Matthew 13:12

Thursday, 18 September 2025

For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Matthew 13:12

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at the “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen)

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“For whoever he has, it will be given him, and he will superabound. And whoever not he has, and what he has it will be lifted from him” (CG).

In the previous verse, Jesus responded to the disciples concerning His speaking in parables. He told them that they were given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. However, to the others, it had not.

To make this point, He next states an understood truth that applies in many worldly contexts. It can apply to wealth, health, business acumen, etc. As such, it is something understandable and verifiable. He begins with, “For whoever he has, it will be given him.”

Suppose someone has good health. That person will generally use his health wisely, increasing it and staying healthy. A person who has business smarts will generally make more good business decisions. It doesn’t even really matter what type of business. He may have a successful auto company and decide to buy a social media platform.

People may think he is nuts, but both remain profitable. He may add in a tunnel boring company and it will be successful as well. Why is this when the companies are so different? It is because he understands the business model regardless of the industry.

Therefore, he has and he keeps on receiving because his efforts are wisely directed from that perspective. This is so much the case that Jesus continues, “and he will superabound.”

As noted, this is a general principle, but it is something that usually occurs. The point is that the disciples were selected to carry forth the message of Jesus. They had received the proper spiritual insights to prosper in this realm. Israel as a nation had squandered their spiritual heritage. This is seen, for example, in the parable of the wicked vinedressers found in Matthew 21.

The disciples followed Jesus and would superabound in their spiritual growth. However, like the wicked vinedressers, Jesus says, “And whoever not he has, and what he has, it will be lifted from him.”

A person with no business acumen will usually find out very quickly that it is so. He lacks a proper understanding of the business model, and his desire to have a particular business will normally fail. What he has, as in saving to start the business, doing all the things necessary to get it going, and then putting up the OPEN sign on the first day, will turn into dashed hopes.

In fact, if he had understood his level of incompetence, he would have done better to put up a GOING OUT OF BUSINESS sign when he first opened the doors. Israel, from its first moments after receiving the law, had failed in a right application of their spiritual lives.

While Moses was on Sinai receiving further instructions after the giving of the Ten Commandments, Israel was fashioning the golden calf. This state of failed spiritual understanding, with few exceptions, continued throughout their history. In fact, the societal structure they developed based on their being stewards of the law meant they were doomed for failure.

The leadership of Israel had so departed from the proper “business model” that they were incapable of understanding spiritual matters properly. Paul refers to this in 2 Corinthians 3 –

“Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech— 13 unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. 15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. 16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” 2 Corinthians 3:12-16

Understanding this, Israel would have the prospect of the kingdom being taken from them. It would transfer to those who were willing to produce in accord with God’s will. The kingdom, as it is currently defined, is the age of grace. Israel has remained under law and under the curse, while the church has grown as a separate entity.

Israel will learn its lesson someday and receive the promises of the millennial kingdom, but it will be a difficult journey before it arrives.

Life application: Paul refers to the Law of Moses and the veil that remains over the spiritual eyes of Israel. The law, though standing between God and man, was not the problem, something Paul explains in Romans 7. Rather, it is sin in man that is the problem. The law merely highlights this fact.

Israel, however, failed to see this. They refused to understand the simple five-letter word GRACE. When Jesus came, they had no understanding of what He was referring to in His words because they trusted that, despite their sins in relation to the law, God thought they were great and worthy of His stunned care of them, as if they were the point of His dealings with man.

This is so much the case that even after Paul wrote his inspired epistle concerning the law and their state before it, they could not see through their own biased opinion of themselves. To this day, rabbis openly reject what Paul wrote, as if it were a complete misunderstanding of God’s interactions with them.

And yet, being inspired by Him, it is actually a herald’s call out to them, beckoning them to stop and think through what He is telling them. Jesus’ words of not having and the little they do have being lifted from them are, from a spiritual sense, openly validated in them on a global scale.

They, as a nation, are on worldwide display as to their inability to perceive the grace of God in Christ. This will be highlighted when they have some sort of national victory that will allow them the right to build the temple in Jerusalem again. This is prophesied to occur in Daniel 7. It will be based on a seven-year covenant with the antichrist.

They will equate their technological and military prowess, and national exaltation because of these things, to be signs of God’s favor toward them, something that America has been famous at for decades.

Their rejection of Jesus will be on worldwide display, particularly when the two witnesses of Revelation 11 stand and testify concerning Him. If it were not for Jesus’ personal intervention by returning to save Israel, no flesh would survive, as noted in Matthew 24:22.

God is using Israel, with all of their spiritual faults, to reveal to the world its desperate need for the grace of Jesus Christ. Understanding this, we can more fully appreciate the cosmic blunder of the doctrine of the Judaizers (Adventists, Hebrew Roots, etc.) who mandate law observance in their theology. Trust in grace, hold fast to it, and revel in what God has done in the giving of Jesus for our sins.

