| TO OUR CYBER VISITORS:
DON WROTE:
I was just recently asked a question that I felt I had to deal with because of the sincerity of the person who asked it. He set up his question like this:
If the Muslim people are raised by their parents and grandparents, their religious leaders, their authority figures, their peers, their communities, and their societies to hate and to want to eliminate all except those of their own belief (they even kill one another of their own faith who have different ideas/leaders), is there any way for us to deal with the Muslims other than to kill them before they can kill us? He further said that He understood that Jesus told us to love our enemies and to do good to those who would despitefully use us, but if the Islamic people see concern for others as a sign of weakness, can we win them with love? he asked.
Each of us will have to answer these questions in our own hearts for the questions are flying around and must be dealt with one way or another. (Being an optimist, my answer must include "hope." Click on the smiling face on our home page for my overall view of the dilemma.)
However, I will answer the following question for it is imperative for the Church to remember "of what Spirit we are"--especially as we see the end times approach.
Has there been times in history when annihilation of the ungodly was the only answer?
For the student of the Bible, the answer to this question is "Yes, the ungodly have been destroyed twice since the creation of man." In fact, Jesus referred to the two times when making comments to His disciples concerning when He would return again for His Church.
Luke 17:
26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.
To understand how both of these events serve as types for the drastic times that lie ahead, go to our on-line book "The Clock of the Ages." (You will especially need to understand the concepts in Daniel's 70 Weeks to place the anti-types [the fulfilling of the types] on the Biblical timeline; for although the 70th of Daniel's 70 Weeks will be divided into two parts by the 1,000 years of Peace/the Kingdom Age, Jesus spoke of the two as though they were one. In fact, the two halves of Daniel's 70th Week are referred to in the Bible as the "day of God's wrath.") But for our purposes here, we need to note that Jesus said of the ungodly at the time of Noe (Noah) and the time of Lot, that God "...destroyed them all."
Jesus mentioned first the days of Noe (Noah). The only way that this reference can be applied to the time before the Rapture of the Church is to understand the two divisions of Daniel's 70th Week. That is, as with all of the different interludes in Daniel's 70 weeks of prophecy, the Kingdom Age is not included in the prophetic time line except as an interlude. [For the why of this, see our on-line book "The Clock of the Ages." ] Consequently, the final destruction of the earth will actually begin after the Rapture of the Church during the first 31/2 years of Daniel's 70th Week, then put on hold for the Thousand Years of Peace, and finally resumed after the Kingdom Age when the earth will be utterly destroyed by fire along
with all of the ungodly. Likewise, as it was with those in Sodom, the destruction of the sodomites at the end of our age will also begin after the Rapture of the Church and finally be consummated after the Kingdom Age when, like Sodom, the whole earth will be destroyed by fire [II Peter 3:5-15].)
So, why should the Church consider my friend's question "...is there any way for us to deal with the Muslims other than to kill them before they can kill us?"--especially in the light of the fact that there has been times that it was necessary for ALL the ungodly of the earth to be destroyed?!? Let me answer this by considering the believers who lived during the two times when God had to destroy ALL flesh.
At the time of the flood, Noah and his family (a type of the end-time Church) were the only ones left of Adam's descendants who still feared and trusted God. Yet, we're never told that Noah clamored for or even wanted the ungodly destroyed. In fact, to the contrary, we're told that for over a hundred years--while he built the ark according to God's instructions--Noah preached and pleaded with the inhabitants of the earth to repent of their sin and to turn to God.
Also, at the time of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, we are given other individuals who serve as prophetic "types": i.e., Abraham (and Sarah) and Lot and his family. All that we can say for Lot is that he was really a recipient of mercy; for he had gotten totally caught up in the ways of Sodom; and as a result, he lost his family to the world--his wife being turned into a pillar of salt for disobeying God by turning around to watch her belongings being burnt up with Sodom, and his daughters taking the ways of Sodom with them even though they were delivered from its destruction because of God's mercy. (Read the 19th chapter of Genesis.) As for Abraham, he serves as a type of the Spirit-filled, Spirit-led believer in the end
time. Abraham was visited by Christ in a theophany (an Old Testament visit to the earth in His earthly form before the time of His ministry) before He sent His angels to destroy Sodom because of their sins. During this visit, although Abraham had no acceptance of the ways of Sodom and Gomorrah--having withdrawn himself and his family far from the cities--still, he had compassion upon their citizens, pleading with the Lord to spare the people.
