“The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and

astonishment of heart.”

– Deuteronomy 28:28

SPECIAL MESSAGE

B Y P E R R Y S T O N E

hose who have studied the Torah (the first five books in the Bible penned by Moses) are aware that God gave Israel a choice between darkness and light, disobedience or obedience, and faith or unbelief. The word

choose is written 57 times in the Old Testament. Numerous passages refer to God choosing a place for His people (Deut. 12: 5, 11, 14; 14:23, 24, 25), while other verses emphasize God instructing His people to make a specific choice (Deut. 30:19). If Israel chose to align with God’s instructions, God’s favor would be released on their land, homes, and flocks. If Israel rejected God’s commandments, refusing to walk in His statutes and instructions, the Lord would withhold His abundant blessings and permit a series of “curses” (unfavorable circumstances) that would not only effect their lives but their descendents lives as well. As it is written, “the iniquity of the fathers” could be passed down to the third and the fourth generation family members of those who “hated the Lord” (see Exod. 20:5; 34:7).

In Leviticus 26, the Torah lists a series of “curses” that unfold within the nation if Israel refused to repent of their sins and turned towards God. They include:

• A rise of terrorism (26:16)

• The heavens will withhold rain and drought will occur (26:19)

• There will be war within your nation (26:25)

• Israel’s enemies will raise up against them and take their harvest (26:16)

• A famine of bread and bread rationing would result (26:26)

• The high places would fall, bringing cities and towns into desolation (26:30-31)

• The cattle would be consumed and their highways empty (26:22)

Rational non-Christian thinkers, when viewing God’s Levitical warnings, see God as some cruel tyrant manipulating men as some puppet-master for His own pleasure. These over-thinkers cannot comprehend what they call “the negative or angry side of God,” as they reason “If God is all caring and all loving, then how could He punish His people in such a cruel manner just because they are not perfect and occasionally mess up?” A simple illustration about parenting may answer this question.

When growing up, my father did what is now forbidden — he used a belt to correct us. Today, social services would not only investigate the “spanking,” but if a mark appears on a child’s flesh they have liberty to remove the child from the home. I recall being “spanked” so many times growing up that I lost count and went to school (gym class) with a few embarrassing whelps on my legs and, to the surprise of some, turned out quite okay, as is obvious. I do believe there are other ways to punish a stubborn child, such as placing a ban on their electronic gadgets, which could cause them a near “heart attack.” One kid said, “I would rather have a spanking than lose my iPhone!” Disobedient children are “punished” in various forms and at different levels, not because they are hated, but to break their rebellion or iron-clad will.

A giant paper bust of Donald Trump is burned during a protest in Los Angeles, California.

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Discipline is designed to teach them lessons in humility and obedience.

Obedience brings blessing and disobedience brings disaster. Criminal activity can bring a prison sentence and murder a life sentence of incarceration. Prison time is not just punishment, but for many it is a time to rethink their actions and transform their thinking to become a better citizen when they are released. Thousands of men and women come to a true experience with Christ while in prison, eventually returning to society transformed. Their punishment was not fatal, neither final, but reformed their thinking.

God’s punishment is not abuse, but discipline. He chastens those whom He loves (Heb. 12:6). Israel was chosen to carry the bloodline of the Messiah, which required a traceable lineage through the tribe of Judah and the house of David. God required strict rules for His people to follow, including marrying only a Hebrew, which ensured the Messianic blood line was not mixed with pagan Gentiles. Despite laws, Israel failed consistently, turning from God and experiencing punishment for their sins. The punishment often led to repentance and repentance to restoration. Thus, the danger of “curses” was not intended to destroy the people, but to motivate them to alter their sinful actions. Just as when the prodigal son hit bottom, eating in a pig pen, his surroundings jarred his memory as he recalled the fine food from his father’s kitchen, drawing him from his “pig pen” sins into his father’s arms. Rewards should motivate a person toward obedience, and punishment should change the mind to do what is right instead of what is wrong.

