5. A Herald to Jesus of Nazareth's Bride

The Church in this country is at a time in which there will be no Isaiah 64:1-3 without Joel 2:13 first.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

This is episode five of uh my version of an audiobook for a herald, The Jesus of Nazareth's bride in the United States of America. As I've been saying, um not reading everything, uh not reading the footnotes. So um they do help. You know, there's some places where the footnote I provide a little more explanation or something, but you don't have to do that. I'm not trying to sell you a book, um, but it is available on Amazon and both a paperback and an ebook, if that uh if you want to pursue it more a little more deeply than just this um audio version. So I'm now ready to start with stone number two. Which god question mark. My term for the kind of belief in a higher power that permeates this country, including most who claim to be Christians, is polytheistic monotheism, which means many versions of a God. However, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Israel, the one true living God, is not who and what a person wants to think he is. Neither is it okay for a person to only focus on his or her favorite aspect or quality of this God while ignoring his foundational quality, such as focusing on some form of love as opposed to his holy love. For as you see, as you will see in a moment, holiness is this God's foundational characteristic, which impacts all of his other qualities. God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God of Israel, the one true living God, is who he says he is, as he has revealed himself in the Bible, Genesis to Revelation only, and most importantly, in the man, Jesus of Nazareth, John 1.1, Philippians 2, 5 through 8. Humans may not come up with their version of a God, or the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or even of a Jesus. This is called idolatry, something most people in this country are guilty of. Again, including those who consider themselves to be Christians. Really, who doesn't believe that there's a higher power or even many higher powers? The fact is that there are very, very few true atheists. And while there are plenty of agnostics, one must work hard to deny the existence of someone who is greater than humans. For Ecclesiastes 3.11 says that the one true living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Israel, the God and Father of Jesus of Nazareth, put eternity into the human heart. All humans instinctively know deep inside that there is a higher power of God. Again, little G, you know, a higher power. People may wonder where he is or what he's doing, or why he doesn't solve some terrible issues that that desperately need his involvement or what uh he is truly like. But 99% of human beings know that there is a God, again, a higher power, even one who will one day judge them. And yet, believing that there's a higher there is a power greater than us is not what the one true living God is looking for. James wrote, This is chapter 2, verse 19. You believe that there's one God? Good. Even the demons believe that, and they shudder. But even a higher power is not any better than what demons can do. In Hindu, Muslim, and Buddhist cultures, people know who a person means when they refer to a deity. But in this country, while the plethora of versions of a God, with the plethora of versions of a God, very few who say God are talking about the one true living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Israel, the God and Father of Jesus of Nazareth, even if they claim to be. And in this Christianized country, there are a plethora of Jesuses. There's the American Jesus, the American Dream Jesus, the hippie Jesus, the Country Western Jesus, the conservative Jesus, the liberal Jesus, the psychology Jesus, each denomination's version of a Jesus, the black Jesus, the Caucasian Jesus, the Hispanic Jesus, the Jesus who looks like a woman with a beard, and on and on and on. So when people use the word God, who do they mean? One nation under God. Which God? And God we trust. Which God? God bless them in the United States. Which God? The English word God simply means a higher power. The Hebrew word elf and the Greek word theos mean a higher power. So the living God's name is not God. God is what he is, a higher power. And in the God's case, he is the most high higher power. So in this country, which God are people talking about? Saying God does not clearly identify which God one is referencing. For even the living God acknowledges there are lots of gods. Exodus 20, verse 2 and 3. I am the Lord. Remember, I mentioned this earlier in the Old Testament, when they use when the in the manuscript it says the actual word, the actual name Yahweh, English translators put the word Lord all in caps, capital L O R D. So I am Yahweh, your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of Israel. You shall have no other gods before me. Meaning there are other higher powers to choose from, but we're to choose him. The biblical truth is that the God is specific about who he is, and thus he is quite deliberate about identifying and describing himself. So it's like this say a young boy bursts into a room where there's a men's meeting going on, and let's say that most of these men are fathers. So when the young boy yells out, Dad, I need you, there is some confusion. The boy sees his mistake, his lack of clarity as to which dad he means. So he says, Gary Koons, I need you. Now he's identifying which father or dad he's talking about. In this country, people capitalize the word God, but we still don't know which God they're referencing. So the living God's name is not God. Just as I am a dad and my children call me dad, I still have a name. And this is exactly the case in the Old Testament. These writers