The Great Falling Away

(Daniel, Christ, Paul, John and Peter all tell us there will be a famine of faith before the end of time; even the ebb and flow of the church presupposes this.  The disdain the church has for Martin Luther, the blessed interpreter of Scripture, proves this famine has taken hold of our throats.)

The only Book in my sight is the Bible—the very Word of God.  A love for this Word was given to me when I was a young teen.  A love for God was given to me as early as I can remember.  But a love for God means nothing—less than nothing, that is, Hell—if the true God remains undefined by the Word; or, is defined only by the imagination of man.  Likewise, the Word of God means nothing—or less than nothing, that is, evil personified—if It means whatever man decides it means.  If we have a Word from God which means whatever man wants it to mean, we are of all men most miserable.  We might as well rewrite Scripture starting at Genesis: “In the beginning the hedgehog ate the cuckoo feathers and all,” to borrow an illustration from Luther.

But this is exactly what we have today—a Word which has become a poison because we have mixed our own abominations with it.  Everyone wants to proclaim his and her own righteousness, holiness, and innocence.  There are but few who ever take the Word seriously and the few have become wretchedly fewer.  The Word has fallen on deaf ears, fattened by the manure of their holy brains.  All that should be needed is the simple Word of God: Salvation is of the Lord.  This alone would strike down all the good works of man and cast man into a proper fear of the Lord.  But man shutters to walk by faith alone in the Word, and instead, turns to what he can sense and reason out.  Pity man—especially the holy man.

Job stated that he feared for all his works and that even if he was innocent his own mouth would condemn him; he said, in short, that he despised his own life (Job 9:20-21).  Even these words from this holy and patient man pass over our brains and hearts like clean water rolling off a pig’s hide.  So what am I to think when very few want to listen to Luther; they don’t listen to Job, Jesus, Paul, or anyone, for that matter.  It is truly a perilous time because everyone is his own preacher, prophet and priest.  May God have mercy.

I write this to my family, to whom God has granted mercy that they might believe the truth of the Word in this perilous time, when nothing is certain and the goodness of man is supremely exalted.  Self-esteem has risen above decency, order and true godliness.  This is indeed a perilous time and I must fulfill my fatherly obligation to warn and make ready, because the perilous spirit of this age, the vain wind of vain philosophy, has descended on this generation as never before.  Christ Himself told us to WATCH and take heed because the one that endured to the end was to be saved—that is, perseverance proves election. 

But you must properly understand what you are to persevere in; for it is the very nature of man to persevere at what it wants, so perseverance in and for itself does not prove one godly; otherwise Satan is the most godly among us all and the greatest heretics will replace the arch-angels in heaven.  No.  One must persevere in the Word of God.  God’s Word is always simple because most people are simple and God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to eternal life.  We make the Word complex because of our stubborn natures, and so God and His prophets must pursue many avenues of thought to bring us back onto the main road.  The main road is a simple belief in what God requires of us.  Adam and Eve set the standard for our nature when they said, “Hath God said?”  We continue this fine art of challenging God.

There is only one way to persevere: hold fast to the Word despite all evidence to the contrary.  It seems today that everyone has faith and wants to lead a godly life, yet they disbelieve the very words of Christ and call God a liar.  Christ said He would build His church and He decided to build this heavenly artifice by giving it His very own body and blood to sustain it.  He wanted us to persevere in Him, to be rooted and grounded in Him, to be part of Him as a branch is part of a vine.  This is how intricately Christ wants us to be united to Him; so much so that He gives us His very being to sustain us.  He knows our tendency to look to our own works and holiness and good intentions; but all these things do not make a Christian.  The only thing that makes a Christian is the only thing that made Adam a Christian: he repented of his blasphemy against God and listened from then on to the Word of God.  But the church has grown beyond a simple adherence to the Word, en masse. 

True religion is too simple today and so we must add to it and despise it, each in his own way.  The Catholics call it a sacrifice; the Protestants call God a liar by not believing the bread and the wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ; and the Lutherans despise the Meal by allowing the non-hungry and sinners to partake of It unmolested.  And we all want to be such grand Christians; so grand that no one needs to watch and take heed lest we fall from the faith.

