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First off, I would like to thank WORLD magazine for their permission to reprint this article.
WORLD magazine puts today’s news issues into a Christian perspective. Editor Mindy Belz travels
the world digging up these important and relevant stories and burrowing to the root issues. A hearty
well done for all her hard work. I recommend WORLD magazine knowing that you will enjoy it for
both its reading pleasure that it brings as well as
the understanding and edification within the
body of Christ for its coverage of both National
and worldwide events.
I have watched over the past few years the
growing persecution of the Christian church in
Afghanistan. A few individuals who receive this
newsletter there have written to tell of it. One has
even forwarded videos of the beheadings of brave
men who stood firm in their faith in Jesus Christ
rather than turn back, facing death rather than
betray the One Who has redeemed them from
darkness. I watched them with disgust yet
knowing these men found peace moments later in
the arms of a loving and comforting God.
It is easy here in a country where we have the freedom of speech, freedom to assemble,
freedom to worship, freedom of religion, to call ourselves “Christian”. Yet even here in the United
States of America very slowly some of these precious rights that we as believers and followers of the
Lord Jesus Christ possess have been eroded over time by our Government, secular men and women
AND by those who claim to be “Christians”. “Nominal” Christians that is. (That’s a topic for another
day!) AND the church has stood by and permitted it to happen. Were the same sort of persecution to
begin happening here in this Country, the churches would empty over night. There’d be so much real
estate on the market!
I have read very few articles in the press and seen little or
nothing on cable or broadcast television news about their suffering.
This article by Mindy Belz, Editor of WORLD magazine, brings to
the surface the ugly facts that our government, our tax dollars are
responsible for allowing the government of Afghanistan to kill these
people, our brothers and sisters in Christ. And, not only do we allow
it and pay for it, but we protect their right to do it and stand by and
let it happen.
Where is the voice for these people? Oh I know I hear some
of you saying where is the voice for the other millions of Christians
around the world who are being persecuted? This is fundamentally
different! We have empowered the Afghan people by funding their
government, funding the writing and enactment of their
constitution. We have bought and paid for the guns and
ammunition for and trained their army. We have spent billions of
dollars to prop up a corrupt regime that is this hour attempting to
bargain with the enemy they are fighting against! And now we find they are calling for the killing of
Christians and apparently have done so. THIS MUST STOP!
I have made a commitment to fast and pray for these brothers and sisters. I have also made a
commitment to place a copy of this Newsletter with a cover letter before the President and Vice
President of the United States, each United States Senator and Representative in Congress, each
member of the Supreme Court of the United States, a list of over one hundred cable and broadcast
news organizations, a list of over sixty news and political commentators and finally a list of over one
hundred recognized national Christian leaders.
This cover letter will explain what is happening to the Christians in Afghanistan, will point out
the excellent work done by WORLD magazine and the focus article by Editor Mindy Belz in particular.
I will ask them all to help. Publicize the cause, let the world and our Nation in particular know of
their plight. Governmentally to bring the persecution to a halt if possible, if not to extract these
people safely so no harm may come to them. Ask for Christians to pray and support the effort. And
lastly, that all true Christians should be aware of their rights and freedoms and be on guard that they
be not taken away.
I was listening to a radio advertisement this morning where a woman boldly proclaims that you
deserved to be happy. She went on to say that her company had the ability to help you personally
achieve this. I’ve been listening to her do this now, on my favorite news station, for a number of
years.
Where does anybody have the authority to make such a statement? Who, anywhere on the
earth, has the authority to grant anybody any period or length of happiness? Where does somebody
have the authority to claim that you deserve to be happy? Think about it for a moment.
I began thinking about her statements and then after
visiting her web site gave her a phone call. After working my
way through various sales and management people I was
finally put through to her. We were able to speak for about an
hour. Through her organization, not Christian in foundation or
operation, she believes that she can help people develop the
ability and power to have the happiness she knows they were
always meant to have. Her program operates from purely
psychological and self-help platforms, leaving out any option
that Jesus just might be an avenue to deliver you from your
problems and bring you into a position of peace and happiness
in this life.
Do you know anybody in this life that lives this way or
exhibits these life characteristics all the time? Half the time?
Ten percent of the time? With the exception of the last half-
century or so, for the most part, with the exception of an exceptional few, the world has lived in abject
poverty and under miserable living conditions. “Happiness” as you and I know it today was, and is for
many millions living today, an extremely transient thing. (continued on page five)
John 12:37-43, “But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:
That the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our
report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe,
because that Isaiah said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they
should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal
them. These things said Isaiah, when he saw his glory, and spake of him. Nevertheless among the
chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest
they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of
God.”
