Note: An audio file from Saturday’s Long Island meeting has been posted. Message to the Saints - 2009 can be downloaded and played by going to the following page: http://www.heart4god.ws/Audio/march-28-2009.html
The Cup of Christ
A sister in Christ recently sent me this quotation from Thomas A Kempis. The Spirit bears witness to the truth of what is spoken.
"Jesus hath now many lovers of His heavenly kingdom, but few bearers of His cross. He hath many desirous of consolation, but few of tribulation. He findeth many companions of His table, but few of His abstinence. All desire to rejoice with Him, few are willing to endure anything for Him, or with Him. Many follow Jesus unto the breaking of bread, but few to the drinking of the cup of His passion. Many reverence His miracles, few follow the ignominy of His cross." --Thomas A Kempis
I want to share a related thought that arose as I was contemplating the season of the year we are now in. The church has exchanged the Biblical Passover for the pagan Easter, and I saw a parable in what has occurred. For those not familiar with the origins of Easter, I will cite a portion of the presentation titled Removing the High Places which is available on the Heart4God website.
[Begin Excerpt]
It is a simple matter to demonstrate Satan’s deceit in leading the saints to mix the holy and profane together. One need look no further than the name of the celebration which is called Easter. The name Easter never appears in Scripture, other than one occasion in the King James Version of the Bible. This is as follows:
Acts 12:4
And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him; intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.
KJV
The KJV translators did a disservice to the church by rendering this passage in this manner, for the word being translated is “pascha,” the Greek form of the word “Passover.” This grievous error was corrected in later Bible translations, including the New KJV.
Acts 12:4
So when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after Passover.
NKJV
These two observances are far from being equal. Passover was initiated at the leading of Yahweh and its observance communicated to Moses. Easter is a veneration of a fertility goddess that was initiated by Satan and delivered to sinful men.
The very word Easter, that the church has written on the calendar of her annual observances is the name of a goddess of fertility. According to the wikipedia website, the English name of the goddess was arrived at as follows:
The English name, "Easter," and the German, "Ostern," derive from the name of a putative Anglo-Saxon Goddess of the Dawn (thus, of spring, as the dawn of the year) — called Ēaster, Ēastre, and Ēostre in various dialects of Old English and Ostara in German.
The worship of the fertility goddess who is remembered at Easter goes much further back, however. The mystery religions had their foundations in Babylon...
Sacred Egg of Heliopolis
Mystic Egg of Astarte (Ishtar Egg)
The goddess Ashtoreth, for whom Solomon built a high place, is also called Ishtar, from which we get our word Easter. The church also has a high place erected to her. Every year the church celebrates a holy day that bears the name of the pagan goddess of fertility whose original was Semiramis, and who is known by a profusion of names throughout the various cultures of the world. Heliopolis is a city of Egypt where Semiramis was known by the name Isis. As mentioned, Semiramis was a moon goddess, and therefore we see an image of the moon atop her sacred egg.
The mystery religions teach that Semiramis was herself immaculately conceived and was lowered from the heavens to the earth in a giant egg. This egg came to rest in the waters of the Euphrates river. Eggs are also symbols of fertility, and as Semiramis was also a fertility goddess the symbol of the egg became thoroughly associated with her worship. Those who knew Semiramis under the name of Ishtar spoke of Ishtar’s egg, from which we get our current Easter egg.
Egg Roll on White House Lawn, Easter 2006
The above picture was taken in April 2006 during the annual White House Easter celebration. An egg roll has been held on the South Lawn since 1878...
In the presentation “Freemasonry, the Spirit of Babylon” it was demonstrated that America serves as the seat of Babylon at this time, even occupying the country of Iraq in which the ancient city of Babylon was located. It should give Christians something to consider when they realize that the United States government has banned all Christian symbols from government spaces, even to the recent order to remove the ten commandments from all courthouses, yet this same government has no complaint about the annual observance of an Easter Egg roll on the White House lawn. Why is this? It is because Easter Eggs have no association with Christianity. They are clearly pagan in their origin and can be traced directly back to Babylon.
Hot Cross Buns
Another tradition of Easter that is clearly pagan is that of hot cross buns. These buns were initially made in memory of Tammuz, the son of Semiramis, who suffered an early death from being injured by the tusk of a boar. There were forty days of weeping for Tammuz leading up to the Ishtar celebration, which now finds its correspondence in the Catholic Church’s forty days of Lent, which is a time of mourning.
The women involved with the mystery religions would bake buns for Tammuz (originally called bouns). These were either marked with the sign of a horn, or possibly a tusk, or with the letter T for Tammuz. The sign of the cross, where a Catholic uses his fingers and marks the sign of the cross on their chest can also be traced back to the worship of Tammuz.
Jeremiah 7:18
"The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods in order to spite Me.”
Even if done in ignorance, is it not an offense to God to carry on traditions that are steeped in idolatrous worship and profane practices? We read in Ezekiel that the women of Israel were weeping for Tammuz. The Israelites also offered oblations to the Queen of Heaven (Semiramis) and her son Tammuz, as is seen in the above verse from Jeremiah, and elsewhere.
