A Phillipic For The Sycophant (PART 1)
Updated: Jan 15, 2022
It is a convenient happenstance for self-righteous wielders of the Bible to have scriptures at their disposal such as the one below. Those whose course in life led them to find righteousness in an organization of like-minded believers, and whose leader/s convinced them that "GOD IS WITH US" and "PARADISE IS ASSURED."
With it, one can proclaim one's righteous indignation toward any and all who believe differently, and handily condemn all others as "unbelievers," and as "those deceived by Satan." While at the same time, that OTHER faith is doing the same towards them.
A BATTLE OF THE GODS.
Ironically, each of the tens of thousands of the so-called Christian churches, or congregations around the world use the same scriptures to identify one another as the misguided and lost.
2 Corinthians 4:3-6
3 And even if our gospel (the truth) is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age (of this world, or this system of things) has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel (the truth) that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:3-6) (NIV) So, then, how does it come to this?
A lifetime of personal experience taught me that humanity is privileged to have even these small portions of scripture that are passed down. (John 21:24,25) We are fortunate that the brief accounts of Jesus' life, as well as the actions of the apostles and his other anointed followers, were recorded for our edification and faith. By these, the “Good news of the Kingdom” is known throughout Earth, and by these, we are at least afforded some hope.
However, these scant recordings thousands of years old, scribed, reiterated, transcribed, translated, retranslated and transliterated countless times down through these thousands of years, although certainly a blessing from our Creator, are proven ineffectual towards unifying humanity.
The message of Jesus' teachings of love and self-sacrifice, instead of applying them, humanity argues and struggles and suffers over them, accusing one another of ignorance and lies, each proclaiming their own righteous understanding and each thereby positing themselves to be judges of the world around them!
Still, as I peer into the Bible, reference it often, study it, and think about it constantly; my daily behaviors are judged according to everything I’ve learned from it. Tormented by the person I am within, my heart has formed a constant state of prayer.
Daily, I sit in front of this machine, hoping that somehow the truth will begin pouring from my fingertips. However, what comes out is the little that I already know and the little bit of faith I have been granted by it.
When it comes to receiving "the truth," someone once said to me, “Don’t try to intellectualize it.” A statement that is not only ludicrous but an impossibility! Why? Because discerning truth is a matter of intellect, just as proper behavior (righteousness) is a matter of correctly applying accurate knowledge of God's laws.
As a small child, I recall once seeing a hot-air balloon at some event, and I remember thinking, "If the balloon can float, why can people not just float up into the sky?" Simple, right? Breath in some hot air, or a little gas? Did it take intellect to understand later why or why not this would work? Do I need to explain how the analogy relates?
Knowledge, properly applied through reason and comprehension, if not gained, would leave me there leaping into the air and trying to float away!
"From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us."
Whereas I have no intention of or reason to speak out in opposition to Jehovah’s Witnesses or the truths I’ve learned while associating with them. That said, however, neither can I acknowledge them as the anointed of God, nor the spokesmen of God, something that all religions obviously claim to have as their divine right!
In fact, after all these years of learning and observing the various organizations and the people within them, I find no evidence that any such group exists. What does the scripture above say? "...he is not far from any one of us." No specific person or persons are mentioned.
Also, there is no denying that Jehovah's Witnesses work as hard or harder than any other Christian belief on Earth at ensuring people know about Jesus Christ and God's Kingdom; however, those of the anointed who walked with Christ on Earth, healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out demons, spoke miraculously in other languages, and so forth, according to scripture, already occupy their heavenly positions. Without such works, to claim that one is part of this anointed class is mere hubris. Anyone could do so. Any that claims such abilities in our day is proven to be a charlatan.
None of those calling themselves "Christian" will deny the fact that Jesus came to Earth for a single, specific reason: "To declare the good news of God's Kingdom and accomplish the will of his Father." As a consequence, Jesus taught everyone to pray this way,
"Our Father in heaven, let your name be made holy, let your kingdom come, and your will take place, on Earth just as it does in heaven..."
So, then, did Jesus do what he came to Earth to do? Did he accomplish God's Will as he was directed?
According to the Bible book of John, chapter 19 and verse 30, "When he had received the sour wine, Jesus said: "It has been accomplished!" And bowing his head he gave up his spirit."
After accomplishing his father's will, the face of all religions was going to change.
Earlier, coming upon a blind man, his disciples asked what the man did to be born blind. Jesus then told them something very revealing about the future of religion that obviously included Christianity in our time.
Jesus said:
"Neither this man sinned nor his parents, but it was so that the works of God might be made manifest in his case. We must do the works of the One who sent me while it is day: the night is coming when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the world's light."
"The night is coming when no man can work." When the Romans murdered Jesus Christ, i.e. when they hung him on the stake to die, the light died.
He left this world behind, and over the decades that followed, the Romans also murdered his followers. After this "darkness fell" as Jesus foretold it would, and in 325 CE, Emperor Constantine hijacked and perverted true Christianity, and the so-called "dark-ages" began. This was when the ANTICHRIST began to rule, marking the beginning of THE GREAT TRIBULATION!
SEE PART 2 - FOR CONTINUED DISCUSSION...