I am doing a series of messages called BlackOut Understanding The End Of The Age and this is Part 3. It’s important to listen to the whole series so if you have not listened to or read Part 1 and 2 then I encourage you to do that before you start Part 3.
I’m calling this series of messages BlackOut and basing it on a scripture in Isaiah chapter 60 verse 2 which says: “Behold, darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you”. The scripture describes a darkness over the earth and a thick darkness upon its inhabitants. However, in the midst of great darkness we have the promise that the glory of God will be seen upon us
What I am hoping to do through this series of messages is to help give you a framework for understanding our times in light of the word of God. It’s a view that has helped me navigate some complex topics throughout the years up to the present. It’s what compels me to do this series of messages because this series of messages titled “Blackout” is about deception.
Deception has become so widespread that it affects all of us today.
In a world of confusion, distortion of facts, extremism and outright falsehood the church is supposed to be a place of sound truth. Paul in I Timothy chapter 3 verse 15 called the church “a pillar and foundation of the truth”. I hope these messages will help you give a clear focus on how to walk in these times and grow closer to God.
The American McGospel has produced and promoted a culture of celebrity, prosperity and self-centeredness. Instead of a focus on turning away from our self sufficiency and turning to the humility of the cross so much of what is popular preaching focuses on reforming the old man.
I long to see the glory of God rest upon his body and I know I’m not alone in that longing. The scripture I read to you out of Isaiah is a promise that the glory of God is going to rest upon the church, but it's only going to rest upon humility, transparency and those who willingly lay down their lives for the king of Glory.
The first sin was pride and the root of deception is pride. It’s simply putting self first where man becomes his own god and everyone does what is right in his own eyes. Pride blinds you to the truth and darkens your understanding. I’m not here trying to give you some new revelation, but I do hope to turn you back to our ancient faith. It’s the faith of the patriarchs, prophets and apostolic writers.
So many have become untethered from Christ and are drifting aimlessly crashing against the shores of deception, confusion and destructive heresies.
Peter in his second epistle chapter 1 verses 17 thru 21 says: “the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
The episode that Peter was referring to is recorded in all three of the Synoptic gospels. Peter, James and John were with Jesus when he was “transfigured before them and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses and they were talking with Jesus. And a cloud overshadowed them and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.” I am not going to get into speculation on all that took place in this powerful experience.
If you look at the context of chapters 1 and 2 of Peter’s epistle he clarifies what he wants us to understand.
He starts out talking about the new birth of the Spirit and how that changes us from the inside out. II Peter chapter 1 verse 4 says we have been made: “partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” He then clearly lays out the character traits that are produced through this living relationship with a living Christ in verses 5 thru 12. In verse 16 of this chapter he says: “we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” Peter had experienced the power of the age to come and his faith was based on more than a fairy tale, but it was based upon the God who created all things.
It was Moses' visitation upon Mt. Sinai where he received the Torah Law and it was the entire foundation of Israel’s worship of Jehovah as he met face to face with the ‘Great I Am’. Elijah was one of the central figures of the Hebrew prophets. Just after his show down with the false prophets of Baal turning the nation back to covenant faithfulness he has a visitation of God on Mt. Horeb. It’s the same Mt. Horeb where Moses experienced the burning bush and was commissioned by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
The two main figures that the nation of Israel looked to as men who had a direct encounter with God were here with Jesus on this mountain.
It says a cloud overshadowed them and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.” The Law and the Prophets found their fulfillment in the Messiah. Jesus is the ‘Great I Am’ in person. He is God manifested in human flesh and he alone is a lamp shining in a dark place lighting our pathway.
Paul says it this way in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 6: “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
I’ve pondered on this text and reflected on previous moves of the glory of God visiting America. America has a history of revival that has greatly affected us as a nation. The First Great Awakening in the New England colonies was led by Jonathan Edwards prior to the Revolutionary War who preached that famous sermon ‘Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God.’. Then you have the Second Great Awakening starting around 1795 up to around 1835.
One of the greatest church planting movements started out of this visitation of the Spirit through the Wesley brothers. The Wesley brothers were simply responding to the Great Commission empowered by the Holy Spirit and making disciples. What eventually developed was the Methodist Denomination.
I'm reminded of Peter’s initial response to his experience in the glory of God. Peter’s initial response to the glory of God was to build a monument to Elijah, Moses and Jesus, until he heard the voice of God. I scratch my head when I look at the current state of the Methodist Church and wonder how they went from the glory of God to just an empty shell of an institution that embraces destructive heresies and something other than the foundation of Christ.
