Pulling Down the Facade of Public Prayer and the Favor of God

The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from Forsyth County which let stand the decision by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina and the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia. These previous federal courts had ruled in favor of private citizens who wanted sectarian prayer to open meetings of the Forsyth County board of commissioners to cease. I'm not surprised. This case, along with several other high profile cases during the past 50 years, is hammering the message across that American Christianity can't look to the judicial system for favor or protection.

     Before you add me to the list of liberal atheists doing a victory dance or bummed out evangelical crusaders wearing sackcloth and ashes, hear me out on what I see as the cause of this anti-Christian sentiment. First, for all of you new generation Moral Majority heads America has never been a Christian nation. That is the evil anti-Semitic doctrine called Replacement theology epoused by Dominionists, the Catholic Church and many 18th, 19th, 20th and 21th century Western nations. America is a nation that doesn't have a state-sponsored church but has allowed the free exercise of Christianity. The framers of this nation were Deists and knew of the dangers of a government backed theocracy.

     Since most of the people that came to this country came from nations that promoted Christianity the founders took some of the principles and incorporated them into laws. But principles must be put into practice and this nation has always had problems practicing what it preaches especially when it came to the  human rights of people of color. America's enslavement of Africans and genocide of the indigenious Indians bares no resemblish even to the decent treatment of animals, let alone Christ-likeness. There has been some instances, like the Civil War and Reconstruction, but for the most part Christian symbolism, holidays and vocabulary were allowed but no Christian action was allowed. Public prayers have been offered with no purity of heart. Confessions have been made with no conscienceness of the cries of the enslaved masses and the endless ranks of the poor. God's favor upon any peoples or nation isn't dependent upon a prayer said before some godless, hypocritical politician or some business tycoon who gives lip service to God but exhibits no righteousness in their life. God's word says the effectual, fervent prayer of the righteous availeth much. It has been the prayers offered up in some believer's closet that has always made the difference in this nation.

     When God is really given priority in the life of the believers and prayer becomes our life blood again, we won't need lawsuits to allow public prayer, people will be begging for believers to prayer. Jesus said in Matthew 6:7, "But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking,"  Is this not what you hear when these pre-written, pre-screened prayers are mouthed before these sessions of government. In the end I believe this is just another instance of God stripping away America's facade of righteous might. The only prayers that count to God are those of true Christians about things that are dear to His heart. Once we stop praying for wealth, health and happiness and start praying for holiness, justice, equity and salvation God will hear from heaven and heal our land and show us favor.

The Benefits Of Jesus' Birth

 Luke 1: 31-33 

³¹And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

 ³²He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
 ³³And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Call this my Christmas message in blazing hot September. Before we can talk about the benefits of Jesus' birth we must establish that the incarnation is a fact, what it is and what it is not. John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:14 says, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

     So when Jesus was born in Bethlehem He was God with a capital G not a lowercase g meaning a demi or little god like monotheist believe. I John 4:1-3 says, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist ..." The Godhead got together in heaven before the creation of time and space and planned for God the Son to come one day to Earth for Isaiah 6:8 says, "Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I, send me." I Peter 1:20 says, " Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you." 

     Jesus was not just fully God, He was fully man also for I Timothy 2:5 says, "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man  Christ Jesus:" The word man in the Greek is anthropos from which we get our word anthropology which is the study of mankind. The Bible wants us to know that Jesus was also a man and to look at His life down here on Earth. Isaiah 53:1-2 says, "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." So we see that Jesus was also fully man. So here in lays the divine paradox called the incarnation; God the Son took upon Himself the full nature of a man and yet retained the full nature of God of Colossians 1:15 says, "For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." Now that we have established the Incarnation as a fact, we can move on to the benefits of the birth of our Lord.

1. We have God with us. Matthew 1:23 says, "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." Now God could experience life as one of us, and empathize with us. Hebrews 4:15 says, "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." And again Hebrews 5:7 says, "Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him."

Now God was able to bring to pass Job's desire he requested. Job 9:32,33 says, "For he is not a man, as I am, that I should answer him, and we should come together in judgement. Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both."

2. We have power in the name of Jesus. Luke 1:3 says, "And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS." Before Jesus was born, God had many different names to describe Himself; Jehovah-Jireh, The Lord will provide, Jehovah-Nissi, The Lord my Banner, Jehovah-Shaloam, The Lord is Peace, Jehovah-Rapha, The Lord our Healer, Jehovah-Sabaoth, The Lord of Hosts, Jehovah-Maccaddeschcem, The Lord thy Sanctifier, Jehovah-Rohi, The Lord my Shepherd, Jehovah-Tsidkenu, The Lord our Righteousness and Jehovah-Shammah, The Lord who is Present. Now that we have the name of Jesus, it replaces all thoses names. Philippians 2:9 says, "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

3. We have life through His body and blood. John 6:53 says, "Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, Verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed."  This is not the false Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation but appropriating by faith the cleansing, life-giving power of the body and blood of Christ. This is not talking about just being saved by the blood or communion only, but whenever we as believers ask the Holy Ghost to wash us in the blood of Jesus also. This is because the Holy Ghost is the Sanctifier and the sanctifing agent that He uses is the blood of Christ. Look at what Hebrews 9: 13, 14 says, "For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" This is what the Apostle John had in mind in I John 1:9 when he says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The blood should be active in the life of the believer, not just when they get saved or during communion. 
It is continually cleansing and empowering us. Demons tremble at the sight of it on your life. I ask God to lavish on me to make sure no spot on me is missed. We have victory through it, so let us forever proclaim its' power.

     These are just a few of the benefits of Jesus' birth, but this should be enough to cause you to thank God for sending forth His son, born of a virgin.

