Colin A Gyles » Love

Dr. Colin Gyles Acknowledging the Power

Colin — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 14:10:44 +0000

Dr. Colin Gyles speaks on the seventh day Sabbath as a sign that God created the world in six days. By keeping the seventh day Sabbath, one is acknowledging the power of God as the Creator. To do otherwise is to deny the Power. He encourages every soul to be subject to the Higher Power.

Click here to watch Dr. Colin Gyles Acknowledging the Power

Are you truly harmless?

Colin — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 17:30:18 +0000

Are You Harmless? (Summary)

All righteousness is summed up in love to God and love to our fellowmen. Love to our fellowmen is the most observable evidence of righteousness, but this love includes not only doing good works but also being harmless towards friends and enemies alike. Jesus was harmless. He has commanded His followers to be harmless. Jesus is the “express image” of His Father’s person. Therefore, the Father is harmless as Jesus portrayed Him. It is a part of the Devil’s misrepresentation of God to make out that the Father is an austere and stern individual who is hard to please and who punishes severely for the slightest mistake.

Quite the opposite, in His presence is fullness of joy. It is our separation from God by our voluntary choice that leaves us in distress and vulnerable to many evils. Those who will truly represent God in the latter days will be sealed with God’s character. Therefore, if we would be sealed we must be harmless. The question is, Are You Harmless? If you are not harmless, ask God to change your heart. Ask Him to take the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. He will give you a new heart and give you His Spirit . You will be a new person – someone that others can live with both now and in eternity. This is God’s desire for us.

FIRST DRAFTED MAY 20, 2010.

SERIES: Are you harmless?

PART ONE: Mark of True Christianity
PART 2: Forgive them because they do not know any better
PART 3: Love is harmless
PART 4: For Peace Sake
PART 5: True Christians are harmless
PART 6: Following Jesus
PART 7: Like Father, Like Son
PART 8: Understanding the wrath of God
PART 9: God’s Character
PART 10: Acquiring a new heart
PART 11: Are you truly harmless?

Acquiring a new heart

Colin — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 17:00:13 +0000

The Invitation, New Heart

Having bought us back Jesus now says:

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30.

We need not be afraid of God. He knows our situation even better than we think we know it. We are told:

“For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” Ps. 103:14

Further, He knows our inability to change ourselves.

“Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.” Jer. 13:23.

His intimate knowledge of our weaknesses and limitations puts Him in a position to give us just the help we need.

“For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.” Heb. 2:18.

Therefore, if one should ask: “Are you a Christian?” the question might well be re-phrased: “Are you harmless?” Of ourselves, we are not harmless.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9.

But there is hope. God can and has promised to remove the stony heart from those who desire to be changed and give them a new heart.

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26.

This is what conversion is all about. It is a miracle that God performs on the human heart. We cannot change ourselves but God can change us. All we need to do is ask Him.

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? Luke 11:13.

We need to appreciate the reason why this change of heart and transformation is necessary. God has promised to restore paradise. What if He restores paradise and places people in it who are harmful or selfish? How long would it continue to be paradise? It goes without saying that a significant part of what makes the restored paradise something that can be enjoyed is the presence of loving and loveable people.

Name of the Father in our Foreheads

God is perfecting a people for the final crisis in the last days, who like Job, will not waver even though subjected to the full onslaughts of Satan, of evil spirits and of evil men. We are called upon to show the superiority of righteousness over evil, of love over selfishness. To do this we must be like Jesus: holy, harmless, patient, longsuffering and non-violent. This group of people will have the Father’s character perfected in them. They are represented as follows:

And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. Revelation 14:1.

The name of God signifies His character (see Exodus 34:5, 6). To have the name of God written in our foreheads means that we have been transformed and are settled intellectually and spiritually with the character of God sealed in us. God is love (1 John 4:8) and so shall we be. The truth concerning the character of God is the single most important truth that needs to be known and correctly appreciated as we approach the final crisis. It is in beholding the true character of God that we will be changed into the same character and be sealed.

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2. Corinthians 3:18.

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. John 17:3.

