The Unmitigated Arrogance Of Man

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Here in Genesis the very first chapter of the bible is an account of how God created the heaven’s and the earth and everything in it along with His loving provision for mankind. Scientists have twisted themselves into pretzels trying to disprove through the logic of man, that which was breathed into existence by the word of God which all believers take on faith alone. This week we are witness to the world’s leaders meeting at a climate change summit in Paris, France. In their own great wisdom they have bought into the wisdom of men over the word of God. The unmitigated arrogance is astounding beyond words, as seemingly intelligent men play the fool for all the world to see. Because somehow these men believe that the future of the earth is in their hands and that they can somehow control a normal cyclic event of nature, when they have no control over their own lives and are unable to even control their own destiny.

By the sixth chapter of Genesis we get a better idea of who is into ultimate control and what happens when God’s creation gets out of control.

(Genesis 6: 1 - 4) Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose. And the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. 

This is an account of what happened when certain spirits fell to earth and copulated with the inhabitants and is also evidenced by Greek and Norse mythology. (This is speculation but makes sense historically in literature.)

(Genesis 6: 5 - 7) Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 

Following that we have the great flood and the biblical story of Noah, a man whom God considered righteous and sought to spare. There are also secular allusions to a great flood carved in stone tablets dating circa 2600 - 2100 BC by the ancient Sumerians who populated Mesopotamia. 

The bottom line of this message is that God is in total control and that mankind is willfully stupid, wasting his life’s energy on useless pursuits that will bear no fruit. This is clearly addressed in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth.

(1Corinthians 1: 20 - 21) Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 

These Are The Times That Try Men's Souls

How often we hear people say “History repeats itself!” As we survey our world we can be assured that those famous words spoken by Thomas Paine on December 23, 1776 are as true today as it was back then. “These are the times that try men’s souls.” We are faced in all quarters with continuous evil and tumult, many are fearful with what is coming upon our world, the tranquility of our lives has become a thing of the past, those we once looked to for answers have failed us and have become weak, dithering caricatures feigning leadership, empty feckless suits, devoid of any moral strength in times of need.

Micah the prophet was the first to prophesy the downfall of Jerusalem around 737 - 696 BC. Something we should not take lightly because history does in fact repeat itself. Reading from Micah it is clearly evident that conditions in his times are just as relevant today.

(Micah 7: 2 - 6) “The godly man has perished from the earth, and there is none upright among men; they all lie in wait for blood, and each hunts his brother with a net. Their hands are upon what is evil, to do it diligently; the prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; thus they weave it together. The best of them is like a brier, the most upright of them a thorn hedge. The day of their watchmen, of their punishment, has come; now their confusion is at hand.

Put no trust in a neighbor, have no confidence in a friend; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom; for the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house.”

Entering into the traditional winter holiday season these signs become all the more evident, police respond to increased domestic violence calls, the true nature of the human condition surfaces fueled by alcohol and drugs, indicating a universal sickness within the human soul. Surety of a secure future is fading as confidence in market plans and schemes are no longer trustworthy. Many who have striven for success see their efforts eaten by those who contribute nothing thus increasing division and strife. Then comes ISIS, a harbinger of final times. 

(Revelation 6:8)  And I saw, and behold, a pale horse, and its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him; and they were given power over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

These are depressing times and in fact we may be entering into yet another real world wide depression of even greater magnitude than that of the 1930’s. 

In spite of all that, those who know Jesus as savior and Lord can repeat the words of Franklin D Roosevelt, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” As we all place our ultimate trust in the Lord as Micah did.

(Micah 7: 7) “But as for me, I will look to the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.”

A Christian Response To Satan

As a follow-up to the previous commentary entitled "The Satanic Religion" and as we grieve for the loss of so many in the recent Paris attacks by the demon inspired radical Islamists of ISIS, I felt constrained to share the comments of a grieving Parisian husband, one who clearly knows the one true God and how to deny victory to the son's of Satan.

Antoine Leiris, a Parisian whose wife was killed in the Paris terrorist attacks on Friday, wrote a powerful response to the perpetrators three days after the tragedy. His wife, 35-year-old hair and makeup artist Helene Muyal-Leiris, was killed in the Bataclan concert hall on Friday. Muyal-Leiris leaves behind her husband and one 17-month-old son, Melvil.

"You will not have my hatred! Friday night, you took an exceptional life, the love of my life, the mother of my son, but you will not have my hatred. I don't know who you are and I don't want to know, you are dead souls. If this god, for whom you kill blindly, made us in his image, every bullet in the body of my wife would have been one more wound in his heart.