Satan Is Preparing A Bride for AntiChrist

Revelation 17:1-8

¹And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:

 ²With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
 ³So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
 ⁴And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
 ⁵And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
 ⁶And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
 ⁷And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
 ⁸The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
 
This thought has been on my mind for the last few weeks as the headlines from across world get darker everyday; as God the Father is preparing a bride for His son Jesus Christ, Satan is also preparing a bride for his son Anti Christ. This has always been Satan's modus operandi. From the time that Satan or Lucifer rebelled in Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:15-18, he has been trying to preempt God's plans.

     After mankind fell in the Garden of Eden, Satan knew that God would prepare a people and that He would send a savior. Israel was suppose to be that people but wasn't able to fulfil that role because Satan was able to influence them through the nations surrounding them and the Baal worshippers within the nation. When Israel went into captivity in Babylon Satan ingrained a even more perverted view of God called Cabalaism, a form of Free Masonry. Israel, which is called God's wife in Isaiah 50:14 had become so evil that He divorced it in Isaiah 50:1, Jeremiah 3:8-14 and the entire book of Hosea.

     After the Church was born on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2:1-47 God had started to form it into a bride for His Son Jesus Christ. Subsequently throughout Acts you can see Satan trying to infiltrate Christianity in Acts 5:1-3 (Ananias and Sapphira), 8:17-24 (Simon the sorcerer), 13:5-11 (Elymas the sorcerer), 14:8-18 (the priest of Jupiter), 15:1-5 (the Judaizers), 16:6-18 (the female psychic), 19:13,14 (the seven sons of Sceva) and 20:28-31 (the false elders of Ephesus). I believe this was the beginning of him starting to prepare a bride for his son the Anti Christ also.

     Throughout the centuries since the beginning of the bride of Christ (the Church) Satan's counterfeit bride (the harlot church) for his son has become adept at imitating it. Revelation 17 gives us a example of  this when the great apostle John in the 6th verse of Revelation 17 admires this whorish bride. The Holy Ghost continues to help the saints of God distinguish between the two. Think of the Reformation, the Great Awakening, etc. But as we get closer to the rapture of the Church the harlot church will gain more acceptance as the true church.

     These harlot churches have effectively destroyed biblical eldership (I Timothy 3:1-7), biblical repentance (II Corinthians 7:8-11), biblical morality (II Timothy 2:19), church discipline (I Corinthians 5:1-13), teaching and preaching the living Word ( II Timothy 4:1-5, Hebrews 4:12, 13) and its' inerrancy ( Luke 16:16,17, Revelation 22:18,19). All these things are antithesis to the Anti Christ bride and the only option that true believers who are part of these churches have is to come out of them as Revelation 18:4 tells us. I Corinthians 6:15-20 explains this in more detail:

15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of a harlot? God forbid.
16 What! know ye not that he which is joined to a harlot is one body? for two saith he, shall be one flesh.
17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
19 What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

     Some identfying marks of the harlot bride can be found in Revelation 17 & 18. This bride goes by many different names; the Ecumenical Movement, the Inclusion Church, Coexist, Interfaith Alliance, Universalism, the National Council of Churches, etc. The only way that the bride of Christ can survive from being absorbed into this hideous hybird of religions is for Jesus to come back to rapture us. Listen to what John says in Revelation 22:20, ".....Even so, come, Lord Jesus." I can hear the urgency in John's words.

     It is a sure thing that rough times are ahead for the bride of Christ, as Satan prepares the harlot church to recieve his son Anti Christ as her husband. True believers must stay faithful to Jesus as we wait for his return. Keep your garments white and your heart pure before God.

Guess Who’s Invited to Dinner? Identifying False Teachers Before They Can Prey on You

2 Peter 2:1-3

1. But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

2. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgement now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

As we enter the summer months the institutionalize church experiences a drop in attendance and funds. This is because of family vacations, family reunions and business trips abroad by the members. Many pastors see this as a sign of departure from the faith because they believe that the Christian’s life and energies must revolve around the church building and activities, not to mention more importantly the collection plate. The remedy to them for this "breach of faith" and "lukewarmness" comes at the end of summer and is called the fall revival.

     Planned out months and sometimes years in advance, the fall revival is designed to bring the unfaithful back under the control of the pastor and more importantly fill the coffers of the depleted "storehouse." The key to the revivals success, and I use that word loosely, is to bring the right preacher in to loosen up the peoples hearts, minds and wallets. The unction of the Holy Ghost is not needed for assembly. This is because the congregation is looked upon as customers and the evangelist is the salesman and what sells in most churches today isn’t the gospel of Jesus Christ but heresy. So, if you are a member of a church and you want to know if the preacher who has been invited to conduct your fall revival is a false teacher or a true teacher from God according to the word, open your KJV Bibles to 2 Peter 2:1-3 and follow along with me. Lets see what Peter writes about how to identify a false teacher and preacher before they can prey on you.

     Peter begins chapter 2:1 by writing that just like the false prophets of the Old Testament came from among the nation of Israel so shall false teachers come from among the church. The interesting thing in the Greek is that the voice or idea of the verb for how the false prophets came and how the false teachers will come is the middle voice which means that they came and will come because they want to. These false teachers and preachers see how gullible and weak in the word many in the congregations are. Just like the Great White shark and lion prey on the weak and feeble in the animal kingdom, these false teachers are coming after the babes and wounded among you. Remember Jesus called them ravenous wolves in Matthew 7:15 and Paul warned the Ephesian elders about grievous wolves in Acts 20:27-30 who would not "spare the flock." Yet these are the type preachers that are in demand and are invited to set the table as it were to fed your church during these fall revivals. Little do they realize that they will become the main course meal for the false teacher.

