Echoes From Paradise #Part 9
The Bottom Line, Section Two
“Hohoho-o-o… I hear one whispering that he is Catholic by faith… my goodness! What is that in God’s Word! What has that to do with Jesus? For me, I am Christian by faith! That is my belief, my faith and my all! Hallelujah! Protestant by faith? Which faith is that? Pentecostal by faith? Whatever it means!
“But now, listen…
“All who are in Christ bears no grudge against any man! They love all men, even their enemies too. If your religion falls short of that, it is a refuge of lies!
“May I hear an ‘Amen’ from all…?
“A-a-amen…”
“Oh, my goodness! What is wrong with your voice…? that is too weak for life… as weak as your faith? Uh! Better pull up your socks… of course if you have any… Or are they stockings… please! A little bit mixed up you know. But my plumbline remains steady and firm. What is it? The revelation of the word of God. What is that? Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever! The very foundation and cornerstone of Christianity. If your life does not vertically flash with Christ’s life, your religion is a refuge of lies!
“Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord.
“For me, sincerely speaking,” Cheerful went on, “I don’t have to read that in the Bible to practice it. Why? It is in me, in my very conscience, written by the finger of God and I cannot pretend. I should find it the easiest thing to do since I am converted. Why? My neighbour is just like me in image and likeness. Both of us were made in the image of God, therefore we are brothers regardless, and brotherly love should obviously flow between us. I simply cannot understand any other language, and I simply take it for granted, that since we are all human beings, and since we were all made in the image of God, then we should be one. We should love each other at the very least. To me that is the bottom line. It is mere common sense. I don’t need a written commandment from God to practice such, for it is a common-sense issue! Praise the Lord!”
“Amen my brother!” Cried Little Kindness. “That is nothing but the very truth! My brother or my neighbour is just like myself, so is my sister. Brothers and sisters are we, children of one man, created in the image of God, why should we hate one another, fight one another, and kill one another? It defeats reason! Yes, speak it my brother! Expose the malady! Put it on the house top. ‘All who fall short of it should be ashamed of themselves!’ says Little Kindness. ‘Repent!’”
“Amen, my sister, that is the very truth. Why should I love all others? Because they are human beings just like me! and because God created them just like me! and by loving them I automatically respect them and seek to do good to them. Why? They are my brothers, whether they like it or not. They cannot argue against it. They have legs just like mine, feet like mine, body like mine, head like mine; eyes like what I have; ears like what I have; a mouth just like myself; hands just like what is on me; a soul, spirit and heart just like what I have. So, they are my brothers and sisters anyhow!
“Do you think Paul could have avenged himself on any of his enemies?”
“No-o-o!”
“Why? Because in Christ he was, walking as Christ, acting as Christ. Lovingly forgiving those who persecuted him, just like Christ; so are all who are in Christ, they walk the same way. It is Christ in them doing it! If you fail to walk like that, you are yet to be converted… yet to receive Jesus Christ.
“I take it for granted and have no excuses or apologies to make. To me, it is a matter of common sense, that human beings should be charmed up in one great love, respecting and honouring one another, esteeming one another, assisting one another, standing for one another, undertaking for one another, speaking good about each other; to be such a big great congregation of brotherhood, charmed together in oneness like water! And if you claim to be saved, to be in Christ, to be born again, then you have no excuse whatsoever, the life of Jesus should (not may) freely flow through you.
“I simply take it the way the foundation says, for Jesus is the only true foundation, and all who are dead to the world and raised in Jesus walks the way he walks.
“Yes, if you are born again, then Christ dwells in your heart, and his life freely flows through you. Then you will love even your enemies. You will pray for them. You will do anything to help them. Hallelujah! What a conqueror, I am, in Christ! Glory to God! I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! Praise the Lord!”
“A-a-amen!”
“Say, are you a Christian? That means you are Christ-like! If not, then you are a hypocrite. I don’t care which faith you claim, it is false, for it has not made you any better!
“All human beings should dwell in love. Why not? What makes the difference? Language? It never came from the beginning. It came from the tower of Babel. Colour? That is as a result of the environmental effects, the skin simply responding to the environment, or else they are all of one species, for they are all children of one man, Adam. Ni Wanadamu [children of Adam]. Praise the Lord!