Gen. 18:
23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
The Lord said He wouldn't destroy the city for fifty's sake. Abraham continued pleading for the people--for forty's sake, for thirty's sake, for twenty's sake, and finally, for ten's sake. The Lord heard Abraham and said that He would not destroy it for even ten's sake, but sadly, there were not even ten righteous in the city--only Lot and his family had a reverent fear of God and not much good can be said of his family except that they did believe in the God of their father.
My point in all of this?--the Lord's servants took no joy in the destruction of the ungodly. Noah preached and pleaded with the ungodly to repent for a hundred and twenty years; Abraham interceded for them, at the risk of being a nuisance; and even Lot begged them not to do so wickedly when the citizens of Sodom wanted to take the angels and molest them with their wicked practices (Gen. 19:5-7). The end-time Church is to have this Spirit of compassion and intercession. Hopefully, it will be comprised of more "Abraham's" than it will of "Lot's," but either way, it should have compassion for the lost. True, the ungodly of the end time will be destroyed; but that's God's business. Our business should be that of praying for the
lost everywhere and putting feet on our prayers by doing all that is in our power to fulfill the Great Commission. |
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| DANNY WROTE:
Question-Comment: Asking prayer for the NYC rescue Mission with the weather turning colder more
and more homeless people arriving at the door in desperate need of food and clothing, please
pray for GODS' continued provision. GOD richly bless you all brother Danny
DON
WROTE:
If you have read many of our WRAPs, you know that we do not make it a practice to raise money for ourselves or anyone else. However, this is not because we do not receive gifts for our ministry, or that we do not give to others as the Lord leads--for we do both.
We are putting Danny's WRAP up because we understand his need and because we feel that we need to address the needs of those who minister for the Lord: i.e., both those who minister to those in need as well as those who give and make such ministries possible.
Let me begin by saying that it has been my observation that since the recent fiascoes of certain mega-media ministries, the Church has drawn back in its support of those claiming to speak and act for the Lord Jesus. This has been compounded by the even more recent irresponsible behavior of the leaders of the Catholic Church and some of our larger Protestant denominations--leaders who have made the news headlines of the world to the shame and embarrassment of those who had been giving them their money and their trust. THIS CAN BE GOOD IF THE BELIEVER'S DRAWING BACK HAS BEEN TO RECONSIDER WHAT THEY HAVE BEEN DOING/WHERE THEY HAVE BEEN GIVING THEIR MONEY OR SUPPORT! Let me say that again: THIS CAN BE GOOD IF THE BELIEVER'S DRAWING BACK HAS BEEN TO RECONSIDER
WHAT THEY
HAVE BEEN DOING/WHERE THEY HAVE BEEN GIVING THEIR MONEY OR SUPPORT!!
For instance, if they are now asking themselves WHY they were sending money to support corrupt Mega-media ministries--and willing to let the Lord give them truth in the matter--then good can come from such an introspection. I say this because I am convinced that the Lord would have us all to understand the Scriptural gift of giving.
Perhaps it will help me to communicate what I understand to be "Scriptural giving" if I share a personal experience. Within the first week of my conversion experience in Cocoa Beach, Florida--having just experienced the awe and excitement of having "heaven come down and glory fill my soul"--I wanted to share my newly found Savior with the whole world. (Those of you who have heard my testimony know that I was a night club entertainer when the Holy Spirit convicted me of my sin and the Lord Jesus brought me to Himself and gathered me into His bosom. It took the Lord about a week to break me free of that lifestyle and set my feet on a new path. It was during that week that this event took place.) One night, I was
strolling down the Cocoa Beach strip, deep in thought, when I came upon a derelict who asked me for money. I gave him what little I had at the time and did my best to convince him that Jesus was real, and that He would do for him what He had just done for me. The drunk muttered something and went on his way, probably to buy himself a drink with his newfound wealth.
