One of the most tragic statements in the Bible is Philippians 2:19-21:

But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition.

For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.  For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.

Paul spent his life sacrificing his own interests, and even risking his life repeatedly for the sake of the gospel. After all those years, he only had one associate, Timothy, who was not in ministry for his own interests, but was sincerely seeking the interests of the Lord. How would the ministry of today measure up to this?

I have become convinced that, overall, the leadership of the church in our times is probably the greatest since the first century. We do have many failures, which receive most of the publicity. However, there are many today that have likewise sacrificed their own, selfish interests their entire lives to serve the interests of Christ and His people. For those we should be very thankful. Even so, the basic fabric and nature of modern ministry has more in common with a profession or a business, than a calling. That is about to change.

As the church has grown further from the cross over time, the more selfish and deceived it has become. We can find great souls in each generation who did behold the cross, and took up their crosses daily, doing all things for the sake of the gospel. These are the great and continuing voices from history which still speak. These are the ones who heeded the Lord’s exhortation in Matthew 16:24-25:

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

“For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it.

The Lord began speaking to some of us twenty years ago, saying, “the cross will be popular again.” He also said that when this happens, a new breed of leadership, a new breed of Christians, and a radically new church would arise. We have now come to that time. There is going to arise within the church a renewal movement which truly deserves the name. It is going to be so radical and so powerful, that it is going to make all things new. The present emerging generation has been called the most selfish yet. Selfishness and arrogance have become increasingly powerful strongholds within it. Even so, where sin increases, grace will increase even more (see Romans 5:20). The emerging generation will produce the most selfless and self-sacrificing Christians seen since the first century. This is going to result in a release of spiritual power and authority such as has not been seen since the first century. True apostles are going to walk the earth again, and where they walk, true apostolic churches will arise.

This new breed of Christians will be the most fearless people on earth because they will have already died to this world, and it is impossible for the dead to fear. They will walk in unprecedented faith because they will have learned the secret of not looking at themselves and who they are, but at the Lord and who He is. They will not live by faith in their own abilities, but by faith in His strength. They will walk in unprecedented power because they will have learned the secret: the cross “is the power of God” (I Corinthians 1:18).

The Passion

As I wrote in a Special Report on Mel Gibson’s, The Passion of the Christ, which was posted on our website on January 14, 2004, the reason why this film is one of the most controversial of our times is because it is one of the most anointed and powerful films produced in our times. It is the most accurate, honest portrayal of the crucifixion ever screened. However, as powerful as it is, it still likely falls short of depicting the kind of torture the Lord actually went through.

The Lord did not just die for us—He submitted Himself to the most cruel torture that human minds could conceive. Evil vented its rage on Him with all of the power it could muster on that day. He took it for all for us. There will never be a more powerful demonstration of the love and character of God than was demonstrated in the last twelve hours of the Lord’s life on this earth as a man. This is why His highest title in heaven, and the one the Scripture implies that He will be called forever, is “the Lamb.”

Even though this movie is deeply touching to almost everyone who sees it, there is probably only a very small percentage who really understand the message. However, if even one percent is changed by it and devote themselves to a life of the cross, it will be enough to change Christianity as we know it. And, Christianity as we know it desperately needs changing.

If just one percent of Christians begin to live the true Christian life, which is a life of self-sacrifice, not self-fulfillment, then they will turn the world upside down again with the power of their witness. There is no greater message, and no greater power than the cross. The cross will be preached again, and it will be lived again by the most powerful church yet to have walked the earth. The power of the end time church will exceed that of the first century church just as the Lord prophetically foretold that the glory revealed in the latter house would be greater than that which was revealed in the former (see Haggai 2:9). The Lord really has saved His best wine for last, and it is now being prepared.

I am thankful that The Passion is breaking so many attendance records. The true message of the cross is likewise going to draw the multitudes like no other message the church has brought forth. The message of self sacrifice is going to quickly eclipse the message of selfishness, just as the sun overpowers the moon when it rises. This is preparation for the gospel of the kingdom to be preached in the entire world. The message of the cross is not just the message of redemption and salvation. The cross is the doorway to the kingdom, and the last message to be preached before the end of this age is the gospel of the kingdom, not the gospel of salvation. The gospel of our redemption, the gift of our salvation, and eternal life that was purchased for us at such a price, is so glorious and wonderful that it is understandable so many Christians are seemingly unable to go beyond this great truth to see the kingdom. But we must. It is the gospel of the kingdom that must be preached in all the earth before the end can come (see Matthew 24:14).

The gospel of the kingdom is about more than redemption and restoration. The message of redemption and restoration are the foundations of the kingdom, but these are still focused more on man than on the Lord. The gospel of the kingdom is about Who He is and His authority. He is coming back to rule. The gospel that is about to go forth is not going to be: “Come to Jesus and He will bless you and fix you,” but it will be “Bow the knee! The King is coming!” This is not to imply that when we come to Him He will not bless us or fix us, but we are not receiving the true blessing or fixing until we see His lordship.