     These aren’t average false teachers or preachers because once in verse 2 and once in verse 3 Peter uses an article or a specific designation in the Greek for them. This means that God allowed Peter to see, through the Spirit, the most dangerous false teachers throughout the Church Age and to warn us that they were coming because Peter uses future tense verbs in the Greek five times throughout verses 1-3. Who did Peter see? Did he see that "well known" preacher that is coming to your church this fall?

     Peter continues to write in chapter 2:1 that the false teachers will come in stealthily bringing in damming heresies or sects in the Greek. Here are just a few of the heretical sects today; Word Faith, Jesus Only, Seventh-Day Adventist, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Dominionist and Christian Muslims. All of the above sects of "Christianity" were started in a church by a false teacher that rose up, then their followers and them split off and produced another branch or arm to this idol called the institutionalized church. No wonder Christ said in Luke 18:8 , "....Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? The word faith in the Greek is the noun pistis which means the system of religious truth (Gospel) itself, which is Christianity. He will not recognize this multi-armed idol that calls itself the church and looks like the hideous Indian goddess Kali. Christ will however recognize the Body of Christ which is His beautiful Bride when He returns.

     Peter writes that these false teachers will deny the Lord Jesus Christ that they say died for their sins. This means that they were never saved in the first place because I John 2:22,23 says:

22 Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

23 Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: but he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.

Interestingly the Greek voice that Peter uses for denying is again in the middle voice, is present tense and is a participle. This means that presently and because they want to, these false preachers are continuously denying Jesus in some form. Listen to and read some of the sermons of theses false preachers who say that Jesus had to go to Hell to be born-again or that we are little gods with the same power and authority that Jesus had. These heretics will also make statements like, if the Jesus I serve won’t let gays into heaven, I don’t want any part of Him. Go order some of the sermons and books of the teacher who is coming to your church this fall. Search them for false teachings and if you find something, go tell your pastor your concerns about this. Don’t let him blow you off, and if he does tell him I refuse to support this revival on the grounds that the evangelist is a false teacher according to the scriptures. Inform him that you will warn everybody that you can against the false teacher. Peter ends verse 1 by telling us that these false teachers will bring swift destruction on themselves, a theme that he uses throughout chapters 2 and 3.

     In 2 Peter 2:2 he turns his attention to the followers of these false teachers. The first word that should catch your eye is many. In the Greek this word is pŏllŏs which means among other things abundant, plenteous, great. That means a "whole mess of folks." But what is the measurement of a great preacher today - numbers. This error can be traced to none other than the father of the modern revival, Charles Finney. Finney and his "New Measures" are responsible for the altar call, the embracing of wild emotionalism( fainting, weeping and other stimuli) in preaching and the Church Growth Movement. Look in the library of most false preachers today and you will probably find Charles Finney’s Systematic Theology and Lectures on Revivals of Religion. Finney, who believed that mankind did not have a fallen nature ( Pelagianism ), put the onus of salvation upon human will. This is right down the false teachers alley because that means deliverance and perfection of the human will needs a human agent; namely them. So today when a preacher says he has had so many people make a decision for Christ as proof of his ministry you can thank Charles Finney.

     Peter continues by saying all these people will imitate and yield to the pernicious ways of these false teachers. Most commentators agree that this Greek word should be rendered as lascivious and licentious. Now I am going to take some time and show you the definitions of these words so that you can spot these false teachers and their followers when they come to your fellowship. Merriam-Webster defines lascivious as lewd, lustful, dirty, filthy, foul, gross, impure, indecent, pornographic, profane, raunchy, trashy, wanton, nasty, gutter and x-rated. Lascivious behavior is among other things, having sex outside of marriage, having sex with children under 18 and forcible rape. Licentious is defined as lacking legal or moral restraints; especially disregarding sexual restraints, horny, hot, hyper sexual, itchy, over sexual, lecherous and salacious. Licentious behavior would be so-called preachers and religious bodies approving gay marriage, engaging in orgies and disregard for the civil laws of the land. Is the preacher that is coming to your church this fall to conduct the revival engaging in the above behaviors? If they are they have passed the litmus test as a false teacher, put a gold star beside their name.

     One of the things that scripture teaches and that I have learned from experience over the years is that sexual immorality is a byproduct of false teaching. Examples of this is Jamal Bryant, Bob Jones, Clarence McClendon, Earl Paulk, Todd Bentley, Sherman Allen, Kathryn Khulman, and Terry Hornbuckle to name a few. All taught or teach heresies. Again, according to the word of God the followers of these false preachers will imitate and yield to the same immoralities as those they follow. So if a false teacher packs out your church during the fall revival you can be sure that the majority of the people there are lost like them. Peter ends verse 2 by saying that these false teacher’s lascivious and licentious ways will bring disdain upon the way of truth, as they continue to masquerade as true preachers of God.

     In 2 Peter 2:3 the apostle writes that covetousness, which is defined as inordinate desire for wealth or possessions or for another’s possessions, fills the heart of the false preacher and is their primary motivation to preach and teach to you their heresies. This describes the Prosperity gospel teachers to a tee. Many like Creflo Dollar and Ed Young don’t hide their covetousness but are bold in their declaration that you better have their money when you come to church. According to the proceeding verse this would mean that their followers are covetous also in their hearts. How else can you explain how they pour thousands of dollars into these preacher’s greedy hands. They are looking for gain too. That was me at one time before God brought me out, buying trinkets from Robert Tilton and placing them in my wallet hoping for money to be drawn to it. Thank God it never did for if it had I would have been hooked for real.

