In the One Way, or in the other, the name of the LORD *will* be glorified, both by my life and by yours, as surely as there is a Sun in the sky and night follows the day.
This truth requires nothing from us. Neither our consent, nor our acceptance, our compliance, our obedience, nor even our acknowledgement of its existence, are necessary. Hopefully, we receive the grace to know our true place, as slaves and bond-servants of either to sin, or to He Who ransoms us from it. Or perhaps through the parasitic cancer of pride we consider ourselves to be potential gods striving to "recover former glory". Or maybe we bow to no god but the idol of currency, like most of the world. Perhaps we merely hold *ourselves* in higher esteem than He Who created us. Whatever our worldview, OUR LIVES *WILL* GLORIFY HIM.
The Sovereign, Holy, Almighty LORD needs no one to worship Him, or be His people.
His Sovereignty is such that all of the Heavens are His roof, and the Earth is His footstool. It is such that if His followers had been silent rather than shouting their praise and glory as the Master entered Jerusalem, then the very *stones* would have cried out. His glory is magnified by all creation, whether it yields its will in submission, or refuses and is made into an example of His wrath. His Holiness is so intolerant of sin that the laws given to Israel simply could not be followed without a spirit and heart broken and contrite before the LORD. Pride must be *absent*, our souls completely cleansed of its terminal cancer, to see the utterly hopeless calamity of our soul's state; the complete unworthiness of us to anything but *death* beside His holiness. This remains so for those of us who are disciples of His Son today, because it was only by the Blood of Christ that we may stand before Him.
Yet from the time of Aristotle, on through to today's world, pride and self will are considered virtue and are exalted, while humility, and the denial of self necessary to follow Jesus are considered weakness and are shunned.
The LORD has made clear what is of value to Him.
"Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I have spoken against this place and its people, that they would become accursed and laid waste, and because you tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the LORD." 2 Kings 22:19
"The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18
"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." Psalm 51:17
"For this is what the high and lofty One says--he who lives forever, whose name is holy: "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite." Isaiah 57:15
"Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity." Joel 2:13
Those infested with Pride and the Will to wield it are impaled upon them both before the LORD. To wield them rather than *yield* them is unbowed rebellion against Him, and the Word shows that severe, lasting consequence follow, even when we are forgiven.
Yes, I said infested; Pride is a parasite with the benefit of a good press agent. It grows, and metastasizes, and KILLS; like cancer. It is an affliction which causes blindness to the condition of the soul it preys upon, until that soul is brought, naked, all pride and will torn away before the presence of the LORD in the day of judgment. By then it is too late, and the soul is delivered to the Second Death.
The theme of "Obey the LORD or be used as an example of wrath upon disobedience to Him," is not a state that has changed with the sacrifice and resurrection of His Son, folks; that was the only way in which the Father would accept restoring us to Him. It did not change the condition of God's Holiness and Sovereignty in any way.
"God is not like people. He tells no lies. He is not like humans. He doesn't change his mind. When He says something, He does it. When He makes a promise, He keeps it." Numbers 23:19
Are you one who thinks that your sense of right and wrong need not submit wholly to, or requires no alignment with, that of the LORD? Do you think that He will see the difference in your measurement and understand; excuse the differences? Do you think He sent His ONLY Son to be tortured and crushed so He could start winking with the rest of the world at that which He calls sin and abomination?
Do you even fear the LORD at all?
Consider the scriptures, both listed here, and the innumerable others within the Word which expose those thoughts of presumption for the deadly lie which they are, and consider where your worldview aligns with them, and THINK AGAIN. Jesus said that the way to life is narrow and few will find it because of those untold billions who think that same way; that their way is good enough.
Do you not like these questions I have asked? Do you consider them unfair? Intolerant? Inconsiderate of your feelings?
You would be correct. The truth doesn't take our feelings into any account whatsoever; we are either accepting of the Truth, allow ourselves to be branches of the Vine, be painfully pruned and roll with it, or we reject it, are cut off from the Vine, and are crushed by it as it rolls right over us... before we are summarily burned in the fire.
The truth is absolute and unchanging. Permanent. It is therefore intolerant of all your desired modifications to it.
This--this life--*being* here; the dates that will mark our headstones signifying the blink of an eye between our birth and our death--this is not about us. You do not breathe in and out for the sake of what you think is fair or what pleases you or makes *you* happy; the dream of pursuit of whatever pleases you is *not* the will of the LORD. You are placed here to love, worship, and glorify the One Who made you. That's it. Do it *His* way and live forever; do it your own way and die for all eternity. This is the central theme throughout the Word of the LORD from Genesis through the Revelation of John. It requires sacrifice, rejection, and enmity with the entire world, because it rejected the Truth long ago and *knows* you are removed from its fate, and are insulated from the evil of its dominion.