I wish it was just the United Methodist, but I could write a whole book on the American church’s departure from the faith. In America we have built monuments, we have beautiful buildings and we have great wealth, but where has the glory of God gone?
In verse 13 of this chapter Peter was aware that he was about to die so he was making every effort to ensure that the glory would continue after he was gone. He wanted them to stay singly focused on Christ and he knew the church wasn’t built around any one man, but on the foundation of the one who rose from the dead and entered into the glory of God.
He starts chapter 2 warning them like Paul did in I Corinthians chapter 10 to keep the faith and not be taken captive to the deceptive tactics of the enemy. He knew that false prophets and false teachers would bring in “destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words.”
Peter was trying to show us where our complete focus needs to be.
The risen Christ can never become secondary. It’s when Jesus is no longer the central focus of our lives that we lose our way. If we want to see the glory of God then we must once again singly focus on the risen Christ. So many have lost their way because they are looking for some new thing. The latest revelation, the shiniest new word and the prophecy that is going to show them the way. What we need is a return back to the simplicity of Christ.
We have a sure foundation. It’s Christ as he is revealed in the prophetic words of the prophets and confirmed by the apostolic writers. We don’t need a new revelation or some special insight that no one has ever heard of before, but we need the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of our hearts to what’s been from the beginning; the Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world. He is the Alpha and the Omega. The one who knows the end from the beginning. It’s only the resurrected Christ who overcame death and Hades that can lead us through the deception of the end of the age.
He is the one who stands in the midst of the lampstands lighting our pathway in this present darkness.
The author of Hebrews starts his epistle saying: “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” He is the Word made flesh and the one who is shining with the brightness of the glory of God. In the midst of the darkness of this age we must keep our eyes fixed on Christ allowing ‘the knowledge of His truth’ to permeate our hearts.
I hear people talk about the Leviathan spirit, the Jezebel spirit and whatever other spiritual principality that they have uncovered. I hear them talking about angels who have given them special insight and interpretation. It’s this special revelation which God has revealed to them that is going to set you free. You just need to read their book and listen to their sermon. People are chasing after the latest spiritual key and the unveiling of some mysterious code to enlighten them.
As we talk about darkness and deception let’s start where the rubber meets the road which is self deception.
Self deception is our primary problem. Go take a look in the mirror of the word of God and you will see that the problem is you, it's not some principality.
Let me read a scripture out of I John chapter 1 verses 5 thru 8 which says: “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we 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 his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
It’s one of those scriptures that should make us all squirm.
John doesn’t leave room for the gray mushy ground of the postmodern lie of relativism. He cuts down the tree of the knowledge of good and evil taking us straight to the tree of the cross. Repentance means to turn and we must turn back to the solid ground of Christ the only place to be truly free.
Self deception is one of the greatest battles we will face in regards to the truth. It’s easy to live in the shadows of our heart compartmentalizing our lives. It’s easy to look at other people’s sins while dismissing our own. If the church is to be a pillar and support of the truth then each of us as members of his body needs our lives to be supported by the truth. The church is not an institution. It’s not a building that can be burned or torn down. It’s not joining some club or organization that can be dissolved. It's a living temple made up of individual members who have become partakers of his divine nature through new birth.
John in this scripture clearly shows that each member of his body has a responsibility to live in the transparency of the light of the truth found in Christ. If we don’t pursue the truth as a living reality in our hearts then we begin to deceive ourselves living in the shadows of duplicity.
James in chapter 1 verses 22 thru 24 of his epistle says something very similar: “be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.”
Paul also talked about self deception. In I Corinthians chapter 3 where he was talking about the very foundation of truth in the church he says, “Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool so that he may become wise.”
If you listened to Part 1 of this series then you know I posed the question that Pilate asked to Jesus the night before he was crucified; “What is truth?”
In an age of confusion where truth is being made in the image of the imaginations of man’s heart; the foundation of truth is extremely important. We must have a foundation of truth established in our lives or we are going to be swept away with the hurricane force winds of deception that will be sweeping the globe as the end of the age approaches. As we approach the end of the age foundations are going to be exposed like never before and we must make sure our feet are securely placed in Him.
The author of Hebrews ends chapter 12 saying: “See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth.” He was speaking of when God spoke directly to Moses on Mt. Sinai giving him the Torah Law. “Much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.” This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”
The end of the age is about preparing the bride to meet the bridegroom. It’s about a life completely dedicated to worship. The foundations of our hearts are revealed in the consuming fire of God’s glory where we are found in Him: the Lamb slain before the foundations of the world.
