NOTES ON THE DIVIDING OF AMERICA: GOD’S WINNOWING FORK, FREE WILL, AND RIGHT CHOICES IN THE AGE OF HYPOCRISY – PART I

  1. THE GREAT SIFTING
  2. The Great Falling Away
  3. The Grateful Remnant

SCRIPTURE. “Be continually on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees [that is, their pervasive, corrupting influence and teaching], which is HYPOCRISY [producing self-righteousness].  But there is nothing [so carefully] concealed that it will not be REVEALED, nor so hidden that it will not be made known. For that reason, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops.” – JESUS OF NAZARETH, LUKE 12:1-3, AMP; emphasis my own

QUOTATIONS

The Real Things haven’t changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.” – LAURA INGALLS WILDER, author of ‘Little House on the Prairie’ Series, 1932-1944; edited

“I was a False Convert breeding other false converts; a spiritually dead sinner praying for others to be reborn, when I was just as lost as they were. The price of my foolishness has cost me dearly.” PATRICK HIGGINS, ‘In the Blink of An Eye – Part Three: The Unveiling,’ 2016; edited

“A secret too long kept can kill a soul by inches. I watched a secret almost destroy a man once, the finest man ever made. Such a secret is like keeping treasure in a tomb. Little by little, Poison eats away at the gold. By the time the door is opened, there may be nothing left but dust.” – CASSANDRA CLARE, ‘Ghosts of the Shadow Market,’ 2019’ edited

Selah.

  1. FIRST THOUGHTS

God knows everything. I mean, everything, even before it happens. Now then, since all believers in God would quickly concede the point, it always astounds me when they act as if He doesn’t. The Hebrew Prophet reminds us:

“For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, neither is their iniquity concealed from My eyes.” –  JEREMIAH 16:17, AMPC

What’s so hard to understand? Seems crystal clear to me: The Principle derived from this absolute reality is simple: Not a terrific idea to Lie to God by keeping one’s sins from Him, since, again, He already knows about them. Before you even commit them!

ANNANIAS & SAPPHIRA. A Story from the Scriptures drives this point home in indelible terms.

“But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.’

Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him.

Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter answered her, ‘Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?’ She said, ‘Yes, for so much.’ Then Peter said to her, ‘How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.’ 

Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband. So great fear came upon all the church and upon all who heard these things.” – ACTS 5:1-11, NKJV

The Greek word for “FEAR” here is, ‘Phobos’ [φόβος], which translates: “Panic flight, fear, the causing of fear, terror; terror, alarm; dreadful, terrible, horrid; painful emotion or passion excited by an expectation of evil, or the apprehension of impending danger; fear expresses less apprehension than dread, and dread less than terror and fright; also, however, it denotes reverence, respect.”

COMMENTARY. “This was an atrocious crime – a deep and dreadful act of iniquity. It was committed knowingly, and without excuse. It was important that sudden and exemplary punishment should follow it, because the Society of Christians was just then organized, and it was designed that it should be a ‘pure’ Society, and should be regarded as a body of holy men. Much depended on making an ‘Impression’ on the people that sin could not be allowed in this New Community, but would be detected and punished.

God has often, in a most solemn manner, shown his Abhorrence of Hypocrisy and Insincerity. By awful Declarations and fearful Judgments, He has declared His displeasure at it. In a particular manner, no small part of the preaching of the Saviour was employed in detecting the Hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees, and denouncing heavy judgments on them …

In the very beginning of the Christian Church, it was important, by a decided and awful act, to impress upon the Church and the world the danger and guilt of Hypocrisy. Well did the Saviour know that it would be one of the most insidious and deadly foes to the Purity of the Church [‘without spot or wrinkle’; Eph. 5:27]; and at its very “Threshold,” therefore, He set up this solemn warning to guard it, and laid the bodies of Ananias and Sapphira in the path of every Hypocrite that would enter the Church. If they enter and are destroyed, they cannot plead that they were not fully warned” – ALBERT BARNES, ‘Notes on the Whole Bible,’ 1875; edited

THE LAST DAYS. Jesus and the Apostles all warned that such Deception would increase dramatically in the Last Times. Thus, there is inarguably even more necessity for God to Interpose Himself in today’s Church to stem the ocean tide of Falsehood among us, thereby to “Purify” His houses of worship. – cf. Matthew 24:24; 2 Timothy 4:3-4; 1 John 4:1-6

We see, as illustration, the Blasphemy of a ‘New Gospel’ in our houses, that comfortably sit side by side with the Politics of Trumpism, the Cult of QAnon, and the sedition of the often violent White Nationalists. Worse, so much worse, the Church remains Indifferent to the greatest moral and political Evil to visit our Nation since the Civil War, the January 6, 2021 Christian Insurrection at the Nation’s Capitol.