Ask and you Shall be Given

God’s character that must be formed in us is one of love. An important manifestation of love is being harmless. Jesus Christ was harmless. His followers are harmless. Are you harmless? If you are not harmless, ask God to change your heart. Ask Him to take the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. He will give you a new heart and give you His Spirit. You will be a new person – one that others can live with both now and in eternity. This is God’s desire for us.

FIRST DRAFTED MAY 19, 2010.

SERIES: Are you harmless?

God’s character

Colin — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 09:14:01 +0000

Lesson from Job’s Experience

The history of Job’s experience shows clearly that suffering and destruction are caused by Satan and that he desperately tries to get people to believe that God is the One doing such things.

Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD. Job 1:9-12.

Satan swept away all Job’s possessions and killed all his children. Yet Job remained faithful to God. Satan was not satisfied. He went back and challenged God.

And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life. Job 2:4-6.

Satan afflicted Job with boils from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet so that Job was in abject distress and misery. Then he sent his agent Eliphaz to try to convince Job that God was the One causing his distress. Eliphaz related to Job that God had showed him in vision that such suffering was caused by the “blast of God” as punishment for sin. Clearly, God was not the One who gave Eliphaz this vision since God later reproved him (Job 42:7) for what he had been saying to Job concerning God. These were the words of Eliphaz:

Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off? Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same. By the blast of God they perish, and by the breath of his nostrils are they consumed. The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the fierce lion, and the teeth of the young lions, are broken. The old lion perisheth for lack of prey, and the stout lion’s whelps are scattered abroad. Now a thing was secretly brought to me, and mine ear received a little thereof. In thoughts from the visions of the night, when deep sleep falleth on men, Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones to shake. Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up: It stood still, but I could not discern the form thereof: an image was before mine eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice, saying, Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker? Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly: How much less in them that dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, which are crushed before the moth? They are destroyed from morning to evening: they perish for ever without any regarding it. Doth not their excellency which is in them go away? they die, even without wisdom. Job 4:7-21.

God’s Character

Such is the propaganda that Satan seeks to promulgate about God. But quite to the contrary, God is a loving Person. To know Him is to love Him. As Jesus was, so is the Father – loving, kind, patient, gentle and merciful. And so He desires that His children should be.

A significant part of our problem as human beings is that we were born in sin and sin, like a cloud of smoke, obscures our vision. We have gotten accustomed to viewing God through the cloud of sin and have thus developed a warped image of Him. But, if we could look beyond the cloud before sin entered the picture we might get a clearer, more accurate, picture of the type of Person God is.

Looking back at the beginning, what do we see? God created a paradise. He fixed it up and placed our first parents in it. What did He say to them? Did He lay on them any requirement? Did He demand anything of them? No! All He did was simply to give them paradise and say, in essence, “live and enjoy. It’s all yours”. It seems almost too good to be true. Perhaps, that is why many people don’t believe it is that simple. They think that God requires something. But He did not ask for anything. Thus, Paul tells us:

“For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.” Heb. 4:3.

With the work already finished and paradise given to us for us simply to rest, enjoy and be at peace with God and with each other, our first parents chose to invite Satan into their paradise home. That is where the problem started. All of a sudden, God was no longer seen for who He is – a loving, pleasant Father, a Giver of good gifts, but rather, as someone to be suspicious of and afraid of, who requires impossible things.

And yet God did not leave us. He gave us His laws to protect us as we try to survive within the cloud of sin that now envelopes our environment, tarnishes paradise and obscures our vision. David says of God’s laws:

“Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward”. Ps. 19:11

Before sin entered there was no need for any warning except one thing – “Don’t go to that one place, the tree of knowledge of good and evil, the only place where you could possibly come in contact with Satan. Apart from going to that one place and coming in contact with Satan you are perfectly safe.” As it was then, so it is now, that God’s commandments are not requirements by God for His sake. They are wholly for our benefit and protection. Let us not be mistaken in thinking that we are trying to please God when we obey His commandments, except to the extent that God is happy when He sees His children happy and protected. God is not making demands of us. He only wants us to be happy and at peace.

