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The Resurrection of the Hammer and Sickle

Just the other day I was enjoying a cup of coffee at a local coffee shop.  As I passed through the shop, I saw a young women probably in her mid-twenties wearing a jacket covered with small pins and buttons.  The most prominent of the them was a red button with the yellow hammer and sickle.  As I walked by, I thought to myself, “Really! Really, has the hammer and sickle resurrected that quickly from the ash heap of history?”  I was a fan of the rock band White Heart in the 80’s and early 90’s. (I'm still a fan)  Their song “The Raging of the Moon” from the 1992 album Tales of Wonder opened with a steady yet solemn beat and with the following triumphant lyric sung by Rick Florian: 

“Thank God the world’s been saved, Marx is in his grave. The hammer and sickle lie broken on the ground.”    -   The Raging of the Moon - White Heart 

In the early 90’s, we were celebrating the fall of communism and socialist Russia, and we were excited for the people of the now former U.S.S.R.  Maybe now they would have the chance to live in freedom.  Christians flooded into the collapsed Soviet Union with the freeing gospel of Jesus and the compassionate love of the body of Christ.

Fast forward to 2012! The hammer and sickle is making a comeback right here in America.  We are living in an America that is increasingly secular and irreligious.  The irreligious nature of the climate has many factors.  On one hand the culture is more and more influenced by the values of secular humanism even though there is still a large portion of the population that believes in God or a supreme being.  On the other hand, we are experiencing the effects of a growing indifference to godly values and an embrace of the secular values of lifestyle choice being sold as the “moral” value of tolerance.  This shift in recent years has lead to a growing segment of the population becoming hardened to the blessing of freedom and democracy and has produced an intellectual entertainment with liberalism, socialism and Marxist concepts of social justice.  

How the Marxist philosophy has been sold to the Christian population is through the guise of social injustice.  There is a value of compassion that is a part of the Christian ethic, and liberals have marketed their brand of socialism and Marxism to the Christian populace by appealing to that ethic of Christian compassion.  So through the last couple of decades we have been told to embrace this institutional compassion as a way of fighting for the social justice that so many deserve.  

I want to lay out a case to you as to why the liberal Marxist pursuit of social justice is not only a deception but that it is also completely incompatible with a Christian worldview.  I am not saying Christianity couldn’t exist under Marxism/Socialism.  I am simple making the point that Marxism/Socialism is not a philosophy compatible with Christianity.  A Christian shouldn’t support Marxism/Socialism.  If Marxism/Socialism is achieved it will “fundamentally transform America” from a Christian nation filled with compassion for our fellow man to an un-Christian nation unable to minister to the needs of our fellow man.

 Marxism and Christianity - Two Opposite Propositions

Karl Marx and Jesus Christ both desired to create a “new man”.  The key to seeing the difference between the two is in understanding the two diametrically opposed definitions of what the “new man” is.  

Marx’s New Man

Marx looked at man and saw the need for making a new man.  He saw the need for man to be reformed but rejected the concept of human nature.  Marx said, man is whatever the society makes him to be.  The way Marx saw it, under capitalism, man was made to be selfish, greedy, aggressive, envious, hateful and fearful.  Under Socialism man would become devoid of all those vices.  Socialism would then create a “new man” made not in the image of God but man the world needs to build the great society.  This new man would be healthy, smart, industrious, tolerant, generous and talented.  And because this new man would possess all of these wonderful traits, the world would become a better place.  The “new man” would use his talent, health, intelligence, tolerance and generosity to achieve a society where the individual achieved what they needed and the rest was given to minister to the needs of others.  The idea was that you get to a point where you would no longer need governments, armies, police, courts and taxes.  The maxim of Marxism would then be achieved:

 "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need."

                                        Karl Marx - Critique of the Gotha Program

Now there is one fatal problem with this political science, philosophy and world view.  It ignores human nature and does not take into account mankind’s greatest flaw - sin and a sinful nature.  

Christ’s New Man

 Unlike Marx’s view of man, Jesus sees man as he actually is.  The apostle John tells us this in John 2:24-25:

 But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man.

Jesus did not need to commit Himself to man because He knows what is in men’s hearts.  Man does not need to be socially rehabilitated.  Man needs to be made into a new creation.  

In order for this to be possible, God the Father sent the Son into the world.  Jesus took on flesh to accomplish the work of redemption on the cross.  And through Christ’s victory over death and the grave and in the power of His resurrection, man can be, not rehabilitated, but remade.

