by Just Another Christian
by Just Another Christian
Philologos Religious Online Books
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Chapter 11 | Table of Contents | Chapter 13
THE GREAT DREAM
by Just Another Christian
| John.6:28 | Then they said unto Him (Jesus), What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? |
| Consider the implications of this question: What are the works of
God? A host of people both inside and outside of Christendom stand
ready to tell you WHAT IT IS that God wants you to do. They remind you
of the STARVING MILLIONS in Africa. They remind you of the HOMELESS in
America. They remind you of the convalescent centers full of ABANDONED
AND LONELY elderly people. They remind you of the SICK CHILDREN in the
hospitals. THE LIST IS ENDLESS. . . . .ALL of these problems are dropped
in your lap for YOU to solve, or help solve; and you get REMINDED of them
almost every day. The pressure on YOU to do something about these terrible problems is much greater if you CLAIM to be a Christian. You are reminded of the Sermon on The Mount; with it's command to give to him that asketh thee. You get BLAMED for all these problems DAILY. You get WARNED that if you don't get busy about rescuing ALL the needy and suffering people in the world, that sooner or later, you will be CALLED TO ACCOUNT on these matters by God. | |
| HOW DARE YOU live in ease WHILE THE MILLIONS SUFFER! How dare you choose between the coats in your closet while PEOPLE FREEZE TO DEATH on the street! How dare you buy yourself a NEW CAR, when a used car would drive you to work! How dare you take a VACATION! How dare you buy your wife a DIAMOND RING! How dare you wear $80.00 SHOES! HOW DARE YOU! | |
| Oh my Friend! Please tell me you UNDERSTAND what I am talking about! AND WHAT, I ask, have YOU done about it? Do you send that BIG $20.00 per month to the children's charity? Do you give your OLD CLOTHES to the Salvation Army? Do you round up those old cans of food THAT YOU DON'T WANT ANYWAY, and donate them to feed the poor? COME ON! LETS HAVE SOME HONESTY HERE! Do you REALLY THINK, that by these SLIGHT CONCESSIONS, you can now CLAIM that YOU have done YOUR share? Are your hands now clean? Does your heart assure you that "the rest" is someone else's responsibility? | |
| O, How I wish I could ask you these questions to your face! I DEMAND an answer. Answer to me; answer to God; ANSWER THE SUFFERING MILLIONS! Justify yourself! Go ahead, tell me that you JUST CAN'T give a "little more". Tell me that you CAN'T visit the old folks home on Saturday instead of watching television, or going fishing, or just relaxing with your family. Tell me that there aren't any poor people you know about, that would welcome an invitation to dinner at your home. Tell me there isn't just ONE MORE thing you can do, or just ONE MORE dollar you can give. | |
| And after you have done one more thing, and given one more dollar, I can ask you the same questions AGAIN. | |
| James.4:17 | Therefore to him that knoweth to good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. |
| Do you not know? Do you not understand? If the world's BIG PROBLEMS are YOUR responsibility, then YOU ARE GUILTY. As long as there is ONE MORE thing you can do, or ONE MORE dollar you can give, you are STILL GUILTY. | |
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS OUR EXAMPLE | |
| You who claim to be Christians: would you dare to accuse Our Lord Jesus Christ of greed, or laziness, or irresponsibility? Would YOU like to be RELEASED from the AWFUL responsibility for the SUFFERING MILLIONS? There is a way: All you have to do is IDENTIFY WITH, IMITATE, and OBEY Jesus Christ. | |
| Would you like to know WHY the world HATES Jesus? Would you like to know why the world will HATE YOU if you imitate Jesus? It's BECAUSE of what Jesus DIDN'T and DOESN'T do. When Jesus was asked What shall we do, that we might work the works of God, He DIDN'T say: give to the poor, visit the old folks, and comfort the sick: He said This is the work of God, that ye believe (trust, cling to, rely) on Him Whom He hath sent (John 6:28-29). | |
| Acts.13:39 | And by Him, all that BELIEVE are justified from ALL things, from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses. |
| You cannot be justified by any "relative performance" of religious or moral duties, BECAUSE there is ALWAYS that "one more" act of kindness you can do, and there is always that "one more" dollar you can give. | |
| Romans.8:14 | For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. |
| 15 | For ye have not received the spirit of bondage, again to fear: but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba (Daddy), Father. |
| Consider: When you are employed by someone, you are only responsible for what you are personally told to do. You may complete YOUR assignment and go home, without worrying about all the other things that SOMEBODY will have to do; UNLESS you are THE BOSS; then EVERYTHING is your responsibility. In Christianity, Jesus is THE boss; He sends instructions by the Holy Spirit to each of us: we each have our own "job" and our own "assignment". The Bible is our "company policy"; but it does not tell us individually what our personal assignment is. The Bible does not tell you which job to take, or which house to buy; yet we desire and expect guidance in these and other matters. If YOU determine what your duties ARE, then you are presuming to be THE BOSS: and EVERYTHING becomes YOUR responsibility. The only way to escape responsibility for EVERYTHING and EVERYBODY is to DO AS YOU ARE TOLD by The Holy Spirit. We should obey The Holy Spirit like a child obeys his parents. If your "Daddy" tells you to mow the lawn, it's not your fault if something else doesn't get done. We