“If I expect that from any human being, how much more do I expect Christians to be all one in love, if they are Christians at all! If you fail to manifest Christ in your walk, you have failed your interview for heaven! My! How critical! Christ’s life in you is the password! Not your baptismal card, please! Heavens do not recognize such pitiful papers! There is only one true baptismal card, the same is the Holy Spirit! He is the seal, the token, the sign that God has accepted you.
“Hallelujah! Repent every one of you and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for remission of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit… the baptismal card… uh-hu!
“There it is! Have you truly repented? Truly believed? Your sins forgiven? Then the Father seals you by the seal of the Holy Spirit! There is the true baptismal card for every true Christian!
“Why are men not in love with one another? because the devil sowed them with seeds of discord. He planted them with a corrupt seed, a seed of the bitterness of death. From that flow malice, hatred, wrath, anger, selfishness, pride, filthy communication, deceit, boasting, arrogance and such like things… fruits of death. Salvation through Jesus delivers you from all that. Yes, once saved in Jesus, you will love your neighbour as yourself, regardless of what he does to you!
“Get it clear! No other foundation shall be laid other than what God laid for us in Zion! For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1Cor 3:11 And look at what the foundation says:
“Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Matthew 19:19
“Amen! Exactly! If you are born again you don’t need to be taught that! Why? Your neighbour is just a being like yourself. Whoever made you also made them. You are vessels of one potter, and are made from the same lump of soil, why should you not love them as yourself!
“I take it for granted because I speak to those who claim to follow Jesus Christ. To follow Jesus means to be born in him so as to walk as he walked. Any deviation from that, nullifies your claim. For indeed I find no reason why a Christian should hate their neighbour at all.
“Are you born again? Then let your life prove it. I measure your life with that plumbline, Jesus’s life… back to the only true foundation – Jesus Christ. If the life of Jesus Christ is in you, then you are born of him, and if his life flows through you, then you will walk as he walks! Anything short of that means your religion is a refuge of lies.
“I grant that since we were all made by one God who loves us, then automatically His love in us should throw us in love for one another! Anything else makes no sense to me. And the moment you lack common sense, no other sense will profit you. For a tree is climbed from its base please, and a house is built from its foundation. No other way makes sense.
“These are simple facts which make up common sense to me. Life is enjoyed more when all live together in peace and in fellowship with each other, as they stand for one another; each esteeming the other, each seeking best things for the other.
“Come to, look at how the inhabitants of an anthill enjoy life being one, all working in love for the welfare of the rest; no schism is found among them. Human being can only admire that from far.
“None among the ants is lazy. None among them wrongly uses another. None among them practices malice. None among them defrauds another. None among them murders another. All are charmed up in love and peace, enjoying life: working together, eating and drinking. Why? They have one father and one mother! Why not the human race! They were made in the image of God to be one. Why are they so divided and individualistically disposed? Because an enemy entered into their minds called the knowledge of good and evil through the fruit that their mother ate. But the hour has come for full and true circumcision, to cut off all that has caused such rot and decay. It is time for that evil head to be cut off and the right head enthroned. Yea, it is time for complete redemption. Praise the Lord!”
“Hallelujah! That is what I am here for!” Shouted Ruthful Lowliness. “I present myself for that circumcision of the heart. I am ready to stand it. To stand the knife… oh, no! the two-edged sword of the word! Here am I, my Lord, do it! Cut off the refuge of lies from my heart!”
“Glory to God who provides the way!” Followed Earnest Goodness. “No sweeter thing than to know that God has a way for us. I receive it whole, the new head. I disown the ugly, foul head, the serpent’s! A Nehushtan it is! I loathe it! Twice so! I am willing to be united with the right head, Jesus Christ. My cornerstone and headstone, he is! My salvation and my sweetest song, ever he remains. I receive him! Just now…”
“Here I stand,” cried Soulful, “flat-footed too: ‘Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.’ Phil 2:3 Hallelujah! I believe it! That is Christianity at heart! Anything else is a refuge of lies! If you are a Christian at all, then you esteem other people better than yourself. Yea, you count others to be more worth than yourself. Does your heart speak like that? If not, you are yet to taste salvation!”
“A-a-amen! Why not?” Cheerful came on. “That is exactly what love achieves. If any two people love each other, then each will esteem the other better than self; that is only if indeed they love one another.
