REVIVAL OR BUST.

[justbyfaith]

95% of those sidewalk ranters have serious mental problems.

Fortunately for me, I am doing my ranting and raving on the internet where there is a real audience...

I agree that they are not in their right minds...because while they may be speaking out the truth, no one is listening to them because they are all on their way to wherever they are going. And therefore they are prophesying into thin air...and nothing is being accomplished for the Lord in it.

Therefore they are only spinning their wheels; and it has been said that the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expecting different results....which I chalk up to being the very same thing as spinning one's wheels without accomplishing anything for real.

 

[Windmillcharge]

Hos 9:7, The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.

This is not to say that the spiritual man prophesied about is actually mad; for it is written:

2Ti 1:7, For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

It is to say that those who are spiritual will be considered to be mad by those who have been affected by the strong delusion spoken of in

2Th 2:11, And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

; for those who do not have spiritual eyes to see do most unswervingly project their own insanity onto those who do; so that even Paul had to defend his own sanity (in reputation) by the following words:

2Co 5:13, For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.
2Co 5:14, For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
2Co 5:15, And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

It is the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred against Christians and Jews, that leads the world to accuse us of being out of our minds through Freudian psychology; which is a lie that has been forged against the saints, even as it is written prophetically:

Psa 119:69, The proud have forged a lie against me: but I will keep thy precepts with my whole heart.



Most assuredly, they did not rant and rave like madmen; however their message was indeed the same message that was considered in another post to be the words of madmen:



Hosea in particular may have been speaking of himself as well as a future situation when he wrote

Hos 9:7, The days of visitation are come, the days of recompence are come; Israel shall know it: the prophet is a fool, the spiritual man is mad, for the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred.

As I have explained above, it was not real madness that motivated these people, deemed to be insane by those around them; but in all reality, in the situation presented, the world is affected by a strong delusion, and those who are not deluded are considered to be so by the general population because it is the minority who understands the truth and therefore we are outside the norm; therefore our pov is considerd to be insane even though in all reality it is not but is the same pov that was held by the prophets of old.

Paul the apostle had to deal with charges of insanity in his mere preaching of the gospel to King Agrippa and Festus:

Act 26:23, That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.
Act 26:24, And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad.
Act 26:25, But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.
Act 26:26, For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner.
Act 26:27, King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.
Act 26:28, Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.

If not for the fact that the prophets had accomplished their ministries previously, Paul would have been considered to be insane by both of them and would have very likely been placed in a mental institution of their day.

Paul gives his defense against this charge, which was very likely circulating among some of the people, elsewhere in scripture:

2Co 5:13, For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God: or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.
2Co 5:14, For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
2Co 5:15, And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

For indeed, if someone is spouting what is considered to be foolishness, will they not be considered to be a fool, or worse yet, a lunatic?

However it is written in the scriptures:

1Co 1:18, For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
1Co 1:19, For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
1Co 1:20, Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
1Co 1:21, For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
1Co 1:22, For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
1Co 1:23, But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
1Co 1:24, But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
1Co 1:25, Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

I was replying to your saying the OT prophets had mental issues:-
"There is truth here. I honestly do believe most people standing on street corners, screaming doom and damnation at passers-by really do have mental issues.
Your comment:-'Then so did the prophets of old."

The one thing we can be sure of is they were not mad.

 

[justbyfaith]

I was replying to your saying the OT prophets had mental issues:-
"There is truth here. I honestly do believe most people standing on street corners, screaming doom and damnation at passers-by really do have mental issues.
Your comment:-'Then so did the prophets of old."

The one thing we can be sure of is they were not mad.

This does not take away from the fact that they may have been considered to be mad by certain of their contemporaries; I believe that Hosea may have been referring to this when he wrote Hosea 9:7 of his book: that he may not have only been referring to a future event but may have been referring to how people perceived his own ministry in his day.

You said:

That said anyone standing there shouting about OT prophecies and decrying sin is likely to be thought to be insane.

If the message itself is revealed to be the thing that indicates insanity, and those who shout about OT prophecies and decrying sin are very likely thought to be insane because of the content of their message; then if that content be the same as what the OT prophets proclaimed, how are the OT prophets any different than these decryers of sin?

Either the OT prophets were insane for the content of their message, or the content of the message of the latter does not make them insane because it does not do the same to the former...the only thing that would make them insane is what I have said before...that they are preaching to a deaf audience and are therefore not accomplishing anything.

