by Michael C. Garrett
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Welcome, everyone! Greetings to you – wherever you might be. Welcome to Owensboro, Kentucky on the banks of the mighty Ohio River. And, welcome to the weekly church service of the Owensboro Church of Jesus Christ. It’s good to be with you!
‘Every kingdom divided against itself’
Now, the first thing that I want to mention to you – something that I’ve been thinking about for the last few days. And it comes from something Jesus said. If you would turn to Matthew 12, verse 25. And, Jesus, in verse 22, had just performed a miracle – there was a man who was demon-possessed, blind and mute, and Jesus healed the man. And so the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. And all the multitudes were amazed – as it says in verse 23. “Could this be the Son of David? This is but a human being, the son of Joseph and Mary! How could this be!?” The Pharisees sort of remind me of the Left-wing media. And, I’m not an overwhelming Donald Trump fan. I just didn’t get all that excited about him, because I had problems with his temperament. The way he talks about people. And I really wish that he would clean that up – it would do him a lot of good. And I don’t know if he will – but anyway, since he won the election, anything that he says or does the Left-wing media gets upset. They want to pounce on, criticize and complain. There were a lot of people who had to let the fact go that Barack Hussein Obama II was elected and was there for eight years. But the Left-wing media – and we knew what was coming friends – he was bombarded every day and every night and truly got into the silly season. I truly feel sorry for him. So – the Pharisee's sort of act that way. They wanted to make a big deal out of everything that Jesus did. Now, their reaction should have been – ‘Look! This man was possessed of a demon, he couldn’t speak or see, and now he can!’ They should have celebrated this man’s healing! But no – verse 24 – “Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, ‘This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.’” Another name for Satan the devil. 1 Verse 25 – “But Jesus knew their thoughts, …” – He was very perceptive, He could read body-language, read facial expressions, and He probably had the ability to read their mind – because of the Spirit of God. “ … and said to them: ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation [to ruin], and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26) If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?’”
Now, let’s look at that phrase again in verse 25. “’ Every kingdom …’” – every country. “ … ‘divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house …’” – think about a mother and father. If they’re not on the same team – if they’re not working together with a lot of similar goals and attitudes, respect for one another, that house – that marriage – will not stand. And in American societies, according to FastStats, in 2017, the divorce rate was 6.9 per 1,000 population. Well, you’ve got to be united to a great extent! And, if you’re not, ‘every city or house divided against itself will not stand.’ Now, we can read about the same thing in Mark 3:24-25, and a similar account in Luke 11:17.
So, think about our nation now! Basically from the time that Bill Clinton was elected in 1992 – and he was in office for eight years – there has been a lot of animosity in this nation – the conservatives did not like him. And he didn’t like the conservatives. Yet, the liberal-media loved him – he could do no wrong! And then, George W. Bush was elected, and that election in the year 2000 was highly divisive – if you remember. That night, many of the major Far-left media outlets came out early and said, “Al Gore had won Florida! And therefore he will be the next president!” And then some of the people that were working for the Bush election team called up those media people and said, “Hey! It’s not over yet! They haven’t finished the counting – you’ve got to take that back!” So, everyone sort of backed off a bit. And then, late into the night, when the election returns were tallied on November 7th, Bush had won 29 states, including Florida. And, Al Gore actually came out and conceded – then a little later on – he contested the tally. And, finally, the Supreme Court was involved and said, “No more recounts. What stands will be what now is are the results. So, therefore, George W. Bush will be the President of the United States of America.” And, the Liberals still talk about that one! The Left-wing media did everything they could to disparage George W. Bush. The only thing that gave a little bit of a respite was the fact of the atrocious terrorist attack which took place on September 11, 2001. For a brief moment in time, the majority of the American people – shocked by the horrible deaths of almost 3,000 people – came together and were united in a cause. But it didn’t take very long for the Left-leaning people to begin chipping away at Bush, and within just a few months it was, basically, open warfare again. Well, that went on for eight years! Then, we had the election of Barack Hussein Obama II. And he, from his own admission, came from the Far-left, and that sent the conservatives howling into the night. And so we had eight more years of division. And, that set up the election we had November 8th, 2016 where the Republican candidate Donald Trump won! 2 And now, for the last 3 years, 55 days, 17 hours, 30 minutes, and 34 seconds, the Left-wing has been just howling incessantly and carrying on, divisive, insulting, and questioning everything he does. And it won’t get any better. In fact, if he is reelected, it will get worse!
