Divide and Destroy

And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Revelation 12:17

Draco is that Old Dragon, Satan

Revelation 12 reveals to us Satan's plan of attack both personally and corporately. He cannot allow God's plan to go forward because he knows it will end in his destruction. Therefore he must stop the woman (Israel) from delivering her child (Jesus the Messiah). He failed so, his next line of defense is to stop the followers of Christ, but he is failing in this also. They are overcoming him by by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they love not their lives unto the death. His third line of defense is to stop God's promise to restore Israel back to the land, thus making God to be a liar. This results in a mighty war in heaven in which Satan is cast out of the heavens and down to earth. In rage he turns his full wrath of the true believers, those who hold the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Satan is not a gentleman and he does not go around dressed in a red suit holding a pitchfork. He is subtle and he is a deceiver. As he did with Eve so he does with us today; whispering doubts and accusations getting us to disobey God. He is like a snake, lying in hiding and waiting to strike. He is moving today with urgency because he knows his time is short. For this reason I write this article - to warn of the lurking danger.

Jesus taught that a house divided could not stand (Mark 3:24), yet, the church today finds itself in that position. A recent article highlighted this problem for me.

Catholic League spokeswoman Kiera McCaffrey says Hagee is a "larger problem" than Farrakhan because Farrakhan is "small potatoes and old news" compared to Hagee and his huge following. McCaffrey says her group is calling on McCain to repudiate Hagee, a Christian leader spokeswoman McCaffrey claims has a long history of "anti-Catholic bigotry." - Jim Brown - Catholic League: Hagee's endorsement worse than Farrakhan's- OneNewsNow - 3/3/2008

Let me see if I have this right: John Hagee professes belief in Jesus as Lord and Savior - Farrakhan does not; Hagee believes the Bible is the word of God - Farrakhan believes the Koran is; Hagee believes the Jews are God's chosen people - Farrakhan believes they are pigs; Hagee believes God is not finished with Israel and is making them a nation once again - Farrakhan wants to cast them all into the sea! I'm having a hard time seeing how Hagee is a "larger problem" for true Christians than Farrakhan is.

I personally know many fine Catholics who are Christians. Are they all Christians? I don't think so, and neither do many of the Catholics that I know. But, I could say the same thing about Baptists, Lutherans, Episcopalians, Pentecostals, etc. It takes more than belonging to a particular church to qualify for being a Christian. The key issue is whether Jesus is Lord in your life and whether you keep His word. He said "If you love me. keep My word." not "If you love Me, go to church!" We are living at a time in the United States when the true Church of Jesus Christ is languishing, needing a fresh vision of our purpose and calling in God. Not a time for partisan bickering and name calling.

This article highlights an issue that I believe the Holy Spirit is speaking plainly about in our day - Denominations are not of God! The very word means "to divide and name" but, Jesus prayed in John 17:21 that His followers, the ones God gave to Him, would be one even as He and the Father were one. 

I include in this problem all of the early confessions as well as the later denominations that have formed since the Reformation. There is only one "divide and name" process that God is going to do and that is the separation of the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:32) when Jesus returns. (And it could be that this process is beginning now.)

How does one get into the "sheep" group? A few thoughts come to mind: 1) Know the truth, because that alone can set you free and Jesus said "My word is truth" - not church tradition but, My word. 2) Act and live as Jesus did. He said, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me." (Matthew 25:40). What is your attitude toward Jewish people? Jesus' attitude was to forgive them and to work for their salvation. 3) Work for the Jews to come into the true Church, not as Gentile "wild olive' branches but, as the "natural branch" grafted back in through faith in Jesus. After all, this is why Jesus died on the cross, to make "one new man" and break down the barrier between Jew and Gentile ( Ephesians 2:11-18). 4) Work for Gentiles to come into the true Church. As the 'age of the Gentiles' is drawing to a close, we should work all the more for as big a harvest as can be had. 5) Humble yourself and repent whenever "the truth" illuminates your sin. We all have sinned and continue to sin, because we are not perfected yet. But, if we are willing to bow to the sword of the Spirit, which is the illuminating, piercing, convicting word of God, God will finish in us the good work He began (Philippians 1:6).

There are many other points that could be made, finer points of truth that are necessary for healthy growth in the Lord, but, if we begin with these five, the Holy Spirit will direct our education to include what we need, when we need it. To all those, like the Catholic League, who feel they have to defend their position and their church, I would remind you of the words of our great leader - "I will build My church" - Jesus. Don't get all bent out of shape arguing whether Peter was the rock or whether Peter's confession was the rock, just know that Jesus is going to work it all out if we just follow Him. Meanwhile, the fields are white unto harvest and the Lord is looking for those who will go into the fields and harvest. Not for your church but, for His Church! There is only one true Church and it isn't Catholic, or Lutheran, or Baptist, or Pentecostal, or any other name men like to use to identify themselves - it is the Church that belongs to Jesus Christ and obeys what He says, all of it!

Since there is no 'separation of church and state' in the kingdom of God, He takes an equally dim view of those who try to separate their secular life from their spiritual life. Many today seem to think because an activity is political, or work related, they need not apply the same rules as they would toward their religious life. But, Scripture reveals clearly that we will be judged by the same standards for our secular endeavors as for our religious ones. Some political examples come easily to mind: (1) abortion, and those who support it are transgressing a fundamental rule of the kingdom of God - death of the innocent, (2) taxation for the sake of 'earmarks', which is just another form of stealing and no thief will enter the kingdom of heaven, and remember, God does not care whether you are Democrat, Republican, or Independent the same rule will apply. (3) Knowingly lying or breaking your word will also keep you out of the kingdom of Heaven. In fact, it is hard to understand how a modern politician playing by typical political standards will ever get into heaven! (4) Knowingly preferring the wicked who support abortion, homosexuality, or any other position that God opposes will earn you the same condemnation they get from God.

It is time to begin following the teaching of Jesus as revealed in the Holy Bible and not church dogma, which is often just the traditions of men or worldly philosophy, which is just Humanism in religious skin. The world tries to separate us into 'liberal' Christians or 'conservative' Christians but God only recognizes those born of 'blood birth' - in other words, by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. May you become one of them.