So, no, I will not grant you the gift of my hatred. You're asking for it, but responding to hatred with anger is falling victim to the same ignorance that has made you what you are. You want me to be scared, to view my countrymen with mistrust, to sacrifice my liberty for my security. You lost!

I saw her this morning. Finally, after nights and days of waiting. She was just as beautiful as when she left on Friday night, just as beautiful as when I fell hopelessly in love with her years ago. Of course I am devastated by this pain, I give you this little victory, but the pain will be short-lived. I know that she will be with us every day and that we will find ourselves again in God's paradise of eternal love to which you have no access. We are just two now, my son and me, but we are stronger than all the armies in the world. I don't have any more time to devote to you, I have to join Melvil who is waking up from his nap. He is barely 17-months-old. He will eat his meals as usual, and then we are going to play as usual, and for his whole life this little boy will threaten you by being happy and free. Because you will not have his hatred either."

Satanic Religion

The original followers of God were Jews who are the children of God’s promise through Abraham and his son Isaac. Following the death and resurrection of Jesus many became known as Christians and the church flourished, spreading rapidly throughout the entire Roman Empire and eventually the whole world.

Now Satan having been confounded by Christ’s victory over him through his death and resurrection had lost his legal entitlement to this world that he had gained through the deception of Adam and Eve and the usurpation of their entitlement as first rulers of the earth. True to form Satan never rests. In 622 AD a new religion was formed by the apostle of a false Moon god called Allah by Mohammad, a distant relative of Ishmael the bastard son of Abraham and Sarah’s Egyptian slave woman Hagar. Unlike Abraham and Sarah’s son, Ishmael and his offspring were not to share in the promise that God had made to Isaac and his heirs. Therein lies the following tools that Satan used to create a false religion. Envy being the very foundation for the hatred of Jews and Christians begetting malevolence and murder as a directive from the Quran for the disposal of infidels. Islamics deny the one true God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and have instead embraced the demon god of darkness, the moon god Allah. They deny the divinity of Jesus Christ and most importantly they deny the fact that the Crucifixion and Resurrection ever happened, which clearly points to the spirit behind this evil religion who is Satan himself. 

(1 John 4: 2 -3) This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

(Matthew 7:13) Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.” 

(1Peter 5: 8 - 9) Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

The recent attacks in Paris are not the work of a loving God or his followers, but is the obvious work of a demonically controlled group of Islamic State murderers who follow an evil belief system intent on taking the world back for Allah (Satan), and to eradicate all Christians and Jews from the face of the earth. I don’t soft pedal the truth and will never acquiesce to political correctness and religious tolerance for the likes of these evil ones. My heart goes out to those who have been duped into following them, they have a choice, perhaps some may see the light and step away.

Jesus said, (Luke 6: 45) “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure produces evil;"

Can Dead Spirits Come Back To Life?

(Genesis 1: 26 - 27) Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 

It’s important to realize that the conversation that God was having wasn’t between him and his angels, but was between His own three personalities, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. God is a tripartite being who made man in his own tripartite image with a physical body, a soul (personality) and a spirit, three distinct parts of a whole being. 

Immediately following the temptation and fall of man in the Garden of Eden we see evidence that God Himself had been having fellowship with His human creations and that there was a mutual relationship until something came between them.

(Genesis 3: 8 - 11)  “And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ So he said, ‘I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.’ And He said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?”’

(Genesis 3: 21)  “Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.” 

This was the first blood sacrifice in which God made a covering for man, it was a picture of a much greater sacrifice that God would later make as a covering for all of mankind which would awaken the spirit of God within all who acknowledge and receive God’s own Son, the sacrifice made in behalf of all mankind. 

(Vs. 22 - 23) “Then the Lord God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever’ therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.”

This is the point at which the Lord removed them from fellowship and the spirit which God had put within them went to sleep. In a spiritual sense they became two dimensional beings, dead to the things of God and spiritually unaware. 

The world we live in is predominately populated by two-dimensional beings defined by having a body and soul (personality) but lacking spiritual substance, a dead spirit. These are they that continually reject the promptings and call of the Holy Spirit. Two dimensional men and women are tied up only in the pursuit of mundane activities, knowing the names and scores of sports teams and heroes or all of the facts about the pathetic lives of Hollywood icons, but having no desire for the eternally substantive knowledge of God and they continually deny His existence.

On the other hand three-dimensional beings are those having a body, soul and depth of spirit which had come to life the moment they asked Jesus into their lives. These are they that now acknowledge the presence of Christ in their daily lives as if walking with Him again in the garden. Those lives are filled with a sense of meaningfulness and joy, a sense of future well beyond the current state of our existence. When considering the seasons and how all of nature speaks to the heart about the wonders of the Creator and how even the air we breathe comes from the will of God, how can we not acknowledge him in all our ways? 