We are in a very divided nation – philosophically, politically – to the point where friends break up and won’t see each other again; even where young ladies find out their boyfriend voted for Trump and their just highly offended and they don’t want anything more to do with him. And, you hear about families getting into fights – and it’s just a big squabble! It’s gotten to the point where now you cannot even discuss any political topic without fearing a complete and total meltdown. And now, you take this from a family situation – or even a barbershop – and you expand it to the whole nation it’s a very sad situation. Now, if you want to be entertained in an odd and bizarre kind of way – turn on your TV one night and for about 15 minutes listening to Fox News. And then, turn over to CNN – what many people call the Clinton News Network. And you’re going to hear the same story – but in a totally different light! And then if you truly want to be entertained, turn over to MSNBC – the people here are of the Far-left. And they’re still going insane about Trump! It’s beyond anything within reason! But in their little world – in that Far-left bubble – what they’re saying makes perfect sense. And some of those news presenters are literally frothing at the mouth!
Friends, can a nation so divided continue to exist!?
Well, I do know this – I tune-in on television to a few places, like Fox News. The election of Donald Trump has been greeted with cheers and jubilation and exaltation and great excitement. And I also, for the past 3 years, have tuned into the Weekly Update out of Tyler, Texas – and I think most of you know what I’m talking about – and so many of those “Updates” you get the idea that he was up dancing around his desk as he was typing the report out – obviously, “Happy days are here again!” And I believe that’s an extremely naïve position to take. Indeed, Donald Trump has done some things that conservatives have loved seeing done at the federal government level. And so many conservatives are elated that Barack Hussein Obama II and all of his buddies are out of office!
But if you would turn to 1 Thessalonians 5. Again, we here at the Owensboro Church of Jesus Christ, we’re all about the Word of God, the Truth of God, and knowing and understanding and explaining the Plan of God. Now, did the election of Donald Trump signal a time when “Happy days are here again”? Well, as a nation, I want that to be true. However, the Word of God paints a different picture. Verse 1 – “But concerning the times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you.” Now, if you look at chapter 4 – remember, humans are the ones that divided the Bible up into chapters and verses – just a few paragraphs before, he’s talking about the return of Jesus Christ. And he said in verse 16 – “For the Lord Himself will descend from [the atmosphere] with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God [the last trump, the seventh trumpet]. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” This is speaking of the end-time! And he says with the very next thought – “But concerning the times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2) For you yourselves know perfectly that the Day of the Lord …”
(Be sure to read our two-part article The Day of the LORD! It will help you understand just what is coming on this sleeping world!).
Now, I have said before, how Bud once upon a time had a publication from the WCG – written by Herbert Armstrong – and he said that the article made a comment that, ‘Well, the Day of the Lord is a very minor thing in prophecy!’
The majority of the Bible is prophecy or has a prophetic nature to it– the vast majority. And, the vast majority of those prophecies, maybe upwards of 90%, deal with the Day of the LORD. Now, this has never been taught in the generations of the different manifestations of the churches of God. It’s never been understood. And for many of you whose roots go back to the WCG, you might very well find yourself saying, “Wait a minute. Herbert never taught that. Ted never taught that.” And, the answer is, “Yes, you’re correct!” They never did teach about this because, quite frankly, and in my opinion – the only thing I can conclude is – they simply did not understand it. Now I have every reason to believe, that had they understood it, they would have talked about it. But quite frankly, the WCG dismissed the magnity of the Day of the LORD. He just said that it was a relatively minor event, just a passing event. Well, it is relatively short in time, but it is the most traumatic event the Earth will have ever gone through when this thing is over with! And it affects everyone who will be living upon the face of the Earth! The Day of the LORD is the single most talked about event in the Bible – bar none! Nothing is even close to it! There are more references to the Day of the LORD than there are to the establishment of the kingdom of God.
Verse 2) For you yourselves know perfectly that the Day of the LORD so comes as a thief in the night.” – totally unexpected!
Verse 3) For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. …” – she never quite knows when that birth process is going to begin. “ … And they shall not escape. 4) But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day [the Day of the LORD] should overtake you as a thief. 5) You are all [children] of light and [children] of the day. …” – which means, we see! We clearly see – aided by the Word of God and by the Spirit of God – the things going on around us! Or, at least we should. “ … We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6) Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch …” – remember, in the Book of Mark, Jesus said many times, ‘watch and pray’!? Watch world events and pray that you may be counted worthy to escape them. “ … and be sober. 7) For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. 8) But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, …” – faith in God and His promises and His Plan. “ … and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 9) For God did not appoint us to wrath [or condemnation, judgment, or punishment] …” Instead, God has appointed unto us – those who believe in the Word of God and those who believe in Jesus Christ, and those who believe in the principles of the New Covenant. He has appointed unto us “to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10) who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep [living or dead], we should live together with Him [at the blowing of the SEVENTH TRUMP!].” – as it mentions at the end of chapter 4. Verse 11 – “Therefore comfort each other and edify [build up] one another, just as you also are doing.”