If we want to know God’s attitude towards sinners, look at what happened when Adam and Eve sinned and invited Satan into their home. Did God smite them or cut them off? No! He came searching for them. They were the ones who started running and hiding from God because of the fear and suspicion that they now had of Him. He told them what the results of their having Satan and his host of fallen angels around them would be. Then, in love, He put them out of the reach of the Tree of Life so that they would not live forever in the torment of sin. He made a promise that He would work out a way for Satan to be removed from their home and paradise be restored – Gen. 3.

Thus, looking back, beyond the cloud of sin’s presence we see the true character and personality of God. Yet, that is not all. God sent His Son – the only Person who is truly like Him, to come to us where we are in the cloud of sin so that we can see Him close-up and get some idea of the type of Person God is. In the process, He bought us back from Satan’s captivity by giving His only begotten Son (who volunteered – John 10:17,18) as a ransom (a payment to secure the release of captives) – 1 Tim. 2:6; Matt. 20:28.

First appeared May 19, 2010; Published February 13, 2011

SERIES: Are you harmless?

Understanding the wrath of God

Colin — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 15:12:10 +0000

What is the Wrath of God?

If Jesus’ teaching and behaviour are truly representative of the Father, then the Father is a pleasant person to relate to, and not someone to be afraid of. What then is the wrath of God?

Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. Isaiah 59:1,2.

In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer. Isaiah 54:8.

How long, LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire? Psalms 89:46.

Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. Psalms 27:9.

LORD, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled. Psalms 30:7.

Hear me speedily, O LORD: my spirit faileth: hide not thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. Psalms 143:7.

God’s wrath is the hiding of His face from those who reject Him, which leaves them without protection from the myriad evils that have been caused by sin. God consistently does good and no evil at all. Thus, as was pointed out earlier, the Father did not kill His Son on the cross nor require His death in man’s place. The Son volunteered to take man’s place and bear the consequences of sin in man’s behalf. Jesus said:

Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. John 10:17, 18.

The Father painfully delivered His Son to that which He had chosen.

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Matthew 27:46.

As the father’s face would have been hidden from sinful man, so His face was hidden from the One who took man’s place. The Father was not there giving His Son a whipping that He had purposed to give to man, but gave it to His Son instead, since His Son chose to take man’s place. It was the sins of humanity and the wickedness of sinners and evil spirits that killed the Saviour. Those who reject the Saviour will bear the consequences of sin themselves and will perish since “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

It is Sin that Causes Death

It is sin that causes death, not God. God is the author of good only. Therefore, there is nothing to fear about God’s presence. What we should fear is the hiding of His face, which leaves us vulnerable. Of course, an unrepentant, guilty conscience will lead us to want to flee from His presence, and in fleeing from Him we are left unprotected and desolate.

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:13-17.

Someone is trying to make out, contrary to what Jesus Christ depicted, that God is a very punitive Person who is watching for the slightest slip on our part to smite us. That person is Satan. While Satan is busy causing all manner of evil, suffering and destruction, he tries to convince the world that God is the One who is causing them. Even professed Christians have bought into that lie and have sought to emulate that hard-hearted attitude towards others who err, claiming that it is justice. But, if such was the nature of God’s justice, then all humanity would be cut off because we have all sinned.

The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Psalms 14:2, 3.

FIRST DRAFT May 19, 2010.

SERIES: Are you harmless?

Like Father Like Son

Colin — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 10:53:29 +0000

Power of Moral Authority

Those who, perhaps, do not appreciate the power of moral authority have seized upon the action of Jesus in chasing the money changers from the temple in order to make the claim that Jesus employed violence to achieve His purpose. Jesus had moral authority. Moral authority can stop the wrongdoer in his tracks. Jesus did not whip anyone as some persons try to make out. This is what the Bible says:

And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables. John 2:15.