Truth is not found in a book, but it’s found in a person. Please hear me out before you call me a heretic. Yes the Hebrew prophets declared the coming Messiah and these prophecies of scripture were written down so that we may understand. It’s what we call the Old Testament portion of the Bible: The Law, Psalms and the Prophets. The apostolic writers did not come up with some new word, but simply revealed and explained those previous prophetic words concerning the Messiah.
Our faith has an ancient foundation, but as Isaiah said in chapter 28 of his prophecy that the sure foundation has many times been covered with a refuge of lies.
The birth pangs of the end of the age are designed to bring us back to a clear focus on the simplicity of the cross and the foundation of Christ alone; challenging the deceptive refuge of lies that have tried to cover the foundation. The first three chapters of the book of Revelation show Jesus confronting deception in his church where the lies of corruption had begun to distort the truth affecting their faith.
To me the opening of John’s gospel are some of the most powerful words in scripture summing up the truth. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” I could stop right here because Christ alone is enough.
As I said in Part 1 of this series we are not in a relationship with a book. We are in a relationship with the living Christ. However, “the sacred writings are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus”. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees telling them that: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.”
Sound doctrine gives us structure, stability and keeps us safe.
However, it is the living Christ who is the Spirit that illuminates, teaches and leads us into all truth. The Spirit’s illumination is never contradictory to the foundation, but helps to expose those who would deceptively twist the scriptures. The prophet Zechariah in chapter 3 verse 9 talks of a “stone with seven eyes.” You can’t separate the foundation of the Word from the foundation of the Spirit and if you do then you are much more likely to trip, fall and be lost in the darkness. The Spirit is the glove that fits around the hand. The hand is the Word that gives structure and you can’t separate one from the other.
As we contemplate truth in an ever changing world I want you to reflect upon our ancient faith. Our faith is based upon the sure foundation of the Ancient of Days.
On the Mount of Transfiguration Jesus was transfigured before them and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. The glory of God was revealed and it was clearly evident that Jesus is the ‘Great I Am’. He created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. In all of the confusion, instability and darkness of the end of the age those who are established on the true foundation of Christ will shine as lights tethered to his unchanging glory.
Did you know that Jesus and Satan are both referred to as the Morning Star in scripture, but the contrast between them could not be more profound. Two stars, one still shining, one fallen: Satan was referred to as a star, but his light has been extinguished because of his pride. He was cast down into darkness. Jude 6 says: “the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day.”
Satan rebelled against God and when he did he was placed under eternal judgment in what the Bible calls pits or bonds of darkness. This darkness does not simply mean lightless or areas void of light. The eternal darkness to which scripture refers is essentially a moral darkness, but its cause is not simply the absence of light, it's the absence of God: who is light. Paul the apostle spoke of this in II Corinthians chapter 4 verse 3 and 4 when saying if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers. It’s Satan’s desire to blind the minds of humanity so that they will worship him, whether knowingly or through ignorance.
Satan is called the god of this present age and he takes advantage of man’s innate need to worship. Satan always makes himself and sin look attractive.
He comes as an angel of light to lead us into his dungeon of moral darkness. Satan’s main weapon has always been deception. Satan was able to convince Eve through his subtle and cunning speech that what was forbidden by God would be good for her. It’s the postmodern lie of relativism which says truth is whatever you make it. Satan was the first post modernist who destroyed morality through relativism where there are no absolutes, but just the mushy grayness of man being his own god. Satan was the first one to be self deceived, but if we follow in the pathway of putting self first then we choose to walk in darkness and begin to deceive ourselves.
As we await Christ’s return, it sometimes seems as though Satan has won and darkness has prevailed. Just as the cross seemed to be a bloody end it was actually Christ's death on that tree that sealed Satan’s final fate. He has been defeated, but he still wields his main weapon of deception with effectiveness against the body of Christ. He is the twister of truth, the master of delusion and a counterfeit.
Sailors used to use the “morning star,” which is actually the planet Venus, to know when dawn would come. It shines brightly just before dawn and is a sign a new day is coming. The English Theologian Thomas Fuller once said, “It is darkest before the dawn.” It’s actually not any darker, but it feels darker because of the anticipation of a new day. Do you remember as a kid going on a long trip and always asking your parents, are we there yet? Are we there yet every fifteen minutes?
The end of the age is going to feel like ‘time compression’ and the long great night at the same time.
As I speak of ‘time compression’ I’m not saying time changes. Time doesn’t change, but our perception of time changes. In recent years, the pace of life has undeniably accelerated due to advancements in technology, increased connectivity and information overload. In our digital age, we are bombarded with constant stimuli, notifications and distractions, which may contribute to the feeling that time is slipping away. Our frenetic modern life can make it difficult to savor and fully engage with each passing moment. It’s this constant activity that gives the impression that time is being compressed.