     Notice what Peter says about their speech, he says with feigned words. It is the Greek word plasto which means mold, artificial, fictitious. These false teachers are masters of language. I told you before they are salesmen. They will use some of the following methods when speaking: slow or fast Southern accent, humor, inflated vocabulary, great storytelling ability, high-pitched or deep-baritone voice, Shakespearean language, vivid and outrageous revelations from heaven and fake emotional tone to touch the psyche of the listeners. I think Benny Hinn and T.D. Jakes are masters at using these techniques to hypnotize their emotionally needy drones into silent obedience as they make merchandise out of their followers according to Peter. The word in the Greek means a mart or emporium. So these modern-day Mesmerist see the massive church buildings as Super Walmarts to do business in and the people as cheap goods from China that can either be warehoused or bought and sold for a profit. All across the globe these cathedrals of corruption, these coliseums of cash collection will be the stage for more of their antics this fall as pastor after pastor, church after church bow down to these anti-Robin Hoods who rob from everybody and give to none but themselves in the high stakes game of the revival.

     The rest of verse 3 Peter assures us God is preparing and executing eternal judgement swiftly upon these false teachers who ape the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are entering into the Apostasy, and the revelation of the mystery of iniquity is unfolding before the eyes of the redeemed of the Lord. Don’t give credence to these charlatans or your money to their pirated treasures. I thank God for delivering me and showing me that true revival is a sovereign move of God upon a individual heart, not a massive, orchestrated production like a gospel play. Don’t wait for the fall revival, if the Holy Spirit is moving upon your heart yield to Him today. Confess your sins, and present your body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable onto God which is your reasonable service. Stay free in Christ.

If You Let the Flesh Mount Up On Wings, You Will Become A Frequent Flyer

The global economy has caused businesses to depend heavily on the airlines to take them throughout the U.S. and overseas to the different businesses that they have investments in. To keep customers coming back to their airline, carriers identify people who fly on a frequent basis and they are offered a frequent flyer program. This helps them to get there faster, cheaper and in more luxury.

     Our flesh also offers us a frequent flyer program. It's called by many different names. It's called the wide gate and the broad way in Matthew 7:13 and in Galatians 5:19-21 it's called the works of the flesh. Ephesians 2:2 calls it the course of this world, while Romans the 8th chapter calls it walking after the flesh, the carnal mind, the deeds of the flesh and the bondage of corruption. Every person who doesn't know Christ as their savior is automatically part of these frequent flyer programs and starts building up miles at birth, for David says in Psalms 51:5, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me." So our flesh is born with a nature to sin. The Greek word for flesh in the New Testament is sarx, which means human nature (with its frailities) physical or moral passions. The unsaved are driven to indulge in everything that it has to offer. Our five senses are the flesh's gateway to control our lives.

     A believer's membership in these frequent flyer programs are terminated once we are saved by the blood of Jesus and crucified with Him for Hebrews 9:13, 14 says:

 "For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Galatians 2:20 says:

"I am crucified with Christ: neverthelessI live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

Even though we are saved, our flesh is down but not out. It still has the sinful nature and like the mythical Phoenix that rose from its ashes, the flesh will rise again if we are not careful. One of the sins of the flesh that plagues me is laziness in my prayer life. Between work and caring for my family, I am exhausted. Sometimes I do go to bed without praying, sometimes I forget to prayer over my food. Sometimes this sin overwhelms me and I can go for long periods without praying. I get back on the frequent flyer program and start building up miles again. Jesus said in Mark 14:38:

"Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak."

     We must understand that this flesh can't be saved for Paul says in Romans 7:18:

"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not."

Until we dead or are raptured from this world, there are somethings that we as Christians must do continuously to win this war over the flesh mentioned in Romans 7:23 and to stay off the frequent flyer program:

"But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members."

This is what we, or whether I, must do:

1. Walk. Romans 8:1 says to walk after the Spirit. It's something special about walking with God that is seen throughout the scriptures. Enoch walked with God in Genesis 5:24 and kept on walking, God commanded Abraham in Genesis 17:1 to walk before Him and be perfect and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego walked with God the Son inside the fiery furnace in Daniel 3: 25. Stay close to Him.

2. Free. Romans 8:2 says the life in Christ has made me free from sin and death.

3. Be. Romans 8:6 says to be spiritually minded. The Spirit came to teach us all things and to bring things back to our remembrance according to John 14:26. Bring what back? The Word of God with all its promises. Galatians 5:18 says to be led of the Spirit.

4. Mortify. Romans 8:13 says to mortify the deeds of the flesh. That means to put to death daily.

5. Reckon. Romans 8:18 says we are to reckon that whatever we are going through right now in this flesh is  not  to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us. Roman 6:11, 12 says:

"Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof."  

     If you have allowed the flesh to get you back on its frequent flyer program as a believer, you can cancel your reservations by confessing your sins to Jesus and asking Him to cleanse you again with His blood according to I John 1: 9. Do it today.    

The Walnut Grove Church vs. the MegaChurch

St. John 4: 10-14, 21-24

When I was a little boy growing up in the 1970's, I loved the show "Little House on the Prairie." Based on the true stories of Laura Ingalls Wilder during the 1870's and 1880's it depicted life on the small American frontier towns. Besides the Ingalls home one of the most recognizable buildings on the show was the Walnut Grove Church and School. After watching the show for sometime it became clear to me that the small Protestant church had a positive affect on the rugged America frontier by promoting righteousness, simplicity and hard work.

     Now the megachurch dominates the so-called evangelical landscape and has a negative affect on the community by promoting sin, extravagance and ease. If the small Protestant frontier churches such as the Walnut Grove Church and School could be transported from the past to today, how would it fair vs. the megachurch in a head-to-head match up? How would a Rev. Robert Alden (the pastor of the Walnut Grove Church) type shepherd fair against hirelings like Kenneth Copeland and Joel Osteen?