Could it be imagined that a “scourge of small cords” could be used effectively against a large crowd of people gathered for a mass event such as a Jewish annual feast, if force and violence was the intention? If that was the extent of Jesus’ power on that occasion, then He certainly would not have gotten very far before He would have been seized and, perhaps, given a sound whipping Himself and thrown out of the temple. But what the people saw, and from which they fled, was the power of divinity that flashed through humanity – a moral power before which a guilty conscience cannot stand. This is the same power from which, in the last day, the wicked will flee and cry to the rocks and the mountains to fall on them and hide them “from the face of him that sitteth on the throne” (Rev. 6:16).

Jesus Manifested the Father’s Character

Jesus Christ was the perfect revelation of His Father. As Jesus was, so is the Father.

No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. John 1:18.

Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? John 14:9.

God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. Hebrews 1:1-3.

Jesus Christ was harmless. Is the Father harmless? The psalmist David said of God:

Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. Psalms 16:11.

As imperfect beings who are prone to err, can we be assured that, in God’s presence, we might not be suddenly smitten by Him, when we least expect it, because of some mistake that we might make? Jesus speaks of His Father as One who is not like that. Take the case of the father of the prodigal son which was used to illustrate the attitude of God towards His erring children:

And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living. And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him. And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry: For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry. Luke 15:13-24.

FIRST DRAFT MAY 19, 2010.

SERIES: Are you harmless?

Following Jesus

Colin — Tue, 18 May 2010 02:50:54 +0000

It might seem idealistic and far removed from reality to expect anyone to be entirely harmless, but Jesus demonstrated this in His responses and teaching over a wide range of cases that affect human experience. A number of such cases will now be highlighted.

1. When He was personally being abused.

For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. 1. Peter 2:21-23.

Jesus Sets the Example

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. Isaiah 53:7.

In this, one should consider that Jesus could have caused his attackers to be smitten but He chose not to retaliate. More than even carnal weapons, He could have called on supernatural power in His defense as indicated by His response to Peter who had earlier drawn a sword to defend Him.

2. When Peter tried to defend Him.

And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest’s, and smote off his ear. Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? Matthew 26:51-53.

Some people might say that while Jesus would not use violence to defend His own life yet it is an entirely different matter when it comes to His dealing with those who reject truth and righteousness. He will destroy them for righteousness’ sake, it is felt. But was that what He did when faced with such a situation?

3. When urged to destroy those who rejected Him.

And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village. Luke 9:51-56.

His response is significant. He did not say that the time was not appropriate for that type of intervention. Neither did He say that the situation was different from that of Elias (Elijah). Rather, He identified that type of reaction which would call fire from heaven to destroy the people as being actuated by a different spirit from His Spirit. Are we opening a hornet’s nest here? There are obvious questions that would arise immediately. But suffice it to say that when God gives spiritual gifts He does not take them back willy-nilly or micro-manage the recipient’s use of them. He gives gifts according to the potential for mature use by His servants but they, being imperfect, will not always act in the exact manner that He would act. Thus, we must be guided ultimately by Jesus Christ.

God did not give us imperfect men as our examples. Rather, He gave us His only begotten Son – the only Being who is perfectly like Him in character. God Himself made this distinction when, on the mount of transfiguration, Peter suggested: “Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.” (Matt. 17:4). Peter’s instinct was to place all three on the same level and possibly worship (build tabernacles – places of worship for) all three. But the Father Himself answered from heaven, saying:

“This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” Matt. 17:5.

This is an interesting statement by God Himself, considering that on one notable occasion previously, on Mount Sinai when God spoke audibly to Israel, the people begged Moses to act as a go-between messenger to bring God’s Word to them rather than have God speak to them directly. Rather than simply accepting the people’s proposal to have Moses speak to them on God’s behalf, God said:

“I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” Deut. 18:18.

That Prophet (the Messiah – God’s only begotten Son) was now here and God spoke again audibly telling us to listen to Him.

It is not that we should not listen to Moses or Elijah. But these men were faithful only as servants, having limited knowledge of the Master’s ways, whereas Jesus Christ was faithful as the Son of the Master, being able to show the mind of God more than any other.

