Monthly Archives: July 2008

Sundar Singh’s vision of Christ

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Sundar Singh’s vision of Christ…1903

Yshua

Fourteen year old Sundar Singh blamed the Christian God for the death of his mother. He threw filth on his Christian teachers, mocked their Scriptures, and interrupted classes. Then he made an ultimate gesture of scorn. He built a fire and page by page tore up a Bible and burned it. “Although I believed that I had done a very good deed by burning the Bible, I felt unhappy,” he said.
Within three days Sundar Singh could bear his misery no longer. Late at night, on this day December 19, 1903,* he rose and prayed that God reveal himself if he really existed. Otherwise he would throw himself in front of the train which passed by his house. For seven hours Sundar Singh prayed. “O God, if there is a God, reveal thyself to me tonight.” The next train was due at five o’clock in the morning. The hours passed.
Suddenly the room filled with a glow. A man appeared before him. Sundar heard a voice say, “How long will you deny me? I died for you; I have given my life for you.” He saw the man’s hands, pierced by nails.
In that moment he recognized Christ. The boy who had burned the Bible became a man who would endure terrible sufferings for Jesus. He made twenty trips into Tibet, where he met severe persecution.
But first, Sundar had to face his own people. The Sikhs had endured serious opposition in their early history. As a consequence they were fiercely loyal to their faith. Conversion to Christianity was considered treachery. Every effort was made to woo or coerce Sundar Singh back to his ancestral faith.
His father pleaded. An uncle opened a cellar full of treasures. A prince appealed to the boy’s patriotism. His own brother spread lies about him. His former gang hurled muck at him. The mission was attacked. Christians were denied service. A boy who followed Sundar Singh was poisoned to death.
Finally Sundar realized he must break with his people. He cut off the hair he had worn long like every Sikh. Then he was told, “We reject you forever… We shall forget you as if you had never been born. You will leave this house with nothing but the clothes you wear on your back. …” When painful cramps wrenched his gut, he realized that his family had poisoned his last meal. He staggered to a mission hospital.
After his recovery, he donned the yellow robe of India’s holy men. Unlike many gurus, he kept himself clean and did not torture his body. Dressed in his thin yellow robe, Sundar took to the road, preaching the gospel of Christ. Over the years, many were won to faith through him. Even his own father was converted. But in 1929, a sickly Sundar set out for Tibet. He never returned. Nothing was heard from him again.
*The most trustworthy biography gives this date. Others place this conversion as early as December 6th and as late as 1904.
Source: Glimpses of christian History/ http://chi.gospelcom.net/DAILYF/2001/12/daily-12-19-2001.shtml
FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Deceit of the Son of Perdition

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Smooth: Super Man One Of The Hour

 ”The Coming Deceit of the Son of Perdition and His Minions“

By the Watchman Dana G Smith

Keywords: True God, rebirth, Faith, Son of Perdition, delusion,

 

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Part One: The True God and Eternal Life!

Jesus describes the days in which we live as a ‘snare’ that will come upon all the earth [Luke 2:35]. He further says in Luke 21:22, these are the ‘days of vengeance’ that all things written may be fulfilled. Paul states in 2 Thessalonians chapter two that the Lord will send a ‘delusion’ because the people refuse the ‘love of the truth.’ It can be furthered said “vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord” in Hebrews 10:30. Add to this in John three where almost everyone knows verse sixteen that says “for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal life.” This verse alone has been responsible for men just thinking a light minded belief in God would transport them to heaven. Nothing could be further from the truth. James says in chapter two, verse 19 that the ‘devils also believe and tremble.’ The point here is that just belief in the mind of men will not save you. We know that the devils believe, they also tremble, but they are not saved.

 

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Belief without the Rebirth through the Spirit is not Salvation!

James 2:19  Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

Further on in the third chapter of John we find that those who do believe are not condemned, but those who believe not are condemned already.

John 3:18  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

What is the difference between the two, one in James and the other in John. The key to this passage is in the first part of John chapter three verse three where Jesus told Nicodemus ‘except a man be born again’ he cannot see the kingdom of God. Jesus then went on to say he had to be born of the Spirit. Jesus further said he had to be born of Water and of the Spirit. Water here refers to the Word of God, which is incorruptible, that seed which is divine that grows in your heart and soul. This is the power to become the sons of God, John mentioned in Chapter one verse twelve. This is the true divine seed and spiritual rebirth that all must experience to enter in as a ‘child of God.’