     I think the Walnut Grove Church would be the winner. Though not perfect, the heights of sin and scandal seen in megachurches such as New Birth in Atlanta, Ga. were not seen. Women were expected to be pure, men were expected to be providers, children were expected to be obedient and preachers were expected to be examples. The nuclear family of one man, one woman and children was the cornerstone of the congregation and the country. Strong men who had families of their own and were farmers themselves were the pastors. Sermons were no nonsense and made no exception for sin; people had a genuine reverence for God. Proverbs 14:34 says "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people." Do churches like the massive Lakewood Church in Houston, TX or World Changers Church in Atlanta, GA promote righteousness in this nation? I don’t think so. When I think of the megachurch, I think of greed, pride, scandal and immorality. Even worse is the fact that many small churches desire to one day become a megachurch and therefore manifest many or all of the same characteristics of them.

     I think the difference between the Walnut Grove Church and the megachurch has to do with the membership not the size of the building. During Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan women at Jacob’s well in St. John 4:10-14, 21-24 He shows who are to populate the assembly:

10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?

12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:

14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

In verses 10 and 14 He talks about the living water which gives one eternal life. We know this to mean the Holy Ghost that inhabits everyone who believes in Jesus Christ, so to be part of the body of Christ, the real church not a building, you must believe in Jesus Christ. Next in verses 21-24 the discussion of where and how to worship God comes up:

21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Whether in the wilderness frontier church or in the megachurch of the city, God will only receive the worship of those who have that living water springing up on the inside of them. They are the true worshipers of God and the sad reality is that the megachurches are overwhelmingly populated by leaders and congregates that don’t know God. The message of the living waters of salvation have been replaced with the message that you can have your thirst satisfied by the things of this world. Like the disciples who tried to give Christ natural food in verse 31 of this chapter, which He rejected, today’s megachurch leaders can only offer the people that which satisfies their flesh.

     The frontier churches like the Walnut Grove Church offered the frontier settlers, who came looking for the promise of a new beginning, the message that Jesus gave to the Samaritan woman in John 4:14. Many drank the waters that Christ offers to anyone freely who thirsts. Isaiah 55:1 says this:

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

 Whether you are part of a small church or a megachurch, you to can have those living waters also. Believe on Jesus Christ today and become part of the real church today.

The Fight for Christian Liberty

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Gettysburg Address,

by Abraham Lincoln

Gettysburg, PA

November 19, 1863

　

　

　

　

　

13For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
14For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
15But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
16This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
17For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.
18But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
19Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
21Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
24And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26Let us not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another.

Galatians 5:13-26

The 150^th anniversary of the start of the U.S. Civil War is April 12 of this year, so as I was thinking on the plight of the Black community in America the Battle of Gettysburg and Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address came to mind. The Battle of Gettysburg was fought on July 1,2 and 3 of 1863 in and around Gettysburg, PA. A force of 172,000 soldiers of the Union and Confederate Armies fought against each other with 7,500 deaths between the two. It was the turning point in the Civil War; from that point on the Confederate forces would always be on the defensive.
     Lincoln had been invited to Gettysburg that November of 1863 to participate in the dedication of the Soldiers’ National Cemetery there. Though his speech was short in relation to Edward Everett, 2 minutes compared to 2 hours, Lincoln’s speech echoes a theme that is important to me as a Black man and a believer. The fight for liberty.
     Liberty is defined as the condition in which human beings are able to govern themselves, to behave according to their own free will and take responsibility for their actions. The progression of our physical liberation as captured slaves wrapped in chains, shackled and herded onto slavers on the Gold Coast of Africa has been slow but steady. Before this battle the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued by President Lincoln in January of that year and the first all- Black regiment had been formed in March of that year also. Through the succeeding decades, Reconstruction to Jim Crow to the Civil Rights Movement, we have shaken off the physical chains and broken the shackles. Though by no means perfect, we now bask in that liberty conceived eleven score and fourteen years ago by the founders of this nation. Christian liberty is a different story. Millions of Blacks are attending church but our communities are enslaved to sin because we are losing the battle between the flesh and the spirit.
     To show the spiritual bondage that envelopes the Black community I could present a lot of statistics dealing with Black crime rates, the HIV/AIDS epidemic and high abortion rates among us. But both White and Black critics would dispute the accuracy and causation of does’ numbers so I won’t. What I will show is the percentage of Black youth who listen to rap music. Remember the saying that art imitates life, well 58% of Black youth listen to it everyday and are imitating everything that they hear and see, FactSheet: Rap Music and Videos (www.cleveland.com/ news/pdf/bwsurvey_rapmusic.pdf). They are imitating fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, drug dealing, cross-dressing, effeminacy, pagan tattoos and body piercing, occultism to include Egyptian symbolism, drug and alcohol abuse, murder, violence against women, profanity, glorification of prison culture, hatred of work effort and education and the list goes on, but you get the picture. Black youth are our future so their attitude toward sin will shape the course of the race.
     Charles Gilmer, president of The Impact Movement, speaking on the relevance of Jesus to the Black community writes this in his article, “The Truth About  Jesus," (http://www.everystudent.com/features/truth.html):
“Dr. King's appeal was to the moral conscience of the nation, based on its Judeo-Christian values. Yet, the white church failed to support his pleas for justice, freedom and equal treatment... This opened the door for those who wanted to disparage the Christian message. Many progressive whites befriended the Civil Rights leadership, becoming our allies in the struggle. Youthful leadership emerged, enraged by the cowardice and hypocrisy of the white church, to declare the need for new thinking. The new allies were quick to provide alternative ideologies, like dialectical Marxism, radical feminism and political liberalism. The patience of the previous generations began to be interpreted as weakness -- a weakness often attributed to the gentle nature of Christianity.
A generation of African Americans began to drift away from the church. These first recipients of the benefits of desegregation were facing new challenges, choosing from previously unheard of opportunities and experiencing unprecedented freedom. The nation had grudgingly removed the obstacles to broader exploration and the younger crowd was ready to wander. The black church struggled to effectively speak to those who had left its confines.
What has been the outcome? Those who have not had access or failed to capitalize on the new opportunities are left without hope for a better future. And the popular notion that Jesus has nothing to offer created a vacuum of moral authority. No longer do we look to God as the one to whom we are accountable. We are our own authority. Some even teach that "The black man is God." If this is so, then we can define our own morality, establish our own standards of behavior, and sit in judgment of everyone else. But we have failed because we are not God. No wonder drug trade is seen as an understandable and too often an acceptable career choice. No wonder teenage pregnancy continues to rise and sexually transmitted diseases are approaching epidemic proportions.”