all know that SOMETHING is expected of us. If we don't know what that "something" is, we enter a bondage of fear, because EVERYTHING seems to be waiting for US to "take care of it". IF THEN, in order to escape the GUILT for failing to do all that seems to be required of us, we make ARBITRARY decisions about HOW MUCH to give or do for others, and THEN decide for ourselves that THIS IS ENOUGH, and TAKE CONFIDENCE from MEETING OUR OWN STANDARDS: we are CONDEMNED for SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS. We have become "authors of the law"; "made up our own law"; and "lived up to our own law". Jesus said: He that sent Me is with Me: the Father hath not left Me alone; for I do always those things that please Him (John 8:29). We are not left alone either; and if we truly desire to do always those things that please Him, we shall be able to DO AS WE ARE TOLD, and "leave the rest" to God. | |
| James.1:5 | If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. |
| To DENY that God CAN or WILL "find a way" to tell you what is required of you in ANY situation is to SLANDER God. God IS speaking to you, by The Holy Spirit; and whenever He does, He knows "how" to make you "hear" what He tells you: But whosoever speaketh against The Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come (Matt. 12:32). Many Christians will claim that this warning has nothing to do with them, while their refusal to hear and obey the Holy Ghost is resulting in confusion, tragedy, and lost opportunities for great victories and blessings. You don't have to speak ALOUD to speak against The Holy Ghost. To disobey is one thing; to account the "suggestion" of The Holy Ghost as the product of evil or corruption is ANOTHER. Many who CLAIM to want to "get right" with God have slipped quietly and secretly into reprobacy by accounting the "suggestion" of The Holy Ghost as a DESPICABLE THING because it INTERFERED WITH THEIR PLANS or CONTRADICTED THEIR PHILOSOPHY. | |
| Jesus said: | |
| John.5:30 | I can of Mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and My judgement is just: because I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. |
| Though Jesus never sinned, His sinlessness was not the product of effortless spontaneity. Jesus endured CONFLICTING desires and had to choose to OBEY God, JUST LIKE WE DO. | |
| Heb.5:15 | For we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. |
| Whatever Jesus DID or DIDN'T do; it was ALWAYS those things that pleased the Father. Therefore, as we take note of the things that Jesus DIDN'T do, we can UNDERSTAND that The Father DIDN'T want THOSE THINGS done. Jesus is our example. Therefore, there will be some things that YOU don't have to do: even if society will hold you guilty for not doing or giving what is CLEARLY in your power to DO or GIVE. All you have to do, is DO THE WILL OF GOD for you; DO AS YOU ARE TOLD: God accepts responsibility for the rest. | |
JESUS DIDN'T, and DOESN'T HEAL ALL THE SICK PEOPLE | |
| In John 5:1-17, Jesus passes by a place where THOUSANDS of sick people regularly congregated. Jesus picks out ONE MAN and heals him. The man that was healed shows NO FAITH, and doesn't even know Who healed him until later. The REST of the people at the Pool of Bethesda may not have even known that Jesus was ever there. Can you imagine what would be said of Jesus if He walked into the hospital, healed ONE MAN, and left the rest sick? YET, in another place and at another time great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them ALL (Matt. 12:15). Do you think that The Father should have made Jesus heal a few more people at the Pool of Bethesda? Why doesn't Jesus heal all the sick people in the world RIGHT NOW? Why DIDN'T, and DOESN'T, Jesus DO anything about it? Tell me, tell someone, your answer. | |
JESUS DIDN'T and DOESN'T CHAMPION THE CAUSE OF ALL THE POOR PEOPLE | |
| In Mark 14:3-9, Jesus is a dinner guest at the house of Simon the leper, and there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box and poured it upon His head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this WASTE of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, AND GIVEN TO THE POOR. Now consider with me, for a moment, the fact that three hundred pence was almost a years wages for the average working man in that day. Certainly, such a substantial sum of money could have provided some temporary relief for many of the poor; AND WHAT, you might ask, does Jesus need with an overpriced box of perfume? But instead of confirming their "pious outrage", Jesus says, Ye have the poor with you always, and WHENSOEVER YE WILL ye may do them good. Does THIS sound like someone who has obliged himself to champion the cause of the poor? And finally, in outright contradiction to their indignation over what they perceived as CARNAL EXTRAVAGANCE and waste; Jesus says, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her. Once again, Jesus has spoken and acted in way that is clean contrary to the standards of decency and righteousness that are commonly espoused by those who claim to embrace the Christian religion. | |
JESUS DIDN'T and DOESN'T PREVENT ALL INJUSTICE | |
| In Luke 12:13-14, a man comes to Jesus and complains that his brother is cheating him out of his share of the family inheritance, and he asks Jesus to intervene. Jesus says to him Man, who made Me a judge or a divider over you? What an answer! The Who that didn't make Jesus a judge or a divider over this man's affairs was The Father. This is THAT SAME Jesus who said Give to him that asketh thee, and Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain (Matt. 5:41-42).< | |