THE CURSE OF MADNESSDuring the past several months, small mobs of Americans have demonstrated irrational and hypocritical behavior,

to the point they no longer speak in a normal tone or weigh evidence, but their entire conversation is emotionally charged, screaming and yelling profanities, acting as wild as a mad, rabid animal, often releasing forms of violence to “get their point across,” especially when the cameras are taping their demonstrations. For example, our family attended the inauguration in Washington, D.C. While walking toward the Reagan Towers, we passed a security checkpoint whose entrance was being disrupted by 150 protesters, mostly youth that honestly reminded me of clowns serving as human advertisements for a three-ring circus, blowing whistles, screaming and shaking profane posters in the air. Thirty minutes later, at this same spot, these socially challenged youth began slinging rocks into business windows and set a limo on fire. The irrationality of these actions is, what is the point of destroying someone else’s possessions

other than making the destroyer feel relief by taking out their anger and stress on another person. This is a perfect example of the curse of madness. In fact, the Hebrew word for “madness” (KJV) is shigga‘own, and can mean, “craziness” or “the curse of craziness.”

Let’s compare an emotionally stable conservative Christian with a liberal extremist when debating an issue. When a knowledgeable conservative Christian discusses or argues a social-moral issue, they do so in a calm voice, mixing their opinion with common-sense reasoning and laying out facts for the foundation of their discourse. However, notice in the town hall meetings, or during a protest, the radical liberals are turning red- faced, yelling, and pointing their fingers, screaming at the top of their lungs to the point of hyperventilation, as though they are attempting to gain the attention of a room full of deaf people who are oblivious to loud noises. Their screaming is emotionally charged and often leave common-sense citizens saying, “What was that all about?” Under the control of the spirit of madness, a person will pinpoint selective information, refusing to hear an opposing opinion and some are willing to violently defend their stance, while ignoring any facts that would disprove their arguments. Their tweetable line would be, “Forget the facts and follow your feelings.”

People under the spell of a mad spirit become energized when verbally intimidating others or successfully forcing opposing views into a closet of silence. In the past few years, there has been a battle against America’s religious traditions — Christianity in general. The “sword” (cutting words) from the mouths of opposition include calling Christians “bigots, racists, homophobes, and Islamophobics”, in an attempt to reduce Christianity into the dust of irrelevance. However, Christianity and

An estimated half-million people packed the streets of Washington this past January for a rally against President Trump.

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a clear Gospel message has always, in every generation, impacted the culture when chosen vessels became voices of Biblical reasoning to an often dull-hearing generation. Through the centuries, conviction-injected preaching has closed down houses of prostitution, dives, and nightclubs, by releasing people from the vices holding them captive. In England’s early revivals, so many coal miners were converted and stopped cursing, that in the mines the donkeys were not obeying orders as they no longer heard curse words mixed with instructions. During the ministry of Billy Sunday, the flamboyant evangelist blasted the dangers of liquor and strong drink until listeners guilty of sipping the “devil’s brew,” were suddenly seized in their conscience, giving up what was called, “the devil’s fire water” for the water of baptism. Spreading like wildfire, many bar room doors were

padlocked and their buildings sold, as bar owners exchanged their brew for a Bible. From the late 1940’s and early 1950’s, during the years of the great coal-field revival in McDowell County, West Virginia, over 300 men — mostly miners — were converted. Wives lived with a new husband, children a new father and neighbors a new friend, when the men received a new heart.

REPROBATES — 2017How do we explain such violent confrontations over ideologies? The 2017 political-social uprisings among the left are reminiscent of the 1960’s and 1970’s anti-war hippie movement (the Woodstock Era), where flag burning was the new rage, cursing troops was expected, and protesting the “establishment” was more popular than earning a college degree. During those years, media attention nourished the

hysteria, serving as the magnet, drawing in more protesters. Disagreements always occur in democracies. However, continual rejection of facts and truth leads to rebellion and rebellion is a path leading away from God.