Lord God, thank You for the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

Matthew 13:11

Wednesday, 17 September 2025

He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. Matthew 13:11

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at the “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen)

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“And having answered, He said to them, ‘Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries ‘the kingdom the heavens.’ And to them, not it has been given’” (CG).

In the previous verse, Jesus was questioned by His disciples as to why He spoke to the people in parables. Matthew next records, “And having answered, He said to them, ‘Because it has been given.’”

Scholars vary on what “given” means. For example, some say this is a special act of God. That depends on how you interpret what a special act of God means. Myers NT Commentary, citing Weizsäcker, says, “through the unfolding, that is, of your inward powers of perception, not merely by means of the exposition.”

Stating such a thing defies logic. First, Jesus was speaking in a parable. They asked Him why He speaks in parables, not how to interpret them. Second, in verse 36, they will come to Him and ask Him to explain a parable. In Mark 4, it says that when they were alone, Jesus would explain all things to them.

Understanding a parable does not take a special act of God from within nor an inward power of perception. The answer is found in the next words of Jesus. He continues His words to the disciples, saying, “to you to know the mysteries ‘the kingdom the heavens.’”

The word mustérion, mystery, is introduced. HELPS Word Studies rightly defines the term, saying, it “is not something unknowable. Rather, it is what can only be known through revelation, i.e. because God reveals it.”

This is what the Bible is for. God reveals something, it is recorded in the Bible, and the information is now available. An example of this would be the rapture. It would be impossible to know that a rapture will take place someday unless the Bible said it would occur. God could have just not told us. When it came about, it would then be a mystery revealed, at least to those who were taken.

Because it is recorded in Scripture, it is now a revealed mystery. God has said it will occur, and yet innumerable saved believers deny that the event will take place. This includes well-versed Bible scholars.

The problem with them is not that God has kept it from them and their “inward powers of perception.” Nor is the meaning lacking in the “means of the exposition.” Paul expounds on the event called the rapture, in particular, in 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4. A child can pick up those passages, read them, and say, “Because I believe in Jesus, someday I am going to be taken directly to heaven.”

Without the mystery having been revealed by Paul, he never would have known this. But because it is written down, it is now a mystery revealed. So why can’t the scholar accept that the rapture will happen, just as Paul details? The answer may be that he had it taught out of him, something not uncommon in seminaries. It may be that he has presuppositions that he is unwilling to let go of.

It isn’t because he is lacking some spiritual ability. Even a non-believing Jew could pick up the Bible and understand what it says. “Oy! Those stupid goy believe they are going to be taken directly to heaven someday.” The reason Jesus spoke to the people in parables is explained in the coming verses. For now, He finishes with, “And to them, not it has been given.”

Jesus has purposefully taught in parables to obscure His intent. The information is there, but they need to have it explained to them. The question then is, “Are they willing to ask Him the meaning?” Those seeking will find the answer they desire. From there, they need to either accept it or reject it.

Life application: Having all the information necessary to be saved and live properly before God is found right in the pages of Scripture. The mysteries are explained. That is why they are included in the Bible. There is information we could never deduce without it being told to us. But once it is revealed, it is our job to accept what it says, taking the instruction in the proper context.

In Revelation 10:4, John is told, “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.” In 10:7, it says, “but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.”

The utterances of the seven thunders were sealed up. They are words that speak of things that cannot be deduced apart from God revealing them. As they are not recorded, when they are proclaimed, nobody will know beforehand that they were the seven utterances. What they convey will have to come about according to the unfolding of God’s mystery.

What is the mystery of the church? It is explained by Paul. What is the mystery of Christ? Paul explains it to us. Likewise, he explains the mystery of godliness. These and other mysteries are things that God has explained to us in His word. Once they are explained, they are revealed mysteries.

Their meaning is right there for any person to pick up and read. Whether he accepts the explanation is up to him. Judaizers have the same explanation for the mystery of godliness as anyone else does. They just don’t accept its meaning. The mystery of godliness is based on the Person and work of Christ, nothing else.

They reject this and say that you must adhere to the Law of Moses to be godly. It isn’t something kept from them to know the meaning. Rather, it is their own presuppositions and arrogant, self-directed attitudes. These lead to a failure to accept that Christ has done everything necessary for their salvation, but the Bible says otherwise. To be saved, we must accept Christ’s all-sufficient offer of salvation.

Lord God, help us not to sensationalize Your word beyond its intent. The Bible is sensational enough just as it is, without us making things up that are not in accord with what You have revealed. May we approach Scripture logically, with a passion for its contents, and with minds that are open and willing to accept what it says. Amen.

 

Matthew 13:10

Tuesday, 16 September 2025

And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”  Matthew 13:10

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at the “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen)

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“And the disciples, having come, they said to Him, ‘Through what in parables You speak to them?’” (CG).