Now friends, again, for the past 3 years its been very wonderful for conservatives. And you have even heard people say, “Donald Trump is another Ronald Reagan!” Well, most conservatives look upon the presidency of Ronald Reagan as a wonderful moment in US history. And, most conservatives look upon the office of Barack Hussein Obama II as tragic. And certainly, the thought of having had eight-more years of the Obama doctrine under Hillary Clinton – a lot of people seriously had wondered and spoke concerning that. “How can we as a nation continue!?” But now, most conservatives – and the majority of church people – hail “Happy days are here again! Donald Trump has ridden into town – he’s the new sheriff!” And there’s this new hope that everything is going to be fine! Let me take you back again to verse 3 – “For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, …” I want all of you – please – to keep your eyes open and do what Paul says here in verse 6 – “Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch …”
‘do not pray for this people’
Now, I think about a time in the year 2012 of December. I drove down to Tyler, Texas – and Don rode along with me – and I gave a sermon entitled “Pray Not For This People”. And I went through a long litany of historical events or moments in our nation’s history – in my lifetime – pointing out when there was a time when America had great victories, but after a while, those victories appeared to be very seldom. We didn’t have as many victories. And, as I can say – I believe – that God intervened and helped our nation. 3 But we have entered into an era where God has kind of just taken His hands-off – and has let us adrift in the ocean without really knowing where we are going. And, how I had read – in two different places of prophecy in the Old Testament – where it says, “’ Therefore do not pray for this people, …’” (Jeremiah 7:16; 11:14).
Let’s turn there briefly – Jeremiah 7:16. Notice verse 11 – “’ Has this house, …’” – and you can think of that as a nation, or a family, or even a church group. “ … ‘which is called by My name, …’” – especially for those churches that call themselves the churches of God! And, I’m not speaking of the Pentecostal churches of God – but rather the churches which descended from the movement of the Worldwide Church of God. “ … ‘become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,’ says the LORD. 12) ‘But go now to My place [into the wilderness which was once called] … Shiloh, …’” – where once the Tabernacle of God was erected and the Ark of the Covenant was positioned. The earthly headquarters of the Work of God. “ … ‘where I set My name at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.’” – again, that can be a nation, a family, or even a church group. Verse 13 – “’ And now, because you have done all these works,’ says the LORD, ‘and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you [‘I called for you, I called upon you’], but you did not answer, 14) therefore I will do to the house [be it a family, a nation, or a church group] which is called by My name, in which [some people] … trust, and …’”
Now, there are a whole lot of people on the highways and byways of America and other parts of the world that look upon the name –“something something Church of God” with this unbelievable amount of reverence – almost worship. And I dare say there are people who claim they worship God, but indeed, they worship the name of an organization – or the last name of the so-called leader of that organization. And I contend they are committing adultery - idolatry! Adultery, being a false religion. And idolatry being – ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.’ And I believe that there are people who put a church organization – in their mind – in a more important position than they do God Almighty, Jesus Christ, and the Word of God. And I especially know that’s true – because one of the so-called leaders ‘deep in the heart of Texas’ will not even write or say, or even refer to the name Jesus Christ. And, I read his “Update” again last night – which I do on a regular basis – and not only did he not mention Jesus Christ (which he hasn’t in years) but in this particular “Update” he didn’t even throw the perfunctory name of God in the conversation. 4 It was completely secular – it was just Right-wing politics.
Continuing here – “’ therefore I will do to the house [be it a family, a nation, or a church group] which is called by My name [but in truth – isn’t], in which you trust, and to this place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.’”
Verse 15 – “’ And I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brethren – the whole posterity of Ephraim.’”
Verse 16 – “’ Therefore do not pray [all of you] for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you.’”
Verse 18 – “’ The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger. 19) Do they provoke Me to anger?’ says the LORD. ‘Do they not provoke themselves, to the shame of their own faces?’”
Verse 20 – “’ Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured out on this place – on man and on beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground. And it will burn and not be quenched.’”
Indeed, these are powerful words! It’s referring to the Day of the LORD!
