worlds apart: the "Elijah prophecy"

I continually think about the spiritual crisis in America.  Not long ago, there seemed to be churches on almost every street corner.  Nevertheless, in the span of one generation, American society has become hedonistic, materialistic, selfish: in a word, godless.  Everyone (but the wealthy) is suffering as the result.  I've tried to dig down deep to discover the roots, as it were, of America's moral problems.  They aren't difficult to identify ~ that is, if you are led by the Spirit of Christ to understand the truth of God's Word.

God deals with nations as well as with individuals.  Current research shows that by far the majority (between 70-85%) of Americans self-identify as Christians.  But one doesn't need a PhD in Sociology or in Theology to understand that America's spiritual condition is diametrically opposed to the teachings and practices of historical Christianity.  A superficial examination of contemporary "Christianity" in America reveals what appears to be a serious disconnect between the teachings of the Church (broadly construed) on the one hand, and, on the other hand, the debauched condition of popular culture.  But how can that be the case in a nation in which 3 out of every 4 people profess to be Christians?

God has not changed.  I would say, too, that God's Word has not changed (the true text of Scripture has not changed).  However, the ongoing proliferation of what I call "Bible-substitutes" (so-called "versions" of Scripture ~ which are in fact corruptions of the true Word of God), has created a situation in America (indeed, throughout the world) such that the vast majority of modern-day Christians do not perceive the Bible in the same way that our Christian forefathers did.  Historically (from the time of Christ until about two generations ago), Christians understood the Bible to be the immutable (unchangeable) and infallible (incapable of error) Word of God.  Whereas, today, the great majority of professing Christians believe that the text of Scripture stands in need of "improvement" (by means of "modern scholarship") ~ because (as that is widely claimed and believed) the written Word of God contains errors!  Thus, the Bible has been reduced ~ throughout the so-called "Christian" culture in America, from its former status as the Supreme Law of God, to its present lowly status as a kind of moral guide-book.  In the highest realms of Christian religious education (Christian universities and seminaries), it is extensively taught that the Bible may contain what is termed "truth claims"; but it is anathema to suppose that the Bible ~ from Genesis to Revelation ~ in fact is the eternal, unchangeable, objective Truth.

As the result, very few professing Christians in America really take the Bible seriously.  The solid ground of faith in the one, true Word of God began widely to be undermined at the same time that the Church in America began (from about the early 1950s onward) to yield ground to secular thinkers and educators ~ who desperately wanted (and still do) to re-create modern society in the image of man, and not of God.  As the leading edge of a massive tsunami sweeps away everything before it, so have the historical structures of Christianity in America finally been swept away by the flood-tide of Apostasy.

Above, I said that a "superficial examination of contemporary 'Christianity' in America reveals what appears to be a serious disconnect between the teachings of the Church...and...the debauched condition of popular culture."  But upon closer examination, it may rightly be understood that "Christianity in America" ~ as that now is ~ in fact, is nothing else but another expression of popular (secular) culture.  We are given to see in Scripture that there was a time when the spirit of Jezebel (representing the world) was allowed in the Church (Revelation 2:20).  Furthermore, because that spirit of the world was allowed to continue in the churches, that worldly spirit soon overtook those churches and, so, they died spiritually (Rev. 2:21-3:1).

The vast majority of churches in America have become AS the world is, in order as those churches have allowed the world to infiltrate and to influence them.  A nation's material and social wellbeing is fundamentally related to the spiritual condition of that nation's Christian churches.  America's precipitous socioeconomic and geopolitical decline is directly attributable to the Apostasy in the churches of America ~ though few will believe that is true.  Yet the Scripture is true, which saith: "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God" (Psalm 9:17).  If ever there was a nation that "forgot" God, it is modern-day America.

This essay is intended neither as a rant nor as a lament, but I am purposed, by God's grace and according to His promise, to: "obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need" (Hebrews 4:16).  God is willing to provide us with the answers we need ~ in this our time of need! ~ if we are willing and diligent to seek Him for those.  Thus, the discussion hitherto is meant to explain certain answers we need, in order to move forward in God ~ and to build.

I am in close fellowship with a handful of very godly men.  I know how they live.  Together, we give ourselves in every possible way, through Christ, to win souls for the Kingdom of God; albeit, with nothing (yet) like the results we believe God (as well as each of us) wants to see.  The great question burning in the hearts of God's Remnant in America, is: How can we build up the true Church, in the midst of a nation (America) under judgment and rife with Apostasy?

