- araratchurch
- Feb 3, 2024
- 4 min read
"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight! Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink, Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away justice from the righteous man!“
Isaiah 5:20-23 NKJV
In our discussions, you may have noticed that I often reference “the world system.” To clarify: When I reference the world system, I am referencing all that is set against (or in place of) the rule of Christ. This group includes principalities and powers in the realm of the spirit, as well as the systems of government, rule, etc, established in rebellion against, and contrary to, the Kingdom of God.
Understand, the world system sets man as the ultimate ruler. This system is ruled over by Satan and will shortly be the platform for the very short rule of the Antichrist: a human being who is empowered by Satan and the forces of darkness to directly attack and challenge the rule of Christ. It won’t end well for him or anyone aligned with his rule.
Again, make no mistake, there are only two kingdoms. The kingdom ruled over by Satan includes the rebellious angels, who followed after Satan in his attempted coup, as well as disembodied spirits that walk the earth finding no rest. For our purposes, we will just put these disembodied spirits in the category of ancient rebellious persons. I do not occupy my search for truth trying to figure out exactly where all of the evil spirits came from. But I will tell you, they are among us, and they seek to manifest themselves through hollowed-out souls.
In addition to these purveyors of darkness in the realm of the spirit, the world system also consists of human governments and systems of rule that deny the sovereignty of the Lord.
So, although the world would attempt to present “gray areas,” neutral zones, the fact remains that a person is either operating under the rule of Christ, the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Light, or is under the sway of Satan and the kingdom of darkness.
Indeed, Jesus made clear that He came to bring light.
”Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”“
John 8:12 NKJV
John made clear that there is no darkness in God. As well, he made clear that we only have fellowship with God as we walk in the Light.
”This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.“
I John 1:5-7 NKJV
Peter made clear that we— through Christ—have been called out of darkness .
”But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.“
I Peter 2:9-10 NKJV
And, as Paul points out, through Christ, we have been conveyed, moved out of darkness, into the Light.
”that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.“
Colossians 1:10-14 NKJV
Paul also warned that we are to have no fellowship with the kingdom, or works, of darkness.
”Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.”“
II Corinthians 6:14-17 NKJV
In our opening scripture we see that great judgment is pronounced against those who try to change God’s standard of what is good, and what is evil.
Sadly, this evil persuasion is even found in churches purveying the “all paths lead to God” heresy. As well, those who deny, or minimize, or put far off in the area of irrelevance, the bodily rule of Christ from the earth, are also guilty of calling good evil and vice versa.
As noted before, my spiritual journey began with a feeling of nothingness. Tomorrow we will turn to my first excursion into a survey of what the world system really looks like. But, nothing going further, can be rightly viewed through a lens that confuses light and darkness, or a lens through which there is entertained the notion of there being an alternative, a neutral place, between the Kingdom of Light and the kingdom of darkness. It does not exist.
Please join me tomorrow as we walk through an evil, dilapidated “arcade.”
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Jan 31, 2024
- 3 min read
”O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps. O Lord, correct me, but with justice; Not in Your anger, lest You bring me to nothing.“
Jeremiah 10:23-24 NKJV
When hearing what we began to look into yesterday concerning becoming nothing, some people will suppose that they already see themselves as nothing. But the nothingness experienced before God has nothing to do with low self-esteem, self-loathing, or any other such psychological ills in a man. The sense of nothingness with which I began the spiritual journey we are sharing together, had no connection to any statements of my being one way or the other. There was no thought of my qualities and strengths. At the same time, there was no thought of my weaknesses and shortcomings. The nothingness that began my spiritual journey was being experienced in a vacuum, so to speak. It was a knowledge that I was nothing without any sort of commentary coming with it.
The apostle Paul, though highly trained in The Law, came to understand the nothingness we must all experience before the Throne of God.
Even when defending his credentials (which were being challenged), he made clear that he was not arguing that he was anything. No, rather, he was nothing.
”I have become a fool in boasting; you have compelled me. For I ought to have been commended by you; for in nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles, though I am nothing.“
II Corinthians 12:11 NKJV
You see, Paul had come to recognize that any good thing, any ability, any sufficiency was only the product of Christ working in him.
”Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
II Corinthians 3:5-6 NKJV
Indeed, Paul came to understand that his whole identity came from one Source. It came through Christ.
”For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.“
I Corinthians 15:9-10 NKJV
Our Lord openly recognized that whatever He did when walking as a Man, had only one Source: the Father.
”Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.”
John 5:19 NKJV
As well, the Lord made it clear that outside of our union with Him, we can do nothing.
”Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.“
John 15:4-5 NKJV
Our opening scripture is the way the prophet Jeremiah indicated his awareness of being nothing. He knew that we were bankrupt in terms of being able to—in any way—correct our course.
So, my spiritual journey had begun with a sense of nothingness. But, the nothingness wasn’t the destination, only the vehicle.
We’ll talk more about this tomorrow.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!
- araratchurch
- Jan 31, 2024
- 3 min read
”God stands in the congregation of the mighty; He judges among the gods. How long will you judge unjustly, And show partiality to the wicked? Selah Defend the poor and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy; Free them from the hand of the wicked. They do not know, nor do they understand; They walk about in darkness; All the foundations of the earth are unstable. I said, “You are gods, And all of you are children of the Most High. But you shall die like men, And fall like one of the princes.” Arise, O God, judge the earth; For You shall inherit all nations.“
Psalms 82:1-8 NKJV
As I have shared with you, my recent spiritual journey began with a sense of complete nothingness. As I mentioned, this was just a vehicle, a context in which I would experience a two-pronged journey over several days.
In one prong of the journey, the Lord spoke to me as I was asleep in dreaming visions. Through these He basically revealed the truth about the world system, the kingdom of darkness, and toward the end, indicated the hook remaining in me that was keeping me from being completely separate from the control of the enemy.
The second prong in the spiritual journey would be experienced as I was awake with my eyes closed. I was definitely not asleep; but with my eyes closed, I experienced several spiritual confrontations.
Before going into the specifics of the two prongs in my journey, I must set the context.
You see, sadly, multitudes of people try to fill the longing or emptiness in their soul, by taking what the world has to offer. But please understand, there is nothing in the world system, nothing in the realm of Satan‘s rule, that can help you. Indeed, everything thought to be helpful is actually systematically hollowing out your life force, the spark left of the divine nature, to render you completely unable to resist being fully controlled and destroyed by the forces of evil.
Jesus, speaking to the church at Laodicea, remarks about their self-deception in which they saw themselves as having everything they needed. He urged them, implored them, to come to Him in an attitude of repentance to receive what they really needed.
”And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.“
Revelation 3:14-19 NKJV
We see that if they remained in this place of self-deception, they would be completely rejected.
In our opening scripture we see the Lord speaking concerning the sons of God who were placed over the nations. He points out that they are corrupt, and because of that, the people “do not know, nor do they understand; They walk about in darkness; All the foundations of the earth are unstable.”
Sadly, we see this dynamic all around us; it’s everywhere in the world, in every nation, in multitudes of individuals. Everything they do is done in darkness, and every foundation on which they have built themselves is now violently being shaken.
Tomorrow we will take a further look into how the world system, the kingdom of darkness, is currently operating.
Peace to you.
Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!