     I want to echo something that Mr. Gilmer said concerning the open door to the Black church. Progressive White and Black theology has infected the Black church with teachings that have turned it into a haven for all kinds of immoral and anti-social behavior in the disguise of civil rights and "Christian tolerance." Equally White New Age theology in the form of the Prosperity gospel, New Thought, Patriotism, Masonry, the Moral Majority and Dominionism to name a few have changed some Black churches into centers of commerce and self-help seminars. Both paths adhere to the moral theory of consequentialism, the end justifies the means, acknowledgment of the deity of Christ Jesus is optional.
     I think the onslaught of all these ideologies started during the Black Renaissance of the early 1900's in the Western, Midwestern and Northeastern metropolitan areas of America. Millions of Blacks had left the Jim Crow South during the Great Migration to escape lynching and the lack of work. Returning Black service men of the Spanish-American War and World War I also were bringing back stories of receiving better treatment in foreign lands like the Philippines and France. The wholesale silence of so called "White Christian America" coupled with the inability to pursue a decent life as promised by the Bill of Rights and the Emancipation Proclamation drove Blacks to seek relief in a myriad of beliefs and philosophies. Let me interject this caveat concerning a people who try to govern themselves solely by the Bible. This is called a theocracy and is clearly forbidden by Christ in John 18:36:
Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews.

     When Christianity is forced upon a people you get Catholicism. Beside the other false religion of Islam, Catholicism has been one of the most destruction forces to human freedom and life known to mankind because it is the harlot church of Revelation 17:2. So I am not suggesting that some of the things that Blacks were introduced to weren’t helpful and good like St. Thomas Aquinas’ natural laws, but clearly the push was to alter or threw Christianity completely out of the camp of Black ideas. Many of the anti-Christian concepts such Communism, Feminism and Black Nationalism helped the Black community make great strides in freeing itself from White oppression but at what price? We now find ourselves somewhat like the children of Israel in 2 Kings 21:1-16 who had been delivered out of slavery in Egypt and now occupied the land of Israel but were now more evil than the heathen nations that surrounded them :
1Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hephzibah.
2And he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, after the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
3For he built up again the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he reared up altars for Baal, and made a grove, as did Ahab king of Israel; and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them.
4And he built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD said, In Jerusalem will I put my name.
5And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.
6And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times, and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards: he wrought much wickedness in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger.
7And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the LORD said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever:
8Neither will I make the feet of Israel move any more out of the land which I gave their fathers; only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded them, and according to all the law that my servant Moses commanded them.
9But they hearkened not: and Manasseh seduced them to do more evil than did the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the children of Israel.
10And the LORD spake by his servants the prophets, saying,
11Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols: 12Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall tingle.
13And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipeth a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down.
14And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies;
15Because they have done that which was evil in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto this day.
16Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.

     Will this be our fate? Statistics show the decline of the Black population and we are heading toward the total destruction of the Black nuclear family. Like a blind horse that has been lead to a waste water treatment pond in the wilderness, some in the so called Black intelligentsia tell us that some water is better than nothing. As the horse drinks from those putrid waters, it can hear the sound of something bubbling and rushing nearby. If that horses’ eyes could be opened it would see that the sound is a clean flowing river a 100 feet away. That dumb creature would have enough sense to leave that poisoned pond to drink from that river.
     We must fight the urge to stay at the poison pond of humanism, ask God to open our eyes and rediscover those pure waters of righteousness. We will now look at the book of Galatians to see how to fight for freedom from spiritual bondage just as the Union army fought against the Confederate army and turned the tide of the Civil War.
     The book of Galatians is called the Magna Carta of Christian liberty. The word liberty is used over 11 times. Paul defines what liberty is to a Christian in Galatians 1:4:

4Who gave himself (Christ’ death on the cross) for our sins, that

he (Christ) might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God (God the Father) and our Father (God the Father):

Therefore we can define Christian liberty as being delivered from the slavery of this present evil world system by Jesus’ death on the cross. The word deliver in verse 4 in the Greek means to tear out, to release. So it shows the violent resistance the world, the flesh and Satan puts up when a person first repents and is saved. Notice also that this deliverance only makes the unholy trio release their hands off you, but they are constantly battling to get you to come back. Now that we have the Holy Spirit inside of us (Galatians 3:1-3), He helps us in the battle to live right and we don’t need to try to keep the Law of Moses. Concerning the importance of the book of Galatians Ron Merryman writes in Galatians: God’s Antidote to Legalism, (http://gracebiblestudies.org/resources/web/www.duluthbible.org/g_f_j/galatians_into.htm):
“Galatians is such an important book that one wonders where the church and even western civilization would be had it not been written.”