There are some very important answers to that question, in the ministry of John the baptist (about whom I have written before, here.)  In view of what I next want to discuss, I urge you to read that article, in addition this one.
Jesus himself testified that John the baptist would have been the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy of Scripture (if the people had then received Christ); but, because the Jews rejected Christ, that prophecy has never actually been fulfilled.  Not insignificantly, the "Elijah prophecy" is revealed in the very last words of the Old Testament, viz.:

"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."  (Malachi 4:5,6)

We therefore have not only the authority to embrace that prophecy as one which belongs to us, in this present generation.  Moreover, I see in that prophecy and in the ministry of John the baptist, the Scriptural pattern revealing just what the "Elijah prophecy" means ~ which, pattern, is provided to us in and through John's life and ministry.

I reiterate, that Jesus said that John was the fulfillment of that prophecy ~ in the case that the Jews would have received Christ (Matthew 11:14).  We may therefore infer that the "Elijah prophecy" pertains to the "spirit of Elijah", rather than to the actual person of that notable Old Testament prophet.  Should we not, then, understand John's life and ministry as providing us the Biblical pattern, in order that we might understand HOW it was that John answered to the as-yet-unfulfilled "Elijah prophecy"?

For His own reasons, God desires to walk and to work with man in a relationship that entails a partnership.  Accordingly, we find in Scripture that Christ has chosen to use men, throughout the Church Age, as forerunners to announce the coming of Jesus Christ.  John was such a forerunner ~ in a particularly important capacity.  The Apostles also were forerunners, in a somewhat different capacity (Luke 10:1, et al).  Ministers of the Gospel are, in a real sense, Christ's forerunners.  Lastly, there must be forerunners who will "prepare the way" of our Lord's Second Coming; as the aforementioned "Elijah prophecy" in Malachi attests.

We ~ the faithful Remnant ~ are called to be those forerunners!

What did John then do, to "prepare the way of the LORD", whereby John served as the pattern for the "fulfillment" of Malachi's prophecy?

Firstly, John wholly separated himself from every attachment to the world ~ including, importantly, his former involvement with the religious institutions and traditions of the Jews (John was born into the Jewish priesthood).  I cannot overemphasize the importance of that (see my earlier essay, linked above).  Every modern-day "Elijah" must be wholly separated from the world.  Of course, that does not mean that one abandons his or her family and goes off to live as a hermit!  But true "separation" is a matter of the heart and of the will ~ and, yes, it will require no small measure of sacrifice and suffering.  Let me give you just one example of what I mean by separating oneself from the world, as follows:

Multitudes of men (and women) enjoy watching professional football, on television and/or in person.  The NFL (National Football League) rakes in a kazillion-dollars every year, due to the immense popularity of that sport and the multifarious ways in which the NFL produces revenue from that.

I do know (though I do not follow the sport) that the NFL games are used to promote debased forms of entertainment (i.e., the SuperBowl half-time shows, etc.), as well as the NFL promotes ungodliness in the context of commercial advertisements which are broadcast in connection with every NFL game.  Recently, it was reported that the NFL strong-armed the Governor of the State of Georgia to veto a bill which that State legislature presented for his signature, which bill was intended to protect individuals' religious freedoms (link).  The NFL in that case aggressively acted on behalf of the radical homosexual agenda.

In view of those realities as I have just (barely) described, I ask you: How can any Christian in any way support the NFL?  How can any Christian purchase NFL-licensed products? or pay to attend an NFL game? or, even sit and watch an NFL game on television (the number of viewers is related to revenue)? much less, play on an NFL team?  It is not an honorable profession; nor is it an innocent pastime: it is an offense to God!

I cannot leave the subject of television, without providing you a link to a recent article describing the wholesale corruption of television programming (here).

Many will doubtless object that my views are too extreme.  To which I reply, that the spiritual crisis of this present hour can only be met by Christian men and women as bold in faith and as devout in consecration as were Elijah, John the baptist, Peter, Paul, and, certainly not least, Jesus himself.

John the baptist turned his back on the world system ~ but not on those who would repent.  If we intend to be the modern-day fulfillment of the "Elijah prophecy" and forerunners of Jesus Christ (which I do not believe that is presumptuous), then we must be like John was.

