Jesus Christ, the very judge of their original sin and Cain’s sin of murder. He is the ‘door of the ark’ that was the way of salvation, the door of the Passover with the Blood of the innocent lamb. He is our propitiation, the Blood of our Savior applied to the lid of the Ark in heaven. This is the way that man must now choose for forgiveness, mercy, grace, and eternal life.

How Can a Loving God Allow so Much Pain and Suffering?

This question has erupted from the lips of many through the centuries from the time of Adam to the present days of social upheaval.  Most who ask this question have not taken the time to know God; a few have asked it claiming to know Him, though they may not have known God as well as they thought.  The history of mankind is filled with those of wealth standing on the terraces of their mansions in sight of city streets filled with common working people scratching out a meager living and beggars with nothing; it is filled with rulers, kings, and nobles giving audience to throngs of complaining subjects who are in need of the basic necessities of life looking to those who rule over them for help.  Many of these kings and nobles of the past were more concerned about gaining personal wealth than providing for the needs of the lower classes.  There were exceptions to the rule such as King David, King Arthur of legend, and others who made their subjects welfare a priority.

How often have we observed in the pages of history tyrants and dictators who plunged their peoples into conflicts at the cost of thousands of lives?  Was God the cause of all this suffering?  There is an interesting account of Francis of Assisi traveling to Egypt during the Fifth Crusade in an attempt to convert the Sultan, al-Kamil, a nephew of Saladin.  Following a particularly bloody and futile attack by the Christians (it is amazing how many have lost their lives in the name of religious loyalties) in August of 1219, both sides agreed to a ceasefire.   During the ceasefire, Francis and his companion crossed over into Muslim territory and were brought before the Sultan.  Legend has it that Francis was concerned about the welfare of the wounded on both sides and was captured while tending to the wounds of both Christian and Muslim alike.  The Sultans lieutenants wanted to imprison Francis to torture and eventually put him to death.  When the Sultan questioned Francis, he discovered that the friar’s motive was to give aid to the wounded on both sides regardless of their religious belief.  The Sultan was so moved that he gave Francis free access to all lands of the Middle East as well as the Holy Land.  Francis was also allowed to preach his faith to whomever he wished. 

In Eleventh Century Spain, we find the rise of the folk hero, Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar also known as El Cid (the lord).  This austere Spanish folk hero is known for being the ideal medieval knight: strong, valiant, loyal, just, and pious putting the needs of his charges before his own.  One particularly well known event has it that on a journey, the Cid encounters a leprous beggar who has no water in his pouch.  The Cid takes his own pouch and offers the leper a drink.  After the leper has drink from the pouch, he declares that, “You are the Cid, for there is no other knight in all of Spain who would offer a leper to drink from his own pouch.”   The Cid went on to unite the Christians and Muslims of Spain against their common enemy, the Moors of North Africa. 

In the days of our Lord Jesus’ earthly ministry, He would often teach to large crowds, especially the Pharisees, in parables (a simple story used to teach a moral or spiritual lesson).  The Lord explained to His disciples that the parable was used because it was not given that everyone should, at that time, know the mysteries of the Kingdom.  In Luke 16:15, the Lord Jesus confronts the Pharisees who had derided Him for His teachings by rebuking them for their desire to acquire worldly possessions instead of doing the works of righteousness.  Luke 16:19-31 is a true story about the rich man and Lazarus who begged at the rich man’s gate each day, and not a parable. 

The rich man had great wealth and fared sumptuously (in other words, he ate quite well).  Each day he would pass Lazarus who lay at the rich man’s gate covered with infected sores and starving for just a few crumbs of food, the garbage that fell from the rich man’s table.  The rich man exhibited little concern for the welfare of Lazarus.  As time passed, Lazarus the beggar died (he could not afford to be buried), and was carried away by God’s angels into the bosom of Abraham where he would be comforted for the rest of eternity.  The rich man also died and was buried (he could well afford the most elaborate of burials), and in hell he lift up his eyes being in great torment in the flames.  His great wealth could no longer do him any good. 

Lazarus now has the greatest wealth of all, life eternal with his Lord in the lap of great comfort; whereas, the rich man now becomes the beggar pleading with Lazarus and Abraham to comfort him with just a drop of water to ease the torment of the flames.  The rich man even begs that Lazarus go back and warn his family about the false security of riches that they have now inherited from the rich man.  Of course, neither the rich man nor Lazarus is able to pass over the great gulf that separates eternal hell from eternal glory in heaven.  It would appear from the story of the rich man and Lazarus that the Lord Jesus is teaching that the well to do of society should be concerned about the pain and sufferings of the less fortunate.

During the time of Nazi rule in Germany from 1933 to 1945, men such as Himmler, Goebbels, Heydrich, and Goering advised Hitler to implement a plan to physically eliminate eleven million Jews as well as thousands of other undesirable groups such as the Gypsies and other political dissidents.  The plan became known as the “Final Solution”, the genocide of millions of innocent men, women, and children.  It is not beyond reason that the Devil and his demons were close at hand guiding the evil deeds of Hitler and his subordinates.  Death camps were built in Poland with names that will be remembered in infamy; Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Bergen-Belsen, and Auschwitz-Birkenau to name a few. 

The Polish underground infiltrated these camps as they set about their espionage activities against the Third Reich.  They brought news of the genocide of the Jews to the allied high command.  Adolf Eichmann had organized death trains to carry millions to their death in camps all over Poland.  The Polish underground had planned to sabotage the railroads along with other military targets, but the allied high command decided that the best thing to do would be to defeat the Third Reich as quickly as possible thereby ending the death camps.  It would have saved many lives if the allied command had carried out just a few bombing raids on the railway lines, but they didn’t.  Is God responsible for the death of His own chosen people?  God cannot commit sin, neither does He tempt nor cause people to sin. 

God is not responsible for the pain and suffering of this world, we are.  In James 1:27 it states, Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted.  In Matthew 25: 44-45 Jesus declares to us all, Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. 

The Lord’s great commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and love our neighbor as ourselves.  Jesus said to love your enemies and to do good to them who despitefully use you.  The Good Samaritan took the injured stranger along the way to the nearest inn, dressed his wounds, and paid for his room.  God gave His only Son to save all of humanity; greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friend (Jesus has called us His friends).  The poor and needy will always be among us; will you just walk blindly by those that are in need and do nothing?  If each of us made an effort to personally provide a meal for a hungry person along the way, we could greatly reduce the pain and suffering around us and be a good Christian example to the world.