One of the rulers of Israel named Nicodemus came to Jesus at night to talk.  He told Jesus that he recognized that Jesus was from God.  Then Jesus exploded with perhaps His most powerful statement, “Unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”  This confused Nicodemus who replied by asking how he could go back into his mother’s womb and be born a second time.  Jesus then explains this new birth.  “That which is born of flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”  In other words, to see the wonderful Kingdom of God, you have to be born again, born from above, born of the Spirit of God.

There is a popular notion that everyone is God’s child.  The reality is that we are God’s creation.  He made us by the natural process of human child birth that He created, but there are only two men in the Bible besides angels who are called a son of God - Adam and Jesus.  Adam was a son of God.  He was a direct creation of God.  He wasn’t made because of the will of a man.  Adam was made because of the will of God.  Jesus was also made by the will of God.  It was the Spirit of God who made Mary to be pregnant with Jesus.  Everyone else has been born into the world because of the will of a man who slept with a woman and she conceived.

So Jesus is saying the new man that can see the Kingdom of God is not born the natural way, he is born of God in the Spirit.  How does this happen?

The Greatest Right in the Universe

Everyone these days is talking about rights - the right to vote, the right to choose, the right to bear arms.  But there is one right that is greater than all of the other rights in the world.  What is it?  It is the right to become a son of God.  The apostle John articulates this right in the first chapter of his gospel.  John says this:

 

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:  who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.  John 1:12-13 (emphasis mine)

So how can you be born again?  How can you be born of the Spirit of God and be the new man that God wants to make out of you?  By receiving Jesus Christ into your life as your Lord and Savior.  Paul put it this way:  Confess Him as Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead and you will be saved.  Then you are born again.  You are a son of God, a direct creation of God.  That’s why Paul tells the Corinthian Christians:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. - II Corinthians 5:17 (emphasis mine)

So what about Marxism/Socialism?  

A Christian should not adopt a philosophy that is really at complete odds with Christianity.  Marxism’s goal is to create a new man devoid of God that would attempt to create a perfect “kingdom” without dealing with the true problem of mankind.  The results of Marxism/Socialism are counter-productive to the cause of Christ and to the mandate of the Great Commission.  It has literally trapped millions of lives in a cold hell of atheism and a false hope in man. It has been a tool of the enemy to kill and destroy millions of lives.  Jesus’ offer is something completely different. Jesus offers the greatest right in the universe, the right to become a son of God, to be born again and to see the Kingdom of God.  

If it’s up to you, don’t let the hammer and sickle be resurrected.  Let us proclaim the risen Christ and opportunity to share in that resurrection and be new men and women in Him.

By Charles Nestor II

Author of the book Who Is Jesus? - The Central Issue of Time and Space. Available on Kindle, iBookstore and on Amazon.com.

Is Rob Bell a Universalist?

Having just completed a 15 week sermon series on the 25 verses of the Epistle of Jude, I am definitely up on the New Testaments exhortation to "earnestly contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints". The opening line of my first sermon in the Jude series was this:

"War is hell!  At least that is the way that General William Sherman described it. He served as a General in the Union Army under Ulysses Grant during the Civil War, and he received recognition for his outstanding command of military strategy." 

What is interesting is that the very concept of literal Hell is what is being questioned these days and specifically in Rob Bell's new book: Love Wins: Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.  In a promotional video for the book, Rob Bell asks provacative and leading questions that would leave one at least speculating that he has fully embraced a Universalist theology.  With questions like these I might conclude that indeed he is a Universalist or he has constructed careful questions to stir the pot and sell a lot of books.

Rob Bell asks:

    Gandhi’s in hell? He is? And someone knows this for sure?

    Will only a few select people make it to heaven?

    And will billions and billions of people burn forever in hell?

    And if that’s the case, how do you become one of the few? Is it what you believe? Or what you say? Or     what you do? Or who you know? Or something that happens in your heart? Or do you need to be     initiated or baptized or take a class or be converted or be born again? How does one become one of     these few?

The word in Jude 3 for contend is the Greek word epagōnizomai.The word comes from the athletic world – from the wrestling mat. It is a strengthened form of the word meaning “to agonize.”  The prefix ep means upon or against.  The word means to agonize against. This is a picture of that word:

Jude encourages all believers to "agonize against" for the gospel.  The gospel is precious and has been placed in the hands of true believers in sacred trust.  We must not become too complacent and comfortable to contend for the faith.