were very specific about which higher power, that is, which God, they were talking about. The one true living God has been crystal clear about who he is, even specifically identifying himself with specific names. He's not been vague or general in this, he's not simply God. Thus, believing there's a higher power, even just one higher power, as James asserted, is not enough. Hell is full of people who believe in a higher power while living in this life, even praying and serving him in some way. And yet, because they have the wrong higher power, they're now in hell. Although I'm going to use names such as the living God or Jesus of Nazareth or the Jesus or the God, etc., it is still virtually impossible to have clarity with the reader, or in your case, the listener, about which higher power I'm talking about. But in some attempt to be clear, I'm talking about the higher power, the living God, the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of Israel, and his son, Jesus of Nazareth, the Jewish bridegroom king, as he has revealed himself in Genesis to Revelation. As Paul wrote for 2 Corinthians chapter 11, but I'm afraid just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. There are many examples of how polytheistic monotheism gets expressed in this country. For example, one of the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous saw a bright light. But he never tells us the name of this light. Paul encountered bright light on the road to Damascus that blinded him, knocking to the ground. His testimony, Acts 9, is that when he asked the name of this light, the light identified itself as Jesus of Nazareth. Seeing a bright light is not proof that one is experiencing the living God. It is proof of encountering a higher power, though. The question is, which higher power? 2 Corinthians 11 14. So as in AA, other religions and pseudo-Christian cults, such as Mormonism, as well as sadly the church in this country, there's plenty of talk about a God. The problem is, which God? When Moses came before Pharaoh, he told Pharaoh that Yahweh, the God of Israel, had sent him with a message. This is Exodus chapter 5. Pharaoh must have said, Yahweh, who's Yahweh? Never heard of him. You see, Pharaoh was no atheist. He was a polytheist. He believed in many gods. He just had never heard about this Yahweh God. But even more, Pharaoh had absolutely no fear or even concern about Israel's God, Yahweh. After all, they had been Egypt's slaves for 400 years. Surely this Yahweh God must not only not care about his worshippers, but he also must be rather wimpy and even afraid of Egypt's gods. So Moses is being exact and purposeful about who and which God he was speaking for. Moses is talking about Yahweh, the God who is Israel's God. In fact, even Israel had to be told which God was finally coming to their rescue. Moses informed them that the God who had appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was the God Almighty, is now revealing himself as Yahweh, the God who is always. Exodus 6. God also told Moses, I am Yahweh. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but my name, Yahweh, I do not, I did not make known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites when the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant. Therefore, say the Israelites that I am Yahweh, and I'll bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians, and I'll free you from being slaves to them, and I'll redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am Yahweh, your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians, and I'll bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I'll give it to you as a possession. I am Yahweh. And as Pharaoh will learn, Yahweh, God Almighty, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, God of Israel, is no wimp. From then on, all of Egypt would know not only the name Yahweh, and not only that Yahweh is Israel's God, but also that He is He truly is the God Almighty. In a New Testament, there's something similar going on in which the writers are being clear about who they are talking about. People of that time knew that the God of the Jews was not one of the gods they knew. In other words, Yahweh had no connection to Baal, Zeus, or Jupiter, etc. So this was a specific distinction about, so this was just a specific distinction about which higher power the Jewish apostles were preaching about. And as for Jesus, the apostles spoke of the Christ, the anointed one, who was a Jew. So again, people understood the specific the specificity of which higher power the apostles were talking about. For many centuries in Western culture, we have lost such clarity when people use the word God or the name Jesus. And yet it does not matter who and which God and which Jesus this person is talking about. For example, to believe that the real Jesus is the author of the American dream would be false, for the real Jesus had much to say about money and materialism, all of which was highly negative. For example, Luke 16, 19 through 31. So if you believe Jesus of Nazareth is the source of the material wealth of this nation, you got the wrong Jesus. Or to believe that the real Jesus invented democracy, you got the wrong Jesus. The real Jesus invented monarchy. The pagan, perverted, pompous Greeks who thought themselves to be so wise invented democracy. And as the real Jesus said, one can tell a tree by its fruit, that is, character. Democracy came from such worldly people as the Greeks is clearly from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. While this offends many Americans, the Jesus said that a bad tree cannot, as in being unable, produce good fruit. And the Greeks absolutely were a bad tree. Or to believe that the real Jesus is into psychology, such as self-esteem, is an indication one has the wrong