Even though in many ways, Donald Trump and the Church led it!  Selah.

  1. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DECEPTION

I recall in my doctoral graduate school days, studying something called ‘Johari’s Window,’ related to how much we reveal the Truth about ourselves. Went something like this; from the Editors at ‘Communication Theory’ (Online), October 2019; edited.

THE JOHARI WINDOW MODEL. American psychologists JOSEPH LUFT AND HARRY INGHAM developed this model in 1955. The idea was derived from participation and observation of the ‘Group Dynamics’ in University of California, and was later developed further and refined by Dr. Luft. The name ‘Johari’ came from joining their first two names. This Model is also denoted as feedback/disclosure Model of Self-Awareness.

It is divided into FOUR QUADRANTS, as follows.

  1. OPEN SELF/OPEN OTHERS. – “Here the information about the person his attitudes, behaviour, emotions, feelings, skills and views will be KNOWN by the person as well as by others.
  • BLIND SELF/OPEN OTHERS. Information about yourselves that others know in a group but you will be UNAWARE of it. Others may interpret yourselves differently than you expect. The Blind Spot is reduced for an efficient communication through seeking Feedback from others.”
  • HIDDEN AREA OR FAÇADE. “Information that is known to you but will be KEPT UNKNOWN from others. This can be any personal information which you feel reluctant to reveal. This includes feelings, past experiences, fears, secrets etc. we keep some of our feelings and information as private as it affects the relationships and thus the hidden area must be reduced by moving the information to the open areas.”
  • UNKNOWN AREA. “The Information which are UNAWARE to yourselves as well as others. This includes the information, feelings, capabilities, talents etc. This can be due to traumatic past experiences or events which can be unknown for a lifetime. The person will be unaware till he discovers his hidden qualities and capabilities or through observation of others. ‘Open Communication’ [Transparency]is also an effective way to decrease the unknown area and thus to communicate effectively.”

DK’S TAKE. Now this is nothing more than a reasonably objective ‘Model of Self-Disclosure’ that explains how some folks are quite Open, while others are quite Closed – for private, family, practical, cultural, or even medical reasons.

But for our present purposes, QUADRANT 3 is the place where ‘Lying and Concealment’ occurs, whether for Moral or Immoral purposes. From there we go to an even more Scientific Description of what Lies are and why people do it so much.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF LYING. This Abstract is borrowed from a major treatment Deception by entitled, ‘False Allegations: Investigative and Forensic Issues in Fraudulent Reports,’ by researchers AURELIO CORONODO MARES AND BRENT E. TURVEY, 2018, Chapter 2, pp. 21-36; edited. Republished in ‘Science Direct.’

Here is their Summary of this exhaustive work.

“Lying is a form of communication that involves two parties: The Deceiver and the Deceived. The Deceiver intends to communicate false impressions or information. The Deceived, however, must participate in the Lie—at least on some level. This is either by virtue of learned apathy, ignorance, bias, or overconfidence (barring mental infirmity, of course) …

Lies generally manifest as one of the following constructs of dishonesty: ‘Complete DeceptionHalf-TruthsExaggerations; and Pertinent Omissions.’ Lies are told for one of TWO REASONS: Either the Deceptive Person believes they have more to gain from lying than from telling the Truth; or the Deceptive Person is incapable of discerning what the Truth is, either temporarily or owing to some permanent mental [or ethical] defect. Lies may be divided into TWO CATAGORIES: ‘Prosocial Lies’ that are constructed to benefit others; and ‘Antisocial Lie’s that are selfish.

There is no technique or piece of technology that is capable of reliably determining whether someone is telling a lie. The scientific research demonstrates that most people do not detect Lies with much greater accuracy than they would than chance (e.g., a coin toss); and the so-called ‘Experts’ in deception detection fare only slightly better. Pseudoscientific Techniques of deception detection persist because they are subjective and open to interpretation. Subjective Interpretations mean that analysts can shape the character of results in favor of prevailing political winds or to favor any preferred narrative.”

DK’S TAKE. From both these secular-scientific approaches, we can derive at least ‘Two Observations.’

  1. Based on current survey data from organizations like Pew, Barn and Gallup, the Secular World appears more adept at defining Lying than the American Church, especially concerning Donald Trump’s conduct.
  • Two, however, their limited view leaves humanity with historically unprecedented inability in America to Distinguish the Truth from the Lie. Thus the Current Crisis of Truth in this, the Age of rampant Hypocrisy.