Those whom Jude warns about are men who have crept into the church unnoticed.  The word for unnoticed in Jude 4 is the Greek word pyrasdunno which means to enter secretly, slip in stealthily.  The idea of a stealth is that it’s undetected by radar.  These men have come in by stealth, unnoticed.  How?  Why?  Because they appear to be one of us.  They appear to be spiritual leadership.  They came in even as shepherds.  Jesus gave a warning against those who appear to be true spiritual leadership.

Matthew 7:15

Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.

Shepherd’s wore clothing made from the sheep’s wool.  These false shepherds wore sheep’s clothing. The false teachers Jude warns about were in the church.  They were pastors, shepherds.  Today is no different.  The question I have raised in this blog is:  Is Rob Bell a universalist (The belief that many or all will be saved without confessing Jesus as Lord).  I don't know the answer to the question.  But I guess we all will have a better idea of that when his book is released on March 15.  In any event, I for one have been praying that the church would rise up and contend for the the true faith and present Jesus Christ to a "lost" and dying world.

By Charles Nestor II

"Location, Location, Location!"

Watch this short video where I explain the significance of the location of the crucifixion of Jesus.  When it comes to business, location is very important.  When it comes to Jesus finishing the Father's business, it was not only important but a place selected before the foundation of the world.  Check it out.  I delivered this teaching at Calvary Church in Irving, TX in August of 2010.  The lead Pastor is Ben Dailey and the founding Pastor is Executive Presbyter, J. Don George.

 

 

The Government On His Shoulder

The following is the manuscript from my Christmas Eve message last year given at Calvary Chapel South Orlando, December 24, 2009, the day that Congress passed the current healthcare bill.

The Government on His Shoulder

Text:  Isaiah 9:6

Introduction:

The opening line of the famous Christmas carol “Joy to the World” says:  Joy to the World, the Lord is come!  Let earth receive her king.   This song declares a powerful truth about Christmas that Jesus has come as King.  He is the ruler of the heavens and has come to earth to seek those who would enjoy the benefits of His government and peace.

A new leader is often a welcome message.  Why is this?  It is because so many rulers, leaders, kings and politicians let us down.  The history of the world is filled with rulers, kings and leaders who have let the people down.  They have used the people.  They have stolen from the people.  There are those who have felt let down by previous administrations here in this country.  And there is a ground swell of those who feel let down by the current administration and congress who seem to be robbing an empty treasury.

So what is the answer to to this succession of unfaithful rulers?  Let me submit to you tonight that the answer to that question is Christmas.  The answer to the question is what Christmas is all about.  Jesus may have come into this world as a baby, as a child, but He came to bring a kingdom.  He came as a King.  He came as one who would faithfully rule the people of God almighty.  And this was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah several hundred years before He was born into the world.

Let me take you to book of Isaiah chapter 9 and let us tonight take a look at the Government that Jesus offers to each and everyone of us tonight.

A Child is Born. 

Isaiah 9:6

 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given;  And the government will be upon His shoulder.  And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

 1.  The prophet Isaiah prophesied that a child would be born, a son would be given.  There was one that was coming that was going to be wonderful. 

Wonderful - Denotes the awe that He provokes in those who will see Him.  We are the ones who will be full of awe and wonder because He is full of wonder.  He is awesome and majestic.  His Person is beyond our comprehension.  That is why His name is Wonderful.

Counselor – Jesus is a counselor who would counsel you to receive the benefits of His rule.  He would counsel you to not rely on your own resources or the resources of an earthly kingdom, but to receive from him the riches of his kingdom.  He wants to give you the riches of Heaven and he Wants to give you the clothes that you need to get there, the white robes of His righteousness.

Mighty God - KJV and GLT, "the Mighty God".  To avoid any mistake, this is Jehovah, THE one God of Israel, and of all men.  To Jewish readers, there is only one option.  Jehovah God is coming in the form of a baby, born of a woman, as a human being.

Everlasting Father - One of the infrequent times God is referred to as "Father" in the OT.  Yet it is applied to the Messiah, giving Him equality with the eternal and everlasting Jehovah.  There is no end to Messiah or His kingdom.

Prince of Peace – Jesus comes to bring peace and not as the world gives peace.  Jesus is the Prince of Peace.  He has come to be our peace.  He offers to anyone who come to him, Peace with God.

The Government on His Shoulder.

1.Right in the middle of this verse, we have this interesting sentence.  And the Government will be on his shoulders.  What is about?  Have you wondered?

Israel had over 40 kings from King Saul all the way through to the Babylonian captivity that started in 586 BC.  And of all of the kings they had only 8 that are described in the Scriptures as good.

They say that power corrupts.  And absolute power corrupts absolutely.  This was the history of Israel.  After the glory days of David’s reign you had a succession of Kings that lead Israel in and out of idolatry, sin and corruption.  It’s just like our current situation of dealing with politicians here in US and kings around the world that deal in corruption. 

So Isaiah here is prophecying of the one who would be the Messiah, who would be born.  And he would have the government on His shoulder.  What is this deal with this reference to the government being on his shoulder?  What is meant by this?

Let me take you to a judgement that God brought down on a ruler in Israel through the prophet Isaiah.  It is found in Isaiah 22.  Isaiah chapter 22 is the story of man named Shebna and a man named Eliakim. 

Isaiah 22:15-19  Read

1.  Shebna was a man that was given great authority and power.  He was given the key of David.  It was a key to the treasury of David’s kingdom.  And he wore this key on his shoulder.

2.  And what did he do with this power and this key to the treasury. (Verse 16 and 18).  He made himself a carved seplechre, a grave.  It seems that he put some of the treasury in his seplechre.  Isn’t that interesting?  When we don’t use what God has given us for His glory, we just put it into our own grave. Verse 18 tells us Shebna rode in chariots.  He had his money and his ride!

So this guy with a key to the treasury on his shoulder used it for his own benefit.  He misused the Lord’s treasury.  Isaiah delivered God’s message concerning Shebna.  “You will lose the key that was given you, and the key was taken from Shebna and given to another.

Isaiah 22:20-25  Read

The focus is on a man named Eliakim, but the picture is Messianic.  The key of David's governement was given to another who would properly use it. 

Isaiah 22:22

The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder; So he shall open, and no one shall shut;  And he shall shut, and no one shall open.

Isaiah 9:6

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given;  And the government will be upon His shoulder…

Jesus talks about this key on His Shoulder in Revelation 3 to the church of Philadelphia.  It is an interesting thought that here in the United States that Philadelphia is the city where our government was formed and our Constitution signed.

Revelation 3:7-8

These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”:  8 “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it;

So Isaiah tells us that Jesus would have this key of the Government on His shoulder and Jesus himself tells us that He is the one who has this key to the treasury, this key of the government on His shoulder. 

So what is Jesus kingdom and rule like?  How is it different than all those who have come before him? What might such a government look like? First of all, it would look like its king. Politicians of this day look for what they can get from you. Jesus looks for what He can do for you.  Leaders of this day surround themselves with servants. Jesus surrounds us with His servanthood.  Leaders of this day use their power to build their empire. Jesus uses his power to wash our feet and make us clean and comfortable.  Leaders of this day trade their influence for money. God so loved that he gave . . .  Leaders of this day are desperate to be seen and heard. Jesus sought anonymity so He could be useful.

Obviously, Jesus is not in charge of the halls of Washington, London, Moscow, Baghdad or Pari. So, how can we ever believe the “government will be upon His shoulders”?

Actually, His government shows its workings in wonderful ways. Whenever I see someone who miraculously leaves a life of drugs or alcohol and is restored to his family and work, I can see that he is now governed by God. Whenever you see loving Christians gently caring for orphans and those rejected by family, you can know your watching people governed by God.  Whenever you see people eagerly learning the Bible and joyously praising, you know who the governor is. Whenever you see people give up lucrative careers simply to go and share the Good News of Jesus, you know they are governed by God.  When I see pastors carefully teach and lead the flock God has given them, I know they are getting signals from the great King.  When you see people leave family to live and teach in distant lands because they love the people who have not heard, you know they are governed by God.

So, indeed, the government of Jesus Christ is alive and working. Often silently, mostly unseen. We can be and are, by choice, governed by God. Hope and joy and peace and rest cover its subjects. Justice, mercy and grace, amazingly coexist. I like this Kingdom. The borders are open. Come on in.

And so how does Jesus use it.  He opens wide the door into the treasury of God’s kingdom.  So that whosever would come to him and turn to Him and trust Him, He will give to him from the riches of the treasury of Heaven.  What are these riches?  The New life that Jesus came to give to whosoever will call upon His name.  It is a new life, where Jesus is your Lord.  He is the one who is the government of your life.