“If the husband loved the wife, he would esteem her better than himself. Why not? That is common sense to me! You will do that because you love her. It is so natural. It is a simple fact which cannot work otherwise. Anything else is nonsense. That is your wife, she is dear to you. For you to mistreat her, it defeats reason. It is simply common sense that you should love her. I don’t understand any other language. God’s word does not give place for all your mutterings against this statute. It will meet you when your day in court comes.
“So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church… Eph 5:28
“See how common sense that is? No man ever hated his hand, leg or rib. Can that happen? No! Yes, your wife is part of your body, for Eve was made out of a rib from Adam. It is common sense that you should love her and cherish her. Same thing for the wife, she should love and cherish her husband. Yet such common-sense matters are not common on earth. No wonder the earth bears a curse because of man.
“Do you truly love your partner as you say? Then the above precept is true to you. If you don’t find it so, then it means you don’t love him or her as you claim. Anything else is mere hypocrisy. I mean true love, not lust please!
“You always esteem what you truly love above yourself. So, you better be careful what you love. For if you love your property, you will find yourself esteeming it better than yourself in so much that you can hurt yourself for the sake of it. The fact stands out true and cannot be bend for nothing! Where your treasure is there your heart is also.
“The more you love something, the more you esteem it above yourself! Therefore, thou shalt love your neighbour as yourself, and your wife or husband is the closest neighbour, so you have to live your Christianity right from your own house. Uh-uh!
“Praise the Lord! What a precept for unity and peace! Oh, that these things were common sense to all human beings as they are to me! There is no excuse whatsoever why they should not be so! Anything that produces anything else short of that is the devil’s knowledge of wickedness that should be abhorred at all costs. Here is what Jesus preached:
“And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:29-31
“That is the foundation for all true Christianity. That is the measuring rod. If you are saved at all, the above is true to you. Why not? I take it simply like that. Anything else is from the devil, the father of lies!
“At the very least, you should love God your creator with all your heart and be able to offer anything to Him like Abraham. Why not? All your excuses have no place. He made you what you are, from nothing to something. Oh, what a friend! Oh, what a loving Father! Your heart should ever think about Him, meditate about His goodness… all day long. Why not? He made you what you are from nothing. He made all things for you to enjoy. Furthermore, He has promised you eternal life if you believe on His son Jesus Christ. To me that is the very bottom line: you should love God with all your heart. Not claim to, but truly love Him. For if you love Him at all, then keeping His commandments should be a downhill, just like licking honey, pure honey from a rock. Oh, dear me! Nothing else about this makes sense to me. God should be loved! Loved by all! Praise the Lord!
“To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said, I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. Psalm 18:1-2
“That should be the heartfelt confession of every soul on earth! It should be my confession, and it is! It should be the confession of every true Christian… So many false ones everywhere… tired of them anyhow! Is it your confession… sure? If so be it, then His word should be music, the sweetest music to your soul! Is it that way with you? Not just a religious claim. So many have it just as a talk in their mouths… tired of them anyhow! Yes, it should be your confession, dear Norah.”
“Aha-a-a… that ointment poured, please! What do I say? How do I say it? Yes, my brother, it is my confession, a thousand times times a thousand times, so! Hallelujah! Glory to his name! I love Him, my bread sweetest, my honey from a rock, at His right hand are rivers of pleasure, true pleasures for me! Satisfied I am, with Jesus alone. Yes, I mean it! Not a religious talk, already tired of them anyhow! So many have a love talk in their mouth but their hearts are far away. Refuge of lies to be cut off! Catholicism? Protestantism? Pentecostalism? Branhamism? Read for me any of such words in the scriptures…”
“Yes, Norah, that is the truth… if you love God, then your heart would be right with Him as David was. To walk in His commandments should be so easy. Love makes it so easy. If you truly love somebody, you will do anything for that person, without feeling discouraged at all. So, if you truly love God, you can do anything for Him. That is a fact! Abraham loved God and it was not difficulty for him to offer to Him his only son, Isaac. Why not you? Praise the Lord!
“Abednego, Shadrack and Meshack loved God, and it was not difficult for them to accept to die to keep their faith in God! They were ready for anything. They knew whom they believed.
“Now, measure your love for God against that scale. The plumbline! If it falls short, then you are yet to love God. Daniel loved God and was ready to be thrown in the den of lions for it. What of you? Do you also love the Lord?