Secondly, we must preach the same message that John preached:

"And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; as it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight....  Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.  And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire."  (Luke 3:3-9)

In the above passage, we see how boldly and how straightforwardly John compelled men to repentance.  And to whom was he speaking?  To the Jews, that is, to religious folks: "...begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father".

Thirdly, we must instruct those, would-be converts to Christ (meaning, beforehand), concerning the true meaning of repentance and separation from the world.  John was not the first to ascribe ritual purification, to the act of water baptism.  But John evidently was the first who ever received that as an ordinance from God, in connection with the preaching of repentance for the remission of sins (Mark 11:30-33).  Especially in the ministry of John, water baptism must have held special significance in the minds of all those who came to be baptized of him (or of John's disciples).  In the context of John's preaching, and in the teaching of the New Testament, we should clearly understand that, as a Christian rite, water baptism signifies the death, burial, and resurrection of the individual who has been "born again".  

Yet I want to speak more particularly concerning the meaning of water baptism.  There are essentially two "phases" represented in water baptism.  The first 'phase' consists in immersion in water ~ which signifies death and burial (only that which is dead is buried).  But what is meant by "death and burial", as that is represented in water baptism?

It means that one who confesses Jesus Christ as Lord,

thus utterly renounces his own life in this present world:

he (or she) is henceforth "dead" to this world.

That truth is what made John's preaching ~ together with the act of water baptism, appear revolutionary to the people in his own day.  But that message has been all but lost to this present generation of professing Christians.  Call it radical Christianity, if you will.  But the requirement of total separation from the world-spirit and from the world-system, is foundational to pure, Biblical Christianity.  While that idea, that requirement, is completely alien to modern-day Christianity in America.  How could the dichotomy between historical Christianity and modern-day Christianity appear more starkly than that?

A most important reason why we have been largely unsuccessful in our efforts to build the Church, is, because rarely do we boldly and straightforwardly proclaim the message of God's judgment and wrath against sin (and sinners), nor do we adequately instruct would-be converts concerning the necessity of their utterly renouncing this present world.  How can they be expected to come to live altogether in another world, who are yet content to live in the only world which they have ever known?  They still think, and speak, and act like the world ~ because, they yet love the world.  How many professing Christians are like that, notwithstanding their many years, in many cases, of regular church attendance, etc.?

I have said it for a number of years ~ though I still strive to fully lay hold of it: that something in the manner of their preaching is what got practically all of the Apostles killed.  I'm sure that their approach to "preaching the Gospel" was nothing like what that is, today, amongst the vast majority of professing Christians, including preachers themselves.  Whereas we think we are bold witnesses if we so much as inquire of strangers, whether they do know Jesus Christ as their Savior.  John the baptist literally lost his head, because he rebuked the king for his adulterous lifestyle!  Jesus defied the religious as well as the civil leaders of his day.  If you doubt that Jesus was confrontational, consider the meaning of his confession which is recorded in John 7:7 ~ "The world cannot hate you [his sibling brothers]; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the deeds thereof are evil".

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."  (1 John 2:15) 

"Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."  (James 4:4) 

"[W]hat fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?  And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."  (2 Corinthians 6:14-18)

I have said that modern-day Christianity in America is "nothing else but another expression of popular (secular) culture".  Said another way, contemporary Christianity in America is part of the world-spirit.  Not only, then, is true Christianity a world apart from this present world.  But Biblical Christianity is then a world apart from modern-day Christianity in America.

I have yet to address the meaning of the second 'phase' of water baptism, that is, being raised up out of the water.  That signifies that the one who is now in Christ Jesus, has been raised up in Him to "newness of life".  He or she is virtually a "new creature" in Christ.  And, henceforth, such persons are not only privileged and empowered to live according to divine precepts and principles, by the power of God; moreover, we are required of God "so to walk, "even as [Christ] walked" (1 John 2:6).

I am persuaded that if we, who say we belong to that faithful Remnant in Christ, will truly begin to live as if we NOW belong to a different world (in the Spirit of God); and, furthermore, if we will also begin to perceive "this present evil world" (Galatians 1:4) as being just that which Scripture says that it is; then, may we begin to receive from God that outpouring of His Spirit which we have earnestly sought of Him.