What is different for us as believers is that we know we have a destination. We are anticipating a new day. As Titus chapter 2 verse 13 says we are: “waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Jesus compared the end of the age prior to his return as birth pangs. Just like a woman in labor, events grow closer together in frequency compressing time. However, as the hour approaches for the consummation of the ‘day of the Lord’ it will seem like time slows for the believer.
I’ve been told those moments right before the birth and the final push when the baby is being born seems like a lifetime. It’s the last stage of giving birth and the most intense. The main thing women are taught to do through the process of pain during the birthing process is to stay focused.
The end of the age is going to give us plenty of reasons to be distracted. It’s of utmost importance that we don’t focus on the difficulties, turmoil, false messages and confusion as these events happen more frequently, but focus on finishing the mission Christ has given his church. It’s why Peter told us to “pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”
Paul said it this way in Romans chapter 8 verse 18 thru 23: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
Christ will return as the victorious king to this earth. Justice will reign and peace will rule. The light of the glory of God will shine the brightest upon his church in the darkest of nights. The contrast will be visible and undeniable. The humble wheat will bow in depended upon Christ being clearly distinguished from the arrogant and self-sufficient tares. The end of the age is going to expose foundations.
The consuming fire of God is going to expose imposters, duplicity and the shadows of deception.
The fire of God will mercifully burn away the refuge of lies and the birth pangs of the end of the age are designed to show man that he is merely flesh. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 23 and 25 says: “you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God: ‘All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.’ And this word is the good news that was preached to you.”
The mystery of the gospel is foolishness to the natural man. It’s a rock of offense to those who walk in darkness as they stumble and fall over the very foundation that could be their security. Just walk with me for a moment as I contemplate the truth of the message concerning the foundations of our faith. Let’s face it, we believe in some pretty amazing realities.
No, we don't believe in space aliens that are going to come to save or destroy us.
No, we don't believe man evolved from apes or that a man can be changed into a woman.
No, we don’t believe that Mother Earth is mad at us for abusing her so therefore we are seeing extreme weather and earthquakes.
No, we don’t believe angels have come to teach us some new revelation.
No, we don’t believe in fairy tales, myths and wild speculation.
No, we don’t believe in empty visions of puffed up imaginations.
We believe in the prophetic scriptures and the sure word of prophecy concerning the eternal Son of God.
We believe that the God who created all things by the power of his Word took upon himself human flesh. He didn’t appear as some alien or some phantom ghost.
The Holy Spirit overshadowed and impregnated a young teenage virgin in the back hills of Galilee, the northern part of Israel.
He was God manifested in human flesh born into the very world that he created.
He was born to parents who traced their lineage back to King David, to Abraham and to Adam the first man.
His birth was declared by the heavens and the stars aligned declaring his entrance into our time and space. God promised, at the gates of Eden, that he would send a Seed of the Woman who would crush the Serpent’s head and God had inscribed upon the patterns of the stars a message. The Magi from the east read this message and came to witness the event giving gifts to the one who was born king of the Jews.
It was these costly gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh that took care of the family as they fled to Egypt from the tyrant king Herod. The unseen hand of God moved the chess pieces around fulfilling prophecy, after prophecy on a well played out game.
At the age of 30 Jesus was baptized in water, filled with the Holy Spirit and power.
He then for 3 and a half years demonstrated by signs, wonders and miracles that he was the Messiah. The one who would deliver mankind promised by the prophets of an ancient faith dating back to the beginning of man.
As Jesus approached Jerusalem for the last time to fulfill the purpose for which he came into the world, the scriptures say he was met with shouts of Hosanna to the king as he rode on a donkey. He cleansed the temple in Jerusalem the city of the king and prophesied its soon destruction, declaring that his body would be the new temple. It was all part of his prophetic message on the Mount of Olives recorded in Matthew chapter 24.
The Hebrew prophets' words declared over thousands of years were fulfilled as the Messiah was finally offered up.
He was the Lamb slain before the foundations of the world, who stepped into time, offered up for the sins of the world, on the day of that final Passover. He was crucified on a tree and on the hill of the skull Golgotha outside of the city of Jerusalem. Creation itself declared his death just as it had announced his birth. The sun did not shine for 3 hours, the earth shook and the temple veil was torn from top to bottom at his death.