When Jesus said, "All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved." in Matthew 10:22, did you think he was playing? Did you think you had devised some clever way to be saved while avoiding the hatred and persecution that will come with it, when the LORD also said, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first."?
You still think you've "got this", *your* way, and don't need Him, don't you.
For your own sake; please think again. The lie only lasts for as long as you breathe, and the breathing can stop at any time; in your sleep, walking down the street, behind the wheel of your car, at your desk reading a blog...
No euphoric, temporal façade, which defies the Absolute Truth of God's Sovereignty and lasts for precisely the split second we inhabit this place and no longer, is worth the burning agony of eternity separated from Him.
Behold two Kings of Israel. Both glorified God.
One Saul. One David.
Saul was chosen of the people in rejection of the LORD. David was chosen by the LORD in spite of the choice of the people, to establish His Kingdom forever.
Saul made decisions based upon fear of his own people, and forgot his true place. David made his choices based upon his fear of the LORD, and when he forgot his place, he truly repented, even as he was harshly punished.
Saul was blinded by his pride into thinking he could disobey the LORD, deceive the prophet Samuel, and get away with it, because he esteemed himself above his need to obey. David was blinded by his lust, disobeyed the LORD and repented when confronted by the prophet Nathan, because he loved the LORD above himself and knew in his heart that deceiving Him was impossible.
Saul reacted to the truth of his sin with fear rather than contrite submission, compounding the sin with ever more sin, until the LORD used him to make an example of what happens when a person abandons His way in favor of their own. David reacted to the truth of his sin with repentance, his heart broken by that truth, and the LORD used him to show that even as your sin has lasting consequence, if you repent and set your heart upon pleasing Him you will be forgiven, and be made into an example of His grace and mercy. (Even as David's first son born from Bathsheba died in infancy because of his sin in taking her for his wife, he received the punishment in full acceptance, and moved on in service to the LORD). That is severe punishment and lasting consequence for *the anointed King of Israel*, chosen of the LORD, recognized by the Almighty Himself as a man after His own heart... and some of us have the hubris to think we can escape consequence... we, the *creation*, *willing* our sense of right and wrong to be *complied* to by the *Creator*, instead of the other way around.
Saul was king for 2 years. *2 years.* He died abandoned by the LORD for having forsaken Him. The bodies of his sons were slain beside him, and there were no farewells. Even at the moment of his death, Saul fell upon his own sword for fear of what the enemy's humiliation would be once they caught him. David was king for *40 years* and died in his bed as a servant of the LORD. He said his farewells to Solomon his son, advising him to both observe what the LORD requires, and walk in His ways. His line was established forever, because his heart was after God's own.
Behold two kings of Israel. BOTH glorified God.
In one way, or in the other, our lives *will* do the very same, serving as examples of grace and mercy, or examples of wrath and destruction.
Please. Yield to the will of the LORD and serve Him. It is for no one's sake but your own, because He will be glorified by your example whether you do or not.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
The Grace To Submit (Part 2)
Fresh from being tempted in the wilderness by Satan, it is recorded in Luke 4 that Jesus went home to Nazareth, to identify himself and his purpose there, only to be so rejected that they ran him out of town and sought to murder him by throwing him down from the cliffs Nazareth was built on.
To precipitate this, he read the verses from the prophet Isaiah, which said, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor."
He came to save people who are granted the grace to be aware of their decrepit spiritual state,
and have hearts and spirits broken and contrite as a result. The vast majority of people, especially those who knew him merely as the son of Joseph, possessed none of these attributes,
and Jesus knew it. So when he told them as much in terms they fully understood, they were infuriated, as the remainder of Luke 4 details.
The Lord identified the spiritual state of men to that of a captive cast into a dark prison, sightless and broken, bruised by iron chains.
It brings to mind the horrific fate of Zedekiah, last King of Judah, who, already in tributary bondage to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, entered into alliance with the Pharaoh of Egypt and revolted without the blessing of the LORD, and the resulting siege and capture of Jerusalem led to his fleeing the city with his followers, only to be captured, brought before Nebuchadnezzar in
chains, and have his last sight be that of his sons being put to death before his own eyes were gouged out.
Zedekiah perished in that prison.