In the previous verse, Jesus called out for those who heard His parable to hear. Next, Matthew records, “And the disciples, having come.”

Although not a problem, it is unknown exactly when this transpires. It doesn’t say “then,” or “at that time.” Therefore, their question could have come at any time, but Matthew is recording it here for the convenience of understanding.

Mark 4:10 says, “But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.” Luke 8 brings this question up in the same manner as Matthew, placing it right after the time Jesus tells His audience to hear.

Jesus was in a boat giving this parable. It appears that He continued His discourse and that the question came later. When it came, it was something asked not only by the twelve, but by many of the disciples.

Whatever the exact timeline, “they said to Him, ‘Through what in parables You speak to them?’”

The disciples’ question is natural. Instead of just plainly telling the people what He was talking about, Jesus’ words are interesting but veiled. Their question is probably as much a petition to have the explanation to the parables provided as it is one asking why He spoke this way.

At the time, despite being disciples, they were also a part of the audience. If someone from the crowd came up and asked them to explain the parable, they would have been incapable of doing so. This probably occurred and brought about their question to Jesus. This seems likely based on what it says in Mark 4 –

“And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. 34 But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.” Mark 4:33, 34

Life application: In Matthew 7, Jesus has already been recorded as saying this:

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” Matthew 7:7, 8

Jesus may be speaking in parables, and the disciples may not understand why, but He has already told them that in seeking, the answer will be found. How He responds to their question will, therefore, apply to anyone who comes to Him for an answer.

To this day, the words of Jesus are open to the Jewish people. They are not secreted away by the Lord where they cannot be saved during this dispensation. But there has to be a motivation to seek the truth. In the recent past, a soldier in Israel shared his story about his father’s conversion.

He “came to faith after picking up a flyer about Jesus on the street that was just lying around. Reading it and then going to the Bible and reading the gospel about Jesus. Because of all the stigma, he thought the New Testament was written by Nazis, but when he picked it up, he said ‘I felt like it’s the real deal that continues the Old Testament.’”

Imagine that. A gospel tract was thrown away by one person, but another picked it up and was willing to check things out. He was encouraged and challenged enough that he had to know if it was true. The disciples have asked Jesus about the hidden mysteries of God. But nothing is really hidden if one searches for the truth and then opens his heart to what he discovers.

Lord God, our time in handing out tracts may seem wasted when we don’t hear about any conversions or breakthroughs in the area where we hand them out, but give us the desire to continue to share the good news this way and in any other way that we can. A plant cannot grow unless the seed is first planted. Amen.

 

Matthew 13:9

Monday, 15 September 2025

He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Matthew 13:9

Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at the “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen)

You can also read this commentary, scrolling with music, courtesy of our friends at “Discern the Bible” on YouTube. (Click Here to listen), or at Rumble (Click Here to listen).

“The ‘having ears to hear,’ he – hear!” (CG).

In the previous verse, Jesus spoke of the seed falling on the good earth and the abundance it provides. Having completed the parable, He next says, “The ‘having ears to hear,’ he – hear!”

Jesus’ words are the same as Matthew 11:15. It is an admonition to listen, understand, and pay attention, applying His words to their lives. In this case, He has instructed the people concerning soil and seed. What He says has value to the person sowing real seed.

This is how things work, and most people listening to Him, who planted the seed, would know this. Some people may never have thought the process through, just helping out on a farm or being young and unaware of how things worked. They could then say, “I heard that Rabbi speaking about sowing seed and I’ll follow His advice.”

But Jesus’ intent is not to teach about farming practices. The words were given as a parable, and the people would have known this. The problem is that when He says for them to hear, they may not have understood what He was telling them. In fact, in the giving of this parable as recorded in Luke, it says, “Then His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘What does this parable mean?’” (Luke 8:9).

To this day, people differ on the interpretation or intended audience for Jesus’ words. Because this is so, having ears to hear may not be as easy as it seems.

Life application: Despite differing interpretations on parables, verses, intended audience for a given passage, etc., there is a proper and intended meaning for everything in Scripture. There are several important points that must be considered for everything that is recorded. The main point above all is considering the context.

A simple example of this is the Law of Moses. Who is the intended audience for adhering to the law? The context is stated right in the giving of the law and within the law itself. The law was given to Israel. Really, go check it out. Read Exodus 19 and 20, where the basis for the law was given, meaning the Ten Commandments.

After that, Israel is the intended audience throughout the entire time of the law. For example, go read Deuteronomy 5:1 and Jeremiah 2:4, among almost a billion other times that words of law are spoken. Israel alone is always the intended audience. Even Jesus addresses Israel directly, quoting the law, such as in Mark 12:29.

