NC Renegades

We Will Rule All Things
By John Piper

“The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.” (Revelation 3:21)

What does Jesus mean when he says this to the church in Laodicea?

Sit with Jesus on his throne? Really?

This is a promise to everyone who conquers, that is, who presses on in faith to the end (1 John 5:4), in spite of every threatening pain and luring, sinful pleasure. So if you are a true believer in Jesus, you will sit on the throne of the Son of God who sits on the throne of God the Father.

I take “throne of God” to signify the right and authority to rule the universe. That’s where Jesus sits. “He must reign,” Paul said, “until he has put all his enemies under his feet” (1 Corinthians 15:25). So when Jesus says, “I will grant him to sit with me on my throne,” he promises us a share in the rule of all things.

Is this what Paul has in mind in Ephesians 1:22–23? “He put all things under [Christ’s] feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

We, the church, are “the fullness of him who fills all.” What does that mean? I take it to mean that the universe will be filled with the glory of the Lord (Numbers 14:21). And one dimension of that glory will be the complete and unopposed extension of his rule everywhere.

Therefore, Ephesians 1:23 would mean: Jesus fills the universe with his own glorious rule through us. Sharing in his rule, we are the fullness of his rule. We rule on his behalf, by his power, under his authority. In that sense, we sit with him on his throne.

None of us feels this as we should. It is too much — too good, too amazing. That’s why Paul prays for God’s help that “the eyes of your hearts [would be] enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you” (Ephesians 1:18).

Without omnipotent help now, we cannot feel the wonder of what we are destined to become. But if we are granted to feel it, as it really is, all our emotional reactions to this world will change. The strange and radical commands of the New Testament will not be as strange as they once seemed.

To all the Naysayers, and you know who you are, I will not even mention you by name for you no longer deserve any recognition. I had hoped to see some kind of an apology this morning. Not to me, but to the many readers of their words they had insulted over and over again. Sadly it does not appear that is going to happen. All you have accomplished by your insults and fear mongering was to further divide our cause. With that being said, I wish you luck, you lost many followers of your writings and now what influence you once may have had is forever diminished. To the rest of you, I say Welcome to NCRenegade, where we keep our debates over topics respectful, despite having different point of views.

I have had a great many conversations with people over what happens now.

From Max Velocity: While yesterday is seen by many as a success, the reality is the Governor and Democrats sitting in the Capitol in Richmond will not be swayed from their agenda. You have to understand that the VA legislature is going to ram these bills through, including HB961 (confiscation / permitting). If you are a Patriot and refuse to comply, you will be a ‘lawbreaker’ on July 1st. The ‘law abiding citizen’ mantra will be gone. Time to break out of normalcy bias, and time to stop looking for someone to save you. Lead yourself. We The People are the ones who need to stop this.

From AP: “Democratic lawmakers said the rally wouldn’t impact their plans to pass gun-control measures, including universal background checks and a one-handgun-purchase-a-month limit. Democrats say tightening Virginia’s gun laws will make communities safer and help prevent mass shootings like the one last year in Virginia Beach, where a dozen people were killed in a municipal building.

“I was prepared to see a whole lot more people show up than actually did and I think it’s an indication that a lot of this rhetoric is bluster, quite frankly,” said Del. Chris Hurst, a gun-control advocate whose TV journalist girlfriend was killed in an on-air shooting in 2015.”

Yesterday was a peaceful demonstration. A show of potential force. Without all the Naysayers we might have had more. The Dems and Media will always portray us in a bad light anyway. Given that the lawmakers plan to ignore us, this must only be the beginning.

Now is the time to up your training and preparing. The inevitable is coming.

Wes

From Raconteur Report concerning Lobby Day in Richmond:

I mean, I hate to hurt your pwecious feeeeeewings, but we had guys in boot camp who managed to crank out three whole pull-ups in Week One, all by themselves, and I’m a little hazy, but I’m pretty sure no drill instructors gave them any awards for that.

But at least you didn’t get anyone hurt, or rack up a body count, this time.
So there’s that.

And so sorry for the Perennially Butthurt, but there was nothing “brave” about doing something this futile, pointless, and stupid. This was a live-action YouTube video of someone doing some jackassical stunt, and not doing the full monty faceplant. That’s not brave, it’s lucky. And foolish beyond description.

More…

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My thoughts:

1. Some good points were made in the above article and should be considered but the presentation was vitriolic.
2. George Washington once stated that “the time for petitions is over”. He realized that petitioning the English crown was not effective. How did he know? Because previous petitions brought no relief. Consider Richmond part of the process leading up to the inevitable; something that must be done to build a foundation of Honor in our actions.
3. Remember that the purpose of Lobby Day was to lobby the politicians of Virginia. It was not a protest, a rally or an event to make a statement. We do not know if it was successful or not.
4. As for law enforcement at the event being against the people:

Culepper County, Virginia Sheriff Scott Jenkins Speech at Richmond

5. I do know one fact: the war is coming. To win, we must have common goals and be united. If we are dividing ourselves, we will lose.

David DeGerolamo

The Anchor of Joy
By John Piper

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.” (Matthew 5:11)

“Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20)

Jesus revealed a secret that protects our happiness from the threat of suffering and the threat of success. That secret is this: Great is your reward in heaven. And the sum of that reward is enjoying the fullness of the glory of Jesus Christ (John 17:24).

Jesus protects our happiness from suffering when he says,

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.” (Matthew 5:11–12)

Our great reward in heaven rescues our joy from the threat of persecution and reviling.

He also protects our joy from success when he says,

“Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20)

The disciples were tempted to put their joy in ministry success. “Even the demons are subject to us in your name!” (Luke 10:17). But that would have severed their joy from its only sure anchor.

So Jesus protects their joy from the threat of success by promising the far greater reward of heaven. Rejoice in this: that your names are written in heaven. Your inheritance is infinite, eternal, sure.

Our joy is safe. Neither suffering nor success can destroy its anchor. Great is your reward in heaven. Your name is written there. It is secure.

Jesus anchored the happiness of suffering saints in the reward of heaven. And he anchored the happiness of successful saints in the same.

And thus he freed us from the tyranny of worldly pain and pleasure — worldly suffering and worldly success.

The Battle to Remind
By John Piper

“This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end.” (Lamentations 3:21–22)

One of the great enemies of hope is forgetting God’s promises. Reminding is a great ministry. Peter and Paul both said that they wrote letters for this reason (2 Peter 1:13; Romans 15:15).

The main Helper in reminding us what we need to know is the Holy Spirit (John 14:26). But that doesn’t mean you should be passive. You are responsible only for your own ministry of reminding. And the first one in need of reminding by you is you.

The mind has this great power: It can talk to itself by way of reminder. The mind can “call to mind,” as the text says: “But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases” (Lamentations 3:21–22). 

If we don’t “call to mind” what God has said about himself and about us, we languish. Oh, how I know this from painful experience! Don’t wallow in the mire of godless messages in your own head. Messages like: “I can’t . . .” “She won’t . . .” “They never . . .” “It has never worked . . .”

The point is not that these are true or false. Your mind will always find a way to make them true, unless you “call to mind” something greater. God is the God of the impossible. Reasoning your way out of an impossible situation is not as effective as reminding yourself that God does impossible things.

Without reminding ourselves of the greatness and grace and power and wisdom of God, we sink into brutish pessimism. “I was brutish and ignorant; I was like a beast toward you” (Psalm 73:22).

The great turn from despair to hope in Psalm 77 comes with these words: “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds” (Psalm 77:11–12).

This is the great battle of my life. I assume yours too. The battle to remind! Myself. Then others.