“For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house”. Heb. 3:3

“But Christ as a son over his own house” Heb. 3:6

Therefore, let us not take comfort in the fact that servants of God have resorted to violence on occasions and think that it is therefore okay to do the same. Jesus is our standard of righteousness. And He will give us the wherewithal to be like Him if we so desire, so that His Father will be pleased with us as His Father was pleased with Him.

There were yet other cases when Jesus could have supported the punitive approach but showed otherwise.

4. When the law demanded the death of the offender.

And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. John 8:3-11.

Jesus is more kind to us than we are to each other.

5. When those He loved were being destroyed.

I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. John 10:11.

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8.

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Hebrews 2:14, 15.

He died in our place so that we might be released from the Devil’s captivity. Let this sink in. The Father did not require that we should die, nor did He demand the death of His Son in our place. We were held captive by the Devil because Adam sold himself and us to the Devil by voluntarily choosing to obey the Devil. Jesus bought us by giving Himself over into the hand of the evil one in our place, thus releasing us, except as we might choose to remain in the Devil’s hands. His experience of being separated from God would have been ours had He not taken our place. It should therefore be seen that we are being saved from the Devil’s whip and from the consequences of evil rather than being rescued from any punishment that God has prescribed.

SERIES: Are you harmless?

True Christians Are Harmless

Colin — Mon, 17 May 2010 08:42:15 +0000

True Christians Are Harmless

Are you harmless? If you are not harmless, then you are not really a Christian – regardless of what you profess. Do you love your enemies? Would you give your life for your enemy? Or would you rather kill your enemy? The Christian way is not only doing good deeds, it is also being harmless. The big betrayal of Jesus Christ is the association of Jesus Christ with violence. Christianity has earned for itself a bad reputation of being associated, in many cases, with violence and intolerance. Such is not true Christianity. True Christians are harmless as Jesus Christ Himself was harmless.

The thought that true Christians do not hurt other people provides a very important basis for determining, especially in the last days, what schemes and systems are of God and which ones are not. Jesus warned:

They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. John 16:2, 3.

This statement highlights another loop-hole through which misguided persons attempt to justify their giving-in to the carnal spirit of evil and intolerance. They claim that they are manifesting ‘righteous indignation’. Because of their supposedly high moral values and standing, they are greatly incensed about the ‘evil’ and ‘immorality’ of others, so they have to ensure that ‘justice’ is done. But this is just another manifestation of the carnal, unloving and unforgiving spirit that seeks to destroy rather than to restore.

True justice is primarily concerned with restoration and restitution, be it towards offender or victim. This might involve ensuring that the offender compensates the victim or withholding privileges from the offender which might otherwise be used for strengthening their offensive posture. Punishment, for the sake of punishment, that has nothing restorative about it and does not benefit anyone is only vengeance and is essentially carnal. Such a spirit will cause the supposed executor of ‘justice’ to leave the suffering victim unattended while they seek to vent their anger on the offender.

These zealous enforcers will say such things as: “this person deserves to be punished.” But, in that case, which of us do not deserve to be punished? Should our lives then revolve around punishing each other for our various misdeeds and supposed wrongs? Where then would it end? We would then be all under constant punishment, which would fit Satan’s agenda, rather than God’s.

In reality, many of those who are so consumed with executing this supposed justice have a lot of anger bottled up within them and would only be too ready to seize the opportunity to vent that anger when they find a supposedly justifiable basis for doing so. Such is not the manifestation of love, but rather, selfish gratification at the expense of others. Jesus said that “these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me” (St. John 16:3).

Even the dreaded Mark of the Beast (whatever one might consider it to be) is based on a scheme in which violence and coercion is used to impose a particular form of religious observance.

And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Revelation 13:15-17.
If one can appreciate that God does not operate on that basis, then one should be protected from misguidedly supporting any such scheme, regardless of the supposed benefits that it is presented as offering or the pious garb with which it might be clothed.

SERIES: Are you harmless?

For Peace Sake

admin — Sun, 16 May 2010 18:28:12 +0000

Give Up Right for Peace Sake

In short, we must be willing to give up our right for peace sake. This is explicitly said in the following words:

Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren. 1. Corinthians 6:7, 8.