No other nation on the planet was given the law. No other nation was required to observe the law. And when Jesus died, it was in fulfillment of the law. Thus, in its fulfillment, it was ended. This is stated explicitly by Jesus Himself. It is also recorded in the epistles numerous times. So why do churches continue to tell people they have to tithe, not eat pork, or to observe the Sabbath?

These are points of law. The context tells us who the law was for.

To understand the meaning of a parable or who the intended audience is for it may not be readily apparent, but the matter will not be solved and solidified in your mind in a manner that matches Scripture unless you read and rightly apply Scripture.

It may be that you have an exceptional preacher or teacher who properly explains these things, but unless you also know the book, you can only assume what he says is correct. In the end, each of us is responsible for his or her doctrine. To place one’s eternal soul in the hands of someone else’s doctrine without verifying what they say is the height of stupidity.

If you go to any Jehovah’s Witnesses meetings, they will tell you they trust the doctrine of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. And yet, what they teach is heretical and anathema to God. Imagine that. Over nine million people in the Jehovah’s Witnesses are destined for eternal separation from God because they fail to accept the principle point of Scripture, that Jesus Christ is God.

Be discerning. Read the Bible, consider its context, and don’t be led astray by people who have an agenda to control your life by controlling the doctrine of your faith.

Lord God, help us in our understanding of Your word. Open our eyes when we read it to find the truth as You present it. Please keep us away from false teachers and unsound teachings. Please lead us to a right understanding of it and to a closer walk with You. Amen.

 

Freedom in the Balance – Charlie Kirk’s Life and Sacrifice

Artwork by Douglas Kallerson

Freedom in the Balance – Charlie Kirk’s Life and Sacrifice

As sad as what happened on Wednesday is for those who love freedom in its many areas of our lives: religion, political leanings, public discourse, employment choices, etc., it would be a mistake to assume that what took place in the assassination of Charlie Kirk was the silencing of a voice.

Rather, his voice will be multiplied through the event in many ways. His proclamation of Christian principles, combined with reasonable, moral, political conservatism, will come, once again, to the forefront of the American public. How the public embraces it is the big question.

We tend to become fickle rather quickly. In World War II, we used our intelligence and resources to develop a weapon that was capable of ending the war and saving, what is believed to be, millions of lives.

In a short span of time, those who second-guess every choice or who disapproved of the way the action was taken infiltrated the media, condemning the nation while continuing to enjoy the benefits that are derived from it.

After the attack on 11 September 2001, the nation flew flags everywhere. Wherever you were, little flags adorned cars in the streets, and people stood in unity against what happened. No sooner had we as a nation met the enemy, engaging those who attacked us, than the usual voices were raised about how terrible we were for doing so.

After the horror of 911, Pat Tillman of the Arizona Cardinals was impelled to leave his beloved and lucrative game to join the US Army. He served honorably in Iraq and Afghanistan, but was killed by friendly fire in 2004. Morally deficient voices on the left openly applauded his death as if he were the enemy.

Just 24 years after the Islamic attack, New York City is facing its greatest crisis ever with the prospect of electing a communist as its mayor. He openly rejects the core principles of our nation, arrogantly rejects the law set in place to protect its citizens, and ludicrously denies that he is one of the privileged he claims to be opposed to.

How quickly we forget the efforts of those who brought us to where we are at any given time! Instead, we accept the lies of those who intend real harm to our society, assuming that because they are in positions of power or influence, they should be trusted.

Rather, they eloquently project their own wickedness on others in an effort to hide who they really are. We need clarity of thought to see through what they are doing, something lacking in the masses who are busily engaged in work, family, and living their daily lives.

Charlie Kirk possessed this clarity and, without malicious words or demeaning conduct, he clearly stated what is right, moral, and proper. This cost him his life, but it will cause others to speak out more boldly, offering an alternative to the unbelievably vile hatred and evil-speak of those on the left.

Of those rabid voices, thousands upon thousands of gleeful social media posts rejoicing in Charlie’s assassination have filled the internet. The democrats in the US Congress actively booed the call for, and then tried to kill, a moment of silence to remember Kirk’s life and death.

The legacy media openly reveled in his execution on numerous occasions, claiming that Charlie’s “violent rhetoric” brought about his murder – just desserts for spewing so-called “hatred.”

Two of hundreds of vile news articles will give you a sense of this, and who is behind it in this nation:

Survey Finds ONE IN THREE College Students Think Some Level of Violence is Acceptable to Stop Campus Speech They Don’t Like

Young Woman Who Witnessed Charlie Kirk’s Assassination Says Liberals in the Crowd Were CHEERING After He Was Shot

How did we come to the point in this nation where this type of vile conduct has come about? Each year or so, for many years, I have revisited the words of Florida US Congressman Syd Herlong’s extension of remarks read into the proceedings of the US House of Representatives on 10 January 1963 entitled Current Communist Goals.