John 3:5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

 

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Sure and Quick Psalm by the Watchman

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Sure and Quick
A Psalm by Dana G Smith the Watchman

There shall a fire sweep the land.
In the place of Comfort,
They shall be afflicted of me.
For all their abominations they do.

A fire shall destroy thee,
Oh harlot of the nations.
Dust shall settle upon thy vestments,
Ashes shall swallow thee whole.

Where will you find help?
Where will you go on that day?
The day that I afflict…
The day, anguish overtakes you.

Pride and Insolence have led you.
Wickedness has been your goal.
Rebellion is in thy heart,
You love it so.

Surely, all who do such things,
Yea, they shall die.
For thy stench has reached unto me,
The Lord God will reward thee.

Stand back all ye people.
For on this day it shall come,
The day of the Lords Vengeance,
Yea, it shall come and not delay.

Sure and quick, so shall it be.
You will be caught in your sins.
For you have rejected me…
The Lord of Hosts.
I have turned back from you,
You have not heeded my warnings.

O foolish people,
So quick to indulge thy sins.
O foolish people,
So led astray with thy pleasures.

Beware, it will come…
Sure and quick.
See where your ways have led you.
For I have given you into the hands,
Yea, into the hands of your enemies.

On the wings of the wind,
It shall come.
You have loved it so,
Your ways, your pleasures.

Yet, I have called for your destruction.
Stand back and see.
Will you hear once I do this?
Can you endure the wrath I send?
Where will you go from my sight?
How can you hide?

Your sins have found you out!
Yet, you do not see all this.
You are blinded in your Pride.
You are full in your bellies.
You are prepared for the day of slaughter.

There is no fear of me, saith the Lord.
There is no fear of recompense.
There is no respect to my ways.
You have thrown out wisdom.
You have crowned foolishness.

Now your ways will be tested.
Stand before me if you dare.
For it will come.
You can do nothing,
For it will come…
Sure and Quick.

There is a figure standing upon the mountain. He is dressed and blowing the shofar. The warning sounds loud and can be heard in the valley below. Destruction comes. Will you pay his warning any mind?

Behold, I sound that warning. After the Lord gave me this message above, he directed me to go to Jeremiah 22. Below are the scriptures that the Lord had me put with this message.

Jeremiah 22:7  And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast them into the fire.
8  And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?
9  Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.

Jeremiah 22:13  Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour”s service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;
14  That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion.
15  Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?
16  He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.
17  But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.

HHS Food Safety Programs Inspections

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Date: July 9, 2008
For Release: Immediately
Contact: HHS Press Office
(202) 690-6343

Headline: HHS Announces New International Programs to Enhance Drug and
Food Safety Joint Inspections with European Union and Australian
Regulators; Third-Party Certification Program Are Latest Steps toward
Implementing New Import Strategy

U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Mike Leavitt today
announced two groundbreaking programs designed to enhance the safety of
food and medical products exported to the United States.

“These programs will significantly increase our collaboration with
international and private sector partners to enhance the safety of
imported food and medical products,” Secretary Leavitt said. “Working
together, we intend to offer expedited access to those products shown to
meet our standards and to focus more of our resources on those products
that present higher risks.”
Continue reading →

BILDERBERG BUSTED, Builderberg Report

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BILDERBERG BUSTED!
new world disorder

AFP Report:

Global leaders responded on cue to Bilderberg’s orders to stop the rise in oil prices as Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest supplier, promised on June 22 to increase production as needed. “I would like to state that for the remainder of this year Saudi Arabia is prepared and willing to produce additional barrels above and beyond the 9.6 million barrels per day which we plan to produce in July, if demand for such quantities materialize and our customers tell us they are needed,” Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi told a meeting of officials form more than 30 countries and 25 oil companies.
China promised, on June 19, to dramatically increase domestic fuel prices to reduce demand, which reduce costs. The announcement sent oil prices tumbling on global markets, with traders anticipating that world demand would soften in response to reduced consumption by the Chinese. U.S. crude settled down $4.75, to $131.93 on the NewYork Mercantile Exchange. Iraq officials said they were awarding contracts to several Western companies to help develop its vast resources. Asim Jihad, a spokesman for the Iraqi Oil Ministry, said no-bid contracts would be issued to Royal Dutch Shell, which is always represented at Bilderberg, among others.

