Jude 14-15
Enoch (the prophet from the book of Genesis) said: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
The central theme of Jesus Christ's message while here on earth was the truth and the glory of the Kingdom of God (aka The Good News).
In this age "news" is anything but good, and not at all reliable when delivered by the state approved agents. And truth be told it wasn't any different in the so called biblical times. There isn't a death on a cross and a resurrection from the grave in Jesus' history because the main stream media of his time was a bastion of integrity. Likewise the teachers of God's law were anything but trustworthy. They had their politically correct agendas and plenty of propaganda ministers and minions to go around and spin stories to aid in strengthening their causes.
They say you shouldn't shoot the messenger. Probably you shouldn't crucify him either. But if you're concerned that words can do violence to your creature comforts, history has shown that even people of very good intent and of a good report can choose doing violence to the truth in order to shadow ban it's impact upon the culture. They say it takes a village to raise a child. And if the village is being led by the village idiots, everyone suffers. Especially since the powers that be are doing everything possible in their power to destroy the bonds between the parents and the children. It shouldn't surprise us at all to see our authoritarian principalities hard at work undermining families and building up in its place identity tribes. They are dividing the children based upon race, class, and culture. Why do they do this? No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them. Self interest. Job security.
Everyone in their place. Create the margins to heal them in. Keep them in their place. Teach them to love their place. In fact, they should fight to the death to defend that margin. They should scream and shout. They should March and riot. And tear down, burn down, and shout down anything that stands in the way. And while they're all too busy fighting to be noticed from their particular obscurity, the authorities are sure to give arms to each of the many tribes preventing any true melting within the pot. It's like a boiling smelting pot, but you never get refinement because you never skim off the dross. In fact you do what you can to keep adding back in more and more impurities.
This is why Jesus came to dwell among us. He knew one thing for certain about his creations, he knew they love a good fight. And they are selfish by nature. And they'll kill their own brother to gain an advantage. And he knew nothing but the truth was going to save them from themselves.
The Truth:
The message of salvation is called the Word of the Kingdom (Matthew 13:19).
The hope and comfort of a Christian are said to be in entering the Kingdom (Mark 10:15).
The principal goal of a Christian is to seek first the Kingdom (Matthew 6:33).
Righteous people are called sons of the Kingdom (Matthew 13:38).
And Jesus is clearly the Messiah prophesied by Isaiah, the chosen leader who was to deliver God's people both as Savior and King (Isaiah 9:6-7).
The godly truth, the Good News (the gospel truth), is that the kingdom of God is real, it's here, and Jesus is King of The Universe. And the human truth is that it was Jesus' deliberate association of Himself with the prophecy in Daniel that inflamed the chief priests and settled the resolve of the Sanhedrin that Jesus must die (Mark 14:53, 61-65). Because of course you must destroy a man who comes along and heals the sick and lame, raises the dead, performs all sorts of miraculous supernatural occurrences, all while preaching a sermon of peace and love for one another, and describing a kingdom to come where their is no division by identity, class, race or sexual predilections.
When Jesus' executioner, Pilate, questioned Him about His kingship, Christ replied, "For this cause I was born" (John 18:37). For the truth he was born, lived, taught, and died. For the truth he rose again on the third day and for the truth he ascended into heaven to prepare a place for all who would listen, and obey that truth. And the authorities and principalities were going to have none of it. And they sure as hell didn't want anyone sharing that truth or spreading that message around "misleading" the masses. Jesus' message of truth was a direct threat to the humanist authorities of that age, and the newspeak ministers fact checked him and cancelled him (or so they thought). And nothing has evolved since, in all of human history. Propaganda is as propaganda does. And it's the power merchants who empower the propaganda. It's not a fringe marginalized group that drives the narratives, it's called "main stream" for a reason. It's the approved messengers who are responsible. It's the victors who write (and rewrite) history.
AGELESS MESSAGE-
Nothing new under the sun.
Jesus, and the Holy Spirit inspired New Testament writers, had plenty of opportunity to sever links with the Old Testament writings and prophets. But, rather than cut those links, Christ and His disciples deliberately built upon them. Daniel 7:16, 18, 22 and 27 record the promise, not only of a kingdom, but that God would give believers a part in it, and that they'd become a part of it. They'd gain an inheritance, they'd inherit Christ's righteousness and become heirs to his kingdom. Sons and daughters of God. Not surfs, not classes, not races defined by physical characteristics or cultures, not defined by genders or sexual predilections. The only feature or characteristic that God looks for in the human component of his kingdom is his Son. Not a deed performed by the human being, but a deed of ownership granted to that human being by his Son Jesus. God not only isn't looking for human self-righteousness, God cannot look upon it. The only thing God is looking for, if it can be said he looks for anything at all as the patron attempts to enter his kingdom, is he is looking for his Son Jesus in them, and they in Him.
The message is an easy and light message.
Jesus Himself summarizes it like this: "Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25:34).
In the gospel of Luke he says, "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."(Luke 12:31-32). And the apostle Paul uses this language, in 1 Corinthians 15:50-52, a powerful reference to Christ's return, revealing that flesh-and-blood believers must be changed in spirit to inherit the Kingdom. And likewise James wrote that God selects those who are rich in faith, although they may be poor in material possessions, to become heirs of the Kingdom (James 2:5).
A change does and must take place in the believers. They are no longer to be servants to the humanist kingdoms, for you cannot serve two masters. You'll either love one and hate the other, or have no stake in the one and devote everything you have to the other. There is no comboChrist package deal. You can't serve God...and money.
You're not going to manage the relationship when you become a child of God. You're to become born again into His kingdom. The surest sign that you've indeed given yourself over to Christ's authority is when you're no longer insisting that you're on the management team. When you're faith isn't about you any longer, but about Him. When you can accept his authority alone, without reservation.
Dear friends,
Contend for the faith. Teach the truth only. You cannot count on the politicians, lawyers and teachers who control the centers of knowledge and power to hold firm to the truth. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. As we see in the New Testament book of Jude, the leaders are subversive, and impious. They're using Christian liberty as a license for disregarding accepted norms and behavior. The false teachers believe that their education in grace elevates them above the necessity of moral discipline. They often lack sexual restraint. They're pridefully parading as leaders while lacking the fruit and discipline characteristics of gospel leaders. They are manipulators who use the church to their own advantage. And they will teach a lesson that is by design meant to perpetuate their own advancement.
Pray for the truth to save the souls of those who the Lord God in heaven has called to himself. Pray for teachers and preachers who will hold on to the truth like it's a precious jewel, and who aren't afraid to sacrifice the allure and enticement offered up by the powers that be.