Oppression — the exercise of governmental power in a cruel or unjust manner, as oppressive or burdensome, unjustly harsh, tyrannical, distressing, or grievous. to put people under unreasonable restraint; to exercise harsh and abusive so-called authority
Oppress — to lie heavily upon the mind; weigh down; subdue; suppress; squeeze; suffocate; put under feeling of being oppressed so as to silence and stifle the cry of the human heart

 

We live in an age of oppression — physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. We are oppressed from without and within. Screaming out for justice in an age of supreme injustice on all sides spawns the revolutionaries who strain every fiber to make a blow to the system. Everything is dark and twisted: poverty, genocide, generations under medicated tyranny, political corruption, endless war, pollution, and ecological nightmares.
Although one could choose from a million different causes, the loyal heart that is yearning for truth and justice will stop at nothing short of the true solution to this age of sadness and chaos, heartache and brokenness. The ultimate act of revolution is to respond to the call that strikes right to the core, to the very essence of the world system itself. This call was presented and articulated in detail and clarity by Yahshua,1Yahshua is the original Hebrew name of the man known as Jesus, i.e., the name his mother called Him… the Son of God.
What would such an authentic revolution look like in reality? What would be its tangible manifestation? Simply what is described in the Book of Acts 2:44 — “All who believed were together and shared all things in common.” That is history’s most profound movement, yet it has remained hidden to most. It is the way the disciples of Yahshua lived in the first century. They were actually called “The Way”,2Acts 24:14 — But this I confess to you, that according to “the Way”, which they call a cult, I worship the God of our fathers… for they were devoted to learning, producing, and preserving an emerging culture, which is the only way “The Way” can be; just as an apple seed, by its nature, must grow an apple tree. It is in the genetics of the seed. The “DNA” of the true gospel3GOS’PEL, noun [good news or hopeful message.] will always produce a set-apart people. The life described in Acts 2:44 was the first fruit that was meant to grow to maturity.

The call of the gospel is the ultimate solution to all the injustice that this sick and dying world has ever seen. It is the only antidote to the oppression and aggression of this age. There is nothing that exposes this self-centered consumer society more than a people who wholeheartedly band together, enduring through thick and thin. They are in it together for better or worse, in sickness and in health, through trials and testing, sharing all that they have, and refusing to forsake one another.
Acts 2:44 tests covenant love to the core, proving its quality and glory. Love comes from internal motivation, not external compulsion. Only a love that is greater than man’s faulty natural love will endure the testing that is coming upon the earth in these last days.4Luke 21:34-35 — But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. It must be divine love, poured into the hearts of redeemed men and women.5Romans 5:5 — And hope does not disappoint, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
The commandments of Yahshua, the Son of God, set forth the supreme challenge to the human soul, and connect you to the source of that divine love. You must begin by walking away from every self-centered agenda to embark upon the most noble endeavor: establishing the Kingdom of God here on earth just as it is in the very heart of our Creator. This is the very same call that Abraham obeyed so long ago.
Yahshua’s commandments and teachings are the detailed blueprints to equip a people to endure the tidal wave of the “I-me-my-mine” culture that is destroying the very fabric of all human society. Supreme selfishness is paving the way for a one-world government and a society that will ultimately welcome the Antichrist and the Mark of the Beast. This corporate monstrosity will be the result of a systematic leveling process that will succeed in wiping out all human worth and dignity. It will do it through aggressive and persuasive propaganda pumped right into the spiritual bloodstream of the masses in these next few generations.
Mankind has been polluted, scarred, marred in heart and soul, yet the persistent humble heart gropes to find a way to not get swept away. “Live for yourself” has become the anthem of the age. The young are seduced by the “siren song” of higher education, promising a life of comfort, ease, and pleasure.6Luke 12:19 — And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” All the ancient boundaries are being transgressed. Dazed and deluded, people despise the struggle and suffering that has preserved righteous character through the centuries. So we see humanity reduced to the level of brute beasts — arguing, lusting, striving, deceiving, hating, coveting, craving and neglecting. Man lives solely consumed with self gratification, feeding his insatiable ego. Thus the world is fast becoming as it was in the days of Noah,7Genesis 6:5 — The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. and like Sodom and Gomorrah,8Ezekiel 16:49-50 — Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it when the thoughts and intentions of the the human heart were only evil continually.
In stark contrast is the life that results from the gospel of Yahshua, the most radical calling that has ever been made to man. It shatters the flashy façade that has deceived the whole world.91 John 3:8 — Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 5:19 — We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. It sets forth the standard of true love, like a lighthouse to a storm-tossed ship at sea in the darkest night. This light exposes the darkness of selfishness and calls mankind to account.
The starting place to obtain the covenant love that is in Messiah is to sever yourself from the entanglements of your life in this world. This is a prerequisite for anyone who wants to become Yahshua’s disciple.10Matthew 10:34-39 — Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
Luke 14:26-33 — If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple… Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be My disciple.
Mark 8:34-38 — And He called to Him the crowd with His disciples and said to them, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels. ”
Matthew 19:20-22 — The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
John 12:24-26 — Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there will My servant be also. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. These are the so-called “hard words” of the gospel that usually get left out of the Christian preachers’ sermons.