UN Secretary-General Ban Kimoon said on June 15 that the king of Saudi Arabia had promised to lower oil prices. Ban spoke with reporters after meeting with King Abdullah in the port city of Jidda during a visit to the world’s largest oil producer. “The king believes that the current oil prices are abnormally high, and he is ready to restore prices to their appropriate levels,” the official Saudi News Agency quoted Ban. The NewYork Times reported on June 14—six days after receiving its marching orders at Bilderberg—-that unnamed analysts and oil traders briefed by Saudi officials said a production increase of about 500,000 barrels per day is planned.

“Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil producer, is concerned that sustained high oil prices eventually will slacken the world’s appetite for oil, affecting the kingdom in the long run,” Associated Press reported.

This precisely reflects what Bilderberg said in Chantilly.A Bilderberg speaker from Europe had said: “Are we reaching the point of diminishing returns? People who switch from gas hogs to fuel-efficient, small cars are not going to do an instant about-face. And those who convert to public transportation, many of them, are going to stick with the train or bus. We have seen many middle-class families, who grudgingly accepted $3 a gallon, choose to stay home instead of driving to the beaches or mountains. They’re calling them ‘staycations.’ We all take the long view of history. Will forcing gasoline prices even higher increase profits in the long term? Ford has already shut down production of big cars and has many SUVtypes it can’t give away. Ford will not retool overnight.”

Finance ministers from the Group of Eight weighed in at their meeting in Japan, issuing a joint statement calling for lower oil prices. U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Jr., who had just left the Bilderberg session, called for oil-producing countries to allow more investment in oil exploration and production.

In another blow to Bilderberg’s global ambitions, Irish voters rejected a treaty to make the European Union a superstate by a decisive 53.4 percent to 46.6 percent. A “European Constitution” had been rejected in referendums in France and the Netherlands in 2005. To take effect, all European Union states must approve.

After the “constitution” was rejected, European leaders came up with a shorter version providing for the same envisioned superstate but called it a “treaty.” As a “treaty,” France and the Netherlands did not have to submit it for a vote. But Ireland’s constitution required a referendum and Irish voters chose national sovereignty over a European superstate. “It’s a very sad day for the country and for Europe,” said Justice Minister Brian Lenihan. “It is a great day for Irish democracy,” said DeClan Ganley, a businessman who led the anti-treaty forces. ”This is democracy in action . . . and Europe needs to listen to the voice of the people.”

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Bush Signs Executive Order, Again

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Editors Note: Recently is has come to our attention that Bush has signed an Executive order this last June 28th. Already this man has done more to bring in certain “Bill of Rights” violations by his signing executive orders. Now here is the latest one. With all the rhetoric over Iran and Israel, then Russia saying they will retaliate against the US for its European defense shield, and all the Executive Orders this man signs, it certainly makes you wonder what they are up too? No doubt it is no good!
Here is a note from one of those who noticed this and brought it to our attention. Below it you will find the original order found on the web.

:-( Why is this order on Korea relevant? Because if we are indeed in a State of National Emergency over North Korea, then it presupposes that Bush already has executive power to make war with Iran without Congressional approval.

In a completely media silent even George Bush signed an Executive Order June 28th which, according to the patriot Act, gives him martial law capability and the ability to bypass the congress in order to use military force in Iran. The question becomes is why this act was signed when all media coverage of North Korea has been positive over the past months. Below I have included one of the few links I could even find which describes this event. Why has the media been silent concerning this?
According to this action Bush has the power to even suspend the upcoming election. Recently there has been classified military training in downtown Denver where the Democratic National Convention will be held;
Is it probably that another false flag terror attack will occur during the DNC giving this government justification for invading Iran? The next few months may hold some terrible surprises where it would be well for us to watch and pray diligently. I do not share these things to invoke fear or worry because Yeshua told us not to be troubled by the birth pains which would occur before his return but look up for our redemption draws nigh. I encourage all who receive this email to share it with others and even contact your representatives to express concern about this Executive Order. By this action the president can declare martial law and detain whoever for whatever. As a side not I do not endorse the website which contained the info but I could not find it on any regular news outlets even though you can link right to the White House and read the order for yourself.