Having disobeyed the LORD through the word He gave from the prophet Jeremiah, he brought utter calamity to himself, his sons, and his entire kingdom. This is being repeated in various ways, in the lives of innumerable people, who hear the gospel of salvation, only to either refuse it or deceive themselves into thinking they need not submit their lives to receive it; because their pride has stolen their sight, and prevented them from seeing that their soul is destitute, that the thing they hold to their breast by the acceptance of the world is sin and therefore condemns their spirit to judgment and *death*. Thus they are hopelessly bound to their sin as with chains in the dark. Nor do they recognize the poverty of their spirit, as their sins have not broken their hearts, made possible because the parasite of pride is all that sustains them while the breath of life remains.
Jesus came for those who acknowledge the hopeless condition of their spirit and are crushed by the truth of it. He did not come for those who think they're all good as they are. He made this abundantly clear when in Luke 13 he was asked bluntly, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?"
"He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’ “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out." Luke 4:23-28
In short, Jesus answered in the affirmative.
THIS is the truth. Ignored. Inconvenient.
Painful.
TRUE.
It is not the lie you have been told, that everyone gets to heaven their own way. Nor the lie which says God loves and accepts you just the way you are. Nor the one that says we are to tolerate and accept the behaviors which the secular world tolerates and accepts, and that God, who changes with the times, does too.
These are lies wrought by the rulers of the darkness of this world, the spiritual wickedness in high places, led by the Accuser, he who walks about seeking whom he may devour before he himself receives judgment in everlasting fire. And all who exchange the truth of God for these lies will be impaled by them, for the lies leave them under the wrath and judgment of the LORD, who in spite of all claims to the contrary is unchanging, and makes mockery of "enlightened, modern understanding".
God is not fooled or impressed by any such claims; even those which deny Him.
"The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise
will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.” Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their work in darkness and think, “Who sees us? Who will know?” You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pot say of the potter, “He knows nothing”?" Isaiah 29:13-16
"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. For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the
intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." 1 Corinthians 1:18-19
Receive the grace of the LORD and submit all that you are to it. Acknowledge the truth and permit it to break your spirit and replace your pride with humility and a contrite heart. Then the LORD will release you from your captivity, restore your sight, and set you free.
"To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."John 8:31-36.
23 short verses from here, those who Jesus spoke to here took up stones to kill Him.
Be one who accepts and obeys the truth when convicted by it, rather than one whose heart is so hardened against it that they would sooner crush it to earth and remain blind and in the dark than submit and be transformed.
To precipitate this, he read the verses from the prophet Isaiah, which said, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor."
He came to save people who are granted the grace to be aware of their decrepit spiritual state,
and have hearts and spirits broken and contrite as a result. The vast majority of people, especially those who knew him merely as the son of Joseph, possessed none of these attributes,
and Jesus knew it. So when he told them as much in terms they fully understood, they were infuriated, as the remainder of Luke 4 details.
The Lord identified the spiritual state of men to that of a captive cast into a dark prison, sightless and broken, bruised by iron chains.
It brings to mind the horrific fate of Zedekiah, last King of Judah, who, already in tributary bondage to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, entered into alliance with the Pharaoh of Egypt and revolted without the blessing of the LORD, and the resulting siege and capture of Jerusalem led to his fleeing the city with his followers, only to be captured, brought before Nebuchadnezzar in
chains, and have his last sight be that of his sons being put to death before his own eyes were gouged out.
Zedekiah perished in that prison.
Having disobeyed the LORD through the word He gave from the prophet Jeremiah, he brought utter calamity to himself, his sons, and his entire kingdom. This is being repeated in various ways, in the lives of innumerable people, who hear the gospel of salvation, only to either refuse it or deceive themselves into thinking they need not submit their lives to receive it; because their pride has stolen their sight, and prevented them from seeing that their soul is destitute, that the thing they hold to their breast by the acceptance of the world is sin and therefore condemns their spirit to judgment and *death*. Thus they are hopelessly bound to their sin as with chains in the dark. Nor do they recognize the poverty of their spirit, as their sins have not broken their hearts, made possible because the parasite of pride is all that sustains them while the breath of life remains.
Jesus came for those who acknowledge the hopeless condition of their spirit and are crushed by the truth of it. He did not come for those who think they're all good as they are. He made this abundantly clear when in Luke 13 he was asked bluntly, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?"
"He said to them, “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’ “There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out." Luke 4:23-28
In short, Jesus answered in the affirmative.
THIS is the truth. Ignored. Inconvenient.