As I turned and went my way, the Spirit of Christ spoke to my spirit in a very emphatic way--asking me why I had given the drifter the money; saying, what if there had been a homeless mother down the road who needed food for herself and her child and He had wanted me to give her the money?
Beginning with that experience, the Lord has taught me many things about the Spirit-filled walk in general, and about giving specifically. That is, there are two ways that we can do things as a believer. We can do something because it looks good/like the thing to do...or we can do things as we are led by the Spirit. If we do the latter, our efforts then become a "fruit of the Spirit" and not a product of our flesh! I now understand that the Lord was not teaching me via this experience with the hobo that He was not concerned about drunken transits, for they are part of the field that is white unto harvest--and His death on the Cross was for them as surely as it was for me. He was teaching me, however,
that He wants to lead me in my giving just as He wants to guide me in all aspects of my living.
I don't want to belabor the point, but because of the vital place that "giving" should have in the Church, let me make a couple of points.
First, the Ministry of Giving is dreadfully important to many entities.
TO OUR SAVIOR
The Ministry of Giving is important to our Savior; for in this life we are his hands, feet, and hearts. It is through us He wants to help and do for those in need.
TO THE RECIPIENTS
To those who are in need, it should be obvious why we reach out to others. James put it this way:
James 2:
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
TO THE GIVER
Our giving may be more important for ourselves than it is for any other.
Acts 20:
35 I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
This echoes the counsel given in the book of Proverbs.
Prov. 11:
25 The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.
There are many more Scriptures dealing with the believer and giving. The believer is to give with a willing heart, to give as he prospers, to give incognito (not wanting praise of man), to remember those that minister to his/her spiritual needs--BUT NEVER IS HE COMMANDED TO GIVE AS A MAN TELLS HIM HE MUST. Nowhere in the Scriptures does God frighten people into giving, nor does He make deals with people, guaranteeing $100 for every $10 invested in the Lord's work. (If this were so, then the stock markets would soon close for no one could compete with such returns.) We should also note that the Scriptures nowhere suggest that we should give so that ministries can compete and even surpass the world's entertainers. God is
not in the business of entertaining, but of saving men's souls. Also, as experience has just recently taught us, we should not give to "ministries" simply because they look good or seem prosperous.
How should we give? Again, as with all things in our spiritual walk, our giving should be directed by the Holy Spirit. I've put Danny's WRAP up, not to suggest that you should give to the work of the NYC rescue mission. Rather, I've done so to share some of the things about giving that I feel the Lords has taught me. I'm praying that God will meet Danny's needs, but I'm also praying that God will teach His Church "how to give," for I'm satisfied that giving is one of the most important aspects of our spiritual growth.
By the way, for those of you who for whatever reason, do not have enough income to "tithe," let me share once more--for I have been there. I came to the Lord deep in debt, struggling just to make ends meet, which was hard to handle because my pastor at the time was adamant that the tithe had to come first or God wouldn't bless. I prayed things through and felt that my witness to those without was more important than satisfying my pastor. So as a babe-in-Christ, I attempted to make a deal with God: i.e., that I would give Him 100% of myself if He would wait until I paid off my debts so that I could tithe. Later, I found out how foolish I had been for I discovered that all of me already belonged to God.
I Cor. 3:
21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are your's;
22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are your's;
23 And ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's.
Further, I can find no New Testament Scripture commanding believers to "tithe," period. Jesus referred to tithing once when He was reprimanding the Scribes and Pharisees; but this was during the age of the law to people living under the law. (See Mt. 23:23.) It is unfortunate that pastors today "whip" the Old Testament concept of tithing upon their members rather than trusting the Lord Jesus and the believers in his care to meet his needs out of love. God gave us the gift of giving, not so that it would be a burden, but a blessing. And giving of money is but a small part of the whole picture. These Scriptures sum it up.
Rom. 12:
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Gal 5:
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
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