It's the ultimate subversion. The ultimate subversion, is the cross.
That's the ultimate act of sabotage against the ways of the enemy.
It says in First Corinthians, it says this, 1:18, for the message of the Cross is foolishness
to those who are perishing. But to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. I will, I will subvert
the world's wisdom. I will nullify the understanding of the prudent.
Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of the age? Has not God made
foolish the wisdom of this world? For since of the wisdom of the world,
the world did, through wisdom
did not come to know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached,
to save those who believe.
Then it says, for you see, your calling, brethren, not many of you were smart, wise, wise according to
the flesh, not saying according to the flesh. Not many of you were powerful.
Not many of you were noble. But you're called by God. For God has chosen the foolish things
of this world to put to shame the things which are mighty. And the base
things of the world, the low things of the world, He has taken to confound the world.
He's chosen the weak to put to shame the mighty. The base things and the despised.
God has chosen the things which are not, to nullify that which is.
The message of the Gospel is the most subversive message in the history
of this world. Think about it. Think about it. What is more ..., what is more
subversive than the, than Messiah on the cross?
A faith that begins with a man crucified? What is more upside down than that?
What is more subversive than a faith
that's based on the death of the Almighty? God on a cross!
That's, that's the most upside down possible reality. But on the Cross God,
it said, nullifies the world. The world was, not only was He crucified,
the world was crucified. He overturns everything. Messiah on the cross. The most subversive
act that ever transpired on planet earth. It's the greatest act of sabotage
of the world system and the enemy system that has ever been on this planet.
It is the sabotage ... What is the cross? It's the sabotaging of self.
It's the sabotaging of sin, of evil. It's the sabotaging of the fall of man.
It's the sabotaging of hate, the curse, sorrow, condemnation. It's the sabotaging
of death! He .. to the cross, He overturns gloom. He turns everything upside down.
He overturns defeat and he makes, defeats ... He makes everything upside down.
He takes defeat he overturns it and makes defeat victory. He takes death, overturns it,
makes death life. He overturns sorrow. Makes it become joy.
And then that Sunday morning. The act of sabotage, of death and hell itself. Messiah rises from a tomb.
Even, only God can sabotage death. Only God can sabotage a tomb. I mean a tomb
is supposed to be functioning. It works, a sabotage is when you, you, you throw
a wrench into the works. Well God threw a wrench into the works of death.
He actually causes a tomb to malfunction. All it had to do was keep the person in.
In a world that's dominated by the enemy and his works.
God is the saboteur. God is the subversive one of the enemy's kingdom.
What was the effect of the Gospel, when it first came?
In the Book of Acts. The Book of Acts, you have God comes down, God's power comes down
on the disciples and what happens? It starts turning everything upside down.
It starts subverting everything so much so that's why the leaders were so against it,
because they knew they were in power. If you turn everything upside down,
they get out of power. So they were ... that's why there was persecution.
Because it's like, it's as if the world knew it was being turned upside down.
They start thinking thoughts they would not think before. The disciples they start doing
actions they would not do before. They start living a life they would not live before.
Subversive. They're stepping out of their scripts. They're not following the old.
They're doing unlikely things. You know Peter, who would have been
afraid of people, he doesn't care anymore. People would have been afraid of death,
all of a sudden they're not acting the same way. It's subversive! Then Peter
himself, and God ups it. Peter himself sees a vision of all these unclean, all pork,
and ham and and lobsters and, and squid and all these things he sees all these
things coming down. And God says, eat. That's subversive! Because it's
the Kosher law and and so much so that even Peter argues with God and says, no Lord,
I've never in my life done this. What are you doing? You're, you're, you're turning your own
law upside down. What are you doing? But God is changing ... God is doing a new thing.
And it wasn't about food.It was about people. It was about the Gentiles.
God's subverting everything. God's turning everything upside down.
And all the, all the limits that people put up, and all the prejudices, He is turning it over.
He is sabotaging ... That's an .... do you remember when Paul
was in Jerusalem? And do you remember what they said about him, his enemies?
They said this. ... they said, is this the man who is turning the world upside down?
Wow! One man, one man! He's not rich. He's not, he's not powerful in the world.
He's got nothing much in the world. Yet they say he's turning the world upside down.
Who's got that power? Only God does. But those who follow God are called to be part of it.
In the Roman world when the Gospel went to other lands,
there was always a commotion. There was always things happening because it was
subverting the ... subverting the paganism, subverting the
the evil, the Rome, all those things. So they got persecuted. Because you know, we say,
well, why did they persecute them like they did? Because it's a spiritual thing.
The, the enemy knows when his system's being challenged. In Rome, you know,
the idea, until you know, the idea that believers, the idea that marriage was, was
totally holy. Til, til death do us part. Pure. ... that the body was sacred.
That life was sacred. You couldn't just leave your children out in the cold.
You couldn't just abort them. ... holy. That was subversive to the Roman Empire,
to the pagan world. You couldn't worship ...
That was, that was sabotaging their way. That's why. Why would they bother?
Because they knew it, spiritually. And so that's what happened. The, the Gospel
actually totally overturned the whole thing. Overturned the whole pagan system.
Because that's what it does. It's subvert ..., it's sabotage of the enemy.
And that's what's happened throughout history. Not just in Rome. But when you follow
the Gospel throughout the world to all the different lands and ... Same thing
happens. In some way. I means either it's fought and oppressed and persecuted
and maybe doesn't... but the act of the, the force is the same. To find out how you
can receive more of Jonathan's teachings, to receive special free gifts,
or get in touch, go to Hopeoftheworld.org, or call toll-free 1 (800) YESHUA-1.
That's Hopeoftheworld.org, or call 1 (800) YESHUA-1.
That's 1 (800) 937-4821. You can also get more at Jonathan Cahn's
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Box 1111, Lodi, New Jersey 07644-USA. Hope of the World is dedicated to
the goal of spreading God's Word and salvation to every land and people.
We do this by spreading the Word throughout the world and sponsoring compassion
projects to the most poor and needy around the earth. To get in touch or have
a part in God's work, just write to, Hope of the World, Box 1111, Lodi, New Jersey 07644-USA.
Or go to Hopeoftheworld.org, or call 1 (800) YESHUA-1.
That's 1 (800) 937-4821.