Again, as I said earlier – the Day of the LORD is the single most prophesied event in the Bible, and NOTHING is even close to it!
Well, after I gave this sermon – down in Tyler, Texas – the second in command down there in Tyler walked over to me and said, “I feel so sorry for you. You’re so depressed.” And I thought – Does this man not even understand the prophecies of the Bible he says he preaches from!? THIS IS REALITY! THIS IS THE FUTURE! This is going to happen to our once great nation! I don’t want it to happen. I hope I don’t have to live to see it. But it is going to happen! I was specifically speaking about the fate of our nation. In truth – the Word of God says that we as a nation will be divided and we will fall and we will be taken over by enemies. And I even said that day – that I will never again sing the words to the song “God Bless America.” I haven’t sung that song since December 2012 – because God led me to this admonition, “’ Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you.’” And so to sing the song “God Bless America,” is going to fall of deaf ears at the throne of God. And, there are other prophecies that say the same thing.
So, we – as mature members of the Body of Christ – need to understand that the future of our nation is not guaranteed. In fact, the future of our nation is prophesied – in the Word of God – as being destroyed by God Himself! Now, I understand the sentiment. But the reality is - the Bible says something different. Now, you can either open your eyes and open your ears and see the Word of God and understand it and plan for it, or you can live in some type of denial – some type of bubble. And if you do – let’s go back to 1 Thessalonians 5:2 – “For you yourselves know perfectly that the Day of the Lord so comes [or will come] as a thief in the night. 3) For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. … 6) Therefore let us not sleep …” – ‘let us not have our eyes closed’ – “ … as others do, …” some of which are in church organizations, which many of us are familiar with. Verse 8) But let us who are of the day be sober, …”
Friends, as for us – we’re going to have our eyes open!
Again, the Words of Jesus Christ – ‘A nation divided against itself cannot stand!’ ‘A city divided against itself cannot stand!’ ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand!’ This is what Jesus said. And He said it in three different locations.
And, there are many more places which speak of ‘peace and safety’ – but there is no ‘peace and safety'.
'the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin’
Another topic I would like to cover.
On November 21, 2016, there was an article entitled “Pope allows all priests to absolve ‘grave sin’ of abortion.” And I won’t go over the whole article, but there are a few paragraphs:
“In an Apostolic Letter made public Monday, Francis said he was extending indefinitely the special permission he had granted to all rank-and-file priests during the just-ended Holy Year of Mercy.”
And the article continued:
However, there have been two times in my life – once in 2006 and the other 2014 – in which I had the duty of speaking at the funerals of my parents. And, I was up behind the lectern – and there were quite a few people in this room – and I said to the people, “In this room, there may be a hundred different ideas about eternal life. Whether it exists or it doesn’t. How to get there and where you’re going. A lot of different opinions.” And I said, “Everyone is entitled to believe whatever they want. However, as for me, the only thing that I can go by is what the Bible says. And even though a lot of religions say they claim their truth from the Bible – in actuality their so-called truth is nothing more than the hand me down from generation to generation of different human and church traditions. And that’s just the way it is. And, if I’m going to talk at my parent's funerals – the only thing that I can talk about is what the Bible says.” And I told the people that.
And so when it comes to the idea that human beings have the right – or the ability – to absolve someone’s sin, it flies in the face of everything that the Bible truly says. Because I read things like 1st John 1:1 – “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life” – the Logos, the Spokesman, referring to Jesus Christ!
Verse 2 – “the life [of Jesus Christ] was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us [through Jesus Christ] – 3) that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4) And these things we write to you that your joy [or our joy] may be full.”
And I have said many times – and down in Tyler, Texas, it was edited out - that there are times in my life that I wish my life had more joy. And friends, I’m being very honest when I say that. Now, I think that I have a lot of joy, but the thing which takes my joy away are human beings – who at one time in their life say, ‘O Mike, we believe you, we love you, we’re gonna stick with you.” And I find out that the words of human beings are very shallow. They don’t really mean much. And that’s been a topic of sadness to me. But I still go on. And, I still ask on a regular basis – ‘Dear Father, dear Brother, please grant to me (and I will say the same thing for all of you) the fruits of Your Spirit.’ Love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, faith, meekness, and self-control. I wish those traits for all of you, and I pray those traits for myself.
Verse 5 – “This is the Message which we have heard [about] Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6) If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7) But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8) IF we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, …”
And I know people – so-called church people – that I’ve actually heard say, “I’ve really not done anything wrong in my life.” What foolishness, and what arrogance., what self-righteousness.
