Most Christians know that our spiritual opposition comes from three sources: the world, the flesh, and the devil. However, as in most things, we have them in the opposite order from scripture. The world refers to the evil world system. But the world would not be evil except it be filled with fallen men. Men are fallen because their fleshly nature is perverted. Yet, the fall began with the temptation of Eve in the Garden of Eden and it was the work of the devil. So, the devil rebelled against God and brought about the fall of man which resulted in the sinful flesh that is in all men. Then, fallen men with the help of the evil spirits of the devil created the evil world system. The true order is the devil, the flesh, and the world.
One of the results of possession by evil spirits in the maniac of Gadara was self-mutilation. Mark 5:5 describes his actions: "And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones." A recent survey of college students has determined that 20% of women and 14% of men "have cut, burned, carved or harmed themselves in other ways." This refers to behavior which inflicts harm without the intent of suicide. "The most common methods reported by both young men and women were scratching to the point of bleeding, cutting or punching with the intent of causing injury." This is not to say that all of these young people are possessed. However, it does reflect on the satanic influence in our society. In the case of the maniac, when the devils were cast out, he was found "sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind" (Luke 8:35). We need to be taking our youth to the feet of Jesus instead of immersing them in the culture of the devil.
On August 3, 2006 (9th of Ab in the Jewish calendar; a month called the "fifth month" in the Bible), the Jewish people will remember the 2,592nd anniversary of the destruction of King Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem with a day of mourning and fasting. This is also thought to be the date when Herod's Temple was destroyed in 70AD and the date for the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492. The Jews still mourn their many losses. In Zechariah 7:3-5, Zechariah was asked if it ws proper to continue the fast of the fifth month. The fast had been established to mourn the destruction of Jerusalem; but now Jerusalem was being restored. In reply, the Lord foretold of the day when Israel will be fully restored and the fasts "shall be to the house of Judah joy and gladness, and cheerful feasts; therefore love the truth and peace" (Zechariah 8:19). Yet, as any reading of today's newspaper will demonstrate, the Jews still fast and Rachel is still weeping for her children (Jeremiah 31:15). All who love the Lord still look to that day when the fast of the fifth month will be turned into a feast.
David Cloud has an excellent article on his site that I encourage you to read. It deals with our tendency to speak of salvation using unbiblical phrases. We talk about "giving our life to Christ" or "inviting Jesus into our hearts" as if these phrases truly described the act of salvation. They do not. That does not mean that those who use these phrases are unsaved. It only means we are sloppy in our terminology. This is important because these phrases are also sloppy in doctrinal meaning. We are not saved by inviting Jesus into our hearts but by believing on Him. It is true that we receive Him (John 1:12; Colossians 2:6), but this refers more to a receiving of His way and person. Our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). Why should we invite Jesus in? The point is that we should get as close as possible to biblical terminology and meaning. Sloppy appeals for converts tend to make sloppy converts.
Gary North, in "Millennialism and Social Theory" (p.136-137), demonstrates the worldly outlook of the Christian Reconstructionists. He labels those who disagree with his postmillennial doctrine as "pessimillenialists." That is, they are pessimistic because they do not believe that Christians will conquer the world before the physical return of Christ. One of the greatest faults he sees in premillenialists is their conviction that Christians should be looking for the return of Jesus Christ. According to him: "Christians were told to look skyward prior to the fall of Jerusalem... But their deliverance came in history... That one-time deliverance of the early Church is today long behind us. It is surely time for Christians to begin lookingforward, in time and on earth, for their deliverance, not upward." He even scolds an amillennialist for saying, "Come, Lord Jesus, come."
Recently, my Bible reading brought me across a most interesting passage. In Jeremiah 27:6-7, the Lord declared that He has given the land of Judah and the surrounding countries to Nebechadnezzar. "And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of the land come" (v.7). This is known as the Babylonian Captivity but what do these details mean?
Comments we received in regard to "Three Kings and Some Land": Hi Pastor Reagan, I have been studying in the book of Jeremiah and read the chapter you are quoting yesterday. My KJV Bible spells the kings name "Nebuchadrezzer" I checked my wifes KJV and it says the same thing. However you are spelling it "Nebuchadnezzar" I checked my concordance and it says these are the same. I was wondering if you had any insight as to why the different spellings. I don't think there are two different kings of Babylon. Just wondering??
We are so gullible and Hollywood knows it. The home video division of Twentieth Century Fox said Tuesday it will acquire family friendly movies and market them under the FoxFaith banner. Is it because of a revival at Fox? Of course not. It is because Christians are gullible enough to buy every one of their movies. See if you recognize these titles, "The Passion of Christ" (which is based on the visions of a nun rather than scripture), "The Chronicles of Narnia", and "Woman, Thou art Loosed" (which has scenes of nakedness and dancing).