I have chosen the above portion of scripture to make several points. First, even though Jesus
healed all who came to Him, and there are many passages of scripture that support this, not all who
were healed nor all who witnessed these miracles believed. They did not believe that He was the
Messiah. They did not believe that He is the Son of God. They did not believe that He came to bring
them back into relationship with the Father. For whatever reason, many did not believe.
Secondly, we see that it is God Himself who spiritually blinded some of those who were healed
or had witnessed these miracles. He did this because He knew, from the beginning of all things, those
who would believe and those who would not. He knew the hearts and
thoughts of all men. It may seem cruel to us that a loving God would
forever blind certain men so that they would not, could not be saved
nor delivered unto the Kingdom of His dear Son. It is in His almighty
wisdom that this was done. We need to understand that in His mercy
He has saved whom He would save, those who He knew, again from
the beginning of all things, out of all souls, who would indeed be
saved. We are so limited in our understanding of all things Divine,
especially with regard to the wills of men, that we often adamantly
refuse to accept that one individual or another, especially loved ones
or friends, are not nor will not to be saved and we persist, often
beyond reason or the leading of the Holy Spirit. in attempting to
present the Gospel to those we seek that God would save. May God
grant us wisdom, peace and understanding as we minister the Truth,
trusting that He will do the right thing. We see in Genesis chapter 18
wherein Abraham, interceding on behalf of his nephew Lot, says to
the Lord, "That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the
righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the
wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do
right?" (verse 25) We, as did Abraham, must know and trust that God will always do the right thing.
Thirdly, we can plainly see that today, as in centuries past, many will not be saved because
their fear of man is far greater than their fear of God. We know from Paul’s Epistle to the Romans
that, “ . . . if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that
God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith,
Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” (Romans 10:9-11) (continued on page eight)
Which is easier to prove: that some one’s sins have been forgiven or that an ex-cripple can now walk?
You can’t say “forgiveness of sins” since it’s invisible. So you must vote for the healed cripple. Or do
you? That’s the question Jesus answers when we find him in Capernaum, circa Mark 2:1-12.
Who Is the Cripple?
Seated on a mat inside a crowded house Jesus paused during his sermon to
watch a dead man on a bier get lowered to the floor through a hole in the
ceiling. And this is what people came to see - a miracle. And indeed, that’s
what they got. But in a way none imagined. The man was not dead. Just
lame from the neck down. Four men who peered through the roof possibly
said as much. Jesus told the man, “Your sins are forgiven.” The Pharisees
flinched, murmured. Jesus asked why they flinched and murmured. He
asked “Why do you think I blaspheme? Would it be easier for me to heal the
man? Would that satisfy you?”
Why They Flinched and Murmured
The forgiveness of sins belongs to the realm of God alone. That was why the Pharisees balked at
Jesus’ statement. Jesus was claiming he could work as God worked. Knowing that the act of
forgiveness was an intangible one, Jesus shifted gears. He would demonstrate that he had the power
to forgive sins because he possessed other God-like powers. Namely the gift of life. He ordered the
legs and arms of the cripple to warm with life. He spoke, and the cripple stood. By the Word of God.
The Son of God. The Creator. The Word Who was from the beginning.
What You Do and Don’t See
The events unfold and all you see is a rabbi tell a lifetime cripple to pick
up his pallet and walk home. All you see is a cripple climb to his feet,
grab the pallet and walk out of the crowded house. All you see is a mob
of people hollering, clapping and singing. What you don’t see is the
storehouse of sins emptied in an instant. Nor the dark clouds of war
with God evaporate. Nor peace descend on the soul of a man once
crippled by guilt and fear and worry. All you see is an ex-cripple climb
out of a house of people and walk - for the first time in his life - down a
dusty street.
Where You Feel This
For you, like the ex-cripple, you simply believe what Jesus told you:
That through his death your sins are forgiven. That through his death
your entrance into heaven is cleared. That through his death you are
now at peace with God. You believe you are healed from the wages of
sin. And you feel this in your spirit. And in that moment you commit to
his will for your life. Forever.
Demian Farnworth can be followed on his Blog, Fallen and Flawed, at: http://www.fallenandflawed.com/
A prophet is one who knows his times and what God is trying to say to the people of his times.
What God says to His church at any given period depends altogether upon her moral and spiritual
condition and upon the spiritual need of the hour. Religious leaders who continue mechanically to
expound the Scriptures without regard to the current religious situation are no better than the scribes
and lawyers of Jesus' day who faithfully parroted the Law without the remotest notion of what was
going on around them spiritually. They fed the same diet to all and seemed wholly unaware that there
was such a thing as meat in due season. The
prophets never made that mistake nor wasted
their efforts in that manner. They invariably
spoke to the condition of the people of their
times.