Jeremiah 44:16-19
"As for the message that you have spoken to us in the name of Yahweh, we are not going to listen to you! But rather we will certainly carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouths, by burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, just as we ourselves, our forefathers, our kings and our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had plenty of food and were well off and saw no misfortune. But since we stopped burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have met our end by the sword and by famine. And," said the women,"when we were burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and were pouring out drink offerings to her, was it without our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out drink offerings to her?"
The pagan traditions of the mystery religions have even been passed down to our children as they sing the little song that speaks of hot cross buns.
Hot cross buns
Hot cross buns
One a penny
Two a penny
Hot cross buns
If you have no daughters
Give them to your sons
One a penny
Two a penny
Hot cross buns
What does this mean “if you have no daughters, give them to your sons?” Remember, this was the celebration of the goddess of fertility and her son. By offering oblations of liquid and foods to Semiramis and Tammuz the people were asking for the gift of fertility. This fertility was petitioned from the goddess by offering drinks and cakes in order that their crops, livestock, and their own families might be blessed with abundance. Many a tradition that seems innocent today has found its origin in practices that are detestable to Yahweh.
[End Excerpt]
I do not want to belabor the point, for the presentation is available for all to view on the Internet if they should desire.
Link: http://www.heart4god.ws/id585.htm
What I want to point out is that Easter is a fertility celebration that was attended with much fornication and partying. This is still observable today. Lent originated as forty days of mourning for Tammuz when he was slain. The first day of Lent is Ash Wednesday where Catholics have ashes placed on their foreheads as a symbol of mourning. The tradition dates back to the Babylonian mystery religions of Nimrod’s day.
Prior to the forty days of mourning was a season of celebration which is now called Carnival. Carnival literally means “flesh raising. Ash Wednesday begins Lent, and it is preceded by Fat Tuesday, the last day of Carnival. Fat Tuesday is also called by the Spanish name Mardi Gras. The most famous Mardi Gras celebration in the United States is held in New Orleans, and there are also very significant ones held in other Catholic strongholds such as Rio de Janeiro.
Catholics, as well as many Protestants have adopted many of these formerly pagan practices and celebrations. Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Easter, and a variety of associated observances are all derived from Pagan holidays, and it is an abominable thing to mix the holy and the profane as the church has done. There is no connection between Easter (Ishtar), a pagan fertility goddess, and Yahshua, the Son of God.
II Corinthians 6:14-16
Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols?
The pagan rituals associated with Ishtar are attractive to the flesh, and it is this appeal that has led to the adoption and continuation of these rituals. Mardi Gras is noted for its flesh raising environment. New Orleans on this day is filled with sexual promiscuity and uncleanness. The debauched pornographic series Girls Gone Wild originated in New Orleans during this festival as women would be enticed to expose themselves, or perform sexual favors, for necklaces of beads.
Such things are unpleasant to have to write about, but there is a point to mentioning it. Fleshly people are attracted to an idea of increase that comes out of pleasure. Easter with its symbols of fertility, such as eggs, bunnies and flowers, follows after the carnality of Carnival.
Increase in the kingdom of God follows after suffering.
John 12:24-25
Most assuredly, I say to you, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”
In the kingdom of God, death precedes life. The cross must be borne in order for a spiritual creature to arise.
In the kingdoms of this world, pleasure and passion precede the emergence of life. There is no cross, and therefore a people who love the flesh prefer the practices originated by Satan.
Christ came to destroy the works of the devil, yet the church has adopted the practices that Satan authored as a counterfeit to God’s plan. The spiritual man or woman sees the wisdom of God’s plan, but to the natural man the cross is foolishness and an offense.
I Corinthians 1:23
We preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness...
It was at Passover that Christ presented to His disciples the image of the bread and the wine, explaining to them what they symbolized.
Mark 14:22
And while they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it; and gave it to them, and said, "Take it; this is My body.”
The called out, the ekklesia, also called the church, are the body of Christ. The body must be broken. Is it any wonder the church prefers to adopt the symbols of Ishtar rather than the symbols of Christ’s Passover? In subtle ways the enemy has divided the people of God from the message of the suffering body of Christ. It is unlikely that those who are hunting colored eggs on the lawn of their church, or giving baskets of candy and flowers, will be brought to consider that they are Christ’s body, and as His body they must be broken in order for spiritual life to come forth.
Thomas A Kempis also authored the following thoughts.
Without the Way, there is no going,
Without the Truth, there is no knowing,
Without the Life, there is no living.
Christ showed His disciples The Way.
Matthew 16:24-26
Then Yahshua said to His disciples, “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.”
I encourage you at this season of the year to put aside the celebration of Easter with all of its pagan associations. Christ is our Passover, and as the body of Christ, let us commemorate the fact that His body was broken to demonstrate to us that we too must have our flesh broken for a spiritual being to arise.
May you be blessed with peace and understanding in these days.
Heart4God Website: http://www.heart4god.ws
Parables Blog: http://www.parablesblog.blogspot.com
Mailing Address:
Joseph Herrin
P.O. Box 804
Montezuma, GA 31063
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