Painful.
TRUE.
It is not the lie you have been told, that everyone gets to heaven their own way. Nor the lie which says God loves and accepts you just the way you are. Nor the one that says we are to tolerate and accept the behaviors which the secular world tolerates and accepts, and that God, who changes with the times, does too.
These are lies wrought by the rulers of the darkness of this world, the spiritual wickedness in high places, led by the Accuser, he who walks about seeking whom he may devour before he himself receives judgment in everlasting fire. And all who exchange the truth of God for these lies will be impaled by them, for the lies leave them under the wrath and judgment of the LORD, who in spite of all claims to the contrary is unchanging, and makes mockery of "enlightened, modern understanding".
God is not fooled or impressed by any such claims; even those which deny Him.
"The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise
will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.” Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their work in darkness and think, “Who sees us? Who will know?” You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pot say of the potter, “He knows nothing”?" Isaiah 29:13-16
"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. For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the
intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." 1 Corinthians 1:18-19
Receive the grace of the LORD and submit all that you are to it. Acknowledge the truth and permit it to break your spirit and replace your pride with humility and a contrite heart. Then the LORD will release you from your captivity, restore your sight, and set you free.
"To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."John 8:31-36.
23 short verses from here, those who Jesus spoke to here took up stones to kill Him.
Be one who accepts and obeys the truth when convicted by it, rather than one whose heart is so hardened against it that they would sooner crush it to earth and remain blind and in the dark than submit and be transformed.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
The Subjugation of Forttopia
“Since its founding, the people of Forttopia considered themselves a sovereign nation. Then, suddenly, they were overwhelmed, and defeated…” –Cyril T. Jermin. My thanks to you, Elder Brother in the LORD, for speaking such edifying truth to me, and inspiring this writing.
It came to pass, that in the year in which men first took steps upon the surface of the Moon, the LORD saw fit to establish one of a countless number of nations founded upon the Earth, that its inhabitants would worship and glorify Him. Its large population nestled within mountains completely shrouded from view, for all its realm was brought to being by the LORD within the guise and form of a child. Where the child’s eyes fell, there did the gaze of the nation fall. What the child conceived in this thought, the nation also pondered. Where his stone heart experienced any emotion, the entire nation braced itself as that emotion washed over them in a flood.
The LORD created this nation, as all others He had made, to glorify Himself; and it assuredly would. For by its obedience and servitude to Him, it would bring Him glory by the way in which the nation used its gifts to that cause and was blessed by Him, while by its disobedience and rebellion it would bring Him glory in the way it would be utterly destroyed, as an example to every other nation, everywhere. In no conceivable ending of this nation would the LORD not point to it and say, “…that all may know that I am the LORD,” whether through its submission and service to Him, or its rebellion and service to itself.
This nation, called Forttopia, was and remains comprised of one central metropolis, girded about and supplied continuously by outlying cities that are in allegiance with it. The Metropolis was named in that realm for the child in whom it was made, Steven I, who was to be Steward over the nation in service of the One True King, the Son of God; but once the child grew in awareness, that which inhabits all humanity, sin, entered the water supply of the nation and, just as in all humanity, utterly corrupted every inhabitant from the Steward down. What was worse, it also thoroughly separated the child from the God who made him and doomed him to the undying wrath of the LORD’s judgment. Steven I kept the title of his stewardship, but by the corruption of sin, which could not be prevented by any force the nations can muster, (thanks to the first such nation of humanity’s founding, known as Adam,) the Steward and his entire realm were subverted by the deadly parasite that is the first child of sin; pride.
In this manner was the Metropolis renamed Pride, after the parasite which claimed the Steward and later every inhabitant within the walls. Its infection and resultant blinding influence spread unchecked, placing its numerous outlying cities in utter bondage through power of its corruption.
Greatest among those who contributed to Pride’s growth were cities which began as one name before taking on another once the parasite took hold. The Submitted Will, which was to be kept clean and be the habitation of the Spirit of the LORD, became the palace of the Steward in his corruption and called itself Free Will, and forsook all truth of being bondservant to the King. The city of Anger, a common, natural occurrence within the nations of humanity, grew powerful and became divided into three brethren cities, and through Pride became flooded with the self righteousness pouring from the palace gates, becoming known as Malice, Vengeance, and Wrath. The city of Interdependence was claimed by the parasite and went mad, denied its purpose and begat by Pride’s influence Greed, Lust, the shining city of Entitlement, and the host of sub-districts patrolled by their powerful armies, all named from the world without while feeding the insatiable drives of their inhabitants. In this manner, all the cities about Pride were subverted and twisted into self serving forms of themselves.