And that’s is precisely where God comes in, in the next section.

  1. THE THEOLOGY OF SELF DELUSION

Once we cross the vast transom from Social Science to Biblically Sound Doctrine and Theology, we become very nearly Superhuman in our ability to define and detect Liars in our world. To Repeat: There are very probably more Liars in America today – and in the Church – than ever before in our entire history.

We turn to JOHN THE APOSTLE to get us started in some fruitful directions on the matter of Deception.

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit [speaking through a self-proclaimed prophet]; instead test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets and teachers have gone out into the world.” – 1 JOHN 4:1, AMP

TEST THE SPIRITS. From the Greek term, ‘Dokimazo’ [δοκιμάζω]: “To test, by implication to approve; put to the test, prove, examine; distinguish by trial, approve after testing; to become fit; properly, to try (test) to show something is acceptable (real, approved); put to the test to reveal what is good (genuine) and what is evil (ingenuine); scrutinize, deem worthy; to distinguish or discover [Truth vs. the Lie].”

I frankly love the hard scrabble Realism of the older, traditional Bible expositors about this vital process in our present ‘Age of Hypocrisy.’ Here is one of my favorites, WILLIAM MACDONALD.

“Having mentioned the Holy Spirit [the key to this ability], John is reminded that there are ‘other spirits’ abroad in the world today, and that the Children of God need to be warned against them. Thus, he cautions the believer ‘not to trust every spirit.’ The word ‘spirit’ here probably refers primarily to Teachers but not exclusively so. Just because a man speaks about the Bible, God and Jesus does not mean that he is a true child of God. We are to ‘test’ the spirits, whether they are of God; because many False Prophets have gone out into the world. These are people who profess to accept Christianity, but teach ‘Another Gospel’ altogether.” – ‘Believer’s Bible Commentary,’ 1995, p. 2319; edited

Then this, directly from the Lord of Heaven, should the ‘believer’ SUSTAIN his self-deception.

THE SPIRIT OF DELUSION. “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason ‘God will send them strong delusion,’ that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” – 2 THESSALONIANS 2:9-12, NKJV

In a passage that tears at the minds and souls of our best theologians, you confront the inescapable Presence of GOD here as the One who sends a mass of self-proclaimed followers of Christ a ‘Strong Delusion’ to condemn them, because they PREFERRED the Lie from Antichrist to the Truth of Jesus Christ. Selah.

  • DELUSION. From the Greek term, ‘Plané’ [πλάνη], translated as: “A [spirit of] wandering; fig: deceit, delusion, error, sin; deviant behavior; a departure from what God says is true; an error (deception) which results in wandering (roaming into sin); a wrong opinion which shows itself in action, a wrong mode of acting; equivalent to that which leads into error, deceit, fraud; a straying from orthodoxy or piety.”
  • COMMENTARY I. “‘And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion’: We had account in the former verse of such as are deceived by the Man of Sin, of their sin, and here of their punishment. They were first [Self] Deluded, which was their sin; and God sends them Strong Delusion, and that is their Punishment. They did not receive the Truth in the love of it, which was their sin; and therefore, are given up to believe a Lie, which is their Punishment. Had they received the Truth aright, they might have been saved; but not receiving it, they are Damned. And they were said to be such as perish, and their perishing is here called damnation.” – MATTHEW POOLE, ‘English Annotations on the English Bible’ [posthumously], 1685; edited
  • COMMENTARY II. “God actually will send them ‘a Working of Error’ that they should believe the Lie. The Lie of course, is the Antichrist’s claim to be God. These people refused to receive the Lord Jesus as manifest in the flesh. When He was on earth, He warned men: ‘I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me: if another comes in his own name, him you will receive’ (John 5:43). So now they receive the Man of Sin who comes in his own name and demands worship as God. ‘Light rejected is Light denied.’ If a person sets up an idol in his heart, God will answer him according to his idol (Ezekiel 14:4).” – WILLIAM MACDONALD, ‘Believer’s Bible Commentary,’ 1995, pp. 2055-2056; edited

DK’S TAKE. Importantly, you will note that The Great Falling Away, the subject of Part II in this Series, begins, beloved, with the Individual. It is our ‘heart’s desire’ to either follow the Christ, or follow the Antichrist.

And that is clearly, the ‘Mysterium Ttremendum’ that all of us agonize over every day, as we see beloved family members, life long friends and formerly trusted Church Leaders succumb to Satan’s Lie.