Verse 9 – “IF we confess our sins, …” – to whom!? To whom do you confess your sins!? A man in a confessional box wearing a cassock with a funny looking biretta!? A human being!? No, we don’t go to a priest. We don’t go to a pastor – or whatever. We go directly to the great High Priest of the New Covenant – and His name is Jesus Christ! We approach Him and His throne of mercy. “ … He [Jesus Christ] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
If you confess your sin to a human being you’re not approaching Jesus Christ. I think you’re making a terrible mistake – from what we read in the Bible! Again, if that’s what you want to do, you have the right to do it in our Western culture. But it doesn’t mean that you’re following the Word of God. And that is what we’re all about – the Word of God, the Truth of God, and the Plan of God.
Verse 10 – “IF we say that we have not sinned, we make Him [Jesus Christ] a liar, and His Word is not in us.”
1st John 2 – “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, …”
And, it’s not a priest – it’s not a human being!
The Advocate that we have is “ … JESUS CHRIST the righteous. 2) And He Himself is the propitiation [the atonement] for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”
1st John 3:5 – “And you know that He was manifested [made obvious and appeared upon the earth] to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.”
1st John 4:10 – “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [the atoning sacrifice] for our sins.”
1st John 5:10 – “He who believes [on] the Son of God [and goes to Jesus Christ in prayer and humbly ask for help and forgiveness] has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.”
Verse 11 – “And this is the testimony: that God has given us [He is offering unto us] eternal life, and this life is in [and through and by and with and for] His Son. 12) He who has the Son …” – not a human being, not a priest – “ … has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13) These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God [Jesus Christ], that you may know [WITHOUT A DOUBT] that you have [WITH ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY] eternal life [WAITING FOR YOU!], and that you may continue to believe [on] the name of the Son of God.”
And, here’s another idea – Verse 14 – “Now this is the confidence [the BOLDNESS] that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15) And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
Sometimes we ask prayers that seemingly go unanswered – but they will be answered sooner or later. And we know that if we go before the throne of grace and present our ideas and our thoughts and our worries – our issues – to Jesus Christ we know that He had heard us! And He will answer that prayer His way and in His good time – for His purpose.
Well, I have a lot of other verses I’d love to talk about. Hebrews 2.
Again, I could easily make a sermon out of this one concept – I’m just wanting it today to be a thought. Again, I’m not trying to offend my Catholic friends. And we do have Catholic friends – and we are very proud of them. And we are very happy to have them as friends. However, we don’t want our religious theologies to come from the traditions of men. We want our theology to come directly from the living Word of God – nobody or anything else. We don’t care about anybody’s traditions. And they are free to keep them. But they’re not for us. And we – the Owensboro Church of Jesus Christ – reject the traditions of the Catholic Church. We reject the traditions of the Protestant world. We reject the traditions of Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism, and all the other ism’s. We even reject the theology and the traditions which were laid down by the Worldwide Church of God. They have no hold on us – anymore! The only thing we want is to know the TRUTH OF GOD – from the living Word of God.
And it says in Hebrews chapter 2, verse 14 – “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood [that we humans are flesh and blood], He Himself likewise shared in the same [Jesus Christ became human], that through death [His death and His sacrifice on the cross] He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15) and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16) For indeed He [Jesus Christ] [took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham]. 17) Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make [reconciliation] for the sins of the people. 18) For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid [to comfort] those who are tempted.”
But again, notice verse 17 – Jesus Christ is now a merciful and faithful High Priest. And that’s why you don’t have to go to a human priest. You have a priest – He is the great High Priest! He is Jesus Christ!
Hebrews 3:1 – “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our [profession], Christ Jesus.”
And then, if you would turn to chapter 4, verse 14. “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our [commitment – our profession, our advocation]. 15) For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, …” – we have a High Priest which can feel our weaknesses, and our problems, our issues. “… but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” And here is a most beautiful verse – Verse 16 – “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” – go to Jesus Christ, don’t waste your time with a human being!
You know at various times I have been asked to baptize people. And I remember this one man – who sort of shocked me – because he was a contrary cuss. If you said black, he wanted to say white. If you said up, he wanted to say down. But, he finally came to me and wanted to be baptized. And then he said to me, “I guess now I have to tell you all of my sins.” No. No, you don’t tell me your sins – you tell those to God the Father and Jesus Christ! And he was sort of stunned. And quite frankly I told him, I don’t want in my mind the image of all the things that you have done in your life which you are now ashamed of and asking to be forgiven. I don’t want that in my mind. God the Father and Jesus Christ – They are much better prepared to handle that.