First, you must leave your old life and occupation. Second, you must enter into a covenant with all those who also believe (just as a husband and wife enter into a marriage covenant “till death do us part”). Third, you become a new person, progressively being transformed into the likeness of the Messiah Yahshua.111 John 3:2-3 — Beloved, we are children of God now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as He is pure.
1 Corinthians 15:49 — Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
The result of obeying this gospel is Acts 2:44 — All who believe live together and share all things in common. This is the exemplary life that is the light of the world in the midst of a dark and decaying society.12Isaiah 49:6 — It is too light a thing that you should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth. The gospel calls us on a pilgrimage back to establish a set-apart holy nation,131 Peter 2:9 — But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Hebrews 11:13-16,39-40 — These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city… And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. a society that is held together by the Creator Himself. The holy nation is made up of those who were once not a people but were made into a people through their obedience to the gospel.141 Peter 2:10 — Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Mark 3:33-35 — And He answered them, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” And looking about at those who sat around Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! Whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
So it must be leave, enter, and then become all that He needs us to be. Only a society with this integrity can endure until the end and be the Creator’s voice pleading with modern man to turn from the flood of deception that the evil ruler of this age is unleashing upon an unsuspecting global generation. Divided we fall. Only fiercely united will a people be able to stand up in the face of these final days of corruption. Now is a time of spiritual warfare. The only force that can stand up to this supreme spiritual oppression is true community. Not intentional community, or alternative energy, or sustainable agriculture, or cooperative housing, but a true community of those who love with all their heart, soul, and strength. This can only come from an equal response to the call of our Creator, which calls us into true communion.
The “church” is not a building, as everyone thinks. It is a family, a people, a confederation composed of volunteers who willingly live a life of self-sacrifice after the same pattern as the One they follow. It is a tribal life: families, clans, and tribes, in stark contrast to the suburban loneliness of the world. There God can truly relink Himself to man and man to Himself.15James 1:27 — Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
In this place God is pleased to dwell.16Psalm 68:5-6 — Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in His holy habitation. God settles the solitary in a home; He leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land. All other revolutions will continue to spin round and round and accomplish nothing till man’s heart is made one. First, we must be one with the ancient call, mission, and purpose of the One who fashioned us, and also we must be one with one another.
The most radical movement that history has ever recorded was the church of the first century, after it was established by the apostles, those who had intimately learned from the Savior himself. They were a people of one heart and one soul, a Body of believers not in doctrine alone, but in the practical, experiential, daily reality of love and care. Sadly, it didn’t endure long, but it left a plumb line, a standard, and an ember of hope for a people who would pick up where they left off, and catch fire to fulfill all that is in the ancient writings of the Law and the Prophets.
Love is the solution. Love is the light of the world. Anything less than one heart and one soul will be undermined and swept away in the coming days of testing. But the meek will inherit the earth — the humble, the servants, the ones who serve night and day to bring about the fulfillment of the promises of God.
The trial that is coming upon the earth will be the fiercest battle that has ever been fought, but the battlefield is in the unseen realm of spiritual warfare.172 Corinthians 10:4 — For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.
Ephesians 6:12 — For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. It is a war against division, laxity, complacency, selfishness, hypocrisy, and compromise. It is a war against every influence that comes in to make our love grow cold.18Matthew 24:12-13 — And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. It is a war to forgive and be forgiven.
When a people walk this narrow prophetic course spoken of by the prophets of old, the veneer of this current world order will be torn back to reveal the devastation and evil that has been and is corrupting this whole earth. We live in the last days.192 Timothy 3:1-5 — But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. As in the days of Noah, so many of our thoughts are corrupted with petty selfish motives and the selfish ambition that has been inculcated deep into us.20James 3:16 — For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
We all need salvation desperately. Salvation is not merely a legal matter settled in heaven by a “sinner’s prayer” to escape the sentence of judgment, but it is a complete and radical transformation of the heart, redirecting the motives of our life. We need a savior, a shepherd, a guide to lead us though the valley of death.21Psalm 23:4 — Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Like sheep, we need our flock — our tribe, our people, and our Shepherd. We need elders and prophets; we need wisdom and role models. Alone we will fall, but together we will stand. This truth is written deep in our soul.
If you hear this call,22Matthew 22:14 — For many are called, but few are chosen. you must no longer live for yourself.232 Corinthians 5:14-15 — For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that One has died for all, therefore all have died; and He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him who for their sake died and was raised. The end of all injustice will begin from those who respond to the call to deny themselves and live for others. That is the end of Satan’s reign.
We all have greed. Greed is wasting precious time and energy on yourself while the world is collapsing and God’s purpose is left in abeyance. There is no greater love than to lay down your life for your friends. Yahshua, our example, laid down His life for us, and the only appropriate response is to do the same for Him and for His cause — to see the Kingdom of God established here on earth as it is in heaven.24Matthew 6:33 — But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Anything less is to take His name in vain.
The authority of the gospel has been resurrected and is calling and cutting men out of their self-centered existence25Matthew 10:34 — Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. and into a life of daily service to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.26Acts 26:7 — …to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by the Jews, O king! Loving your own life perpetuates the fallen systems of the world and puts you at enmity with God.271 John 2:15-17 — Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world — the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions — is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
James 4:4 — You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. To live for yourself is to be apathetic and indifferent to the plight of your fellow man, as well as the burden of God. How can we pursue our own hobbies and careers and be unconcerned about the Kingdom of God?