Were it not for the mountains which sheltered Forttopia, constructed from the prayers of the nations of the child’s forebears, their full submission to the LORD that made them, and all the suffering they bore for standing in the world as God’s children, Forttopia would have immediately joined the nations numbered greater than the stars; those which forsook the Absolute Truth of why they were created. It would have succumbed immediately to the blindness of Pride’s more metastasized stages; that which makes the nation utterly forget that it is from birth doomed to fall under the wrath of the LORD, who is holy and righteous and will not abide sin, and can only be saved by *Him*, that their life is not their own and it would fully account for its disobedience before the LORD once the heart of the child inevitably stopped beating, and its last breath was taken.
In spite of this, Pride began to issue edicts to govern the nation, and the Steward signed off on them, for the parasite made him blind to only that which Pride wanted him to see, and he was bound by those edicts, having no power to overcome the seductive euphoria of all which Pride fed him from the surrounding cities. The Steward, like the stewards of countless other nations, gave only lip service to the LORD his King, and was blind to the state of his rebellion, as Lust satisfied his flesh, and he found that he wielded self righteous vengeance and wrath with skill. So it was that when Pride issued the edict that it was not sin to obey some parts of the will of the LORD while ignoring others, Steven I only slightly flinched. And when Pride declared itself its own Sovereign Nation under God, and that God would understand his choice to do things in the way of Forttopia rather than of the King who created it, Steven I squelched the fear that he was now in rebellion with the LORD by not seeking the truth and denying any stirring to seek His face, receive the truth, and be subject to it. Pride went on whispering shameless lies to him, chief among them the one that declared that he was fine just as he is, and need submit nothing of himself to be saved.
That the majority of nations are made utterly blind to the truth escapes them even as it escaped Forttopia's Steward, for by the power of its euphoric infusion into the host pride preys upon, that host does not acknowledge that pride is a cancer, but buys the lie that it is a virtue, and thus are unaware that pride’s sole purpose is to bring that nation under the Second Death… that of being finally stripped of all blindness, forced to do what it refused in life and acknowledge all that God is as the Source of all life and worthy only of our abject worship and praise, while being denied that very Source by His judgment for refusing to acknowledge Him correctly when we yet walked the Earth. This state of unimaginable suffering and torment, called Hell, was made for Lucifer the Accuser, who was the first victim of pride, and all those who rebelled with him and followed him into madness. There demon and human alike will endure the suffering of all who do not receive the Grace to acknowledge and obey the LORD before they breathe their last.
And that suffering will have no end.
It so happened, by the design and will of the LORD God *only* and through merit neither of Forttopia nor its Steward, that the nation of Forttopia was visited by the only thing that could save it; The Perfect Grace and Mercy of the LORD.
The Mercy, the act of not receiving the death that the nation was doomed to and fully deserved because its Steward was made from birth nothing more than a wretched sinner, was brought about by the Grace…
The mightiest, most loving of all graces, for which was paid the highest of all prices…
The Grace, the act of receiving salvation and forgiveness that Steven I in no way deserved nor could ever earn through any work or effort of his own, was brought about by the innocent Blood of the very King who created all things with His Father, who loved the Steward and his befouled nation so much that He would not only put down His mantle of Kingship and become a child in flesh as the Steward, but would be crushed, tortured, and crucified on a Roman cross for him, whereby His act of love would purchase Steven I from the judgment of the Second Death and make him an adopted child of the Father.
So it came to pass, while Pride held dominion over the nation of Forttopia as it rested secure in its blind journey toward the eternal Judgment and Wrath of the LORD, that the Grace and Mercy of the Most High God fell upon the Steward, who had become a man and now had children of his own, and in his growing fear of failing them realized he did not know the Truth and would account for both not seeking it and not having delivered it to his children as it was delivered to him.
When it fell upon Steven I, his blindness was lifted, and the throne of the King which he occupied was discovered to be covered all about by the many tentacles of Pride, which had entered his own flesh and dwelt in every portion of his life, even behind doors he thought were shut, within rooms he never knew existed. The tentacles not only kept him blind, they fed him with the perverted strength of the surrounding cities, and bore crushing weight about his chest which he did not notice, as his heart was made entirely of stone. Now that the Grace of the LORD fell upon him, that heart was turned finally to one of flesh, and the eyes of Steven I befell the state of himself and all the nation of Forttopia he was made Steward over, and from the polished reflective surfaces of that which he dared call Free Will, Steven I saw himself with eyes free from the blindness of Pride, and wept.