Shalom,
Shmaryahu

Executive Order: Continuing Certain Restrictions with Respect to North Korea and North Korean Nationals

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (NEA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,

I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, find that the current existence and risk of the proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat. I further find that, as we deal with that threat through multilateral diplomacy, it is necessary to continue certain restrictions with respect to North Korea that would otherwise be lifted pursuant to a forthcoming proclamation that will terminate the exercise of authorities under the Trading With the Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. App. 1 et seq.) (TWEA) with respect to North Korea.

Accordingly, I hereby order:

Section 1. Except to the extent provided in statutes or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the date of this order, the following are blocked and may not be transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in:

all property and interests in property of North Korea or a North Korean national that, pursuant to the President”s authorities under the TWEA, the exercise of which has been continued in accordance with section 101(b) of Public Law 95-223 (91 Stat. 1625; 50 U.S.C. App. 5(b) note), were blocked as of June 16, 2000, and remained blocked immediately prior to the date of this order.

Sec. 2. Except to the extent provided in statutes or in regulations, orders, directives, or licenses that may be issued pursuant to this order, and notwithstanding any contract entered into or any license or permit granted prior to the date of this order, United States persons may not register a vessel in North Korea, obtain authorization for a vessel to fly the North Korean flag, or own, lease, operate, or insure any vessel flagged by North Korea.

Sec. 3. (a) Any transaction by a United States person or within the United States that evades or avoids, has the purpose of evading or avoiding, or attempts to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.

(b) Any conspiracy formed to violate any of the prohibitions set forth in this order is prohibited.

Sec. 4. For the purposes of this order:

(a) the term “person” means an individual or entity;

(b) the term “entity” means a partnership, association, trust, joint venture, corporation, group, subgroup, or other organization; and

(c) the term “United States person” means any United States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign branches), or any person in the United States.

Sec. 5. The Secretary of the Treasury, after consultation with the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to take such actions, including the promulgation of rules and regulations, and to employ all powers granted to the President by IEEPA as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this order. The Secretary of the Treasury may redelegate any of these functions to other officers and agencies of the United States Government consistent with applicable law. All agencies of the United States Government are hereby directed to take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of this order.

Sec. 6. The Secretary of the Treasury, after consultation with the Secretary of State, is hereby authorized to submit the recurring and final reports to the Congress on the national emergency declared in this order, consistent with section 401(c) of the NEA (50 U.S.C. 1641(c)) and section 204(c) of IEEPA (50 U.S.C. 1703(c)).

Sec. 7. This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, instrumentalities, or entities, its officers or employees, or any other person.

GEORGE W. BUSH

THE WHITE HOUSE,

June 26, 2008.

The Royal Law and the Covenant

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Editors note:The Royal Law and the Covenant is my title for an email by Jan Willem van der Hoeven, Director of the International Christian Zionist Center that was sent to us. It cannot explain it all in this short article, but he gives a very good rule, one I call the Royal Law. James speaks to this Royal Law, as does this article.

James 2:8  ¶If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:

Here is the article:

It is a great pity that we have named the two distinct parts of the Bible the Old and the New Testament. It would have been far better to have named them the Old and the New Covenant. “Testament” often has the connotation of death and inheritance, which also obscures the fact of the two Covenants the living God of Israel so made with His people.

The Old Covenant God made with His people by way of Moses – spelled out by Him on Mount Sinai.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for according to the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.”

So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 34:27-28)

The New Covenant God made with His people by way of His Son – spelled out by Him on the Mount of Beatitudes.

Here is how Jeremiah prophesied the coming of this New Covenant (which sadly we today call the New Testament):

“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah– not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord.

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ”Know the Lord,” for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

The words: “not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt” seem highly significant. God adds: “My covenant which they broke.” And although the people of Israel broke God”s first covenant, God in His great, great mercy promises through Jeremiah that the days would be coming when He would nevertheless make A NEW COVENANT with His people rather than revive the old Covenant!!