“Stop pretending! What if you were to be thrown in flames of fire because of your faith in God, the living God, would you still stand? Yes, if you love Him, you go through it all. Praise the Lord! Hallelujah!
“Come to now, let us look at the second commandment: thou shalt love your neighbour as yourself. Do you? That means the way you care for yourself, that is how you care about your neighbour. Do you care for your neighbour that much?
“Stop pretending! God knows your heart. If you love your neighbour as yourself, that means you will respond to his needs as you respond to yours. Measure yourself in that scale and stop vain words! Shall vain words not have an end!
“It is so rare, rarer than gold, to find a person who loves their neighbours as themselves. Where are Christians then? Where are those who are built on that true foundation of Jesus Christ! Rarer than gold, are they, and as precious too! Yea, as precious and rare as diamond, and highly valued too! Yes, as silver refined seven times in a furnace are the true Christians; they are hard to come by! Who has found goodly pearls in a field? And who has found a Christian, a genuine one. For the world is full of fake ones, littering every religion, so annoying, as annoying as fake gold!
“Why are genuine Christians so noble? Since they are in Christ, they are like Christ, filled with his love, and so they love their neighbour as themselves. Why should they not do it? Yes, the devil messed them up, but Jesus has restored them! Their image had been marred after the nature of devils, to hate one another, of course as devils do, but Christ has redeemed them from all that!
“If you don’t love everybody you come across as yourself, then you are yet to be saved! Stop and repent, thou wicked man, for your sin is displayed on your forehead. You love yourself and hate your neighbours. Your words about them mean so! Your actions reinforce it. That is the nature of devils! That is the bitter truth that you must own up. Bite the bullet! Facts cannot be bend! Not for anybody’s whimsies. Too strong for your feeble hands. Can you ever bend a ten-centimetre-thick steel rod, ten centimetres long, with your hands? No! never. So, you can never twist any fact.
“If you loved your neighbour as yourself, then you would take care of them as you do yourself! How many children around the world die of hunger while some men heap riches, hording millions of monies in banks, yet claim to be Christians! The very idea! Shall vain words not have an end! How many times have you passed quietly on your starving neighbours, yet you are capable of helping them! Then claim to be saved? You hypocrite! As the rich man in the story of Lazarus so are you!
“Yes, humanity should be in love, pure love. Why? The Lord their God who made them in His image is one Lord, why then should they who are in His image be not one?
“Look, why are the ants one people in the anthill? They are all born from the same king and queen! Why should humanity be one? They are all made by one God, in His image. Why are they not one then? The evil one sowed discord among them. What was that? The knowledge of good and evil. What should they do to shake it off? To get rid of hatred, bitterness, malice, envy, an evil eye, stabbing each other in the back, etc.? They should be born again by being sown anew with the true seed that brings them up as one family from one Father. What is that seed? The word of God! Where can they find it? God speaks it by His servants, the prophets. Can we have prophets today? Why not! How shall we tell the true prophet from the liar? By their fruits!
“We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 1Jonh 3:14-17
“There is the plumbline. If you cannot love your neighbours as yourself, then you are still dead in sin. Lie not against the obvious truth. Whoever is born of God behaves like God! If you still practice hatred, then you show clearly that you are still dead. You are yet to experience new birth! Life is known by her fruits, so is death known by her fruits. The main fruit of life is love, but the main fruit of death is hatred. Lust is a form of hatred disguised, so is covetousness, so is malice, so is anger, wrath and such like passions. Repent and turn back to God if you will live!
“In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. 1Jon 3:10-12
“There is the true plumb line striking the true foundation that God laid in Jesus Christ. If you hate anybody, by that you would have already murdered them according to the scriptures. But those who are in Jesus never hates people for whatever cause. Why? The life of Jesus flows through them. They can only bear the fruit of life which is love, pure love.
“First things must come first. Love God first then automatically you will love your brother. But if you don’t love your brother, it means you don’t love God. It cannot be otherwise. This principle applies to all. The moment you love God, the love of God will abide in you, and by that you will love all around you.
“Ho, all who thirst come to the waters. Without money, without price, come and receive. Drink freely from the wells of salvation and your will bring forth the fruit of divine love. In the image of God you will be thrown! Loving everybody as yourself. Wonderful, isn’t it?
“A-a-amen!”
“Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! The words of Cheerful are ended.”
Echoes From Paradise 