And his weeping has not stopped, nor will it all the days of his life.
So it was that Pride did not anticipate the freeing of the Steward, who by Grace had the Dark Armor of lies, crafted by the city of Despair, replaced by the whole Armor of the LORD, which at once freed him from every caressing, poisonous tentacle leaching his spirit and feeding him sweet, deadly delusion.
The Spirit of the LORD then went out from the Steward and overwhelmed the armies who dwelt there, and they were worsted by the miracle of the LORD's salvation. The lie of Free Will was removed, and Pride for all its perceived might was brought low and broken, and the palace of the Steward was thus made Submitted Will forever.
Those few that remain of those forces which were corrupted by Pride and yet live, (and they are many, for the life of Forttopia while its heart yet beats is their life and will only fall once the body Forttopia inhabits returns to the dust,) were seized by panic and outrage, and fled from before the face of the Spirit of the LORD to the crevices below the mountains where the nation was founded. There they lie in wait, and at such times as the Steward fails in the vigilance he is called upon to exercise; to watch upon the walls and destroy without mercy the cloying, begging, twisted creatures that were fed by Pride and thus were cast out and seek re-entry in relentless desperation, they mass together and return to places they once knew, and by the same Grace and Mercy, the Steward is forgiven for the failure to fight, and supplies him strength to make war upon them and destroy all those he finds by the weapon the LORD supplies him, even the women and children, and their corpses are cast over the reclaimed walls in ruthless message to those that dwell without. These same yet return and hurl themselves, still hopelessly blind, at the gates of Forttopia, for their blindness has stolen all truth and its hearing from them entirely, and though they ask continually from outside why even those who appear innocuous among them may not return, they fail to comprehend that the King Himself has already answered them in His Word, and in their futile cries hear nothing He has said:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” Matthew 7:21-23
“Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” –John 10:25-30
“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
“Then shall the King say to them on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and you gave me meat: I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in: Naked, and you clothed me: I was sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we you an hungered, and fed you? or thirsty, and gave you drink? When saw we you a stranger, and took you in? or naked, and clothed you? Or when saw we you sick, or in prison, and came to you? And the King shall answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these my brothers, you have done it to me.
“Then shall he say also to them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungered, and you gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and you took me not in: naked, and you clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and you visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we you an hungered, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to you? Then shall he answer them, saying, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” –Matthew 25:31-46
Many who now read of the Subjugation of Forttopia will find it foolishness and regret the time they spent reading it; to whom I say "go in peace, and don't die." If you are among those who are aware of their Stewardship and are given the Grace and Mercy of the LORD, I implore you to fully acknowledge the King and yield to Him the throne of your life now, while the false illusion of Free Will yet exists and it would glorify the LORD to believe in Him, having not seen Him. I implore you to submit your life, destroy your pride, and receive the Savior as your own, to read his Word and own it for yourself, and join me in my fight to the death, for *we* are the blinded enemy, and it is we who must come before the LORD and die to Him, that our souls may live.
It came to pass, that in the year in which men first took steps upon the surface of the Moon, the LORD saw fit to establish one of a countless number of nations founded upon the Earth, that its inhabitants would worship and glorify Him. Its large population nestled within mountains completely shrouded from view, for all its realm was brought to being by the LORD within the guise and form of a child. Where the child’s eyes fell, there did the gaze of the nation fall. What the child conceived in this thought, the nation also pondered. Where his stone heart experienced any emotion, the entire nation braced itself as that emotion washed over them in a flood.
The LORD created this nation, as all others He had made, to glorify Himself; and it assuredly would. For by its obedience and servitude to Him, it would bring Him glory by the way in which the nation used its gifts to that cause and was blessed by Him, while by its disobedience and rebellion it would bring Him glory in the way it would be utterly destroyed, as an example to every other nation, everywhere. In no conceivable ending of this nation would the LORD not point to it and say, “…that all may know that I am the LORD,” whether through its submission and service to Him, or its rebellion and service to itself.