Even so, the cross is the foundation of the kingdom, and the foundation of the ministries that will preach it. A generation of Christian leaders is going to arise who will not try to build their ministries, but rather every day put everything they have at the foot of the cross. They will live holding nothing back. These will live as not having anything, but possessing all things. In all things they will seek to do His will. They will become an irresistible force transforming the church, which will then begin to transform the world. The true church by its very nature is a force for transformation. It is the salt that makes every one thirsty. It is the light that exposes all darkness. We will see such a church begin to arise. It will prepare the world for the age to come. The prayer that the Son of God gave us to pray, for His kingdom to come, and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, will be answered (see Matthew 6:10). The kingdom is coming. The messengers of the kingdom will soon be heard.

The Message

The message of the kingdom is the message of the King—who He is, and what He is going to do. His will is going to be done on earth just as it is in heaven. The message of His kingdom will be preached by those who live in the kingdom now, and who are submitted to His authority, living every day with the simple devotion to do His will. His passion has been the passion of the greatest souls to have ever walked this earth in any age. But at the end, there will be a church which lives by this passion like no others have. The age that began at the cross is also going to end at the cross. It will be the power of the cross that will build the bridge to the age to come so that mankind can cross over.

The most pure Christianity and the greatest Christians are found the closer they live to the cross. The further the church has moved in time and in its message from the cross, the less spiritual power it has had, and the more it has begun to rely on earthly power to build its influence. The more sanitized and politically correct that men have tried to make the message of the cross, the less true spiritual power the church has had. This avoidance of the cross has caused the church to resort to political and even military power, to compensate for the lack of real, spiritual power that can only come from the cross. This inevitably opened the door for some of the most un- Christlike things to be done in His name, by those with the most un- Christlike character.

This is what the apostles and prophets to the early church foresaw, and prophesied clearly in the New Testament. They saw the spirit of the antichrist actually taking its seat in “the temple of God,” which is the church, and displaying itself as being God (see II Thessalonians 2:4). Any honest student of history cannot help but to see that this has in fact happened, and that a spirit, which is fundamentally contrary to the Spirit of Christ has dominated the church through much of the church age. Though this antichrist spirit has been displaced from some of the church to a degree, much of it continues its influence even in our own time. This, too, will soon be exposed.

I Corinthians 1:18 says, “For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Because the cross is the power of God, when the church embraces the cross it can be trusted with the power. As Paul also said in I Corinthians 4:20, “For the kingdom of God does not consist in words, but in power.” For the church to preach the gospel of the kingdom at the end as we have been called to do, we must have power. If we want to experience the power of God in our daily lives, we must take up the cross daily. Great power is coming to Christians and to the church who embrace the cross. This will be a striking contrast to the spirit that has dominated much of the church for most of the church age.

The Opposition

Even the philosopher Aristotle understood that if a truly righteous man ever walked the earth, he would be persecuted, rejected, and ultimately impaled, which was the Greek equivalent of the crucifixion. In this way, he accurately prophesied of the coming of Christ and the cross. He did not do this as much by revelation, but by simply understanding the true nature of men, and why such a Righteous One would be persecuted by them. The opposition to the movie, The Passion, was from the same source that persecuted the Lord Himself. I am not talking about just the opposition from the Jewish community. What happened to Jesus would have happened in any nation on the earth that He would have come to, just as Aristotle understood. What was manifested in the power that had seized control of the Jewish nation at the time of Jesus has also been manifested in almost every nation, and even more devastatingly, in the church itself. We must understand this. It will rise in opposition to every truly righteous person and every true message. It is the demonic religious spirit.

This spirit seeks to bring forth a religion of mostly human origin, fueled by human pride and self-seeking, which is exactly contrary to the way of the cross. This same spirit is found as much in the church today as it ever was in Judaism. This spirit rose up in the church to persecute the Jews. So, for nearly a thousand years the Jewish people were under the greatest threat of annihilation from those who claimed to be Christians, but were in fact the most un-Christlike people on earth at the time.

The accusations that The Passion would release another wave of anti- Semitism are completely unfounded. In fact, the opposite is true. Those who are anti-Semitic might use it that way, but they will use anything that way. It was probably those who came out against the movie in the way they did who fueled more anti-Semitism than anything else. Many began to perceive it was the same spirit that persecuted Jesus, and it was. The extremist groups came across as having the very nature of the Jewish leaders who were the villains in the movie and in history because they were of that spirit. The extremist anti-Christian Jews probably represent less than one percent of the Jewish population today, as well as during the first century. Likewise, those who were of the same spirit but claiming to be Christians throughout history have likewise been a very small percentage of the whole of Christianity. Yet the religious spirit is a power that can take a tiny percentage of people and influence many others. It is the most basic nature of Satan, and the spirit that is the most fundamentally opposed to the nature and power of the kingdom.

