Restored or Abhorred?
Read Ezekiel 35..39—God judges with punishment to discipline and correct… He restores those that respond to His grace and mercy through the Son of God and the Son of David, the Messiah, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, Jesus Christ, and stay faithful to Him to the end… then, He destroys those that set out to erase His faithful.
He does this, not because we merit it, but to glorify, sanctify, magnify, and testify His Name to the nations… that He’s the Lord Almighty God, the Holy One in Israel.
This is how God will deal with Israel. As Gentiles… as Christians... do we want to sever the same the grace and mercy He grants when He works with Israel? Is He not the God of mercy (Deuteronomy 4:29-31; Psalm 116:4-9)?
To attempt to derail this process, man hatches impatient ideas of what’s “superior”. These men are deluded into thinking they can “win God over” with their plans… but, God will do what He wants. Does this attitude amount to rebelling against the glory God has reserved exclusively for Himself?
To go down this road, a rabid rage of hatred develops towards Jesus Christ... those holding a true faith in Him… and God’s chosen people and nation, the Jews and Israel—He has used, and will again, to reveal Himself to the world. The evil is displayed with a cruelty without limit towards man, woman, and child… only to be restrained with the gasp of “the last breath” of the martyr.
Will there be accountability for this? There was, and will be, for nations trying to counter God’s plan.
The “others” described in Hebrews 11 and the accounts of those in “Fox’s Book of Martyrs”… what did their actions testify to? Believing the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, restores Life from death… they did not love their life even when faced with death—they held out for the hope of... that through the power of the Holy Spirit, He would raise them from the pit of the grave to live in the presence of God, forever (Revelation 12:10-11; Psalm 16:9-10; 30:2-3; Hebrews 11:35-40).
How does this compare to those grasping for their “best life now”… desiring to be the “dominatrix of society” with the masses bowing down to “lick their boots” begging for their “world peace plan”? Or, is it their “world theft plan”?
It hasn’t changed… it’s about the money box…
“Fox’s Book of Martyrs” CHAPTER VI An Account of the Persecutions in Italy, Under the Papacy; An account of the Persecutions of Calabria., p.111….
Thus were a great number of inoffensive and harmless people deprived of their possessions, robbed of their property, driven from their homes, and at length murdered by various means, only because they would not sacrifice their consciences to the superstitions of others, embrace idolatrous doctrines which they abhorred, and accept of teachers whom they could not believe.
Tyranny is of three kinds, viz., that which enslaves the person, that which seizes the property, and that which prescribes and dictates to the mind. The two first sorts may be termed civil tyranny, and have been practiced by arbitrary sovereigns in all ages, who have delighted in tormenting the persons, and stealing the properties of their unhappy subjects. But the third sort, viz., prescribing and dictating to the mind, may be called ecclesiastical tyranny: and this is the worst kind of tyranny, as it includes the other two sorts; for the Romish clergy not only do torture the body and seize the effects of those they persecute, but take the lives, torment the minds, and, if possible, would tyrannize over the souls of the unhappy victims.
Have you ever witnessed the “glory” that these “ism” autocrats and humanistic gurus chase become more vibrant as they age? With time, doesn’t their “grandeur” shrivel and fade sinking into the pit of their death?
With personal liability required from the spirit of man… that was created in the image of God, and gifted to us, by the creator of the universe, the God of Israel... it seems one won’t be able to justify saying… AI, the devil, made me do it. We’ll have to answer to God for the gifts He’s given, and offers, us.
Did we reconnect with God through His Mediator, Jesus Christ? If we did, we’re gifted the Holy Spirit in a “heart of flesh” of the New Covenant for Christ to live in us. Or, did we attempt to stay separated through our degeneracy we conjure up through a “hard heart of stone”?
It’s hard to admit… the witness of physical comforts gained doesn’t seem to pierce the heart of a martyr’s executioner, but it’s the steadfast faith in Jesus Christ they display as they suffer and shed their blood drawing their last breath. Facing the greatest torments... while willing to reject the “plea-bargain” for a reprieve from the world’s prosecution in exchange for the promise of God’s grace, mercy, and love fulfilled in the age-to-come by His defense intercessor for the saints, Christ Jesus… is the incrimination against the accusations of the unrepentant tyrant.
There’s been a few times, with no fight left but to rest in the Lord’s arms, I’ve heard the “knock on the door for the last breath”—surrounded by... so great a cloud of these witnesses... I pray this has helped me prepare to hold on, like they did, when that “door is opened”.
Who do you follow… what do you believe—how well will that work out in the end?
Are not the only options: the peace Jesus Christ offers, that provides redemption and restoration… or the peace the world wants, rejecting Jesus Christ and His followers, that brings abhorred death and condemnation (John 14:26-27; Luke 12:51-53)?