In his remarks, he cited 45 points by which the communists planned to overthrow the government of the United States. Rather than a shooting war they could not win, they understood the vacillating nature of the American public and set forth a long-term agenda to obliterate the fundamental underpinnings of our nation.

A majority of those goals have been realized. Several of them were overcome by events on the world stage. Rather than reading the list, a mere four of them will explain to you what the impetus behind Charlie Kirk’s assassination was –

  1. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers’ associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

 

  1. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as “normal, natural, and healthy.”

 

  1. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social’ religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a “religious crutch.”

 

  1. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of “separation of church and state.”

 

A fifth point was steadily pursued, and it was successfully realized in the past 20 years, becoming a major part of this political assassination –

 

  1. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.

 

Charlie Kirk was first and foremost a Christian. However, if he were just sitting in the pews on Sunday morning, no attention would have been focused on him. Sunday morning Christians are not the problem, and they can be dealt with easily enough when full communism has taken over the nation.

Directives to kneel, followed by an inexpensive bullet to the back of the head, will take care of such people if they refuse to recant. This has occurred millions of times in communist countries. Anyone who thinks this won’t happen here does not understand the nature of the spiritual and political battle being waged.

Along with being a Christian, Charlie Kirk was as much of an educator as he was anything else. He may not have been in a classroom teaching, but he was actively engaged in debating the religious, moral, and civil conduct of the people of this nation.

Innumerable times during the previous democrat administrations, conservative personalities who were scheduled to speak at colleges and universities have been shouted down, riots have taken place, sit-in protests have been held – all to keep these conservatives from being able to engage in public discourse.

The democrat party applauded the “bravery” of these miscreants while the wholly-infiltrated administrations, the DoJ, and the FBI did nothing to stop these violations of the rights of those conservative speakers. With a new administration completely set against this communist agenda in place, and with high fines and penalties for such conduct, universities have been forced to allow these voices to speak.

Unfortunately, the educational system has so brainwashed the youth of this nation, that they now feel their only remaining recourse is to climb on top of a building, point a gun at the head of the lover of freedom, honor, morality, and dignity, and pull the trigger, thus silencing the voice who simply wants to debate the moral ramifications of people’s decisions.

Charlie Kirk’s educational aspect focuses on just that, meaning the morality and civil dignity of humans. But standing against “homosexuality, degeneracy, and promiscuity as ‘normal, natural, and healthy’” cannot be tolerated in a society racing towards a supposed communist utopia.

Those who think this way don’t realize that right after the Christians, it is those who practice homosexuality, degeneracy, and promiscuity who will be the next ordered to kneel as the brave new society spends another five cents on each bullet used to eliminate them. Useful idiots, as Vladimir Lenin called them.

These communist points for taking over the nation were exactly what Charlie Kirk spoke against. And yet, being 31 years old, he probably wasn’t even aware of Syd Herlong’s extension of remarks. He probably died without realizing the magnitude of the forces set against what he stood for.

Of all of Syd’s points, the most important of them was number 27, “Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with ‘social’ religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity, which does not need a ‘religious crutch.’”

This is something Alexis de Tocqueville carefully warned America about in his study Democracy in America. He stated that religion “should be considered the first” of the nation’s “political institutions,” urging the necessity for Americans to “maintain Christianity…at all cost.”

Whether Charlie Kirk knew of Tocqueville’s writings or not, he understood this as an absolute necessity for the nation to survive. Unfortunately, “religion” under the umbrella of Christianity does not necessarily mean moral, biblical, God-honoring religion.

This is what the communists understood. And so they have taken full advantage of infiltrating first the seminaries and then the churches of the nation. During the sixties, the infection of this agenda slowly crept into America’s schools. By the time of the Vietnam War, the left had so taken over the minds of many young people that they were unwilling to identify with the nation at all.

Many headed north to avoid the draft. But many of them found a way of avoiding the draft while still benefiting from life in the United States. By entering the seminary, they were exempt from the draft. And so, an entire generation of ideologically perverse people was being led by professors who never cared at all about the cause of Jesus Christ.

What does one do when he graduates from seminary? He becomes a pastor, preacher, or priest. The churches who pay well belong to the larger denominations. Free housing, congregants who idolize their spiritual leader, susceptible sheep willing to listen without checking, and a steady paycheck. The recipe for disaster was set.

Since the 1970s, all large denominations have been partly or completely overtaken by these moral minuscules. Many denominations are Christian in name only. Their message is one of presenting “homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as ‘normal, natural, and healthy.’”

If you don’t believe it, drive by any church in the modern “mainstream denominations. The chances are high that along with an American flag (well, often not even that) there will be a “pride” flag, a trans flag, BLM flags, etc.