The warning to remain in the faith is replete in Scripture, yet, no one today seems to see a need to take these warnings seriously.  Everyone seems to be so steeped in his and her own holiness and sincerity, that he and she cannot imagine they have fallen into gross idolatry.  Be this as it is, I must do my part in protecting my family from the fables of this generation.  Whoever listens to and heeds my rebuke is my family.  As Christ said, “Whoever does the will of my Father is my brother, sister, and mother.”  And, “He who hears you, hears Me.” 

Make no mistake about it, there is virtually NOTHING in common between Luther and what the church teaches today, except for a common vocabulary.  The church gives Luther a Judas’ kiss today.  Yet Christ sees the heart of a Judas; and you can know the heart of the spiritual leaders today; their’s is a heart filled with greed and covetousness.  Their own bellies have become their god.  Not one of them wants to fall from esteem, power, influence, or possessions for the sake of the Word.  Even the Lutheran ministers of death, who allow their people to eat  holy Food once or twice a month, do so allowing sin to go unchecked by their ministry.  They don’t want the real Luther (forget about the “old” and “young” Luther), any more than the Protestants and Catholics.

As I stated before, the only Book within my sight is the Word of God.  I give this to you, my dear family, trusting the Lord will confirm it in your hearts, so as to prepare you for this most perilous time in which we already live.  I do not want you to be led astray.  It is my fervent prayer that you remain true to the Word and pure in your spirit.  The only way to do this is through the Word.  I give you these verses of warning straight from the Word; leave Luther out of your search if you need to. Here is the Word; read and reflect on these verses.  If you have the Spirit, you will become horrified at what the Word says.  Once you have become horrified, you will cry out, “Who then can be saved?”  Now your search really begins along with godly suffering.  We are only made clean through the Word.  Today, only Luther teaches what this precious Word means.  Trying to understand the Word without Luther today is like trying to make your mouth digest your food.  True, you can stuff the food into your mouth, but it will do you no good unless it is swallowed.  Luther allows you to swallow the Word so It can be digested by the Spirit.

I dedicate this work to my Mother, a true miracle of faith.  We have wrestled back and forth the last few years over the importance of Luther; importance because of his steadfast adherence to the Word.  My prayers were graciously answered when she made this comment a few weeks ago while I was visiting her: “I began in faith; I suppose I should finish in faith."  She made this comment as we were talking about how the Kingdom of God is possessed by “children.”  Why?  Because children simple believe their parents.  A child of God simply believes His heavenly Father, ignoring the fight within his reason.  In fact, a child lives so far above and away from reason, it is precious.  While reason can be an aid to faith, it is usually faith’s enemy.  Reason does not want to believe the simple Word of faith.  It just cannot.

My mother finally came to the conclusion that Christ must have meant what he said when He said, “Take, eat, this is My body; this is My blood, given to you for the forgiveness of sins.”  She finally has “seen” that salvation is of the Lord.  She desires this holy Meal with all her heart.  May God feed her richly!

The Great Falling Away is absolutely tied to the words, “This is My body.”  The church has fallen away from the truth of these words—each “church” in her own way—and so the Great Falling Away, of which the Bible often speaks, has been thereby created.  The church itself, which Christ said He would build and not forsake, has been the instrument for the destruction of faith.  Yet we must believe Christ when he states that he will build his church.  This is true if even only one true Christian remains.  But we must not allow these words of comfort to harden our hearts against the truth that there is a Great Falling Away.  You must believe that Christ is building; and you must believe that the Elect, during the end times, will just barely be saved, because they were swallowed up into the false religion of the perilous times.  You must consider also that Christ was building His church in the days of Noah, when only eight people believed the Flood was coming.  What reason did the religious crowd give for not believing?  They said, “God is going to provide a Seed to save us; this is the clear Word of God, Noah.  How dare you come to us with this judgment of God blasphemy.”

May God have mercy on you and enlighten you as you reflect on these terrible and awesome passages of Scripture.  My prayers and heart are with you.  My heavenly resolve to make these truths real in your heart and life is also with you.  Do not underestimate my resolve; and especially do not underestimate my prayers for my family.  I am deeply sorrowful that my children must cope with this perilous age; and I am deeply sorry that my extended family on both sides is embedded in the hypocrisy and false religion of these perilous times.  May God have mercy on them and me!

