Transcription
[Music] [Applause] Welcome to Teacher and Sign podcast. Uh, we'll return to the series on the Apostle Paul next week, but I needed to share something that has been on my heart and I don't think it can wait any longer.
Recently, I flipped open my Bible and it landed on chapter 20 of Jeremiah where the prophet is complaining to the Lord about how he has suffered for speaking his word. And it reads, "You have tricked me. You are stronger than me and you have prevailed. I've become a laughingstock. Everyone mocks me. For the word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. If I say to myself, I will not mention God or speak his word, there is in my heart, as it were, a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I can no longer hold it in."
More and more, I feel a bit like Jeremiah. I frequently take a beating for speaking the truth and what the spirit has given me to share. At times, I feel discouraged and I think about quitting. But like Jeremiah, God's word is very much a fire burning in my bones and I cannot hold back even when I know there will be a price to pay. And this is the case with today's message.
I have made no public comment regarding recent events in the news. I said nothing about the assassination of Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband or the arson of the Pennsylvania Governor uh Josh Shapiro's residence. I said nothing about the death of Charlie Kirk or any number of bizarre and also horrendous things that are going on in this nation and around the world. I spend very little time watching news and I avoid political commentary. Not because I don't care, but because I care too deeply. My heart hurts for this nation and and for the church more so now than I think at any time in the 57 years that I have been on this earth.
In Matthew 24:12, Jesus said, "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." We are living in that time. At the beginning of this year, I prophesied to our congregation that 2025 was going to be a crazy roller coaster ride. And so it has been. There is a massive shift unseen below the surface and there are unseen forces at work. Organizations that operate in secrecy to gain power, wealth, and influence using deceit, murder, and oppression. Both political parties have served as their puppets for decades now. attempts to drain the swamp have not touched them. Their hold over our nation is as strong as it ever has been.
And as tragic events continue to unfold, I watch people from both sides of the political divide throwing gas on the fire. And I discern by the spirit that there is much more going on than what meets the eye. And I see very clearly that we are all being played like pieces on a chessboard. People on both sides of every conflict are being moved about by an unseen force that is manipulating their emotions and their thinking. Each one is fully convinced that they stand for what is right and that the other side is hateful or wicked or stupid or insane. But the truth is none of them represent what is right because they are all of them playing Satan's game. He invented this game. He manufactured the two sides that we must pick. He created the rules by which we play the game. And what is not understood by the players is that everyone who plays this game will lose.
Having said that, the fire that burns in my bones, the truth that I must speak is to all those who confess Jesus as Lord, but who hold hate in their heart for their fellow man. Jesus said, "Not everyone who calls him Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but those who do the will of my father." And in another place, Jesus said, "Why call me Lord and not do the things I tell you to do?" You know, people start to argue. Every time I have ever publicly stated that the commandments of God that we are expected to follow under the terms of the new covenant is not the ten commandments, but rather the sermon on the mount. What Jesus taught wasn't simply advice which we can take or leave but it is the way that every disciple of Jesus is expected to live their life. That is why thousands of Christians in the first century and the apostles themselves willingly suffered mockery, beatings, prison, torture and even death. All the while giving thanks to God and forgiving those who did these things to them. And how is that even possible?
I feel compelled to speak now in the plainest of terms. The reason why many Christians believe there is no conflict between following Jesus and the storing up of guns and ammo with the idea that the time may come when we will need to kill our neighbors either to protect the provisions that we have stored up or to save our own life or even an open war against their fellow Americans in order to take back this country is because they simply do not know Jesus. Jesus and they cannot abide his sayings. They are afraid and they are filled with anger and because of this they must either ignore the teachings of Jesus or they must perform the mental gymnastics necessary to deny that he really meant what he was plainly saying.
1 John 4:20 states that anyone who says they love God but hates his brother is a liar. In Matthew 26:52, Jesus said, "All they that take up the sword shall perish with the sword." In Luke 17:33, Jesus said, "Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life shall find it again." And Paul in Ephesians 6:12 states that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. Rather, our war is against spiritual powers and principalities.
This message has become a fire that is burning within me. But I do not share it in anger, but rather in concern. For the welfare of your soul, I must say these things. 1 John 3:15 states that everyone who hates his brother is a murderer. If you cannot love the homosexual or the trans person or the MAGA Trump supporter or Joe Biden or the Jew or the socialist or the redneck flying a Confederate flag from the back of his pickup truck, but you say that you love God, then you are a liar. If you believe that you are justified in your hatred or in committing violence against those you believe are your enemies, you are not born again. If you think that you talk to Jesus and he agrees with your hatred toward other people or he tells you to stock up on guns and ammo so that you can kill them when the time comes, you are listening to a false Jesus and you are deceived by an evil spirit. I cannot say it any clearer than this. You have great need to repent.
We read that the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. But what do we find among the works of the flesh? We find hatred and strife. The anger that you feel in your heart towards certain kinds of people or against certain politicians or political parties is intentionally being stirred up by Satan. And your hate is being used by powerful secretive groups to manipulate the masses in order to gain even greater control. You are being played. Wake up and let the water of the word wash over you. Be cleansed of your hatred and your animosity toward people who disagree with you.
You know, Jesus told Pontious Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight." Why are you fighting? And who are you fighting for? Jesus also said, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be the children of your father in heaven. For he causes his son to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." It is near impossible for the natural man to love someone who mocks or spits on them or tries to murder them. If you try to love solely through an act of will, when put to the test, you will likely succumb to your passions. The only way to become like Jesus and like the apostles and the early Christians who loved their enemies and laid down their life as a testimony is to surrender everything to Jesus and be born again. You must be crucified with Christ, becoming dead to your sinful passions, and then resurrected into a new life. Until we do that, Jesus is not fully Lord over our life. And we are not fully his disciple. And I know that's a hard thing to contemplate, but we are not called to debate, to strife, or violence, but to establish the kingdom of God and overcome our enemies through valiant acts of love and forgiveness, which can only flow from a changed nature in Christ.
Some of you, I know, refuse to be manipulated into hating your fellow man. Some of you are doing your level best to rise above the conflicts of this world and some of you desire to be the church while others merely want to play at church. Which one are you? We must ask ourselves, do we truly wish to be married to the bridegroom or do we merely want to flirt with him? Is there any such thing as a part-time disciple of Christ? Surely, we cannot follow Jesus only when it is convenient to do so and be counted as his servant. Jesus is offering us entrance into his kingdom so that we might receive a great inheritance. There are some who claim that this is a free gift. But I tell you, it actually will cost you everything.
Brothers and sisters, the darkness in this world is a reflection of the lack of light in the church. We are told that we are to be a light to this world, a city set on a hill. But instead, we are down in the muck of the trenches, lobbing grenades at one another. You cannot be a child of God and remain a pawn in Satan's game. Arise, shake off the filth that you've wallowed in, and pray that your garments be washed clean in the blood of the lamb. Pray that your heart will be changed. Step out of the echo chambers, which only affirm your side while fanning the flames of your fears and your anger. Turn away from social media. Turn off your television. Stop watching incendiary political commentary. Stop participating in it. Turn your eyes instead to heaven, asking that God give you new eyes with which to see and discern the truth. The way to save yourself, your loved ones, and this nation is not through argument, votes, or violence, but by walking the straight and narrow path that Jesus invited us to walk with him in. There's an old saying, be the change you want to see in the world. If you want to see the light of Christ fill this nation, you must shine the light of Christ by your words and by your actions. Amen. Until next time, God bless. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music]