So again, I have other verses, but I think you get the drift.
So, thank you for being with us. And, we’ve covered today several different topics. I hope you have learned, I hope you went along with your Bible. If not, re-read this article, find your Bible wherever it is, dust it off, get yourself a notepad – I like to use the yellow legal notepads – and get a pen or pencil, and follow along with this article.
Here a little while back we received a message on our Facebook of a good friend down in Tennessee who wrote, “Well, I read the article TWICE and LOVED IT, and tonight I’m gonna read it again!” Well, I strongly suggest you read our articles two, three, or even four times! Because you’re gonna learn things each time you read it. You’re going to learn more things. The first time – some things may just pass by you. The second time – you’re going to gather a little more. The third time and fourth time – you’re going to really begin to understand what was being said.
So again, thank you for being with us. We hope that you will send up prayers to God the Father and Jesus Christ on our behalf. And we assure you that our prayers, and our positive thoughts, will go up to the throne of grace on your behalf. And we hope – if you’re not already – you will become a regular reader (and even listener). We have a GREAT story to tell. It’s not a story as in made up. It’s a story from the WORD OF GOD! One of the most remarkable events in the history of mankind is yet to occur! And that is the work of the end-time prophets. And to help understand the mighty miracles that they’re going to do – we’re taking a lot of time studying the miracles which Jesus Christ did. Because the end-time prophets – according to Jesus – will do even greater things than He did. So, it’s just a great story! It’s a story which, basically, has not been told. And, the work of the end-time prophets – which comes down to the Two Witnesses – is extremely interesting!
So, from Owensboro, Kentucky we wish all of you God Speed and we wish all of you the very best of good fortune. And, until next time, goodbye my friends. □
1 “[Jesus Christ] was mocked by the Jews as ‘Baalzebub, lord of flies,’ who created and controlled flies in the Philistine city of Ekron. [Baalzebub] was originally known as ‘Baal the prince,’ the chief god in the Canaanite pantheon. Baalzebub appeared in 2 Kings 1:2 as the god called upon by Ahaziah, King of Israel (ca. 853-51 B.C.) to cast out demons. … In contemporary usage, Beelzebub is another name for Satan.” Lewis R. J., Oliver D. E.; Angels A to Z, Visible Ink Press, © 1996, pg. 70.
2 “Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton went out of their way to hold their long-awaited private meeting in a very specific location - not at Hillary's mansion in Washington - but in Northern Virginia, which also just happens to be the scene of the 2008 Bilderberg meeting.” Hillary & Obama In Secret Bilderberg Rendezvous. bibliotecapleyades.net. Watson, Joseph Paul, 6 June 2008; Retrieved 24, January 2020.
3 Sir Winston Churchill – who I admire greatly – would often quip, “We are all worms, but I believe that I am a glowworm.”
4 There was only one mention of God, which went, “the cyclical patterns of what God Himself designed and put in place is beyond arrogant.”
“Because the Roman Catholic Church holds abortion to be such a serious sin, absolution had long been a matter for a bishop, who could either hear the woman’s confession himself or delegate it to a priest considered an expert in such situations, a potentially intimidating scenario for many of the faithful.”And then, the last paragraph that I’ll mention – quoting the Pope himself:
““I henceforth grant to all priests, in virtue of their ministry, the faculty to absolve [which means to forgive] those who have committed the sin of procured [ as opposed to a still-born situation] abortion.”Now, that just amazes me! And, let me say this before I go on any further – in this nation and in the Western world I completely accept that people have the right to be a part of any church they so desire. I accept that. I’m glad that we have that right – because that means that the Owensboro Church of Jesus Christ – and those of you who follow us from your computer – has the right to believe and to practice what we believe. So we have no problem with others practicing their faith. And, we have no problem with the existence of the Roman Catholic Church. It’s not our job to censor them or to remove them from the scene. If such a thing is needed it will be done by Jesus Christ!
However, there have been two times in my life – once in 2006 and the other 2014 – in which I had the duty of speaking at the funerals of my parents. And, I was up behind the lectern – and there were quite a few people in this room – and I said to the people, “In this room, there may be a hundred different ideas about eternal life. Whether it exists or it doesn’t. How to get there and where you’re going. A lot of different opinions.” And I said, “Everyone is entitled to believe whatever they want. However, as for me, the only thing that I can go by is what the Bible says. And even though a lot of religions say they claim their truth from the Bible – in actuality their so-called truth is nothing more than the hand me down from generation to generation of different human and church traditions. And that’s just the way it is. And, if I’m going to talk at my parent's funerals – the only thing that I can talk about is what the Bible says.” And I told the people that.