I present to you now a stream of verses which prove the church will fall away from the Word.  It is my conviction that the disdain the church has for Luther proves we are the fallen-away generation.  Whether I am right or wrong, each so-called Christian must answer this one question: With all the chaos today about what the Bible means, how do I know I am not in the right camp?  If Luther is praised by so many, and he died cursing anyone who did not agree with him regarding the Lord’s Supper, how do I know I am not one he cursed?

I begin with First Peter 4:11: If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God.  If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever.  Amen.  (Luther spoke knowing full well that he spoke for God.  I know I am speaking for God; I know I am serving the church with the ability God has given.)

Matthew 15:9: In vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.  It is the very nature of man to SAY he worships and teaches for the true God.  But just as fallen Adam and Eve were led astray with the words of the serpent, “Has God said?” so this generation has been led away with the satanic words, “is” means signifies (Protestant view) or the Meal is a sacrifice (Catholic view).

I include Romans 1: 18-28 to teach you to look at the confusion in the church today as an expression of God’s wrath.  Study this passage carefully, noticing that disobedience to parents is just as wrath-producing as homosexuality; and notice how all authority is disrespected today.  Keep in mind also that Jacob was 80 years old when he obeyed his mother; and Esther was queen when she obeyed her uncle.  I also remind you that I could go on and on about how the church has fallen away from the Word in hundreds of areas, but I choose to emphasize one falling away in particular—the Lord’s Supper.  I mention two others in this work, sex and obedience to parents, just to give you samples of what happens AFTER the church despises the basic Word of God.  Once God’s Word is questioned, there is no end to the fall; some fall this way and some that way, just as Solomon’s tree falls to the north and to the south, but there it lies regardless.  The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.  Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.  Because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.  Therefor God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves.  They also exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.  Amen.  (The Creator turns bread into the true body of Christ, while the lie and idolatry of the creature is to believe that “is” signifies the body or that the body is a sacrifice offered by the priest as a good work.)

For this reason God gave them up to vile passions.  For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.  Likewise the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. 

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, (There is no more base a mind than one who will call God a liar and then defend the lie, as those do who say “is” means signifies.  Our families do this to my sheer horror.) to do those things which are not fitting:  Being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whispers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful.

Daniel 11: 35-37 is the source from which the New Testament writers receive their information about the Last Days.  They, including Christ, reflected on what Daniel wrote and applied and expanded his words to the Church Age.  And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is for the appointed time.  Then the king shall do according to his own will; he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done.  He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all.  But in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things.

Christ expands on Daniel’s words: Matthew 24: 11-42  Christ said, Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.  And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved.  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come…for then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.  And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened…for false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect…(Show me any Christian who is afraid that he is deceived and I will eat my favorite Luther book.  Everyone is quite self-assured today.)

But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.  But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be…Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.

First Timothy 4:1-3  The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.  (Don’t be fooled by their fine appearance, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.  Do you really believe the demons are going to have those in whom they dwell begin their sermons with the words, “My teaching is demonic?”  My brother would have no hearers and my mother-in-law would have nowhere to attend church.)  Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.  They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods.  (This passage applies as much to the Protestants today as to the Catholics.  They are all liars and hypocrites because they have a conscience where they need not have a conscience and no conscience where God says to have a conscience.  Our family would rather die than have a drink of alcohol, yet they disbelieve the clear teaching of the Word of God.  What is this other than having a seared conscience.  They strain at a gnat and swallow a camel.)

Second Timothy Three  But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure (We love pleasure so much that we make sex itself an act of worship, almost, rather than the crude lust it is.  David stated he was born in sin because of the passionate “heat” his mother was in; and Sarah was surprised and embarrassed when she found out that she would have sex with Abraham so as to conceive.  Christian authors today spew forth their lust in disgraceful books glorifying the sexual relationship.  We should be being taught that sexual intercourse is a necessary evil which God overlooks because of his regard for the family as the lifeline of the church.) rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.  From such people turn away!