Recognizing this, we begin to understand that one of the worst deceptions which continues to bring much destruction to mankind is our tendency to judge others or other people groups, by their most extreme elements. Even though extremists are usually the most vocal, if we are going to walk in truth we must not let the extremists in any people group determine our perception of that people group—unless that people group allows themselves to be ruled by the extremists.

Every German paid a terrible price for allowing Hitler and the Nazis to gain control of their country. There were some brave and noble souls who discerned the profoundly evil nature of Nazism, and fought it as hard as they could, many paying for their resistance with their lives. Even so, just as all of Germany suffered so much because of the Nazis, we will all pay a terrible price every time we allow tyranny in any form, to gain control. History testifies resoundingly that religious tyranny is the most deadly and ruthless kind of all, regardless of what group or faith it rises from. We must learn to discern the true faith from the religious imposter or we will continue to pay a terrible and tragic price.

The Blessing

The Lord promised Abraham that his seed would be a blessing to all of the families on the face of the earth (see Genesis 22:18). The Jewish people have fulfilled this—they have been the greatest blessing to every nation, people, and culture. Even so, their ultimate destiny, which is clear in the Scriptures, is even greater than their history. The Jewish people will arise again as some of the greatest heroes of truth and righteousness. Also, if we are going to walk in truth we must be delivered from another great source of deception—the tendency to receive our understanding from the secular media instead of seeing by and through the Holy Spirit. We must be discerning enough to recognize that when something becomes controversial, it is often because it is something of great importance from God.

The devil operates through fear, innuendo, and hearsay. The Lord has more class than to use devious methods to gain influence. When you see such controversy as was stirred up against The Passion, it is often because there is something very important from God that the devil is trying to turn us away from. When we learn to discern the spirit that is behind such things, the true spiritual warriors, who are warriors for the truth, will run to the sound of the battle, not away from it.

Again, let us not think that what arose in a few Jewish activists against The Passion is especially embedded in the Jewish people. There are some Jewish extremists who are still subject to this, just as there are many Christians who are. Let us never forget that God came to us as a Jew! Not only was Christ Himself Jewish, the apostles, prophets, and everyone who wrote that which is now Canon Scripture were Jewish—the greatest heroes in human history. We all owe the Jewish people more than we owe any other race, culture, or people group on the planet.

We also need to know that the Jewish people have been even more persecuted by Christians than any other religion. Beginning with Peter the Hermit, who led the first crusade and formulated the diabolical doctrine that the Jews should be killed to atone for Christ’s death, for nearly a thousand years they were under a continuous threat of annihilation from those who called themselves Christians. They had their children and their property taken from them, were forcibly baptized, and if they refused, were killed by those who called themselves Christians. Many credit some of the anti-Semitic doctrines of Martin Luther for the holocaust they experienced under the Nazis.

For this reason it is understandable that the Jewish people would have a knee jerk reaction to anything Christian, and especially anything that might again in any way incite the kind of persecution which they had suffered under for nearly a thousand years. What Christians did to the Jews in the Middle Ages was far worse than the threats they now suffer from Islam, and in many ways worse than even what happened to them under the Nazis.

However, even though there is a need for understanding and repentance on the part of Christians for the way the Jewish people have been treated in the past by Christians, we cannot allow our own devotion to our faith to be controlled by this. What rose up in the church during those times was not Christian, but in fact antichrist.

Jesus Himself warned in Matthew 24:5: “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many.” Some have interpreted this as meaning, many would come claiming to be the Christ, but that is not what the Lord said here. He said that many would come claiming that He, Jesus, was indeed the Christ, but they would still be deceivers who deceive many. This is exactly what happened, and is still happening.

Many Jewish leaders also understand that their best friends, now and throughout the Middle Ages, were Christians who were of a different spirit. They know, but seldom fully understand, that these Christians were not Christians because of their association with an institution, but because of a deep, personal devotion to Christ. Those who have had a pure devotion to Christ have also always had a deep love for the Jewish people through whom their Savior came.

Building Bridges

Many who have been true friends of the Jewish people have been offended by the Jewish response to The Passion. Others are raising questions about the Jewish control of Hollywood, the news media, and other such things that seem to be used to attack Mel Gibson, and this movie. Again, we must not let the reaction of the extremists on either side drive a greater wedge between Christians and Jews. Our goal should be to overcome evil with good. There are some practical ways that we can do this. One way is to contact the Jewish people in your community and express your appreciation for them, and the great blessing the Jewish people have been to all of mankind. In spite of the terrible way they have often been treated in the nations where they sojourned, they have tended to be the best citizens and neighbors. I think it would be appropriate to even send them a gift, or send an offering to the local synagogue. If you have the opportunity, tell them that you are sorry for the way they have been treated by those who called themselves Christians. I have done this with remarkable results.