  1. THE TEACHING

SCRIPTURE. “Be continually on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees [that is, their pervasive, corrupting influence and teaching], which is hypocrisy [producing self-righteousness].  But there is nothing [so carefully] concealed that it will not be revealed, nor so hidden that it will not be made known. For that reason, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops.” – JESUS OF NAZARETH, LUKE 12:1-3, AMP

Because God is both Love and Justice, He must, He must, beloved, begin the ‘Divine Separation’ of the Righteous from the Unrighteous, who are clothed in the unclean habits of Pretention and Hypocrisy – which things He hates!

SO IT BEGINS. The Divine Algorithm of Separation starts, therefore, with His ‘Great Uncovering’ of such false witnesses, false teachers and false prophets – the Hypocrites of the Last Days.

But even before He commences the Big Reveal – starting with Pastors and Leaders – He commands us to do our part. Two Scriptures – one from the Old Testament, and one from the New – provide a Foundation for this much needed, and largely absent, PRINCIPLE OF ACCOUNTABILITY. – Rendered in the Amplified Classic Edition.

  • DEUTERONOMY 21:9. “Forgive, O Lord, Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do not allow the shedding of innocent blood to be charged to Your people Israel. And the guilt of blood shall be forgiven them. So shall you ‘purge’ the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord.”
  • TITUS 3:10-11. “[As for] a man who is factious [a heretical sectarian and cause of divisions], after admonishing him a first and second time, ‘reject’ [him from your fellowship and have nothing more to do with him], well aware that such a person has utterly changed (is perverted and corrupted); he goes on sinning [though he] is convicted of guilt and self-condemned.”

THE PRINCIPLE. We in the Church are Commanded to first examine ourselves, and then each other, should there be a Source of Division that is ‘Against the Canon.’ We are not talking of a witch hunt here, but neither are we permitting the present Spirit of Accommodation to prevail among us, so prevalent in the Hyper-Grace American Church of today.

Consider: Paulk, Swaggart, Tilton, Bakker, Haggard, Gothard, Falwell, Zacharias, Lentz – and many, many more to come. The Lord is just getting started, beloved.

THE UNCOVERING. Now if individuals and the Church Leaders continue their ‘Coverups’ of sin in the Body, God steps in to make sure that every speck of ‘Leaven’ [Corruption of the Doctrines] is first ‘exposed’ in order to be ‘removed forthwith’ – immediately, without delay or further consideration.

Or as He has said it before: ¡Se acabó!

  • BE ON GUARD! From the Greek word used here, ‘Prosechó’ [προσέχω]: “Carefully attend to, pay attention to, beware of, be very cautious about, devote oneself to, be on the lookout for; properly, to set a course and keep to it; have careful regard for; to bring near to one’s consideration or mindfulness; to cleave to [God]; to secure against injury, loss or attack; to protect; to defend; to keep in safety; secure against objections or the attacks of malevolence.”
  • FOR HYPOCRISY. Here again is that term and practice that Jesus so loathed. From the Greek, ‘Hupokrisis’ [ὑπόκρισις], or: “Playacting (lit: stage-playing), a dissembling; underjudging;  literally refers to ‘someone acting under a mask;’ behaving under a feigned part; deceit; a pretending to be what one is not; the assuming of a false appearance of virtue or religion; a deceitful show of a good character, in morals or religion; a counterfeiting of religion.”
  • BEING REVEALED. From the Greek term, ‘Apokaluptó’ [ἀποκαλύπτω]: “To uncover, bring to light; to lay open what has been veiled or covered up; to disclose, make bare or manifest [naked]; expose to the the open that which was before hidden; applies to a supernatural revelation from God [concerning a supernatural ‘spirit of delusion’ sent by Him to the impenitent].”
  • COMMENTARY. “All your actions shall be brought to light, either in this world or in the next. Wherefore take great care never to do any thing which cannot bear the light, but let the whole of your behaviour be ‘fair, honest, and good.’ This argument against Hypocrisy he proceeded to improve as a reason for their acquiring another quality, which would serve all the ends they could propose by their Hypocrisy, and to much better purpose; an undaunted resolution in the performance of their duty, founded on faith in God, who now governs the world by a particular providence, and in the end will reward or punish every man according to his deeds.” – JOSEPH BENSON, ‘Notes on the Old and New Testaments,’ 1811-1818; edited

DK’S TAKE. Think of it this way: You can get clean the easy and private way, just between you and your King in intimately honest confession and conversation. Or, you can get it done for you via public humiliation by the Holy Spirit, who shall uncover any hidden sin remaining unconfessed.

Starting with the Shepherds!

  • LAST THOUGHTS: SEPARATION

So do we arrive right here, beloved, in the increasingly rapid runup to the Prophet Joel’s epochal Valley of Decision’ (3:14). God is actively and aggressively forcing our hands these days, to make clear to all, just where we stand on the Truth – or away from it.