…They are always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.  Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith…but you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions—which persecutions I endured.  And out of them all the Lord delivered me.  Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.  But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.  But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them.  And that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Second Timothy 4: 1-5  I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word!  Be ready in season and out of season.  Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, (Paul predicted the abuse of Luther right here.) but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.  But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Second Thessalonians 2: 3-12   Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, (This is why Luther believed the pope was antichrist because of how the popes exalt themselves above the Word, etc.  Luther could still be right—just off by 500 years.) showing himself that he is God.  Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?  And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.  For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.  And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.  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 may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Second Peter Two  But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who brought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.  And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.  By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.  For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;  and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (For that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day be seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)—Then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority.  They are presumptuous, self-willed.  They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries…these are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls.  They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children.  They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity; a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.

These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.  For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error.  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also is he brought into bondage.  For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.  For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.  But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

Following are some verses of warning so you will understand how earnestly God warns us to beware.  The human nature is so depraved that it seeks any opportunity to go against God; and then it wants the fruit of this nature to be called godliness.  To Adam and Eve God said, “Thou shall not eat.”  After being tempted by the devil they reasoned among themselves and conspired to eat.  God always makes His will quite obvious—men of corrupt minds corrupt it and make it difficult.  Be warned!

First Corinthians 2:5-6  Your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.  However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.  (Arbitrarily deciding that “is” means signifies is the “wisdom of men.”  The truly mature are content with pure grace; that is, they realize and embrace their sinfulness and simply believe the Word of God: THIS IS MY BODY GIVEN TO YOU FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.  The falsely mature are always learning about spiritual principles, but never come to God as a child in simple belief.  You cannot say enough bad things about these perverters of Scripture, as evidenced from the portions of Scripture above denouncing them.)

First John 1:7  But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.  (To be in the light means to be in the true meaning and understanding of the Word.  One cannot be forgiven of sins if he fights against and denies the Word of God. Please understand that when your grandmother states, “We will never agree” about the Lord’s Supper, she cannot have forgiveness of sins, no matter if all she did was pray and read the Bible for eternity.  Please understand that she is as close as a person can be to blaspheming against the Holy Spirit; I sincerely hope God protects her against this unforgivable sin.  Maybe God will use one of you to bring her to a humble reconsideration of her belief.)

Zechariah 11:17  Woe to the worthless shepherd, who leaves the flock!  A sword shall be against his arm and against his right eye; his arm shall completely wither, and his right eye shall be totally blinded.  (My own brother is a worthless shepherd; may God have mercy on his poor deceived soul.  To show you that his right eye is blind, he told my mother that my opinion regarding the Meal could be right.  If this is a possibility, how can he say this so calmly as if this revelation was no more important than whether the sky is black or whether it is blue on any particular day?  Is this how lightly we are to esteem God’s Word?  You mean to tell me God’s Word does not matter?)

Titus 3:10-11  Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition.  Knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.  (Unity is not a valued commodity anymore; division is the gold standard.  The church today believes it shows its maturity in allowing and embracing so many different opinions regarding the Word.  But we are to be of ONE MIND.   Anyone who comes and brings a different interpretation is to be rejected.)

Romans 16:17-18  Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.  For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.  (How are you going to decide who you are going to “note” and mark as damaged goods?  Is this just a personal decision that each person makes between himself and God?  Does the Holy Spirit not use means to show us what His Word means, just as he used Philip to show the Ethiopian eunich what the Word meant?  So how will you decide who the right “Philip” is?  Or does going to the right school, following the right person, or buying the right Bible make you your own Philip?)

Proverbs 1:24-33  Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded, because you disdained all my counsel, and would have none of my rebuke, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes, when your terror comes like a storm, and your destruction comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. 

“Then you will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.  Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, they would have none of my counsel and despised my every rebuke.  Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled to the full with their own fancies.  For the turning of the simple will slay them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to me will dwell safely, and will be secure, without fear of evil.”  (This is Christ talking here!  Yes! Our meek, lowly and loving Lord.  He will not tolerate the stubborn of heart who ignore, devalue, add to or take away from His Word.)

Psalm 50:16-17  But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to declare My statutes, or take My covenant in your mouth, seeing you hate instruction and cast My words behind you?”  (The church proves it hates instruction by its attitude toward Luther; it refuses to be taught by this man.)