Paul’s epistle to the Galatians is thought to be one of the first that he wrote. The message contained in it would be of monumental importance to not only the Galatians but all Gentile Christians in this key battle to shake off the Judaizers who would have them enslaved to the dead rituals of Judaism and keeping of the law of Moses. It would also be a blow against the teaching of antinomianism (license to sin) that some in the Galatian church were following. The Gentile Christians battle with these enemies of Christian liberty was first recorded in Acts 11:1- 4. If Paul’s epistle could convince the Galatians to walk in liberty, it would be a major blow to the poisonous admixture of law and grace. Paul’s message hit home and set the course for victory after victory over legalism and antinomianism.
     The Battle of Gettysburg like the book of Galatians was the turning point in the Civil War. If the South had been able to continue its invasion of the North what would have been the outcome? Joseph Ryan in his article, " Prelude to Gettysburg: General Jeb Staurt’s Ride Around General Hooker June 1863" writes this, AmericanCivilWar.com, (http://americancivilwar.com/getty.html):
“In July of 1863, General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia of 75,000 men and the 97,000 man Union Army of the Potomac, under George G. Meade, concentrated together at Gettysburg and fought the Battle of Gettysburg. Of the more than 2,000 land engagements of the Civil War, Gettysburg ranks supreme. Although the Battle of Gettysburg did not end the war, it was the great battle of the war, marking the point when the ultimate victory of the North over the South became clear to both sides alike. Here at Gettysburg, on July 1, 2, and 3, 1863, more men fought and died than in any other battle in American history.”

     A victory at Gettysburg would have galvanized Southern sympathizers in the North to declare a truce. This couldn’t be. America’s Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights would have been so much paper if the North didn’t see this through to victory over slavery and succession.
The enormous casualties of the Battle of Gettysburg showed the South the resolve of the North to go the distance to achieve this. Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address gave voice to that resolve, fulfilling John Brown’s December2, 1859 prophecy:
“2 December 1859 I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land: will never be purged away; but with Blood. I had as I now think: vainly flattered myself that without very much bloodshed; it might be done.”

     I will now look at some of the parallels between the Battle of Gettysburg, Lincoln’s address and Galatians 5:13-26, that can help the Black community achieve Christian liberty. Abraham Lincoln had signed the Emancipation Proclamation in January 1863 abolishing slavery in all Union states. Blacks were now free from their evil masters and the laws governing slavery. The Union Armies would now have to conquer the Confederate states to free the slaves there. Starting at Galatians 5:13 Paul tells the Black community that we have been called to Christian liberty by God. This means that the sin principle in our flesh no longer has legal claim over us for Romans 6:1-12 says:
Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Rom 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Rom 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also [in the likeness] of [his] resurrection:
Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with [him], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Rom 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
Rom 6:8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
Rom 6:9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
Rom 6:10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Rom 6:11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
We also are free from having to follow the law of Moses or any other set of rules in our battle against sin in our flesh for Romans 7:4-6 says:
4 ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should Wherefore, my brethren be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

Paul warns the Black community against antinomianism which he goes into detail later. He tells us to serve each other in love.
     Never has there been a battle in American history that has shed as much bloodshed as the Battle of Gettysburg has. The Union soldiers gave their blood in sacrifice for the liberation of the Black slave and the preservation of the Union, for if the sins of slavery were to be cleansed they had to be cleansed by blood. And the blood indeed flowed across the fields, valleys, hills and ridges of Gettysburg, PA.
     In Galatians 5:14 Paul tells the Black community that we are to love our neighbor as our self. Who is my neighbor was the question that the lawyer asked Jesus in Luke 10:29. After Jesus recited the parable of the Good Samaritan to him, he answered the question himself; the Samaritan that showed mercy. We as a Black community have lost our sense of neighborliness and mercy toward each other and other races. To be fair we don’t live in the same environment that our parents and grandparents grew up in where you could leave your doors unlocked or go for a stroll at midnight. But neither was the time of the Good Samaritan. In fact it was probably more dangerous. The point isn’t the environment or the condition of the victim but the willingness to show mercy where we can. Let’s start in our own homes first. Black fathers and mothers that have abandoned your children go back and help them. Let’s crush this "Stop Stitching" madness that allows crime and violence to breed in our families, churches and communities and put ourselves out there by reporting known and suspected incidents to law enforcement to investigate. If we see a need such as a family needing food lets stop to help them on the spot and stop waiting for a church or government agency to help. If you come across an accident and you can safely pull over to help, do it. There are countless things that I can mention but you get the meaning; help where you can, show mercy where you can. Be prepared for sacrifice and maybe even a little blood shed.
     As we know the nation was divided over the issue of slavery and succession, which brought about the Civil War. The South was trying to get Northern sympathizers (Copperheads) to put pressure on the Lincoln administration to call a truce by taking the offensive and invading the North. A truce would allow slavery to continue in the Confederates states. Jefferson Davis and the rest of the antebellum South had wrapped itself into a cocoon, and was trying to morph into a separate nation. One side had to be victorious because Balkanization of the America continent was not an option. To his credit Abraham Lincoln put forth the Union argument in an articulate, balanced and firm manner which left room for the South to capitulate.
     In Galatians 5:15 Paul warns the Black community about the battle between trying to live free in Christ Jesus with the assistance of religious and philosophical mandates, e.g. Christian liberty and religion. They won’t mix, so be prepared for battle but don’t let the warfare consume you, keep your humanity.
     Both sides thought its cause to be mandated by God, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the North’s cause was morally and ethically based; the liberation of a people and preservation of unity. The South on the other hand wanted chattel slavery to continue and to dissolve the Union. Without the strong hand of Abraham Lincoln and the abolitionist movement Jefferson Davis and the Confederate forces would have prevailed over the Union forces. The Battle of Gettysburg, though not the final battle, helped the Union army get and keep the offensive against the Confederate army. Lincoln’s decision to sack the by the book General George McClellan and replace him with more linear thinking commanders helped the North win at Gettysburg.
     Paul shows the Black community the cause of all the warfare in Galatians 5:16 and 17; the battle between the flesh (our sin nature) and the Spirit (the Holy Ghost). As we know when one is born again the Holy Ghost, the third person in the triune Godhead, comes to live inside this fleshly body. But the sin nature inside that fleshly body must be killed everyday because it is always trying to get the upper hand again for Romans 8:1-14 says this:
1There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
3For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
4That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
5For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
6For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
8So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
10And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
12Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
13For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

