by Ron Graham
5/10/2012
“Blessed
are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart. They
also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. Psalm 119:2-3. The word iniquity in verse 3
above comes from a Hebrew root word that means to “deviate”; in short they do no
compromising of their faith by deviating from walking in His (Christ’s) ways.
The word “testimonies” also means
“precepts/doctrines”. We can read this verse as follows: Blessed are those who
keep His doctrines without deviating (departing from the faith). “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
John 14:15. If we love our Lord
Jesus we keep His commandments (His doctrines). That’s a fairly straight forward
decree set down by the Creator of the universe. Jesus leaves no room for “grey
area” maneuvering in that verse. There is no middle ground. When we keep the
commandments of Messiah Jesus without deviation we are blessed. When we deviate
away from His commandments – well, there is always an opposite
effect.
“…what
fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath
light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath
he that believeth with an infidel?” 2 Corinthians 6:14b-15. Question: does God
turn a blind eye to those who intend to compromise their faith by choosing the
lesser of two evils? Not hardly. The path of least resistance is, in many cases,
the most desirable, but it usually runs contrary to God’s precepts. When we
choose one evil over another, in the end we’ve still made a choice for evil. We
should never attempt to justify our rebellion to God by thinking He condones our
failure to stand firm on His doctrines. If you’d like a clear view of the
disastrous effects that arise from wrong choices, read John Bunyan’s book
“Pilgrims Progress”.
So how do we
remain uncompromisingly true to the doctrine of Christ? Christ being the
foundation of our faith, our God who has given us everlasting life, desires for
us to remain faithful. To remain faithful to Him means we steer clear of evil.
How? By choosing to remain strong in His doctrines. How do we face our God once
we’ve compromised our faith by promoting one evil over another? Chosen one
demonic doctrine over another? According to the word of God, we, who He sees as
His children, are never afforded such liberty. Therefore there must be some
undesirable consequences attached to our unfaithfulness.
Many are in a
quandary these days as it becomes harder and harder to remain a solid
conservative Christian. Christians are given very little to choose from that is
actually godly, especially in the world of politics. This dilemma didn’t just
recently raise its ugly head. Decades ago when the followers of Messiah Jesus
let down their guard and allowed a more liberal mindset to become entrenched in
every aspect of national government, the pendulum began to swing toward evil.
For decades the Ekklesia of Christ, on a whole, has been usurping the word of
God in order to secure a more harmonious relationship with the world. There’s an
old adage that states when you make your bed you sleep in it. Well my brethren,
in regards to politics, we’ve made our bed in opposition to God for years, and
now we must sleep in it.
Satan never
rests. To him the battle for the souls of humanity is continuous, and it is his
intention to defeat us at every turn. Satan must be extremely pleased with
himself each time a born again believer in Christ makes the decision to choose
one of his evil doctrines over another of his evil doctrines. Either way he
wins.
When we study
our Bibles we find an apparent lack of “middle ground” for us to firmly plant
our feet on. God says have no fellowship with unrighteousness (doctrines of
demons), period. My commentary “God Speed – Doctrines of Demons” contained many
verses that should have been sufficient proof that God has set His Ekklesia
apart from the world and has no desire for His children to befriend those who
hold to such doctrines. Preach the truth to them? Absolutely. But fellowship
with them in a personal way? Never. “Let no
man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of
God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as
children of light:” Ephesians
5:6-8. Verse 8 above is speaking to you and I. We are the light in
the Lord Jesus. Everything we do in this life must reflect Messiah Jesus. Never
are we to choose evil, no matter how appealing or self satisfying that evil may
appear.
I personally
will stand on my Messiah’s doctrines and I will not cast my vote for an
individual who stands apart from those doctrines. Some of you have sent me
letters saying it is my obligation as a patriot to vote no matter what. I didn’t
say I wasn’t going to vote, there are alternatives to the Mormon and the Muslim,
and as far as being a patriot, I am not. I’m a monarchist. My allegiance is to
my Messiah Jesus, King of kings not to man, and certainly not to any nation of
this world. Sometimes I wonder if my brethren actually understand what it means
when we say “this world is not our home” There are certainly many who don’t
understand that concept.
Other responses
I’ve received mentioned that they believe Mitt Romney and his wife to be moral
individuals, and that they have a “form of belief” in Jesus Christ. Therefore
they feel vindicated and in the center of “God’s will” so they can now cast
their vote for him (Mitt Romney), even though he stands firmly opposed to the
doctrine of Christ. I can absolutely affirm that when anyone stands opposed to
God in any way that person is not in “God’s will”. In the past election many
Christians voted for Obama who oozes doctrines of demons, and we all know where
that has led.
A leader of one
of the largest congregations in America has endorsed Mitt Romney as a Christian.
Joel Olsten stands with Romney and considers him his brother in Christ, even
though the Mormon religion believes Christ and Lucifer to be brothers, which of
course relegates Messiah Jesus to that of a created being. Therefore, Joel
Osteen has, by his own admission, affirmed to the world that he considers
Lucifer/Satan to be his brother.
Many believe
that Christian persecution will be avoided if Romney is elected president. They
see abject persecution coming under an Obama government. A common misconception
among the American Christian, and one which has been so for many years, is that
here in American there will be no persecution of Christians. All the time the
flames of persecution draw closer. Most of the rest of Christendom has had to
endure those flames for the last 1,900 years, why not Americans?
“…In
the world ye shall have tribulation…” John 16:33. Jesus declares that in this
world we would have tribulation. The Greek word used here points to oppression,
affliction, trials, and persecution. When He made that declaration it was all
inclusive. He placed no exception on that statement such as “Except for my
disciples who will be sojourning in the future land to be known as the nation of
America.” That would be a manmade exception. “Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant
is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also
persecute you;” John
15:20a. If indeed we are His disciples then He is speaking to each of
us as His servants. That being the case, is it not within the realm of
possibilities that that persecution has now hit the shores of America, beginning
in our local governmental political system, graduating all the way up to our
national government’s current leadership? The answer is a resounding yes. As for
the nation of America, the hammer of persecution has been on the brink of
falling on the “just” (the saints) for some years now.
It has become
painfully obvious to me that the majority of Christians understand very little
about what Messiah Jesus meant by His statement “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross, and follow me” Mark 8:34b. When we take up our cross we
must be prepared to be rejected as Jesus was, persecuted, maltreated, denied the
fundamentals of God given rights, even to die for our Lord. That’s what it means
to take up your cross. The doctrine of Christ is binding on all the born again
believers in this world. There is no middle ground.
The more the
Ekklesia of Christ in America compromises their faith through the casting of
their vote for the lesser of two evils the more persecution will increase. How
can I say that? The more influential the doctrines of demons becomes, the more
pressure will be put on the followers of Messiah Jesus to toe the line of those
doctrines that are obviously demonic. When the saints begin to rebel against the
doctrines of demons (and they will), then the persecution will become much more
persistent and painful. The persecution of the saints will come down like a ton
of bricks. While your “looking up hoping to get a glimpse of your redemption
that’s drawing nigh” remember to duck, the bricks have begun fly.
I purposely
omitted a key component of chapter 16 verse 33 of John’s Gospel. Here’s that
verse in its entirety “These things I have
spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have
tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33. Jesus never
compromised with Satan, nor should we.
God bless you
all,
Ron
Graham
All
scripture is “theopneustos” God breathed
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