This nation, called Forttopia, was and remains comprised of one central metropolis, girded about and supplied continuously by outlying cities that are in allegiance with it. The Metropolis was named in that realm for the child in whom it was made, Steven I, who was to be Steward over the nation in service of the One True King, the Son of God; but once the child grew in awareness, that which inhabits all humanity, sin, entered the water supply of the nation and, just as in all humanity, utterly corrupted every inhabitant from the Steward down. What was worse, it also thoroughly separated the child from the God who made him and doomed him to the undying wrath of the LORD’s judgment. Steven I kept the title of his stewardship, but by the corruption of sin, which could not be prevented by any force the nations can muster, (thanks to the first such nation of humanity’s founding, known as Adam,) the Steward and his entire realm were subverted by the deadly parasite that is the first child of sin; pride.
In this manner was the Metropolis renamed Pride, after the parasite which claimed the Steward and later every inhabitant within the walls. Its infection and resultant blinding influence spread unchecked, placing its numerous outlying cities in utter bondage through power of its corruption.
Greatest among those who contributed to Pride’s growth were cities which began as one name before taking on another once the parasite took hold. The Submitted Will, which was to be kept clean and be the habitation of the Spirit of the LORD, became the palace of the Steward in his corruption and called itself Free Will, and forsook all truth of being bondservant to the King. The city of Anger, a common, natural occurrence within the nations of humanity, grew powerful and became divided into three brethren cities, and through Pride became flooded with the self righteousness pouring from the palace gates, becoming known as Malice, Vengeance, and Wrath. The city of Interdependence was claimed by the parasite and went mad, denied its purpose and begat by Pride’s influence Greed, Lust, the shining city of Entitlement, and the host of sub-districts patrolled by their powerful armies, all named from the world without while feeding the insatiable drives of their inhabitants. In this manner, all the cities about Pride were subverted and twisted into self serving forms of themselves.
Were it not for the mountains which sheltered Forttopia, constructed from the prayers of the nations of the child’s forebears, their full submission to the LORD that made them, and all the suffering they bore for standing in the world as God’s children, Forttopia would have immediately joined the nations numbered greater than the stars; those which forsook the Absolute Truth of why they were created. It would have succumbed immediately to the blindness of Pride’s more metastasized stages; that which makes the nation utterly forget that it is from birth doomed to fall under the wrath of the LORD, who is holy and righteous and will not abide sin, and can only be saved by *Him*, that their life is not their own and it would fully account for its disobedience before the LORD once the heart of the child inevitably stopped beating, and its last breath was taken.
In spite of this, Pride began to issue edicts to govern the nation, and the Steward signed off on them, for the parasite made him blind to only that which Pride wanted him to see, and he was bound by those edicts, having no power to overcome the seductive euphoria of all which Pride fed him from the surrounding cities. The Steward, like the stewards of countless other nations, gave only lip service to the LORD his King, and was blind to the state of his rebellion, as Lust satisfied his flesh, and he found that he wielded self righteous vengeance and wrath with skill. So it was that when Pride issued the edict that it was not sin to obey some parts of the will of the LORD while ignoring others, Steven I only slightly flinched. And when Pride declared itself its own Sovereign Nation under God, and that God would understand his choice to do things in the way of Forttopia rather than of the King who created it, Steven I squelched the fear that he was now in rebellion with the LORD by not seeking the truth and denying any stirring to seek His face, receive the truth, and be subject to it. Pride went on whispering shameless lies to him, chief among them the one that declared that he was fine just as he is, and need submit nothing of himself to be saved.
That the majority of nations are made utterly blind to the truth escapes them even as it escaped Forttopia's Steward, for by the power of its euphoric infusion into the host pride preys upon, that host does not acknowledge that pride is a cancer, but buys the lie that it is a virtue, and thus are unaware that pride’s sole purpose is to bring that nation under the Second Death… that of being finally stripped of all blindness, forced to do what it refused in life and acknowledge all that God is as the Source of all life and worthy only of our abject worship and praise, while being denied that very Source by His judgment for refusing to acknowledge Him correctly when we yet walked the Earth. This state of unimaginable suffering and torment, called Hell, was made for Lucifer the Accuser, who was the first victim of pride, and all those who rebelled with him and followed him into madness. There demon and human alike will endure the suffering of all who do not receive the Grace to acknowledge and obey the LORD before they breathe their last.
And that suffering will have no end.
It so happened, by the design and will of the LORD God *only* and through merit neither of Forttopia nor its Steward, that the nation of Forttopia was visited by the only thing that could save it; The Perfect Grace and Mercy of the LORD.