     At the beginning of our Christian walk the flesh was always getting the upper hand just like the Confederate forces were victorious over the Union forces at the beginning of the Civil War. We look to the law to keep us in line just as General George McClellan looked to Army manuals to command his troops and looked sharp in his uniform. Outwardly he looked the part but he was an empty suit because he could not command troops on the battlefield where it counts. And for the first few years of the war the Union forces paid dearly even though they had superior forces. Abraham Lincoln had to constantly fire McClellan, bring him back again and command him to go on the offensive against the enemy. Paul also was frustrated with the Galatians for fighting an ineffective war against the flesh using the law when they had the Holy Spirit dwelling inside. Paul our Abraham Lincoln is there with stern warnings to not give up and to fight back against the flesh by taking the offensive in the Spirit, because the flesh is wily and crafty like General Robert E. Lee was against the Union forces.
     Then one day we stop looking to the law for victory like Lincoln stopped looking to General McClellan and fired him once and for all. After much maturing in Christ we start letting the Holy Spirit that has been living inside of us led us into battle and victory against the flesh (See 2 Peter 1:3-9) like General Winfield Scott Hancock  did against General Lee in the Battle of Gettysburg. General Hancock was a great field commander who thought on his feet and used the Union forces effectively against his adversary. We get and keep the upper hand against our adversary the flesh, after our Gettysburg. Not sinless perfection, but a confidence in the Holy Spirit inside us for victory over sin, and the Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit) inside us for personal relationship and fellowship. We are actually letting Him led us as Galatians 5:18 says and we are cultivating the 9 fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22 and 23 in our homes, churches and community, this is from Wilmington’s Guide to The Bible:

·         love (divine concern for others)

·         joy (inward peace and sufficiency)

·         peace (a confidence and quietness of the soul)

·         longsuffering (patience, endurance without quitting)

·         gentleness (kindness)

·         goodness (love in action)

·         faith (dependability)

·         meekness (subdued strength)

·         temperance (self-control)

      Just like the Union forces relentlessly pursued the Confederate forces we can start winning the victory over the works of the flesh in Galatians 5: 19-21 in our homes, churches and community, this is from Wilmington’s Guide to The Bible:

·         adultery (sexual sins between married people)

·         fornication (sexual sins between unmarried people)

·         uncleanness (impurity)

·         lasciviousness (sensuality)

·         idolatry (worship of idols)

·         witchcraft (Greek is pharmakeia, which can refer to sorcery and/or drugs)

·         hatred (enmity)

·         variances (Greek is eris, referring to the god of strife)

·         emulation (rivalry, jealously)

·         wrath (temper, outburst of anger)

·         strife (factions, cliques)

·         seditions (divisions, dissensions)

·         heresies (sects)

·         envyings (coveting)

·         murders (unlawful killing)

·         drunkenness (rendered helpless by strong drink)

·         revelings (carousings, orgies)

     The institution of slavery produced nothing but the works of the flesh. From rape, kidnapping, murder, torture, heresies, religious hypocrisy along with the things mentioned on the above list, the Southern cause was anti-Christ in nature according to Galatians 5:21. The Black community’s participation in these things today means that we are headed down the path of destruction also if we don’t mortify the deeds of our flesh.
     The realization that the flesh can’t be cleaned up but must be crucified daily (see Galatians 5:24) allows us to rid ourselves of all religious ceremonies, acknowledgments (titles), creeds, fleshly covenants and so-called spiritual exercises which are all covered in Galatians 5:26. The Confederate church was guilty of all these and more but yet it said the South had the mandate from God to enslave other human beings, shame on you E.M. Bounds.
     We can live in the Spirit according to verse 25 by making sure that we have been born again of the Spirit (John 3:5, 6), that we are continuously being filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) and that we pray in the Spirit (not unknown tongues) (Ephesians 6:18). To walk in the Spirit is simply to allow the Spirit to manifest in us the things mentioned in verses 22 and 23; the 9 fruit of the Spirit.
     The Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg was won at great cost to both sides. Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address speech had to acknowledge the North’s victory, acknowledge the valor and great loss of life on both sides, but also acknowledge the monumental tasks which still laid ahead in the nation’s quest to allow all men to experience the fruits of liberty. Lincoln’s speech inspired the Union forces to keep fighting to sign this testament in their blood. The Black community will never forget the hills, ridges and fields of Gettysburg which were stained red with blood to help bring about our liberation.
     Just as the battle and speech marked a turning point for our liberty, Paul’s letter to the Galatians can be a turning point to us in our fight for Christian liberty. We have been using carnal means in our fight but to no avail. Social programs, higher education, economic development, political power, achievements in sports and entertainment, social activism and churches on every corner are not the answer. The Black community must learn anew what it means to live in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit. Sadly, when we had nothing we had no trouble. Like the nation of Israel in the Old Testament, sometimes we serve God best when we have nothing but Him. My contribution to help turn it around is to start challenging the dead and the dying facets which are antithesis to Paul’s thesis in Galatians 5:16, "This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." Even so come quickly Lord Jesus!