If Joseph of Arimathea was alive today he would confirm my assertion that Jesus is no longer on the Cross (John 19:38-40)! He would tell you that he received permission from Pontius Pilate to take His body away and prepare it for burial. He would also tell you that they buried Jesus in the tomb he had reserved for himself and that He is no longer in the that tomb either!
It was never God's intent for Jesus to remain on the Cross. Christians spend way too much time driving another spike into His wrists and feet to keep Him there. Why? I suspect it is because they don't want to face the Christ. Christ is the revelation of God as the judge of mankind. His discernment for our innate trickery and deception is unparalleled. In short, you can't lie to God. You can't fool God. You can't cheat God!
Our fear of exposure, our lack of integrity and our failure to exemplify true discipleship are several reasons why many stay away. Think about it; aren't these reasons why we should press even closer to His bosom? In the Book of Acts, Paul rebukes the Athenians for worshipping an UNKNOWN GOD (Acts 17:23-25). You can't get much more carnal than that! What do you say to a God you don't know? What can he do for you if you don't know what his capabilities are? Carnal Christians are rooted in idolatry; worshipping things they don't know or understand.
Christians love Jesus being on the Cross because "it's a good story" and Christians love to have stories read to them because they believe the lack of interpersonal confrontation with Christ protects them from their sin. It doesn't! Christians love church because it is easy to hide in a crowd. They believe there is "safety" in numbers. It's not! Christians love to carry their bibles because it makes them look holy. In fact, you can't wash someones feet carrying a bible, or cut your neighbors lawn or help a single mother move into her new home with the book in your hands. Hide your bibles!
The place that God has reserved for you to hide the Word of God is in your heart. Hiding His Word in your heart requires fellowship with the Holy Spirit. No person can do that for you. You have to read, study and meditate on God's Word for yourself.
As long as someone else reads the Word to you, Jesus will remain dead on the Cross. But when you read the Word for yourself and fellowship with the Master in your secret place, His Word will renew your spirit, mind, body and soul and He will come alive!
You wanna see Christ? Hide His Word in your heart and serve His people in the marketplace! Other than that, you will remain THE UNKNOWN SERVANT!
"The Grand Canyon was once a little crack in a big rock!"
Blackfoot Indian Proverb
Am I going deaf? That is the only way a Believer should lose faith in the natural. In the spirit realm, the Believer must always stay focused on the heart, mind, soul and spirit of the One True God. Faith is the currency of the Kingdom of God!
"So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17).
Erosion is the weakening of the foundation of something over time as a result of the introduction of some foreign substance (in this case, FEAR) or outside influence (in this case, ADVERSITY and Satan's angels). Eroding faith can also be impacted by false teachers of the Word of God who add to or take away for its content. The erosion of faith is subtle and in many instances invisible until it's too late. It doesn't always take something catastrophic to destroy faith if faith is left unattended or unguarded; these are the elements that can chip away at "little faith" (Matt. 8:26; 14:29-31; 17:20 and Luke 12:27-28).
In contrast, "strong faith" laughs in the face of the impossibilities of man. There is a symbiotic relationship between faith and works; faith and works are not enemies (James 2:20). Very few Christians will ever face the hard choice of life or death for accepting or rejecting their love for Christ. Most of us will be the victims of a daily deterioration of our passion, drive and commitment to the things of God because the pull of the world (temptation) is so strong and, quite frankly, enjoyable.
So what can we do? What options do we have to combat the wiles of the devil? The simple truth is that we have to want to stay connected to the Lord God by following the direction of the Holy Spirit. Faith rejects common sense. Common sense (natural realm) vehemently opposes faith (spiritual realm). Common sense is directed by impulse where faith is driven into the heart of the Believer through inspiration. Common sense relies on facts. Faith is the harbinger of truth. It is the power and intent of God to "educate our faith" because the nature of faith is to make its object real.
What is the straw that breaks the camel's back or the last drip, drip that causes the dam to break in a person's life? No one can tell for sure, but a lack of perception on the part of the Believer does not lessen the tragedy of a fall from God's grace through a loss of faith! Selah...
"...So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus (Mars Hill), said, :Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious!" (Acts 17:22)
The definition of idolatry (carnality), according to Webster, is "the worship of idols or excessive devotion to, or reverence for some person or thing." The most prevalent form of idol worship from ancient times until today is the worship of images of pagan deities, practices and rituals. We love our idols! Sports, entertainment, movies, mascots; it doesn't matter. We over indulge on what we like.
Paul was making an astute observation about the religious and political leadership in Athens. He was basically saying, "You brothers are full of crap and ya'll need to get your minds right!" He was telling them that there was a cost associated with their choices.
The correlation between idolatry and carnality is striking. Carnality is related to the pursuit of physical, especially sexually and sensual, appetites of the body for the express purpose of pleasure. It is often referred to as the "flesh" but, in reality, it is a "spirit."
Carnality, in essence, is too much time being spent on non-spiritual activities even if they are not sinful.
The critical mistake that many Christians make is to associate carnality with lewd and sinful behavior exclusively. Many Believers are captivated with hours of non-productive time spent on Face book, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin and other social media outlets. In addition, they spend hours watching Reality TV shows, surfing the Net and "channeling" Maury Povich and Iyanla Vanzant with all of their foolishness and witchcraft.
Don't get it twisted, you can do just as much damage to your spirit man by watching Jerry Springer as looking for pornography on your smart phone! Selah...