Every un-American, anti-God value that can be snuck into Sunday’s sermon is introduced. Adherence to biblical values is non-existent, and the name of Jesus Christ is blasphemed as the person in the pulpit, wholly unqualified to be there, by the way, preaches “tolerance” as if it is an all-inclusive virtue. Charlie Kirk’s assassination, and ten thousand other abominations against faithful Christians, say otherwise.

Jesus, citing Isaiah, said of the foes of rightness at His time –

“These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.” Mark 15:8

This is what we see in modern, mainstream, denominations. In undermining the Bible, Christianity itself is undermined. The worship of Jesus Christ is no longer the preeminent factor of going to church. Rather, social justice and progressive liberalism have replaced that. Their day of judgment will not be pleasant. Again, as Isaiah said –

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20

A disastrous day lies ahead for these people.

Though it is unlikely that those on the left will ever cede an inch, it does not mean that faithful Christians should give up. It is our responsibility to continue to press forward. And more, it is a sacred obligation.

Jesus didn’t get to Calvary and call down twelve legions of angels to save Himself. The eternal destiny of all of humanity was on the line. That truth has not changed to this day. Though the act is accomplished, the path is clear, and access is available, unless it is proclaimed, no change will take place in the human heart.

Christians cannot sit idly by and remain silent. Having said that, there are others who will peevishly stand down from speaking out. It is sad but true. The opportunists of the world will be vocal until the time of persecution comes. When it does, they will fade into the background, never having really believed in, or maybe cherished, what they espoused.

For such, their supposedly deep moral convictions come down to safety, a reasonable stream of income, a position of power or influence, or a combination of any or all of these. Remove the true inspiration for their “moral stand,” and they will quickly bolt from it.

In politics, Dick Cheney is a great example. He was supposedly a sound, moral, Republican who would never have tolerated what the left pushed on the American public… well, until his younger daughter came out as a lesbian. Then his true moral soundness began to be revealed.

When his older daughter participated in one of the greatest attempts at overthrowing our government in the history of this nation, he fully revealed where he stood in his moral thinking. Is allegiance to family members where our morals are derived from?

Congress is elected for a reason. We vote for our representatives and senators based on what they say. Unfortunately for those on the right, what they have said and what they then did have almost always been completely at odds.

This is obviously true with most presidential candidates as well. They move to the center, lie as much as possible concerning what type of a president they will be, and they then immediately begin to reveal their true colors when they enter into office.

The greatest deceiver of them all was the one who, though untruthful in everything he said, mostly just avoided talking about his agenda. The things he said on the campaign trail were platitudes intended to lull the public into thinking he was the right guy for the job.

In fact, if you listen to his speeches, yes he lied, but he did it in a way that could be excused as typical political jargon. But this Satan of the political realm was elected, taking his oath of office (and I gag at even saying that) on 20 January 2009.

The son of a dyed-in-the-wool communist, and one who spent his life pursuing the communist agenda, took care of the things that were partially accomplished or wholly left undone as detailed in Syd Herlong’s list. He pursued them with reckless abandon.

Probably never in the history of the world, to include Sodom and Gomorrah or ancient Greece, were the forces of perversion and moral turpitude opened up in a society as they were under him. The power of the presidency was brought to bear against the foundational principles of the nation he swore to defend.

To him, the constitution was a “living organism” that meant whatever he decided. It was at this time that the true character of the democrat party began to be seen. A political party had, in fact, been captured – communism had taken it over. Unfortunately for them, the American public had had enough and chose a different path in 2016.

However, because of the pen of Barack Obama, the government itself had become so infested with those who swore allegiance to the cause he espoused, that it was not difficult to completely hamper the progress of the then-sitting president, Donald Trump.

An entire agenda of fabricating evidence against him was enacted from the Obama White House before he departed. The highest form of treason our nation could experience was realized. From that steppingstone, the power of the democrat-led Congress continuously stymied President Trump’s ability to enact any meaningful change in this nation.

In just four years, and with the ability to sway the next election through deception on a scale never before imagined, Obama would, once again, be in power. With the ability of big tech, and a CDC so sold out to the democrat party that its employees openly wept the day Donald Trump was elected, a plan was devised.

I need not tell you what it was. We all lived through it. Billions of people were utterly deceived over an event that changed the course of world politics and defined just how far governments could go to restrict the rights of their citizens. A global test case on how to control the masses.

The inevitable loss of the presidency for Donald Trump followed, and the lawfare began. Any other person in history would have signed the document, surrendered to the golf course, and kept his mouth shut until he died. But Donald Trump is not a normal person.

He is sold out to the American dream. All you need to do is go back and watch the innumerable videos of his younger years, and you will understand the man. He has his piece of the pie, but he wants it for everyone in this nation.

And so, while Barack Obama was enjoying his third term as president, presiding over a person that Donald Trump called braindead during the 2020 elections (so obvious it was even then), Trump was fighting off the power of the entire US government that was directed against him.