And so when it comes to the idea that human beings have the right – or the ability – to absolve someone’s sin, it flies in the face of everything that the Bible truly says. Because I read things like 1st John 1:1 – “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life” – the Logos, the Spokesman, referring to Jesus Christ!
Verse 2 – “the life [of Jesus Christ] was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us [through Jesus Christ] – 3) that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4) And these things we write to you that your joy [or our joy] may be full.”
And I have said many times – and down in Tyler, Texas, it was edited out - that there are times in my life that I wish my life had more joy. And friends, I’m being very honest when I say that. Now, I think that I have a lot of joy, but the thing which takes my joy away are human beings – who at one time in their life say, ‘O Mike, we believe you, we love you, we’re gonna stick with you.” And I find out that the words of human beings are very shallow. They don’t really mean much. And that’s been a topic of sadness to me. But I still go on. And, I still ask on a regular basis – ‘Dear Father, dear Brother, please grant to me (and I will say the same thing for all of you) the fruits of Your Spirit.’ Love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, faith, meekness, and self-control. I wish those traits for all of you, and I pray those traits for myself.
Verse 5 – “This is the Message which we have heard [about] Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6) If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7) But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8) IF we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, …”
And I know people – so-called church people – that I’ve actually heard say, “I’ve really not done anything wrong in my life.” What foolishness, and what arrogance., what self-righteousness.
Verse 9 – “IF we confess our sins, …” – to whom!? To whom do you confess your sins!? A man in a confessional box wearing a cassock with a funny looking biretta!? A human being!? No, we don’t go to a priest. We don’t go to a pastor – or whatever. We go directly to the great High Priest of the New Covenant – and His name is Jesus Christ! We approach Him and His throne of mercy. “ … He [Jesus Christ] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
If you confess your sin to a human being you’re not approaching Jesus Christ. I think you’re making a terrible mistake – from what we read in the Bible! Again, if that’s what you want to do, you have the right to do it in our Western culture. But it doesn’t mean that you’re following the Word of God. And that is what we’re all about – the Word of God, the Truth of God, and the Plan of God.
Verse 10 – “IF we say that we have not sinned, we make Him [Jesus Christ] a liar, and His Word is not in us.”
1st John 2 – “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, …”
And, it’s not a priest – it’s not a human being!
The Advocate that we have is “ … JESUS CHRIST the righteous. 2) And He Himself is the propitiation [the atonement] for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.”
1st John 3:5 – “And you know that He was manifested [made obvious and appeared upon the earth] to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.”
1st John 4:10 – “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [the atoning sacrifice] for our sins.”
1st John 5:10 – “He who believes [on] the Son of God [and goes to Jesus Christ in prayer and humbly ask for help and forgiveness] has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.”
Verse 11 – “And this is the testimony: that God has given us [He is offering unto us] eternal life, and this life is in [and through and by and with and for] His Son. 12) He who has the Son …” – not a human being, not a priest – “ … has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13) These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God [Jesus Christ], that you may know [WITHOUT A DOUBT] that you have [WITH ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY] eternal life [WAITING FOR YOU!], and that you may continue to believe [on] the name of the Son of God.”
And, here’s another idea – Verse 14 – “Now this is the confidence [the BOLDNESS] that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15) And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.”
Sometimes we ask prayers that seemingly go unanswered – but they will be answered sooner or later. And we know that if we go before the throne of grace and present our ideas and our thoughts and our worries – our issues – to Jesus Christ we know that He had heard us! And He will answer that prayer His way and in His good time – for His purpose.
Our great High Priest – Christ, Jesus!
Well, I have a lot of other verses I’d love to talk about. Hebrews 2.
Again, I could easily make a sermon out of this one concept – I’m just wanting it today to be a thought. Again, I’m not trying to offend my Catholic friends. And we do have Catholic friends – and we are very proud of them. And we are very happy to have them as friends. However, we don’t want our religious theologies to come from the traditions of men. We want our theology to come directly from the living Word of God – nobody or anything else. We don’t care about anybody’s traditions. And they are free to keep them. But they’re not for us. And we – the Owensboro Church of Jesus Christ – reject the traditions of the Catholic Church. We reject the traditions of the Protestant world. We reject the traditions of Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism, and all the other ism’s. We even reject the theology and the traditions which were laid down by the Worldwide Church of God. They have no hold on us – anymore! The only thing we want is to know the TRUTH OF GOD – from the living Word of God.