We also need to understand that the same spirit, which sought to destroy Christ, is intent on destroying the Jewish people. He knows the destiny of the Jewish people at the end is not only to embrace Christ, but help to usher in the kingdom of God that will destroy the devil’s kingdom. This will happen when the Jewish people and the true church unite to become the “one new man” also prophesied in the New Testament to come forth (see Ephesians 2:1).

It is because it is the same spirit persecuting both true Christians and Jews that some estimates indicate just as many Christians died at the hands of the Nazis as did Jews. We do have the same enemy! For this reason, the enemy’s greatest victory is to turn Christians against Jews, or Jews against Christians. Let us determine that regardless of what the enemy tries to do, we will not let this happen. Every time the devil tries to stir up such controversy and division, let us resolve to counter it with good.

As we proceed toward the end of this age, there will be more and more things arising, which will try to divide Christians and Jews. The devil is trying to use the movie, The Passion, this way. But its ultimate result is actually going to give Christians a far greater appreciation of the Jewish heroes of humanity, and the Jews a far greater understanding of true Christians. It will also show how those are different from those who were truly of the religious spirit but claimed to be Christian.

Let us learn to not be controlled by the extremists on either side. The Christians who are trying to use this present controversy to illuminate “Jewish control” of the media is the same voice speaking through some of the Jewish extremists, both trying to cause a greater division. You may reason that if the devil is doing this, then he is a house divided that cannot stand. That is in fact the truth. A demon of hate will hate other demons as much as they hate us. The powers of darkness often do rise up against each other, and men get carried away by them on both sides.

Let us resolve to know Christ and follow Him only, not issues. Let us show our Jewish neighbors the true nature of Christ, who loved both them and us so much that He went to the cross for us all. That is how the true disciples will always be recognized.

“By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).

What we are doing on this earth is not about us—it is about the Lord. The earth and all that it contains is His. We were made for His pleasure. We have been purchased with a price, the greatest price that could have ever been paid—the life of the Son of God. We are not our own. We cannot go on living for ourselves, but our lives must be centered around, and motivated by, the Lord and His purposes.

We must behold the cross, and the price He paid that demonstrates like nothing else ever could, how much He loves us, and how much sin cost Him. The movie, The Passion, is anointed to help bring this reality back to our lives, and our message. There is no greater message than the cross. It is the foundation that everything else must be built on, and if it is not built on it rightly then it is a weak foundation at best.

Summary

The kingdom is coming. In preparation for it there are two great events now going on. The messengers of the kingdom are currently being prepared. The generation now arising is called to fulfill the Great Commission. The second great event that is coming in preparation for the kingdom is a tremendous unity which will come among Christians and Jews. Neither the church nor Israel can accomplish their full purpose without the other. For this reason great spiritual awakenings are coming to both.

There will be great, cataclysmic changes coming to the church, Israel, and the world to prepare the way for the kingdom. These will come to shake everything that can be shaken, until we are walking in truth on the path of life.

This is the path that leads to the most glorious kingdom that this world has ever known. However, to find it we must be of “a different spirit” than has been found in the church in general, for nearly two thousand years. As the Lord Jesus Himself made clear in Matthew 16:24-25:

If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it.

There will be an increasing distinction between those who claim to follow the Lord, and those who really do by taking up their crosses. Just as it gets the darkest and the coldest before the dawn, there are going to be great times of trouble and darkness ahead, but the light will surely rise, and it will surely prevail over all darkness.

There are many confusing and conflicting voices who claim to come in the name of Christ, but are in fact antichrist in nature. The antichrist will rarely come attacking the message of Christ directly, but rather trying to replace it, and thereby take the seat of Christ in His own temple. This spirit will become increasingly clear to those who are truly following Christ. The Word of God from the mouth of the Lord Himself will slay this spirit.

We will always discern the true Spirit of Christ, and those who truly follow Him are the ones who walk in the way of the cross. They will live to sacrifice and lay down their own lives for others, never using others for their own selfish interests. This is the nature of true spiritual authority, and the true kingdom that is surely coming. We can help prepare the way for it by determining to take up our crosses daily, resolving to do all things for the sake of the gospel.

It is also time to recognize those “temples” that have another spirit in them, and depart from them. Selfishness and sacrifice are the two most fundamentally defining characteristics of the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of God. Regardless of how much one may claim to come in the name of the Lord, we must discern the basic nature of the messengers, and determine to follow, not just truths, but the Truth Himself.