In our lives whenever we strive in faithfulness and obedience to God to be good, the devil is there to deceive and destroy.
My focus over recent months is that in Covenant Nations the love for Almighty God is growing cold. Since the 1950s the devils evil and unclean spirit forces are growing more insidious and destructive towards our Covenant Nations’ Christian civilisations. Covenant Nation Britain has been faithful in carrying out Our Lord’s commands:
Matthew 28.18-19
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,…”
Britain has done this for over 400 years – taking the Gospel and Empire to all Covenant Nations and many Territories. Jesus predicted this:
Matthew 24.12-14
12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,
13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
It is on my heart thus to focus on spiritual perception. I remember a true report [1] on perception:
In Washington, DC, at a Metro station in 2007, a man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed, stopped for a few seconds, and then hurried on to meet his schedule.
About 4 minutes later the violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and continued to walk. At 6 minutes a young man leaned against the wall to listen, then looked at his watch and started to walk again. At 10 minutes a 3-year-old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. At 45 minutes the musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32. After 1 hour he finished playing. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold out a theatre in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.
This is a true story. Joshua bell, playing incognito in the DC Metro station, was organised by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made…
How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?
This is a wonderful article on perception – true insight. It’s all to do with knowing – with knowledge. Knowledge deals with the insight or discernment of what is certain – what is real.
Remember this wonderful truth from Jesus:
Mark 4.11-12
11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables
12 so that, “‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'”
This truth has to do with blindness – spiritual blindness. I have very low vision. Physically I am legally blind, but I can “see”. Jesus is teaching that many people can physically see but are they able to spiritually “see” – that is perceive? Also, they may physically hear but do they spiritually understand? Holy Scripture has much to say about spiritual blindness.
In c701BC the Prophet Isaiah recorded:
Isaiah 50.1
This is what the Lord says: “Where is your mother’s certificate of divorce with which I sent her away? Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? Because of your sins you were sold; because of your transgressions your mother was sent away.
Almighty God sent His unfaithful people into captivity but would redeem the faithful:
Isaiah 54:5-6
5 For your Maker is your husband- the Lord Almighty is his name- the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.
6 The Lord will call you back…
Jesus came to save His people now and eternally. I believe a Scripture which teaches perception and knowing is Jesus’ transfiguration – knowing His Glory:
Mark 9:2-4, 7-10
2 After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them.
3 His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.
4 And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
7 Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
8 Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
10 They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant.
Jesus was bringing the Old Covenant truth into the reality of the New Covenant truth about His Mission to help Peter, James and John to perceive and understand. He wanted them to overcome spiritual blindness and ‘see’ His glory. When Jesus came in His second nature – His humanity, He demonstrated His divinity but left His Glory aside. Now He reveals His Glory. Moses represents the Old Covenant Law – the lawgiver. Elijah represents the Prophets of the Old Covenant. And now Jesus makes it clear who He is. The Apostle Paul records:
Hebrews 1.1-3
1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways,
2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.
3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
From Holy Scripture we remember that following Moses was Joshua – “a deliverer” making the exodus a reality. His Hebrew name means “the Lord saves”. On the mountain we see Moses standing with a “new deliver” an eternal deliverer whose Greek name Jesus means “the Lord saves” (Matthew 1:21). We see a new exodus by a new Joshua – Jesus Our Saviour. And we see Elijah with Moses and perceive a new Elijah:
Malachi 3.1
3 “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the Covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty.
Malachi 4.5
5 “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.
Matthew 11.11-15
11 I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.
14 And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come.
15 He who has ears, let him hear.
The Father’s voice (Mark 9.7) would have been remembered by Moses as he was told the same words c 1400 years before: Deuteronomy 18.15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.
Coming down the mountain the disciples were perplexed over Elijah’s presence but realised John the Baptist was the “new Elijah” ministering in the Power of Elijah. Will our Covenant Nations repent and truly return to orthodox faith in Jesus?
The Apostle Paul records:
Romans 1.18-21
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
The kingdom of God on earth has been revealed in all the Glory of Jesus. Covenant Nation Britain is blessed for the mission to “the nations” over the past 400 years, thus all Covenant Nations are blessed, blessed by perceiving and understanding Jesus is Saviour.
Note: Isaiah 61.1-3
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the blind,
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord ‘s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion – to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
And compare to:
Matthew 11.2-6
2 When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples
3 to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”
4 Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see:
5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.
6 Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”
John in prison is John the Baptist. The perceiving and understanding is not ours! It is wisdom from the Holy Spirit given to us because we have been given by the Father to the Son for eternal salvation in His Son Jesus. (John 5.24, 6.37, 39, 17.2, 6.24). My definition of wisdom is pragmatic – simply actions in Jesus that will be guided by the Holy Spirit to be successful now and externally.
1 Corinthians 2.6-11
6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.
7 No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.
8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” –
10 but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
11 The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
All Covenant Nations and Territories have been taught these truths through the faithfulness of the ministry of Covenant Nation Britain over the centuries through the liturgy of the Book of Common Prayer 1662.
[1] Author not known