The Mercy, the act of not receiving the death that the nation was doomed to and fully deserved because its Steward was made from birth nothing more than a wretched sinner, was brought about by the Grace…
The mightiest, most loving of all graces, for which was paid the highest of all prices…
The Grace, the act of receiving salvation and forgiveness that Steven I in no way deserved nor could ever earn through any work or effort of his own, was brought about by the innocent Blood of the very King who created all things with His Father, who loved the Steward and his befouled nation so much that He would not only put down His mantle of Kingship and become a child in flesh as the Steward, but would be crushed, tortured, and crucified on a Roman cross for him, whereby His act of love would purchase Steven I from the judgment of the Second Death and make him an adopted child of the Father.
So it came to pass, while Pride held dominion over the nation of Forttopia as it rested secure in its blind journey toward the eternal Judgment and Wrath of the LORD, that the Grace and Mercy of the Most High God fell upon the Steward, who had become a man and now had children of his own, and in his growing fear of failing them realized he did not know the Truth and would account for both not seeking it and not having delivered it to his children as it was delivered to him.
When it fell upon Steven I, his blindness was lifted, and the throne of the King which he occupied was discovered to be covered all about by the many tentacles of Pride, which had entered his own flesh and dwelt in every portion of his life, even behind doors he thought were shut, within rooms he never knew existed. The tentacles not only kept him blind, they fed him with the perverted strength of the surrounding cities, and bore crushing weight about his chest which he did not notice, as his heart was made entirely of stone. Now that the Grace of the LORD fell upon him, that heart was turned finally to one of flesh, and the eyes of Steven I befell the state of himself and all the nation of Forttopia he was made Steward over, and from the polished reflective surfaces of that which he dared call Free Will, Steven I saw himself with eyes free from the blindness of Pride, and wept.
And his weeping has not stopped, nor will it all the days of his life.
So it was that Pride did not anticipate the freeing of the Steward, who by Grace had the Dark Armor of lies, crafted by the city of Despair, replaced by the whole Armor of the LORD, which at once freed him from every caressing, poisonous tentacle leaching his spirit and feeding him sweet, deadly delusion.
The Spirit of the LORD then went out from the Steward and overwhelmed the armies who dwelt there, and they were worsted by the miracle of the LORD's salvation. The lie of Free Will was removed, and Pride for all its perceived might was brought low and broken, and the palace of the Steward was thus made Submitted Will forever.
Those few that remain of those forces which were corrupted by Pride and yet live, (and they are many, for the life of Forttopia while its heart yet beats is their life and will only fall once the body Forttopia inhabits returns to the dust,) were seized by panic and outrage, and fled from before the face of the Spirit of the LORD to the crevices below the mountains where the nation was founded. There they lie in wait, and at such times as the Steward fails in the vigilance he is called upon to exercise; to watch upon the walls and destroy without mercy the cloying, begging, twisted creatures that were fed by Pride and thus were cast out and seek re-entry in relentless desperation, they mass together and return to places they once knew, and by the same Grace and Mercy, the Steward is forgiven for the failure to fight, and supplies him strength to make war upon them and destroy all those he finds by the weapon the LORD supplies him, even the women and children, and their corpses are cast over the reclaimed walls in ruthless message to those that dwell without. These same yet return and hurl themselves, still hopelessly blind, at the gates of Forttopia, for their blindness has stolen all truth and its hearing from them entirely, and though they ask continually from outside why even those who appear innocuous among them may not return, they fail to comprehend that the King Himself has already answered them in His Word, and in their futile cries hear nothing He has said:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” Matthew 7:21-23
“Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” –John 10:25-30
“When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
“Then shall the King say to them on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and you gave me meat: I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in: Naked, and you clothed me: I was sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we you an hungered, and fed you? or thirsty, and gave you drink? When saw we you a stranger, and took you in? or naked, and clothed you? Or when saw we you sick, or in prison, and came to you? And the King shall answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these my brothers, you have done it to me.
“Then shall he say also to them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungered, and you gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and you took me not in: naked, and you clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and you visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we you an hungered, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to you? Then shall he answer them, saying, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.” –Matthew 25:31-46
Many who now read of the Subjugation of Forttopia will find it foolishness and regret the time they spent reading it; to whom I say "go in peace, and don't die." If you are among those who are aware of their Stewardship and are given the Grace and Mercy of the LORD, I implore you to fully acknowledge the King and yield to Him the throne of your life now, while the false illusion of Free Will yet exists and it would glorify the LORD to believe in Him, having not seen Him. I implore you to submit your life, destroy your pride, and receive the Savior as your own, to read his Word and own it for yourself, and join me in my fight to the death, for *we* are the blinded enemy, and it is we who must come before the LORD and die to Him, that our souls may live.
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