The master chess player had made his final move and the serpent of old had been checkmated. The cross wasn’t a sidetrack, but was the central purpose for which God stepped into time. The message of the cross is the mystery that was hidden.
To us who believe it seems quite obvious, but that’s because the eyes of our hearts have been opened to see the ‘knowledge of the truth’.
Paul is the one who unveils ‘the mystery’ to us. His life exemplified the work of the cross and his example has taught us so much about the cruciform life of faith. In 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 7 thru 8 Paul said: “we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
Certainly the prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament were abundant. However, no one before Jesus, believed that the Messiah was going to come to die before he came to rule the earth. Biblical scholars say there are no Jewish commentators who believed that Isaiah 53 referred to the death of the Messiah.
It was the hidden chess move that even Satan could not see.
We know Satan knows scripture because he quoted it during his interactions with Jesus when he tempted him in the wilderness. He along with the rulers of Israel were aware of these prophecies, but having ‘eyes they could not see and having ears they could not hear’. It was their pride that caused them to walk in darkness and stumble over the truth that was staring them in the face.
Have you ever gotten so drunk that you had a blackout where the lights in your understanding went out and you don’t remember anything? The prophet Isaiah in chapter 28 says that pride resulted in the drunkenness of Emphariam. Matthew Henry comments on this text saying, “Pride was a sin that generally prevailed among them.” In verse 15 of this chapter it says that the leaders of Israel had made lies their refuge and in falsehood they had taken shelter.
Did you hear that because it sounds so much like the world and even so many in the church who have made lies their refuge and in falsehood they have taken shelter. I’m not sure deceivers really know they are deceivers because they believe their own lies. They are drunk on their pride and power. It’s like a drunk who is experiencing a blackout and is simply on autopilot. The leaders of Israel were drunk on their own pride and power.
Like Satan they forget they simply reflected the light of the Creator, but their pride deceived them.
It was pride that caused them to be more interested in retaining their position, power and pleasure instead of humbly turning back to God in repentance. Pride blinds you and darkens your understanding. It’s what caused Satan along with the rulers of Israel to be blinded to the power that would be unleashed through the humble, crushed and crucified Lamb of God.
Peter in writing his first epistle chapter 2 verse 6 thru 8 quotes from Isaiah chapter 28 when he says: “for it stands in Scripture: ‘Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.’ So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,’ and ‘A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense’.”
The central theme from the book of Genesis to Revelation is the cross and it’s the main focus of the redemptive story.
Paul lays the foundation of the church on the bedrock of the revelation of the cross. The pillar of truth and foundation that the church is built upon is what Paul calls ‘the word of the cross’. Jesus came into this earth wrapped in swaddling cloth in a manger with Shepherds looking on. He was born in the humblest of accommodations with the most humble of professions witnessing his birth. God stepped into time showing us the way of humility and he ended his journey showing us the way of humility in his surrender to the power of the cross.
The cross on the hill outside of Jerusalem called Golgotha is the place where Jesus shed his blood and died for our sins, but what is implied in Paul’s statement ‘the word of the cross’? The ‘word of the cross’ is a much broader statement than just that Christ died for our sins. The ‘word of the cross’ is the foundation. It's the very cornerstone.
The 'word of the cross' is the gospel.
It’s Christ birth, life, death, burial, descent into Hades and resurrection from the grave breaking the power of death. It's Christ's ascension to the right hand of the Father and the subsequent outpouring of his Spirit on the day of Pentecost. It is going to bring the final union between God and man being consummated at his second coming to this earth as the ruling king of Kings. It’s the message of the gospel and wrapped in that message is the power and wisdom of God.
The church has neglected the very foundation upon which it is to be established. It’s why so many in the church are confused, shaken and falling away from the faith. The final outpouring of the Spirit before Christ returns is going to reveal Christ the foundation.
The children of Israel were told to eat the whole lamb during the Passover meal. It was so that the lamb who was slain for them, the blood that covered their sin, delivered them from the death angel and set them free from Pharaoh's power actually became a part of them. In like manner we are told to eat the flesh and drink the blood of the New Covenant. It’s a partnership and participation with the Lamb of God. It’s upon the revelation of that foundation that the gates of hell cannot prevail against his church. The pillar and foundation of truth that the church is established on is the ‘word of the cross’. The advancing church is one who has embraced the message of him who has the keys of death and Hades. Yes, it's foolishness to the earthly minded man. It’s a stone of stumbling and rock of offense.
If you enjoyed this lesson, then please subscribe to my YouTube channel, Foundation Publications, so I can reach more people and you will be notified when I post more videos. Please share this information with your friends on any social media platforms that you may use.
コメント