When reading Romans, Paul addressed the culture of his day, reminding his readers that men could arrive at a point where unrepentant sins and a perverted sin nature overtook their rational reasoning and they could be “turned over to a reprobate mind” (Rom. 1:28). The Greek word reprobate is adokimos, meaning morally worthless. A reprobate has no moral standards and lives by their fleshly appetites, without any remorse or restraint. Paul said a reprobate “did not like to retain God in their knowledge” (Rom. 1:28). Paul also wrote that reprobates “resist the truth …have depraved minds and reject the faith” (2 Tim. 3:8). In a third

JANUARY 21, 2017, LOS ANGELES, CA. 750,000 participate in Women’s March, the day after Donald Trump’s Presidential inauguration.

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reference written to Timothy, Paul also said that some claim to know God, but in their works (lifestyle) they deny God and are abominable, disobedient and in every good work reprobate (Titus 1:16). A spiritual reprobate could also be individuals who claim they are believers, yet accept abortion as a birth control option, approve of deviant lifestyles contrary to Scripture, and reject the moral truths revealed in Scripture. Being a believer is not what you say, it is what you do. A disciple is not a person with “Christian” stamped on their forehead, but a person with Christ living in their heart!

MADNESS IS A HEART ISSUE The explanation as to what makes some individuals morally and spiritually crazy, or reprobate, is the hardness of their hearts through the rejection of both Biblical and practical truth. At Pro-Choice rallies on television, I

have watched women scream into a microphone or into a camera about how they control their body; yet, the same woman says nothing about the baby — just her body. Paul said “they serve the creature more than the Creator” (Rom. 1:25). To a reprobate mind, a Biblical covenant (one man and one woman) is irrelevant and too restrictive to follow.

All issues proceed from the heart (Matt. 15:19). When Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, he refused — 10 times — to follow God’s demand to release Israel from his control. Even after the death of his son and all of Egypt’s firstborn sons and animals, this stiff-necked king of Egypt chased after the Israelites, thinking he could stop God’s will, and his life story ended in a watery grave at the Red Sea.

Paul, in Romans, wrote, “God gave them up to uncleanness through the lust of their hearts” and “to vile affections”, and “He turned them over

to a reprobate mind” (Rom. 1:24, 26). Sadly, when God gives a person over, a door is opened to seven more spirits to take possession of that person, making their latter condition much worse than their previous one (Matt. 12:43-45). At this point it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to present truth that will be received and change the heart of a hard-hearted, cold-spirited individual who is possessed by the mad spirit.

IS THERE HOPE FOR THE HARD CORE CASES?In 1973, the legal case of Roe versus Wade went to the U.S. Supreme Court. The case centered around a 21-year old, Norma Lee McCorvey, using the pseudonym “Jane Roe.” The 1973 Supreme Court case that would legalize abortion set a ruling that states laws banning an abortion were illegal. The court ruled in her favor, however, after winning the case. McCorvey had already carried her child full-term, giving her

A limousine destroyed by rioters burns in downtown Washington following the inauguration of President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C.

VOICE OF EVANGELISM | MARCH–APRIL 201712

daughter up for adoption. She later worked at a Dallas abortion clinic, but miraculously, later in life, she returned to her early Christian faith, regretting her court case and encouraging pregnant women to give birth to their child.

At times, pro-life protesters would stand near the clinic where she worked and encourage women not to abort their child. Eventually, these people began talking to Norma, sharing from the Bible, why they were against abortion and were “Pro-Life.” They shared the love of God and His Word. The result — she became a Christian, returned to her childhood Catholic faith, much to the dismay of the abortion industry. She became a voice for the unborn, working with ‘Operation Rescue’, an organization that seeks to save infants from abortion. She passed away of heart complications in February 2017.

The New Testament emphasizes that love is the greatest force known to man (1 Cor. 13:13). God loved a sinful world so much, that while we were yet sinners, He gave His son to die for us (Rom. 5:8). It is difficult, if almost impossible, for a person, no matter what condition their heart is in, to resist being loved or experiencing affection from a caring person. It is our job to love, God’s job to save and the sinner’s responsibility to hear and receive God’s grace. Only love and grace can erase the curse of madness and settle the minds and hearts of a generation in turmoil.

“The explanation as to what makes some individuals morally and spiritually crazy, or reprobate, is the hardness of their hearts through the rejection of both Biblical and practical truth.”

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