Ecclesiastes 5:1  Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil.  (Making a memorial service out of Holy Communion is the “sacrifice of fools.”)

James 2:10-11  For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.  (“Is” seems like such a small word to the fools, but this lone word casts them from heaven into the fires of hell.)

Galatians 5:3  I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.  You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.  (The point in including this verse, as the previous one, is that one point of wrong doctrine disqualifies a person.  Paul is here talking about being circumcised for the wrong reason; this warning holds true of anyone willing to give falsehood a grip in the church.  If I were to apply this principle to the situation today, I would say, “Fools, if you are going to deny that the Meal is the true body of Christ, you might as well go ahead and deny everything else that everybody else denies about the Word!”)

Matthew 6:23  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!  (Fools always believe they are in supreme light.  Christ here warns that the light of fools is supreme darkness.  Our families believe they walk in the pure light from heaven itself; yet we see clearly how they are stumbling in the ditches of darkness.  How do we know this so well?  We stumbled there ourselves for many years.  For many years we were wells without water.  How great was our/my darkness.  And how abundant is the darkness of Bob Jones University, who taught me that we were the only one in the true light!  Yes, I have a special repulsion for this wicked school because in all the years I was there, they often praised Luther, but never one time in any class did they teach me what he taught.  It was left to assume that we all believed the same way and that any difference was inconsequential.  May God not have mercy on their hypocrisy!  Cursed heathen!)

Luke 11:35-36  Take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness.  If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.

I Corinthians 5:5  Deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.  (This verse along with the next give me some hope that my family and friends who are part of the false church will be saved.  It MAY be that they have true saving faith.  I know they continually suffer in their consciences and in many other arenas; this may be God’s way of “purifying” them.  You must NOT assume they have true faith, though, but you must warn them that they should assume they do not have true faith until they repent of their blasphemies.)

I Corinthians 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

Proverbs 28:9  One who turns his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.

I John 5:16  If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death.  There is sin leading to death.  I do not say that he should pray about that.  (Our families are sinning a sin which is unto death; God gives us NO assurance that we can pray for this sin of theirs with assurance our prayer will be answered.  They are sinning against the Holy Spirit, which is an unforgivable sin.)

II John 10-11  If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.  (This is why I have asked my children not to attend church with our families and not to pray with them.  If they were to scorn the truth openly I would avoid them altogether.)

I now leave you with a string of Luther quotes regarding this subject.  As you know, Luther is the best commentator on Scripture over the last 500 years.  You should love him for this and thank our gracious God for this blessed gift.

God’s kingdom is being destroyed by sheer heresy, and the worldly authorities are set at variance by constant revolts and factions, and homes are filled with lost children.  Nevertheless, it has to be regarded as justly done, and whoever wants to reprove it finds himself condemned and reproved as a heretic, rebel, and lost child.  Peter commands that we should be prepared to give an answer to all who seek it from us concerning the hope which is in us, and to do this with gentleness and reverence (I Peter 3:15).  This is something no one can do unless he is practiced in this arena and has defended himself against these monsters from his youth.  Therefore, if the strength of my body could prove adequate, I, too, would debate on all the principle articles of our doctrine in order every week, and make you more alert in opposing the adversaries and arm you against future heresies, of which there will be many after our death.

The heretics console themselves with the fact that they are writing many books and are performing a great work for the church and in the Scriptures.  Of what use is it, as long as they falsify and twist God’s word and sacrament and do not want to listen?  Whoever does not listen to God, to him God in turn does not listen, but “his prayer is an abomination.”  The Jews are also working hard on the Scriptures for about fifteen hundred years.  Indeed, what heretics have not labored by means of teaching and writing even more than Christians?  It is much harder for the devil’s martyrs to earn hell than it is for the true saints to earn heaven.  Like the Jews, God punishes them, but they want immediately to interpret such wrathful punishment as a gracious sign and want to boast of their suffering.  What good does it do, even if God sends them more plagues than he did Pharoah, since they are disposed to make of it nothing but holy suffering?  They are like the Jews who for fifteen hundred years interpret their suffering and misfortune in the same way and harden their hearts by means of the very things that are being used to admonish them so dreadfully.  (Vol. 38, pp. 229-302)