In case after case, he was vindicated. During this period, the left was certain of two things: 1) Joe Biden could not last a second term, nor could he win a second term, and 2) Kamala Harris was as sold out to the Obama agenda as anyone on the planet.

The gamble was made, the cards were laid down, and Joe Biden put his pen to a few of the only pardons that bore his actual signature out of the 4,245 that bear his name. He then submitted his removal from the ballot and frittered away his final days in office while Barack Obama prepared for his fourth term in office.

Donald Trump, however, spurred the masses on, telling them that they needed to come out in such numbers that even cheating couldn’t win. And he did. He won. The left underestimated his ability to stir the people, and they way overestimated the abilities of the wholly inept Kamala Harris.

When Obama walked into the Capitol Rotunda on Inauguration Day 2025, he whispered words to George W. Bush that were supposedly secret, but … well, there are lip readers at every such event. He said to Bush, “How do we stop this?” Bush laughed and knew that things were going to change. If you doubt this, go watch the video.

And there is a change in how President Trump has dealt with his second term, isn’t there? With a Republican House and Senate, the left can do pretty much zero to stop the tide of good news that has spread across our government for these past nine months.

And, as I noted before, congress is elected for a reason. Many on the right have frittered away the years, getting rich while squandering our heritage. They would be doing that right now, but the overwhelming tide of President Trump’s abilities have forced them to finally align with the values of those who voted for them.

At the same time, those on the left – every single one of them with the surprising exception of John Fetterman – have proven several things. There is not a single stand that they hold to –, moral, judicial, civil, or political – that is in line with the founding principles of this nation. They have fully revealed what they believe, what they want, and what is necessary to attain their goals.

Stopping here for a moment, one might say, “What is a pastor doing giving a political speech from the pulpit while discussing the assassination of the chief executive officer of Turning Point USA? If you think this is a political speech, you have not been paying attention.

Christianity is a religion, the one true religion, BTW. It stems from God, who ordained Jesus Christ to go to the cross before the foundation of the world. From there, the message has gone throughout the world. But the world is divided by people groups, cultures, and nations.

These were ordained by God, and they exist by His will. Daniel 2:21 says that God removes kings and raises up kings. God has ordained that we live in a world of this design. We as people cannot disassociate our religion from our existence within a society, which includes civil, judicial, and moral precepts.

Alexis de Tocqueville understood this. Many past presidents understood this. And Charlie Kirk understood this. He was fully aware of the fact that he was a target for assassination. It was made known to him again and again. But he knew that his voice in speaking out was more important than whatever would happen to him. In his life, he was the Lord’s. In his death, he is the Lord’s.

As for President Trump, I personally question if he is truly saved or not. Recent comments tell me that if he is, he is theologically confused about his state of salvation. That is easy enough to correct if someone would just sit down with him for fifteen minutes with the intent of smoothing that issue out for him.

Regardless of his personal state, he fully understands that the Christian message is the binding tie between the nation and its citizens. In nine months, he has done more to restore the Christian message and the Christian faith within the government than anyone in generations, maybe since our founding as a nation.

Our ability to freely exercise our faith was under such heavy attack since the inauguration of Barack Obama that, were it not for the Supreme Court of the United States, preaching from the full counsel of Scripture would no longer be tolerated in this nation.

Hence, there has been a continuous call over the past four years, even within the administration, to either dismantle or pack the Supreme Court. That was a step that the left realized may lead to their own termination at the rising up of Christians, and so it didn’t happen. But we are one election away from facing exactly that.

How does God raise up kings and establish nations? He does it through people. That was clearly evidenced in the writing of Thomas Jefferson and signed by a group of men on August 2, 1776, at the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall.

Brave men, mostly led by Christians, either from the pulpit or from soap boxes, have spurred the nation to act time and again during periods of war or national crisis. Today, we are in a national crisis, but the forces of evil are not found attacking from without. They are attacking from within.

Donald Trump understands this. Charlie Kirk understood it, and his stand cost him his life. His wife will not see him again this side of glory, and his children have been bereft of their father because he understood and acted.

And he understood it exactly as I just explained it. We as Christians cannot separate our faith from the environment in which we live. When that happens, the results are evident from a mountain of past nations that have done just that.

The people either hide from the inevitable persecution they will face, give up on their faith because there is no one willing to stand and defend it, or they nobly and resolutely get on their knees and await their execution, something that has happened hundreds of thousands of times in Africa in recent years.

It has happened throughout the world, in fact. The great purge of Christians among peoples and nations, and even within the church itself, is a testament to our need to never give up in the face of iniquity. Just minutes before he was shot, Charlie Kirk was handing out MAGA hats.