 

[farouk]

This does not take away from the fact that they may have been considered to be mad by certain of their contemporaries; I believe that Hosea may have been referring to this when he wrote Hosea 9:7 of his book: that he may not have only been referring to a future event but may have been referring to how people perceived his own ministry in his day.

You said:



If the message itself is revealed to be the thing that indicates insanity, and those who shout about OT prophecies and decrying sin are very likely thought to be insane because of the content of their message; then if that content be the same as what the OT prophets proclaimed, how are the OT prophets any different than these decryers of sin?

Either the OT prophets were insane for the content of their message, or the content of the message of the latter does not make them insane because it does not do the same to the former...the only thing that would make them insane is what I have said before...that they are preaching to a deaf audience and are therefore not accomplishing anything.

Hosea is very searching book.

 

[justbyfaith]

Hosea is a very searching book.

Indeed.

 

[justbyfaith]

Zep 1:14, The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.
Zep 1:15, That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,

 

[Windmillcharge]

Either the OT prophets were insane for the content of their message, or the content of the message of the latter does not make them insane because it does not do the same to the former...the only thing that would make them insane is what I have said before...that they are preaching to a deaf audience and are therefore not accomplishing anything.

Those who are serving God as the OT prophets did were filled by the Spirit. In seeking to live for God and to obey him they were the sanist of all people then living.

That they knew rejection, disapointment, even dispair, which shows they were like us human, but mad NO.

The only insanity is when people see and hear convincing evidence of/for God and will not accept it.

 

[Willie T]

The prophets of old, doing God's will, drew crowds.
The ranters of today are only pleasing themselves by yelling into empty space.

 

[justbyfaith]

Those who are serving God as the OT prophets did were filled by the Spirit. In seeking to live for God and to obey him they were the sanist of all people then living.

That they knew rejection, disapointment, even dispair, which shows they were like us human, but mad NO.

The only insanity is when people see and hear convincing evidence of/for God and will not accept it.

I agree.

The prophets of old, doing God's will, drew crowds.

Scripture?

I think that the prophets of old, for the most part, did not minister to their contemporaries, but wrote down their prophecies knowing that they would be ministering to us who would live many years after them.

1Pe 1:10, Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pe 1:11, Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12, Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

I believe that they sought to minister to their contemporaries but were rejected by them.

Mat 21:33, Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:
Mat 21:34, And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.
Mat 21:35, And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.
Mat 21:36, Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.
Mat 21:37, But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.
Mat 21:38, But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
Mat 21:39, And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.
Mat 21:40, When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?
Mat 21:41, They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
Mat 21:42, Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

The prophets of today are no different:

Mat 23:29, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
Mat 23:30, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
Mat 23:31, Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
Mat 23:32, Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
Mat 23:33, Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
Mat 23:34, Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
Mat 23:35, That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
Mat 23:36, Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.

In today's world the persecutors have circumvented killing and crucifying the "offenders" in that Freudian psychology has been invented and it condemns them as madmen so that they have no credibility in the eyes of the public; and also they inject them with soul-killing drugs so that they will not be a threat to the devil's system of authority.

And as with King Agrippa and Festus, I know that this will strike home with some people and miss the mark with others.

 

[justbyfaith]

Zep 3:8, Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.

 

[justbyfaith]

quoted from another thread, quotes removed for clarity:

Thank you, that actually speaks to me.

I will add my reason for believing you,

Isa 22:12, And in that day did the Lord GOD of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth:
Isa 22:13, And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.
Isa 22:14, And it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

But then, I wonder how the following applies:

Heb 1:3, Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Heb 10:1, For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
Heb 10:2, For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.


Heb 10:4, For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

Heb 10:11, And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:

1Jo 3:5, And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.

Tit 2:14, Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

 

[justbyfaith]

On another note, this is God's call to the church today:

Joe 2:1, Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
Joe 2:2, A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, evento the years of many generations.
Joe 2:3, A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
Joe 2:4, The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run.
Joe 2:5, Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
Joe 2:6, Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.
Joe 2:7, They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks:
Joe 2:8, Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded.
Joe 2:9, They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.
Joe 2:10, The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
Joe 2:11, And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?
Joe 2:12, Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:
Joe 2:13, And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
Joe 2:14, Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?
Joe 2:15, Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
Joe 2:16, Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
Joe 2:17, Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
Joe 2:18, Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.
Joe 2:19, Yea, the LORD will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen: