March 14, 2003 ©Homer Kizer
Printable File
Commentary — From the Margins
"No More Hype"
Will "Christian" television admit it has hyped the promises of God, thereby creating in too many disciples unrealized expectations? It did tonight at the beginning of Trinity Broadcast Network's "Praise the Lord" broadcast. It aired an unscripted program in an attempt to "get real" with the Holy Spirit, little realizing that within its attempt to be honest with God, Scripture, and disciples were the hyped proclamations that will lead to its undoing.
I seldom have the opportunity to watch popular Christian telecasts, so perhaps my opportunity to view portions of today's "Praise the Lord" program was of the Holy Spirit/Pneuma. After all, we are, today, witnessing the earthy manifestations of war in the spiritual realm. Not a war for the affections of human beings. Rather, the war occurring is between two fallen angels for the control of spiritual Babylon, as the time of the Gentiles winds toward its conclusion halfway through seven years of tribulation, its conclusion coming when Christ Jesus fights on a day of battle, destroying the armies surrounding Jerusalem. Then, the Lord's Day begins. All of humanity will be liberated from bondage to sin—and fleshy vessels of clay will be fired in the kilns of war as liberated humanity learns to live by faith in Christ and in God the Father, for everyone who doesn't voluntarily return to slavery by accepting the mark of the beast will be excluded from participation in the antiChrist's economic system and will have to trust God to provide all of the person's needs.
Certainly Christian television has hyped the promises of YHWH to circumcised Israel, declaring those promises to be the will of Christ for spiritual Israel. Certainly the glorified Christ as the mediator of the new covenant wishes that all of spiritual Israel prospers and has good health. But those promises come with conditions, the primary one being that Israel believes God unto obedience by observing all of the commandments and decrees written in Deuteronomy. Hundreds of Christian broadcasters have hyped what God promised to do for circumcised Israel when Israel kept His commandments and Sabbaths without telling spiritual Israelites that God didn't write His laws on their hearts and minds for them to ignore the fine print of covenant in which they were placed when drawn from the world. They weren't called to be spiritual Gentiles and to continue living as Gentiles, but they were called to be spiritual Israelites and to live as Judeans, meaning that those hyped promises apply when Gentiles drawn by the Father live as Judeans. The law or covenant that separated physically circumcised Israelites from the world has been abolished. One new humanity now exists. Circumcision is of the heart and mind, and that spiritual circumcision determines who is in covenant with God by believing Him unto obedience.
But hyping the promises of God isn't the greatest problem Christian broadcasters face: hyping escapism is.
For too many spiritual Israelites, Christianity is escaping unpleasantness in every form, especially the endtime tribulation through which humanity will emerge either broken, as cracked clay pots, or glorified as mature heirs of God. As a doctrine, the pre-Tribulation rapture is without Scriptural support—those who are alive will not precede in resurrection those who have died. Yet most Evangelical Christians believe they will be raptured to heaven prior to the woes of Revelation; they believe hype about spending heaven in Jesus while humanity wrestles with survival. And when they are not raptured—and they won't be—their faith will be severely tried. Disillusioned, bewildered, betrayed, they will be easy prey for an American denomination holding the error of Bishop Arius, as food becomes the leveraged commodity throughout the industrialized world. They will still believe they deserve to be protected from the turmoil engulfing the world, turmoil that will result in their liberation from sin/lawlessness; they will continue to believe that God wouldn't put those disciples who are "right" with Him through what they're experiencing. Home and community stored food will seem like protection, so they will change "Christianities," becoming what they previously ridiculed.
But not enough foodstuffs will be available for the unprecedented conversion of formally Trinitarian Christians. The spiritual house of Israel will turn against the spiritual house of Judah, as these two divisions of spiritual Israel again struggle for dominance within spiritual Babylon, little realizing that both houses will be liberated in a future Passover when the Death Angel slays all firstborns, spiritual and physical, not covered by the blood of the Lamb's sacrifice. Two of every three Christians will believe previously preached hype, will not believe Christ, will not be ruled by Him, and will be rejected by Christ as if they were fire-damaged clay pots. They will not take the Passover on the 14th of Nisan, and they will be killed, mainly because of the hype presently broadcast by sincere but deceived pastors and teachers, prophets and theologians. Since more than half of the world will be self-professed Christians, the number killed will be a third of humanity.
We cannot really imagine death on that scale, but passages prophesying such carnage have been in the Book since John saw the end of this age in vision. John saw what would happen on the Lord's Day, the day when the kingdom of the world becomes the kingdom of the Father and His Messiah, when all of humanity not just spiritual Israel is liberated from bondage to sin/lawlessness, when Satan is cast from heaven and comes here as the antiChrist who requires humanity to accept the mark of the beast to buy or sell, when the 144,000 physical Israelites enter a geographical place of safety, when the Elect of spiritual Israel closes the gates of spiritual Jerusalem, its walls composed of living stones strengthened by the doctrines of Jesus. Christ won't return as the all-powerful Messiah for another 1260 days beyond the Lord's Day. No one is resurrected, or raptured until His return.
Christian television has hyped more blessings and greater escapism than God has promised to well-meaning disciples who abound in sin and celebrate a theology of lawlessness. As was done to circumcised Israel, God sent both houses of spiritual Israel into spiritual slavery because they profaned His Sabbaths and transgressed His laws, written on the hearts and minds of these disciples when they received the Holy Spirit, the Breath of God. Their lawlessness grieves the Holy Spirit: they transform Grace into justification for erasing what the Father wrote on their consciences. A great many disciples upon whom judgment has come and who should be in the first resurrection will fail or crack during their firing, because Christian broadcasters have hyped what disciples will get from God, rather than have taught what they, what we, through love, should desire to give to God. The flames of the Tribulation will vitrify these cracked pots, thereby rendering their clay unusable, even to excluding them from resurrection in the great White Throne Judgment. They will have squandered their chance for salvation because of hype broadcast today. So tell me, you who hype what you don't understand, how do you think you will fare when judged? How responsible will you be for the death of two billion potential sons and daughters, heirs, of God? Just a little? How little will be enough to cost you your salvation?
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