Some persons think that following such counsel is a recipe for becoming a doormat for others to walk upon. This is not necessarily the case. Do we think that others are oftentimes not aware when they are being unkind to us? Very often, they are very much aware. And for this reason, they expect a fight. When you do not resist them and there is no fight, for the first time, they have an opportunity to reflect. Those who have a conscience will repent. Those who seem to have no conscience might not. But, would it have been better to fight? No. Even if you win the fight, there might remain lasting animosity. For a Christian it is not worth it.

Another consideration is that sometimes we genuinely think that we are right and it is only when we back down and look again at the disputed matter that we realize that we were wrong. Another possibility is that the other person might be wrong while thinking genuinely that he/she is right. And by us backing down that person reflects and sees that he/she was wrong. Of course, there is the worse case scenario, when we are in conflict with a genuinely ruthless person who will hurt and destroy without any compunction and will use your acquiescence to their advantage to further create distress for you. In such a case the best course is to leave the matter in God’s hands. Cry unto God! God is not indifferent. Jesus said:

And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Luke 18:7, 8.

What if Martyrdom is Your Lot?

And yet, it is still possible that we do not see immediate redress. In that case, still leave it to God. Be patient. Even until death. God will not fail to honour you – if not in this life, certainly in the next. He knows why He would allow it, and He does all things well. Take comfort in the knowledge that Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, suffered and died and we are only walking the road that Jesus walked for us. In the same way that Jesus overcame the temptation to retaliate and has been greatly honoured by His Father, we will likewise be honoured. And, if in God’s wisdom, He sees it fit to allow us to experience a martyr’s death, it means that any trying on our part to have it otherwise would only place us outside of His will for us. In that case, we could verily lose out not only on eternal life, but even in this life as well.

To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. Revelation 3:21.

Jesus Was Harmless

Jesus is highly honoured among Christians for His good work. What is little emphasized is the fact that, in addition to His good work, Jesus Christ was harmless. He was described as follows:

For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. Hebrews 7:26.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Isaiah 53:7, 9.

Jesus Christ was harmless and He has called upon His followers to be harmless.

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. Matthew 10:16.

SERIES: Are you harmless?

Love is harmless

Colin — Sun, 16 May 2010 18:23:59 +0000

“Love Worketh No Ill to His Neighbour”

This second manifestation of love (that is, being harmless to others) is greatly emphasized throughout the Scriptures, even though many persons seem to overlook it. In fact, apart from the fifth of the ten commandments, which speaks of a positive duty of good work, namely, to honour our parents, all the other commandments of the last six (which deal with love to our fellowmen) speak of the evil that we should not do to our neighbour (Exodus 20:13-17). The apostle Paul, after listing the five other commandments of the last six concluded:

Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13:8 -10.

Thus, regardless of the supposed good work that we claim to do or actually do, if we do ill to our neighbour, whether by word, deed or silence we are in contravention of the principle of love and are therefore being unrighteous. Further yet, if we do not actually do ill but have the mind to do it or wish for it to be done to someone we are just as unrighteous. Love is not just about appearances, it is about our real attitude towards others. Jesus further explained:

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Matthew 5:21-24.

From this, it is evident that being at peace with others and not offending them is far more important than religious ritualism and ceremonies.

A very important aspect of being at peace with others is highlighted as having a wholesome attitude toward our fellowmen; that is, not being angry with them without cause. A mark of evil is having a spirit of getting angry with other people who did not do us any wrong. Some people take offence over the simplest things. But a characteristic of love is that it is not easily provoked (1 Cor. 13:5). Therefore, people who find that they get upset very easily should beware of the evil that lurks in the shadows of that fragile temperament.

Before Cain slew his brother, Abel, God warned him about his being upset without good reason:

“And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door.” Genesis 4:6, 7.

Of course, Cain did not heed the warning and his anger eventually led him to kill his brother who had done him no wrong. True Christians are not quick to get upset and they seek at all times to make peace. Jesus summed it up with the following words:

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9.

So important it is that we seek to be at peace with others that Jesus said:

Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Matthew 5:38-42.