And it says in Hebrews chapter 2, verse 14 – “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood [that we humans are flesh and blood], He Himself likewise shared in the same [Jesus Christ became human], that through death [His death and His sacrifice on the cross] He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15) and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 16) For indeed He [Jesus Christ] [took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham]. 17) Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make [reconciliation] for the sins of the people. 18) For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid [to comfort] those who are tempted.”
But again, notice verse 17 – Jesus Christ is now a merciful and faithful High Priest. And that’s why you don’t have to go to a human priest. You have a priest – He is the great High Priest! He is Jesus Christ!
Hebrews 3:1 – “Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our [profession], Christ Jesus.”
And then, if you would turn to chapter 4, verse 14. “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our [commitment – our profession, our advocation]. 15) For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, …” – we have a High Priest which can feel our weaknesses, and our problems, our issues. “… but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” And here is a most beautiful verse – Verse 16 – “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” – go to Jesus Christ, don’t waste your time with a human being!
You know at various times I have been asked to baptize people. And I remember this one man – who sort of shocked me – because he was a contrary cuss. If you said black, he wanted to say white. If you said up, he wanted to say down. But, he finally came to me and wanted to be baptized. And then he said to me, “I guess now I have to tell you all of my sins.” No. No, you don’t tell me your sins – you tell those to God the Father and Jesus Christ! And he was sort of stunned. And quite frankly I told him, I don’t want in my mind the image of all the things that you have done in your life which you are now ashamed of and asking to be forgiven. I don’t want that in my mind. God the Father and Jesus Christ – They are much better prepared to handle that.
So again, I have other verses, but I think you get the drift.
So, thank you for being with us. And, we’ve covered today several different topics. I hope you have learned, I hope you went along with your Bible. If not, re-read this article, find your Bible wherever it is, dust it off, get yourself a notepad – I like to use the yellow legal notepads – and get a pen or pencil, and follow along with this article.
Here a little while back we received a message on our Facebook of a good friend down in Tennessee who wrote, “Well, I read the article TWICE and LOVED IT, and tonight I’m gonna read it again!” Well, I strongly suggest you read our articles two, three, or even four times! Because you’re gonna learn things each time you read it. You’re going to learn more things. The first time – some things may just pass by you. The second time – you’re going to gather a little more. The third time and fourth time – you’re going to really begin to understand what was being said.
So again, thank you for being with us. We hope that you will send up prayers to God the Father and Jesus Christ on our behalf. And we assure you that our prayers, and our positive thoughts, will go up to the throne of grace on your behalf. And we hope – if you’re not already – you will become a regular reader (and even listener). We have a GREAT story to tell. It’s not a story as in made up. It’s a story from the WORD OF GOD! One of the most remarkable events in the history of mankind is yet to occur! And that is the work of the end-time prophets. And to help understand the mighty miracles that they’re going to do – we’re taking a lot of time studying the miracles which Jesus Christ did. Because the end-time prophets – according to Jesus – will do even greater things than He did. So, it’s just a great story! It’s a story which, basically, has not been told. And, the work of the end-time prophets – which comes down to the Two Witnesses – is extremely interesting!
So, from Owensboro, Kentucky we wish all of you God Speed and we wish all of you the very best of good fortune. And, until next time, goodbye my friends. □
1 “[Jesus Christ] was mocked by the Jews as ‘Baalzebub, lord of flies,’ who created and controlled flies in the Philistine city of Ekron. [Baalzebub] was originally known as ‘Baal the prince,’ the chief god in the Canaanite pantheon. Baalzebub appeared in 2 Kings 1:2 as the god called upon by Ahaziah, King of Israel (ca. 853-51 B.C.) to cast out demons. … In contemporary usage, Beelzebub is another name for Satan.” Lewis R. J., Oliver D. E.; Angels A to Z, Visible Ink Press, © 1996, pg. 70.
2 “Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton went out of their way to hold their long-awaited private meeting in a very specific location - not at Hillary's mansion in Washington - but in Northern Virginia, which also just happens to be the scene of the 2008 Bilderberg meeting.” Hillary & Obama In Secret Bilderberg Rendezvous. bibliotecapleyades.net. Watson, Joseph Paul, 6 June 2008; Retrieved 24, January 2020.
3 Sir Winston Churchill – who I admire greatly – would often quip, “We are all worms, but I believe that I am a glowworm.”
4 There was only one mention of God, which went, “the cyclical patterns of what God Himself designed and put in place is beyond arrogant.”
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