Pray Without Ceasing
 "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye
have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves
know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a
thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and
safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them,
as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not
escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that
day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the
children of light, and the children of the day: we are not
of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not
sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be
drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are
of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith
and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For
God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain
salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us,
that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live
together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves
together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which
labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and
admonish you; And to esteem them very highly in love
for their work's sake. And be at peace among
yourselves.
Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are
unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the
weak, be patient toward all men. See that none
render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that
which is good, both among yourselves, and to all
men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In
every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the Spirit.
Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast
that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of
evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly;
and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be
preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also
will do it. Brethren, pray for us. Greet all the brethren
with an holy kiss. I charge you by the Lord that this
epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. The grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen."
I Thessalonians Chapter 5
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
We want to invite you to join us in a continuous prayer
vigil. Each person is being asked to select 1 hour
every day to be in prayer, and to devote that time in
prayer each day of the week. With everyone joining in
from around the world, we can have continual prayer
wrought 24 hours each day.
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Turning the World Upside Down - Part I
"Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and
maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and
scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. And it shall
be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the
servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with
her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as
with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker
of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. The land
shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the
LORD hath spoken this word. The earth mourneth
and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth
away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.
The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof;
because they have transgressed the laws, changed
the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant."
Isaiah 24:1-5
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An Upside Down Message
"Now when they had
passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came
to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:
and Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and
three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the
scriptures, opening and alleging, that Christ must
needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead;
and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul
and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude,
and of the chief women not a few. But the Jews which
believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain
lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a
company, and set all the city on an uproar, and
assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring
them out to the people. And when they found them not,
they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers
of the city, crying, These that have turned the world
upside down are come hither also; whom Jason
hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees
of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one
Jesus." Acts 17:1-7
News of the Gospel - and the people's response to it -
had reached Thessalonica even before Paul & Silas
had. Their very presence in that city was enough to
incite the people. The unbelievers (who could only find
supporters amongst the lewd and base elements of
the city) made two accusations; these men were: 1.
Turning the world upside down , and 2. Honoring a
King other than Caesar. It is the first accusation upon
which we will focus.
When something is upside down, it is inverted
to the point that what should be the upper or top
portion is instead underneath or on the bottom.
Nothing gives a clearer illustration of this paradox than
to picture the human body. A body standing on its feet
(which were created for the purpose of supporting the
body's weight) is commonly acknowledged as being
right side up. A body standing on its hands is upside
down. Even though it is physically possible for
one's hands to support the weight of the body, this is
still considered being upside down because that is
not the purpose of the hands nor the natural
positioning of the body.
"Good and upright
is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the
way." Psalms 25:8
The way of the Lord, in contrast with that of sinners, is
upright meaning directed upward, righteous,
honest, or just. So, why did the unbelievers feel as if
the Gospel was turning the world upside down?
Because their perceptions, thoughts, and very way of
living had become so alienated from God, that the
message of truth seemed to be the complete
opposite of everything they knew and believed. The
Scripture tells us that the root cause of this is
sin.
"The LORD preserveth the
strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow:
but the way of the wicked he turneth upside
down." Psalms 146:9
There is a dramatic collision that occurs when the
soul of man is first impacted by the Gospel. Sin
perverts the soul and turns it upside down, while the
Gospel confronts the soul to set it right side up. To an
inverted soul, even the upright message can appear
wrong because sin:
- Inverts the soul so that man becomes inwardly the
opposite of what he was created to be;
- Creates an upside down kingdom to that which
God has ordained;
- Makes man self-conscious instead of
God-conscious so that he is led by his five carnal
senses versus of the Spirit of God.
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An Inverted Soul
Man was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26).
One way in which this truth is seen is in the triune
nature of man, reflecting the Trinity of God. "And the very God of peace
sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole
spirit and soul and body be preserved
blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
I Thessalonians 5:23
Man is a spirit with a soul that is housed in a body.
While a deeper analysis of this is not the focus of this
post, the design of man, the structure of the family,
and the order of the church are all established
purposefully by God to mirror His nature and help us
better understand who He is.
The Spirit, by submitting to the Father, allows the will
of the Father to be expressed via the Son. Believers,
by submitting to the Word of God, allow the light of
Christ to be seen in the world. Wives, in
submitting to their husbands, allow the identity of a
father to be made manifest in the children. The soul,
in being submitted to the Spirit, allows the personality
of man to be expressed via the body.
The authority ->
Conduit
of authority -> Visible
expression of authority
God -> Spirit -> Son
The Word of God -> The
bride of Christ (the Church) ->
The light of Christ
Husband -> Wife ->
Children
Man's spirit -> Soul ->
Body
God speaks to the spirit of man via His Spirit. When
the soul of man, (the arena of desires, emotions,
feelings, etc.) is in submission to and governed by his
spirit, he can hear and do the works of God.
Conversely, when the spirit of man is held captive by
the soul, he cannot hear from God and the resulting
expression is soulish, carnal and demonic. This
inverted order results in confusion and constructs the
beginnings of an upside down kingdom.
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A World of Opposites
What is an upside down kingdom? It is a pattern of
living that is the antithesis of what God has
established. An inverted soul makes a man the
opposite of what he was created to be, and as a
result, he cannot understand God or operate in the
role that God has ordained (I Corinthians 2:13-14).
The Scripture tells us that before Satan fell, his was
an angel named Lucifer. When he rebelled against
God, he became the opposite of what he was created
to be. He was once the light bearer (Isaiah 14:12,
Ezekiel 28:17), but he became the ruler of darkness
(Ephesians 6:12). He was once anointed (Ezekiel
28:14), now he is accursed (Genesis 3:14). He was
perfect in his ways (Ezekiel 28:15), he is now full of
iniquity (Ezekiel 28:18). He was wise (Ezekiel 28:17),
but now he is the purveyor of lies (John 8:44).
Notice however, that he still can appear as an angel of
light (II Corinthians 11:14). The impact of the fall
changed foremost the inner make-up of his being; his
character, his personality, his desires, etc. Satan is
therefore depicted as a creation who was designed to
be beautiful and full of light (and can still appear to be
that way), but whose character has become the
opposite of that. This is what Satan desires to do to
mankind: turn the soul of man upside down so that he
becomes the opposite of what God created thereby
preventing fellowship with God.
Church, it is only the grace, presence, and power of
God that sustains creation. It is God alone who
preserves. Apart from God, separated from the source
of life, all living things will begin to decay. This is true
as well for mankind. Just like Satan, when mankind
fell into sin, he too became the opposite of what he
was created to be.
What happened in the Garden of Eden was a role
reversal. Adam became submissive, taking the
woman's role. Eve became the source of authority,
taking the man's role. On the outside, they looked the
same, but on the inside they had become corrupted,
upside down. The helpmeet became the head; the
head became a figurehead; and a rebellious,
Adamic seed was sown the bloodline.
The changing of their character through sin reversed
the order God had ordained and immediately put them
at odds with God. In this state, fallen man will always
try to hide from God's presence and justify his sin, just
as Adam and Eve did. Out of order and unable to be
led by God's Spirit, they were no longer
God-conscious, but became self-conscious.
Through the fall of man, the seeds for an upside
down kingdom were sown. In the next issue of the
Omega Times, we will examine what the Bible defines
as the upright position of mankind and how an
inverted soul sets the stage for Satan's ultimate plan.
This is not a futuristic plan; it is unfolding right before
our eyes and the Church (now more than ever) needs
to discern the times in order to avoid deception.
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