(Daniel 12:2) And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,

some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.

No one needs to remain a two dimensional spiritually dead being, we all are given the choice to either receive or reject the gospel, the choice is ours alone and no one else’s. We cannot blame others for our own failure to say yes to Jesus. 

Weighed In The Balance And Found Wanting

This is the story of a man who defiled the things of God and embarrassed himself before thousands. However on close analysis we begin to realize that by his defiling behavior, he actually defiled himself before the Creator and lost everything as a result. This man was the polar opposite of Job who was tested by Satan with the approval of God. He lost everything but in his darkest moments he refused to curse or dishonor God who in turn returned to him all that he had lost and more as a reward for his faithfulness. Job is the man we would want to emulate.

(Daniel 5:1 - 6) King Belshaz′zar made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in front of the thousand. Belshaz′zar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver which Nebuchadnez′zar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. Then they brought in the golden and silver vessels which had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. Immediately the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand; and the king saw the hand as it wrote. Then the king’s color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together.

(Daniel 5: 13 - 28) Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king said to Daniel, “You are that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, whom the king my father brought from Judah. I have heard of you that the spirit of the holy gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation; but they could not show the interpretation of the matter. But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about your neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” Then Daniel answered before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another; nevertheless I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnez′zar your father kingship and greatness and glory and majesty; and because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him; whom he would he slew, and whom he would he kept alive; whom he would he raised up, and whom he would he put down. But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him; he was driven from among men, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild asses; he was fed grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of men, and sets over it whom he will. And you his son, Belshaz′zar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven; and the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored. “Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. And this is the writing that was inscribed: mene, mene, tekel, and parsin. This is the interpretation of the matter: mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

Those with understanding know that the heart of each believer is the temple of the Holy Spirit of God and yet how often do we lose self control during times of testing and defile ourselves using the Lord’s name in vain. These are the times that we like Nebuchadnez′zar have become like wild beasts and have become like one of the wild asses and then are ashamed later knowing full well that once again we are experiencing the fallout of an evil and defiling habit. This is our Deja Vu moment of testing, I use the term Deja Vu because once again Satan has gone before God and asked to test us, but unlike Job we sometimes fail miserably and have entered into the company of the likes of Belshazar as we are measured in the balance and are found wanting. This needn’t be a continual repeat experience of ongoing failure and spiritual face plants. The answer is found in once again in coming to God with a contrite heart acknowledging our own weakness and requesting His grace to defeat this shortfall in our personality that we may wipe it away permanently and no longer be afflicted by it. 

I have had a short fuse for certain kinds of nonsense and have suffered those explosive moments in the past, no one is immune to it! 

So first of all we need to identify the triggers and willfully make ourselves aware of them each time they become apparent. Second we have to put on the armor of God. It is most helpful to memorize the following scripture verses and to bring them quickly to mind when temptation arises.

(Ephesians 6: 10 - 12) Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

(2 Corinthians 10: 3 - 5) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. When we begin to recognize that a test is eminent, then it’s time to turn the corner on it by recalling these verses and consider the example set by the Lord himself as He defeated the temptation of Satan.

(Matthew 4:3 - 4)  Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

Daniel's Prophecies and ISIS

The leadership of United Nations member states including the United States seems to be so abysmally out of touch with the realities concerning ISIS. Perhaps this phenomena is the result of a seemingly world wide unilateral disconnect from biblical truths by the majority of current world leaders. God gives insight to the simple who seek His face! (James 1:5) If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. 

Quoting a letter from David Brickner, Executive Director of Jews for Jesus: 

“I’m writing to you from Jerusalem, where I’m meeting with Christian leaders, theologians and strategists regarding the future of gospel witness here in Israel. I’m also visiting with my parents, both in their 80s now, who have lived in this troubled city since 1989. Toward the northern border with Syria, you can hear the firing of heavy weaponry. This current battle against Israel is set in the context of ISIS’s evil intent. As you may know, ISIS stands for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, a murderous jihadist radical Islamic movement whose ultimate goal is the destruction of the people of Israel and the conquering of the land of Israel. The ISIS movement seems much like a very similar time about 2,100 years ago when Israel faced the threat of a different form of radical fundamentalist ideology from Syria under a wicked ruler named Antiochus Epiphanies. There are eerie similarities between the attacks on Israel then and now.”