| The Romans were oppressing the Jews and taxing them to death at this time; but all Jesus has to say about it is, Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's (Matt.22:21), and, Resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also (Matt.5:39). Political corruption is no new phenomenon; but Jesus never displayed the slightest interest in politics. Slavery and racial prejudice was common in those days; but Jesus never leads a protest march or justifies any rebellion. He, who could still the waves and change the weather with a word: He who could have called upon 12 legions of angels (Matt. 26:35); DIDN'T, and DOESN'T prevent all the evils that men do to each other. | |
JESUS DIDN'T and DOESN'T PRAY FOR EVERYONE | |
| The 17th chapter of John contains the longest recorded prayer of Our Lord. In verse 9 Jesus says: I pray not for the world, but for them which Thou hast given Me: for they are Thine. What about those starving millions? What about those persecuted minorities? What about those sick children? What about YOUR unsolved problems? Did Jesus pray for YOU? | |
JESUS DIDN'T and DOESN'T CARE ABOUT THE CONCERNS OF THOSE WHO WILL NOT OBEY HIM OR HIS CHOSEN REPRESENTATIVES | |
| And as outrageous as this sounds, it simply cannot be denied, for He said MANY things like this: | |
| Matt.10:14 | And whosoever will not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. |
| Matt.15:14 | Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. |
| John.15:13 | Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. |
| 14 | Ye are my friends, IF ye do whatsoever I command you. |
| The Jesus of The Bible IS NOT the "jesus" of the children's Sunday School class, who does nothing but go around helping EVERYBODY He can, while expressing sympathy for the rest. Jesus is definitely ready to offer help, but ONLY under certain conditions: when that help will confirm the WILL and Truth of The Father. The only situations in which Jesus healed them all or FED THEM ALL were those in which the people followed Him for some distance away from their homes. Jesus accepted responsibility for what He Himself caused. | |
JESUS DIDN'T and DOESN'T TELL EVERYONE TO DO THE SAME THING | |
| Luke.9:59 | And Jesus said unto another, Follow Me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my Father. |
| 60 | But Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead; but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. |
| Jesus has just told this man to abandon his family, and go preach the kingdom of God. | |
| Mark.5:18 | And when He was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed Him that he might be with Him. |
| 19 | Howbeit, Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. |
| Jesus tells this man to go home and preach to his friends, even though this man has asked to accompany Jesus in His travels. | |
| The only things that we are ALL commanded to do is to LOVE GOD, HATE EVIL, and BELIEVE JESUS. Beyond that, you have to "hear" from God for yourself. God may speak to you personally by drawing your attention to a particular verse in The Bible; but many people will arbitrarily "assign" to themselves a Bible verse because it suits their ambitions. There is a good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God (Rom. 12:2) for EACH of us. The Holy Ghost said, separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them (Acts 13:2). The Apostles didn't "deduce" who to send by examining the Scriptures: The Holy Ghost said. | |
| The Holy Ghost is STILL SAYING: are you LISTENING? The reason why some people don't want to believe that The Holy Ghost still SPEAKS to specific persons with specific instructions is because THEY DON'T WANT to hear those instructions. They don't want God to "interfere" with THEIR "religion" OR their ambitions. They search the Scriptures; for in them they think they have eternal life: and they (the Scriptures) are they which testify of Jesus. And they will NOT COME to Jesus, for fear that He will tell them to do something that they don't want to do (John 5:39-40). They think to USE The Bible as some kind of "abra-cadabra"; digging out "this 'n that" phrase according to their need or whim: All the while, they REJECT the possibility that God may interrupt their cogitations with some PLAIN and CLEAR instructions. They have their "Biblical Principles" so they say they DON'T NEED any special guidance from God. This "living by Biblical principles" is just another brand of Law Keeping. That same Bible from which they get their "Principles" says: The New Testament (the NEW DEAL with God that has replaced Law Keeping) is not of the letter, but of the Spirit: for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life (2 Cor.3:6). | |
| Heb.12:25 | See that ye refuse not Him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused Him that spake on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven. |
| The Bible contains the things that He spake on earth. The WILL OF GOD for each of us individually is what He speaketh from heaven. Anyone who DARES to deny God the RIGHT and the ABILITY to speak to them PERSONALLY, or PRETENDS that God has abandoned them to "figure out" what to do with their life, will end up CONDEMNED by their own principles. You may not refuse Him that speaketh from heaven under the PRETENSE of "living by Biblical principles", without being GUILTY of either ignoring or speaking against The Holy Ghost, and for that, there are always unhappy consequences. | |
| You cannot "conclude" the perfect will of God for your life, you must be TOLD by God Himself, and He CAN make Himself heard. You are not authorized by the Bible to replace a RELATIONSHIP with a Living God with the practice of RELIGION. | |
| 1Cor.2:14 | But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. |
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