You may ask, “What are these punishments?”  The very worst punishment is the loss of what the Bible means.  I know I harp on “This is My body,” but this is only the tip of a great iceberg!  There is no end to the division between what Luther taught and what the church believes—even about the basic Bible stories.  But again, the worst judgment is the loss of the meaning of what it means to be truly saved, without individual merit, without boasting, and without human wisdom.  God has harshly taken away His Word from them and given them utter confusion.  They disagree and fight among themselves the whole day long.  WHICH IS THE GODLY FACTION?  Please, sir, I want to be saved!  Is it the one who talks much about faith and love?  This is even more confusing because they ALL do!  Please, sir, I must be saved!  Where is the sure road which leads to eternal life?  Where is my Philip whom I can trust to take me to the true Christ?

The disunity among them is a hellish punishment.  Their consciences are not clean in this matter, and for this reason they are always trying to heal the rifts—but always God’s Word takes the hit when they are healed.  The way they grope in the darkness like the Sodomites did for Lot’s door, trying to find some new answer to cure what ails the church is another evident judgment of God.  The fact that the Lutherans and the Catholics cannot fill their pulpits is a terrible judgment of God.  The infatuation the church has for the Protestants is a gross judgment of God.  The way people are being swept away by the Pentecostals is an odious judgment of God.  And what can I can about the sexual scandals!  The financial problems!  The high rate of homosexuality and divorce in the church!  And the emptiness and loneliness which pervades the church!  And look at how God has given the whole world over to greed, that is, a capitalistic system gone bad.  But I was heartened to find out after 9-11 that we are a just nation with a just cause!  You be the judge; has not God judged, and has He not judged righteously because we have not taken His Word seriously?  Yes, indeed, He has.  He has given us His Word, “Take, eat, this is the body of My dear Son, given to you to keep you from carnal delights; I give this Body to you for the very forgiveness of your sins and to keep you in My gracious will; I only ask that you allow only this Heavenly Manna to fill your soul, sustain you, and keep you in the Way.  It will do all these things if you close your eyes and simply believe My Word.”

But we seek out many devices!  We are far too advanced and sophisticated to behave as Luther’s “seven-year-old child” who knows what the church is, namely, holy believers and sheep who hear the voice of their Shepherd (John 10:3).  Well, I close by again rededicating this work to my mother, whom the Spirit made humble again at the end of her life, to become as this seven-year-old child.  Her eyes close in death to her reason: THIS IS MY BODY GIVEN TO YOU FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.  She takes; she eats, though only in her heart at this time.  This Meal requires only hungry souls and he who desires It has already received It.  Amen.

This is the Word of the Lord; It will not return empty, but will accomplish what It is supposed to accomplish.

Your loving father,

May 18, 2003

Postscript:  I know my calling has been a burden to you and it breaks my heart that you are having to suffer because of me.  Of course, whatever you pay out in suffering, Christ will eternally reward you in eternity.  Christ is no cheapskate, but a loving, gracious Lord who will make all things right and proper.  But know this, that you are better off, by far, to suffer for the Word than to be loved by the world and end up in hell and under the eternal wrath of God Almighty.  Know also that if you follow these perverted men of debased minds, you will also have a hell on earth in your conscience.  You will never have a peace that passes understanding.  I know.  I lived their falsehood and it almost cost me my life.  Few were respected in their religion as I was; I was zealous and most sincere in serving their god.  But in fact, their god is a god of the belly in that what you put into their religion you get back out with interest in the esteem, applause and recognition of men.  As Christ says, “They have their reward.” 

As Christ also says in John 14:23-24: “Whoever loves me keeps my words, whoever does not love me does not keep my words.”  Be warned that anyone who does not believe, or at least very seriously consider, that Christ’s words, “This is My body,” mean exactly what they obviously mean, does not love Christ.  It may take some investigating to find out who and what they really, deeply love, but it is not Christ.