Jesus. The real Jesus never, not one time, ever preached about the need for self-esteem. According to psychology, this self-esteem is one of the most important things a person needs to be, quote, a healthy human being. And yet the one who created human beings, the Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, never taught this, much less even referred to it. As important as it was in the days of the writers of the New Testament, today, intimately knowing the right Jesus is absolutely critical. And as for this, Jesus, and as this Jesus said, most people are going to be deceived by the plethora of false versions and false teachings about him. Matthew 24. One of the many causes of all this confusion about a God and a Jesus in this country is due to something most Americans, even most American Christians, believe is a good thing. Freedom of religion. Freedom of religion, among some other infections, is muddy the water. But when there's no freedom of religion, and the true followers of Jesus and Nazareth are persecuted, then we get clarity. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you, and people insult you, persecute you, falsely sell kinds of evil against you because of me, what Jesus and Nazareth stands for, his standards, requirements, demands of those who want to follow him. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven. For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. That's Matthew 5. For example, in the movie Lone Survivor, did the three men who were killed by the Taliban go to heaven? Did Chris Kyle, an American sniper of fame, who was a brave hero, a loving husband, a caring father, and a good guy, go to heaven when he was murdered? Did the Muslims these men kill go to heaven? Most people living in this country, even men who consider themselves to be Christians, believe that of course these Americans went to heaven because they're good Americans and thus good people. And of course the Muslims went to hell, not because they're Muslims and not Christians, but because they were bad. A biblical fact. If these men, the ones I just mentioned, as well as the Muslims they killed, were not correctly connected to the real Jesus, they are all in the same hell, no matter how good, how patriotic, and how religious they were. The faithful followers of Jesus of Nazareth cannot compromise this. And as a result, the freedom of religion faithful will persecute those who refuse to compromise on Jesus' sacrifice for sin. How ironic. The lack of crystal clear clarity of which God is being spoken of in American culture is bad. But when there's confusion as to which God and which Jesus the church in this country is talking about, that is beyond sad. It's shameful, really, as it exposes the terribly broken condition of the bride in this country. She does not seem to know her husband. And there are numerous reasons why people who attend church do not know the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the God of Israel, the living God, and the God and Father of thee, Jesus. One foundational reason for this is due to people giving themselves to what I call churchianity instead of apostolic Christianity. What is churchianity? Churchianity is an entity that is considered to be Christian because it has some Christian elements. But churchianity is something that has compromised, secularized, modernized, political sized, materialized, and rationalized the basic and foundational elements of what the apostles preached and taught and for which they were martyred. In short, churchianity, while presenting itself as Christianity that appeals to all people, minimizes the plain and simple teachings of the Word of God, mixing them even with numerous philosophies of the world in order to draw large crowds to appear successful. Churchianity measures its presumed success with size. It even idolizes its superior leaders, which have far more in common with the super apostles than with the apostle Paul. It uses technology to impress people. And as powerful as if powerful sound systems and amazing visuals are the same things as having the actual presence of the living God. What goes on in church unity is not the same thing as what apostolic Christianity is about. Here's just one simple example. Those who are pursuing Jesus of Nazareth are hated. No one who participates in church unity would ever be persecuted for what they're doing. What they're doing has much in common with what the world is doing. In short, if the world likes you, you're following the wrong Jesus. And the reasons the world loves churchianity is that it fits the world and the religions of the world quite well. For it is more enlightened, more accepting, more loving, etc. Church unity does not have the old-fashioned ways and concepts of apostolic Christianity, like sin, the absolute need of Jesus of Nazareth on his terms. Church and is more flexible, not so hard-lined. It's up to date with modern messages from modern people. In Paul's second letter to Timothy, he warned about the condition of the people in the last days, chapter three. But mark this there'll be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, real love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Having a form of godliness, a form of godliness, but denying its power. Well, this will certainly be the condition of all.

SPEAKER_00 22:59

Come let us adore him in this place today. Come, let us adore him. Oh, come, let us adore. Oh come, let us adore him. Oh come, let us adore Christ. Oh come let us come let us come let us for you alone, you are quite, you are quite, you are Jesus will give me all the Will you are all the glory Oh come let us ad. Oh come let us adore him. Oh come let us adore cross-based players play for yesterday to day, oh come last, adore him, oh come let us be show you all the glory together.