The most amazing thing has begun28Jeremiah 30:24 – 31:1 – In the latter days you will understand this. At that time, says YHWH, I will be the God of all the tribes of Israel, and they shall be my people. Habakkuk 1:5 — Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told. — the rebirth of the ancient tribal culture of Israel.29Jeremiah 30:20 — Their children shall be as they were of old, and their community shall be established before Me, and I will punish all who oppress them. Jeremiah 31:4,33 — Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers… But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put My law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Just as the prophets of old have spoken, the God of heaven and earth will again regather His people into one fold30John 10:16 — And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. in these last days and separate them from the nations around them to make them a set-apart people once again. He has already started to gather this people back into the deep covenant love of the New Covenant. He is restoring a people who will bring about His will, true activists who will not love their own lives even unto death.31Luke 9:23 — And he said to all, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
Revelation 12:11 — And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Love is the highest state of awareness, which compels one to action.
It has been prophesied that in the last days God will gather His people into one flock, with one shepherd, for all the world to see a witness and foretaste of the coming kingdom,32Matthew 5:14 — You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
Matthew 24:14 — And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. the fruit that God himself has always wanted — a people in unity, in one accord, obeying His commandments.33John 14:15 — If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
John 17:21-23 — that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. The glory that You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one even as We are one, I in them and You in Me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them even as You loved Me. Their love will be a dividing line that will reveal to the world who His disciples are34John 13:34-35 — A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. and who they are not.35Revelation 18:2 — Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.
Malachi 3:18 – Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him.
Where brothers are dwelling together in unity is where the blessing of eternal life will be given.36Psalm 133 — Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard of Aaron, running down to the edge of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life everlasting. It is only among a people who are being cleansed, forgiven, and learning to daily forgive one another. It is the place of purification, just as gold is refined by fire. It is a place for the humble and the poor in spirit, the sick who need a physician. It is a home for the lonely, a dwelling place for widows and orphans.
But love has to be tested.37John 15:13,17 — Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends… These things I command you, so that you will love one another. A building must be founded on the the solid rock, the chief cornerstone, in order to grow into a spiritual house for God to dwell in by His Spirit.38Ephesians 2:22 — In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. That is the restoration of all things, which can come about only when there is a people who will put all of the enemies of God underfoot.39Hebrews 10:13 — …waiting from that time until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet. Israel has to be restored, not as a political nation, but as a covenant people who reflect God’s own heart.
Acts 2:44 is the only context in which the Law and the Prophets can be fulfilled. Apart from this foundation, all that is left is warped doctrinal gnosticism, and no fruit. Our Creator has always longed to see the fruit of His love, the crop of His planting,40Matthew 21:43 — Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. the outcome of His Word. He has always wanted a people who are together. All who believe can’t help but be together. God does not need and cannot use scattered, independent people, but only those who are together. Only they can cause love, justice, and mercy to triumph over evil. That is what began in Acts 2:44, and that is what is being restored on the earth in these last days. It is the only spark of hope for liberation from the oppressor. Please come see what has begun.
The gospel is good news to the humble, willing heart.41John 7:17 — If anyone’s will is to do God’s will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on My own authority.

On April 5, 2021   /   Uncategorized