If they loved Christ and His words they would not be afraid to seriously study Luther.  After all, most of the church praises him, though I really do not know why.  I suppose because they cannot wipe him off the pages of history, so they praise because they have to so as to pretend to be honest persons, but then they turn around and ignore his teaching.  Puzzling; or is it?  Again, Christ is quite correct when he says, “Everyone who does evil fears the light” (John 3:20).  Is it any wonder they don’t want to seriously discuss Luther?  They are deathly afraid of him!  They are not true-blue Christians; if they were they would come to the light (John 3:21).

I have been brought to the light by the gracious will of Christ.  It is my intention to make sure you arrive safely within the same light.  May God be gracious to all of us.

Luther: “I have never meant to take revenge on those who slander my person, my life, my work, or my nature.  I myself know very well that I am not worthy of praise.  But that I am more cutting and passionate when defending Scripture than some can stand—no one can deny me that, nor do I intend to stop.  Let anyone who pleases slander, curse, and judge my person and my life—it is already forgiven him.  But let no one expect grace or patience from me when he wants to make liars out of the Holy Spirit and my Lord Christ, whom I preach.  I am not concerned about myself, but I shall defend Christ’s word with a joyful heart and renewed courage, without regard to anyone.  To this end God has given me a joyful and fearless spirit, which I trust they shall not harm in all eternity.” 

Amen and amen.

Because my desire is so great that you, my family, not be destroyed by the hypocrisy of this age, I am adding one more paragraph in hopes of confirming your faith and knowledge a bit more.  The Scriptures are filled with warnings to God’s people that they make sure they are in the true and genuine faith.  If it were an easy thing to follow God, God would not have had to spend so much time giving us instructions as to how to care for faith.

But it is an easy thing for the human mind and heart to work in conjunction with each other to get excited about what they want to get excited about.  The church is today so very excited about the coming of Jesus: I submit to you that they should make sure they have the right Jesus.  The right Jesus said, “Few there are who will be saved,” and “Broad is the way to eternal destruction, but narrow is the path to eternal life.”

Yes!  Let them be excited.  Watch them dance, shout, and praise the Lord.  But know this, they have their reward.  If they would rather rejoice and be excited when the Word tells them “take heed lest he fall,” then their destruction is just.  The whole Old Testament is filled with examples of those who fell over seemingly small matters.  But “these things happened to them for examples; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are now come.”  (I Cor. 10:11-12)

Don’t be carried away when you see them praise their false christ so sincerely and work for him so devoutly: they have their reward, because they have enjoyed the fruits of their own hands.  They rejoiced when they should have mourned: Blessed are those that mourn.  False believers will not be warned, just as Lot and Noah warned the whole world, yet, together, they could only manage to salvage 10 persons.  Those who worship Christ is their own way will not “examine themselves, whether they be in the faith; or prove themselves to make sure they are not reprobates.”  (II Cor. 13:5)

They believe it’s a small thing to make light of God’s Word, twisting it to conform to what they want it to say, all the while boasting of the Word’s power and pre-eminence.  What is a more fundamental trait of being in the flesh, carnal, and having a mind against God than not believing God’s Word?  A person who believes God’s Word is spirit; the person who disbelieves God’s word is flesh and will be destroyed.  “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”  (Rom. 8:8)

The person who is in the flesh ignores God’s warnings.  The church today ignores the whole history of Israel, who wretchedly fell from the faith a number of times.  How many of them left the wilderness alive and set foot in the promised land?  Three.  How many of them did Paul turn his back on?  He turned his back on the whole nation.  In fact, Paul himself warns the Gentile church: “Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith.  Be not highminded, but fear: for if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not you.  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness: otherwise you also shall be cut off.  And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again.”  (Romans 11:20-23)

When thinking about my family and friends of “origin,” I have the same thoughts and sentiments as Paul, who said: “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.  For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.”  (Romans 10:1-2)  How do I know my family and friends worship a false god?  I know because they are afraid of Luther and will not study him with me for even a moment.  But I especially know because they pooh-pooh the Word of God.  The Word CLEARLY teaches there will be a great falling away; yet everyone I talk to is quite unconcerned, and are most persuaded they just cannot be the ones who have fallen away from the Word.  If no one can be, they all must be.  May the good God of heaven have mercy.

The end.