As much of a political movement as it is, MAGA in the United States today is the only thing that has spared Christianity from the machinations of Barack Hussein Obama and those allied with him. Their idea of democracy is to remove the rights of those they disagree with so that their idea of democracy can exist.

If you don’t believe this, you haven’t been reading the quotes of people on the left, including politicians and media personnel, over the past four days. The execution of Charlie Kirk has been a cry for more. What was Rolling Stone’s Response to this? People Are Losing Their Jobs for Criticizing Slain ‘Free Speech’ Advocate Charlie Kirk.

The only people losing their jobs are those who either don’t have the right to say what they say while in their particular job, such as members of the US military, or those who work for people who will not tolerate threats against other human beings, finding them incompatible with the values of whatever entity the individual works for.

Charlie Kirk had nothing to do with this. Their own inability to realize that what they are peddling is not acceptable is what caused those people to lose their jobs. This is evident from the subtitle to their article, “Journalists, publicists, and college faculty have been fired after calling the right-wing influencer a divisive figure and making light of his assassination.”

A company, news media, or school cannot promote such speech without paying dearly for it. But this is how the left thinks because they have been steeped in communist ideology for over sixty years now.

Whether you agree with my words today or not, Charlie Kirk died because he believed in the agenda of Donald Trump. And the reason he believed in it is because Donald Trump is the only man to have the intestinal fortitude to do what he has done.

If you are to believe Scripture, then you must avow that God raised up Donald Trump for a time such as this. Charlie Kirk understood, he accepted God’s hand in the process, and he joined it to secure a safer, more promising future for Christians in this nation.

His death may have exactly the opposite effect. Only time will tell how the left will respond to the momentum of President Trump’s push to restore our nation. And it may be that the US House or both bodies will be lost in the next election.

If so, the nation will come to a screeching halt as innumerable, bogus counts for impeachment are brought to bear against the president once again. No wonder he is working feverishly to control and restore the electoral process that has been so stunningly manipulated by the left, even since the time of John Kennedy’s win over Richard Nixon.

Chicago’s dead were raised to vote democrat in that election. That has increased to a nationwide phenomenon, which was multiplied to an astonishing number in 2020, something not repeatable in 2024 because the receipts were in. But unless the voter rolls are secured, it will inevitably happen again.

In 1 Timothy 1, Paul says –

“But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, 10 for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine.” 1 Timothy 1:8-10

Think about what Paul says. The law is not made for a righteous person. The law, any law, is given to secure the unrighteous, ungodly, profane, murderers, and so forth. This is just why the left has been so blatant in ignoring the laws of the United States over the past four years and why they continue to do so today.

What Joe Biden did concerning immigration was unlawful. What the sanctuary cities have done and are doing is unlawful. What DAs and prosecutors are doing in liberal cities is unlawful. What schools are doing with our own children in these same cities is unlawful.

These things are not just ignoring what is commonly held as good or moral. They are violations of existing laws. In ignoring the laws, they are attempting to absolve themselves of the responsibility for their murders, thefts, ungodliness, and so forth.

However, this is the reason for government. It is intended to enforce the laws that exist. Donald Trump is not violating anyone’s rights by rounding up illegal aliens. Rather, he is enforcing the law. It is the same law that was broken by the previous administration, and which nobody on the left even thought about condemning.

Why? Because in agreeing with the agenda, they solidify power, prepare to assume total control, and then rid themselves of those who disagree with them. One five-cent solution at a time until they have cast off their foe. And in casting them off, they no longer have the accusing finger of the Creator pointing at them from the pulpit each Sunday.

Well, at least the pulpits that are willing to steel themselves against the onslaught of wickedness, perversion, and assassination coming against them. Charlie Kirk was a man of principle. His principle was in conformity with the morally proper ideology of Donald Trump in relation to the running of this nation.

If you want to know why Charlie Kirk died, it is because they missed twice with President Trump. Charlie Kirk had the freedom to engage in public discourse because decisions to change the moral direction of this nation came down from the top of our government. By now, the left would have eliminated Charlie’s ability to meet as he did this past week.

And the top of our government, whether you like it or not, was directed by God in accord with His sovereign rule over the nations. On July 13, 2024, President Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt while speaking at an open-air campaign rally near Butler, Pennsylvania.

We can certainly glean two things from that event. First, that God wanted him alive for His purposes. Second, every time Donald Trump looks in the mirror or scratches his right ear, he is reminded of that fact. Charlie Kirk’s time is over. But his memory will be long in being forgotten.

Donald Trump’s time continues, and with the resolve of the sacrifice of Charlie Kirk to bolster him, he will continue to press on in securing the freedoms we possess as Christians and as citizens of this nation. May God protect and bless him, and may God bless and protect this nation according to how we honor Him.

That is a scary petition when we were so close to having lost our right to do so because of those who hate Him, despise His word, and revile the name of His Son, the name which is above every name, and the name to which all knees will bow – Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.