Today we need prophetic preachers; not
preachers of prophecy merely, but preachers
with a gift of prophecy. The word of wisdom is
missing. We need the gift of discernment again
in our pulpits. It is not ability to predict that we
need, but the anointed eye, the power of
spiritual penetration and interpretation, the
ability to appraise the religious scene as viewed
from God's position, and to tell us what is
actually going on.
There has probably never been another
time in the history of the world when so many people knew so much about religious happenings as
they do today. The newspapers are eager to print religious news; the secular news magazines devote
several pages of each issue to the doings of the church and the synagogue; a number of press
associations gather church news and make it available to the religious journals at a small cost. Even
the hiring of professional publicity men to plug one or another preacher or religious movement is no
longer uncommon; the mails are stuffed with circulars and "releases," while radio and television join
to tell the listening public what religious people are doing throughout the world.
Greater publicity for religion may be well and I have no fault to find with it. Surely religion
should be the most newsworthy thing on earth, and there may be
some small encouragement in the thought that vast numbers of
persons want to read about it. What disturbs me is that amidst all
the religious hubbub hardly a voice is raised to tell us what God
thinks about the whole thing.
Where is the man who can see through the ticker tape and
confetti to discover which way the parade is headed, why it started
in the first place and, particularly, who is riding up front in the seat
of honor?
Not the fact that the churches are unusually active these
days, not what religious people are doing, should engage our attention, but why these things are so.
The big question is Why? And no one seems to have an answer for it. Not (continued on page eleven)
"It Is Finished"
Arthur W. Pink
"When Jesus had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he gave up the ghost." (John 19:30)
How terribly have these blessed words of Christ been misunderstood, misappropriated and misapplied!
How many seem to think that on the cross the Lord Jesus accomplished a work which rendered it unnecessary
for the beneficiaries of it to live holy lives on earth. So many have been deluded into thinking that, so far as
reaching heaven is concerned, it matters not how they walk provided they are "resting on the finished work of
Christ." They may be unfruitful, untruthful, disobedient, yet (though they may possibly miss some millennial
crown) so long as they repudiate all righteousness of their own and have faith in Christ, they imagine they are
"eternally secure."
All around us are people who are worldly-minded, money-lovers, pleasure-seekers, Sabbath-breakers,
yet who think all is well with them because they have "accepted Christ as their personal Saviour." In their
aspiration, conversation, and recreation, there is practically nothing to differentiate them from those who make
no profession at all. Neither in their home-life nor social-life is there anything save empty pretensions to
distinguish them from others. The fear of God is not upon them, the commands of God have no authority over
them, the holiness of God has no attraction for them.
"It is finished." How solemn to realize that these words of Christ must have been used to lull thousands
into a false peace. Yet such is the case. We have come into close contact with many who have no private
prayer-life, who are selfish, covetous, dishonest, but who suppose that a merciful God will overlook all such
things provided they once put their trust in the Lord Jesus. What a horrible perversion of the truth! What a
turning of God’s grace "into lasciviousness"! (Jude 4). Yes, those who now live the most self-seeking and flesh-
pleasing lives, talk about their faith in the blood of the Lamb, and suppose they are safe. How the devil has
deceived them!
"It is finished." Do those blessed words signify that Christ so satisfied the requirement of God’s holiness
that holiness no longer has any real and pressing claims upon us? Perish the thought. Even to the redeemed God
says, "Be ye holy, for I am holy" (1 Pet. 1:16). Did Christ "magnify the law and make it honorable" (Isa. 42:21)
that we might be lawless? Did He "fulfill all righteousness" (Matthew 3:15) to purchase for us an immunity
from loving God with all our hearts and serving Him with all our faculties? Did Christ die in order to secure a
divine indulgence that we might live to please self? Many seem to think so. No, the Lord Jesus has left His
people an example that they should "follow (not ignore) His steps."
"It is finished." What was "finished? The need for sinners to repent? No indeed. The need for turning to
God from idols? No indeed. The need for mortifying my members which are upon earth? No indeed. The need
for being sanctified wholly, in spirit, and soul, and body? No indeed. Christ died not to make my sorrow for,
hatred of, and striving against sin, useless. Christ died not to absolve me from the full discharge of my
responsibilities unto God. Christ died not so that I might go on retaining the friendship and fellowship of the
world. How passing strange that any should think that He did. Yet the actions of many show that this is their
idea.
"It is finished." What was "finished?" The sacrificial types were accomplished, the prophecies, of His
sufferings were fulfilled, the work given Him by the Father had been perfectly done, a sure foundation had been
laid on which a righteous God could pardon the vilest transgressor of the law who threw down the weapons of
his warfare against Him. Christ had now performed all that was necessary in order for the Holy Spirit to come
and work in the hearts of His people; convincing them of their rebellion, slaying their enmity against God, and
producing in them a loving and obedient heart. (continued on page thirteen)
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