Now all this is very, very important, and significant in relation to our present time. For in our day the Jewish people who have returned, as God promised, to the land of their forefathers, are being faced with a Rabbinate that spells out exactly what Jewish men and women are expected to do, according to halacha. There is a code of more than 600 laws and bylaws, mostly based on the commandments teachings of the first Covenant with many Talmudic additions as finalized in the famous “Shulchan Aruch” an officially accepted handbook demarcating what a Jew is supposed to do or refrain from doing.

This certainly is not the New Covenant which the Lord God promised through the quoted words from His prophet Jeremiah. In truth this halachic way stands in contrast to the words about what Jeremiah describes as the New Covenant, where God promises to put His law on people”s minds and hearts. So absolutely and so evidently will He do this, that “No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ”Know the Lord,” for they all shall know Me” (Jeremiah 31:34)

The hallmark of the Old Covenant was that it was written on stones and directed to people from outside, to hearts that were mainly stony. It said: Thou shalt – thou shalt not. It came from outside people”s hearts and minds and it had to be explained and administered by Moses, elders, priests and scribes and today the rabbis who had to tell the people in each instance what the Law required of them.

That”s why the promise of the New Covenant is so refreshing. For it promises not only hearts of flesh instead of stone, but holds forth that people, after being initiated by God”s Holy Spirit into the reality of this New Covenant, would no longer need outside teachers each telling them what to do. Instead they would, by the indwelling Spirit, know it for themselves in their own minds and hearts. What an amazing liberty and intimacy between the believer and His Lord, the child and His Father!

Writing these words I have to think of how one of the authors of the New Covenant – John the Apostle – similarly describes the reality of this New Covenant when he writes:

These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. (1 John 2:26-27)

In like fashion the Apostle Paul describes the reality of this New Covenant thus:

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors–not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs–heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. (Romans 8:1-17)

God Himself again and again promised the reality of this New Covenant when the Holy Spirit would be poured out upon His people and so write His law upon their hearts and guide their lives by dwelling in them.

For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.

Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.

I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations. Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations.

Not for your sake do I do this,” says the Lord God, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!” ”Thus says the Lord God: “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also enable you to dwell in the cities, and the ruins shall be rebuilt. The desolate land shall be tilled instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass by. So they will say, ”This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.” (Ezekiel 36:24-35)

So this New Covenant has everything to do with the Jewish return to and the restoration of their land as is seen from these Scriptures.

Which Covenant, then, do we in the name of our God hold out to the present people of Israel who, as God promised, have returned to this their land to be initiated into a New Covenant in relation to which God promises to pour out His Own Spirit upon them with the divine result that “He will put His law in their minds and write it on their hearts?”

Paul writes significantly about the reality of this New Covenant:

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ”s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. (Galatians 5:1-6, 16-28)

I am sure that what Paul says here in relation to the New Covenant is a hard saying for many – both Jews and Gentiles. But it is meant to open to us the new and fuller way that he describes himself:

For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:14)

Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13:8-10)

Receive one who is weak in the faith, but not to disputes over doubtful things. For one believes he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats only vegetables. Let not him who eats despise him who does not eat, and let not him who does not eat judge him who eats; for God has received him. Who are you to judge another”s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord”s. For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living. But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us shall give account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother”s way. (Romans 14:1-13)

The amazing thing however is that whereas God Himself says that His own people have broken the Covenant He made with them in Sinai that most Jewish and Christian people who are involved with the spiritual wellbeing of the Jewish nation tend towards reviving the Old Covenant in a mistaken with rather than committing themselves with God to the New Covenant He has prepared for His people rather than reviving the Old one!

Jesus Himself, in His Sermon on the Mount, stresses the importance of the Law of this New Covenant when He says:

“You have heard that it was said, ”You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:43-48)

Actually most of the Sermon on the Mount is an expression or commentary on the importance of going the second mile and leading lives of love.

For as the New Covenant says: “He who loves has fulfilled the Law.” (Romans 13:8)

Jan Willem van der Hoeven, Director
International Christian Zionist Center
[source: email from israelmybeloved.com]

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