The entire book of Daniel describes the prophecies that came to him through a series of dreams. Most but not all have been fulfilled in their exact order. In scripture, there is often an initial event which is a type of a similar and even greater event that will happen in latter times, this is true of Daniel's prophecy concerning Antiochus IV, a Syrian king who ruled Palestine from 175-165 B.C. He assumed the title "Theos Epiphanes" which meant god manifest and gives some idea of his tyrannical pride. (Daniel 11:21 - 35) describes the rule of Antiochus, who gained his throne "through flatteries.” The apocryphal books of 1 and 2 Maccabees describe the rule of Antiochus and the Jewish resistance to his brutality against Israel. Antiochus slaughtered thousands of Jews and attempted to obliterate the Jewish religion. History records him as desecrating the Temple by sacrificing a pig, the most unclean of animals, on the altar and forcing the priests to eat its flesh. He then set up in the Temple an idol of Zeus, the pagan deity he believed himself to be. 

When Jesus' words were recorded by Matthew, the reign of Antiochus had long since ended, and yet Jesus clearly speaks in a way that shows the abomination of desolation was to occur sometime in the future. So while the reign of Antiochus clearly fulfilled part of the prophecies contained in Daniel, there is evidently a future aspect to it as well. 

(Daniel 9:27) He shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall make sacrifice and offering cease; and in their place shall be an abomination that desolates, until the decreed end is poured out upon the desolator.

(Daniel12:11)  From the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that desolates is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred ninety days.

Antiochus’s reign was not characterized with a covenant with Israel that was broken in three and a half years, nor a complete desolation that occurred which gives further evidence of a future much greater fulfillment of Daniel's prophecies.

Jesus said: (Matthew 24: 15 - 21) “So when you see the desolating sacrilege standing in the holy place, as was spoken of by the prophet Daniel, then those in Judea must flee to the mountains; the one on the housetop must not go down to take what is in the house; the one in the field must not turn back to get a coat. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath. For at that time there will be great suffering” such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.
Note: The holy place isn't necessarily the temple, the holy place is Jerusalem.

(Matthew 24: 29 - 31) Immediately after the suffering of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’ with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

To the Jewish people: (Daniel 12: 1 -3) “At that time Michael, the great prince, the protector of your people, shall arise. There shall be a time of anguish, such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. 

Murder Same As Killing?

For several centuries in the King James version of the bible the sixth commandment had been written:

(Exodus 20:13) Thou shalt not kill. (Deuteronomy 5:17) Thou shalt not kill.

The mistranslation of this particular commandment from the original Hebrew text by the English monarchy raises a question when reading the highlighted verse here in Matthew 5. 

(Matthew 5:21 - 22) 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.

In the New King James version it is written as it was properly translated from the original Hebrew and Greek texts:

(Exodus 20:13) “You shall not murder. (Deuteronomy 5:17)  ‘You shall not murder.

The true intent of the commandment becomes evident in the highlighted verse below which is true to the original text.

(Matthew 5:21-22)  “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.

Whether the mistranslation was intentional or not no one will ever know, but one must understand that having translated it as such renders the original intention of the verse using the word murder to kill as something less specific and more broadly ambiguous. When it is abundantly clear that the penchant for murder comes from a malevolent heart, whereas a need to kill most often arises out of a need for self preservation or the defense of others. When God gave Moses the Commandments on Sinai, it was for the uplifting guidance of each individual within the Hebrew society and for those to come. The sixth commandment was plainly referencing how Cain had become insanely jealous of his brother Able who had received God’s approval for his sacrifice while his own had been rejected. It is couched in the verse, “That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.” His jealousy turned to anger, then malevolence whereupon he rose up in a rage and murdered his brother. All of God’s commandments deal with the condition of the heart and makes it clear whether or not one’s mind and heart is in sync with God’s will. We know that all have fallen short of perfection when we measure ourselves against those ten laws.

There are times and places where killing is justifiable and has actually been approved by God. David who was loved by God received His approval as he slew thousands to protect Israel from it’s enemies. Wars are waged to protect the weak from the overbearing forces of their enemies. If and when a man is called upon to protect his home and family or his neighbor with deadly force from another whose intention is to afflict harm or death, then it is clearly justifiable. Failure to act and to allow anyone to carry out evil intentions is every much an outright act of culpability and a sin against God.

I sought to clarify this as it doesn’t take much in terms of common sense to understand the true meaning in God’s word and how He would have us act in the dangerous times ahead. But then, there are those who continue to rail against God and fabricate their own rules and brand of righteousness which is an affront to God and we need not concern ourselves with them as they are woefully wrong and willfully lost.