His Divine Mechanism for accomplishing this is, ‘The Great Sifting,’ of which the Messiah Himself speaks in fiery terms.

“And already the axe [of God’s judgment] is swinging toward the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire … His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear out His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat (believers) into His barn (kingdom), but He will burn up the chaff (the unrepentant) with unquenchable fire.” – LUKE 22:31-32 – LUKE 21:31; MATTHEW 3:10, 12, AMP

  • TO SIFT. A supernatural process defined by the Greek, ‘Siniazo’ [σινιάζω], meaning: “To prove by trials; to winnow, or shake in a sieve; [suggests being run through a gauntlet]; to separate or part as the fine part of a substance from the coarse; to examine minutely or critically; to scrutinize; [the idea is that God permits Satan to be the agent of testing, within His limits, and then measures how we react to the trial].”
  • BURNT UP IN UNQUENCHABLE FIRE. This ominous repetition of ‘The Chaff’ (all unbelievers, hypocrites, apostates) being “burned up” or utterly consumed with nothing left over, in an “unquenchable fire” – ought give us fearful pause, but does not for its absence from our sanctuaries and seminaries!  From the Greek, ‘Asbestos’ [ἄσβεστος]: “Inextinguishable, refusing to be quenched or destroyed; perpetual, eternal; symbolic of God’s unmitigated Wrath; cannot be quelled, put out or destroyed, ever.”
  • COMMENTARY. “‘And gather his wheat’ — The, truly pious, ‘into His garner’ — Will lay them up in Heaven as His peculiar treasure. ‘But the chaff’ — Those who have only a show of religion, without the power, and produce not the fruits of righteousness, ‘He will burn with unquenchable fire’ — He will treat them as men do the refuse of the floor. He will destroy them as worthless and unprofitable trash. There is, in these words, an evident allusion to the custom of burning the chaff after Winnowing, that it might not, by the wind’s changing, be blown back again, and so be mingled with the wheat. And though this may in part refer to the calamities to come upon the Jewish nation for rejecting Christ, yet, it seems chiefly to intend the Final Destruction of all sinners in Hell.” – JOSEPH BENSON, ‘Commentary on the Old and New Testaments,’ 2nd edition, 5 vols., 1811-1818; edited

THE MEANING. You don’t need me to interpret, but I will anyway; it’s what I do, with God’s help: ‘The Righteous Remnant’ goes to Heaven in the Rapture; the ‘Unrighteous Hypocrites’ go to the Flame, Hell’s Fire, never to be given another opportunity for Redemption again. Ever.

All this has been written and carefully ordered over the past several months, with an intense articulation of AN ARGUMENT in this, the first of a Series. I now turn to a Conclusion and Bridge to the next two sections that is, I warn you, even more stunning.

It is no longer preached in the American Church today, but comes to us from ‘The Canon’ that used to be offered in our finest Seminaries. I therefore close on what can only be best be called:

A THEOLOGY OF SEPARATION. Penned by DR. LARRY OATES, Dean of Maranatha Baptist Seminary and Professor of Systematic Theology in their flagship journal on February 26, 2015, it is must-reading for ALL PASTORS.

His Conclusions shall be mine. They are exquisite Platform for the next two installments.

“‘Ecclesiastical Separation’ is the flipside of Fellowship. A refusal to fellowship (in the sense of theological agreement and ministry which flows out of that agreement) reflects the lifestyle, positions, and values of a church and its members. Separation of a Church as a body from individuals who are lost, who teach and advocate false doctrine, or who refuse to obey Paul’s teaching is clearly taught. It is a logical conclusion (and this author acknowledges that is logical, not a clearly declared conclusion) that if a church is to separate from one individual who practices one of these sins, then it should separate from a body—church, association, or denomination—that practices or advocates such belief or action.

Separation from churches or denominations which do not hold to orthodox theology is biblical. LUTHER separated from Rome. CALVIN departed from Rome: ‘It is sufficient for me that it was necessary for us to withdraw from them, in order to approach to Christ.’ J. GRESHAM MACHAN withdrew from the liberal Presbyterian church. BAPTISTS abandoned the Northern Baptist Convention. This kind of Separation does not violate the Unity of the Church, but instead ‘preserves it’ [cf. John 17:17-21].

The basis of Church Unity is ‘Doctrine.’ Unity presupposes a membership with one another in agreement on the Basics of Scripture. ‘The Faith that avoids theological argument on behalf of Christianity’s distinctive Doctrines is not the Faith of the New Testament.’”

Ever your servant, DK

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