Fight for Your Faith

Does your faith need strengthening? Are you confused and wondering if Jesus Christ is really "The Way, the Truth, and the Life?" "Fight for Your Faith" is a blog filled with interesting and thought provoking articles to help you find the answers you are seeking. Jesus said, "Seek and ye shall find." In Jeremiah we read, "Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall seek for Me with all your heart." These articles and videos will help you in your search for the Truth.

Thursday, February 29, 2024

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

YOUR SPIRITUAL GROWTH

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 Virginia Brandt Berg

1970-01-02

Greetings and welcome to Meditation Moments. God bless you, and may the program bring some blessing to your heart. I’m bringing you tonight from God’s Word this verse of scripture: God’s Word says, “We are ever learning but never coming to a knowledge thereof,” and I’m just wondering how much you have grown in the Christian life? (2 Timothy 3:7)

I’ve been asking the Lord to search me. Ask the Lord to search you. Say, “Lord, how much have I grown in my Christian life?”

To be years older and not be years nearer God is like walking in a circle; it’s motion without progress. So you search your heart and ask God how much progress you’ve made. I wonder if you remember the vision that God once gave you of the life that He wanted you to live.

I think every Christian has had that great longing to reach certain heights of Christian victory.—The vision you once had that God gave you: great expectations of victory, and great stirrings in your soul, and great determinations to live close to Him.

I wonder if you can say with Paul, “I’ve not been disobedient to the heavenly vision.” (Acts 26:19) Or have you become satisfied with a low level of Christian living, a mediocre life, sort of common and defeated? I have some friends that are just radiant and triumphant in their victorious Christian life.

I know some that are professing Christians that are frustrated, and they’re not conquerors. They’re like the old lady said, “I’m just a poor worm!” Well, I’d hate to call myself just a poor worm in the Christian life. God says that we’re more than conquerors! (Romans 8:37)

There’s no such thing as standing still in the Christian life. You’re either going backwards or you’re going forward. Can you be satisfied with anything less than victory? That’s God’s provision for you. God has provided victory. It’s all through His Word, all through the Word of God that you can be a victorious Christian. (Isaiah 25:8; 1 Corinthians 15:54–57; 1 John 5:4)

But if you’d make confession at this time, would you have to say, “I’m living a dwarfed, defeated, disappointed Christian life”? You know, there was a man that used to, when he was just a little bit of a fellow, he would go to his mother and say, “Mother, how big I am!” The mother would sometimes say to him, “How big are you today, son?” And he would say, “Oh, so big, mother, so big.” The years went by, many years, and he came home a defeated man, a defeated Christian, and his mother said, “How big are you, son?” He said, “Not so big, mother.”

I wonder if you’d have to say that spiritually if you went on a tour of inspection of your heart, if God would put His X-ray on your soul? All these wonderful expressions in God’s Word about the abundant life, I wonder if you are reaching on victoriously towards that. In the searching diagnosis would you find out that you’re really growing?

You know, you are really three persons: what you think you are, what others think you are, and what God knows you to be. There’s one that we know: there are no dwarfs in heaven. We have to grow, don’t we? Now God’s Word says in Revelation 11:1, “Rise and measure the people.” “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod, and the angel stood, saying, ‘Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and them that worship therein.’”

Our measuring rod is God’s Word, so let’s use it and see. In 2 Corinthians 10:12–14, “For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: for they measure themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise.”

So we don’t measure our growth by how others are growing; we measure only by the Word of God. And God’s Word in Psalms, a number of times God’s Word says, “Search me, O God.” You know that verse of Scripture, “Search me, O God, and try my thoughts, and see if there be any evil way in me” (Psalm 139:23–24).

I’m just thankful for anything that will break through and make me take a deep look at myself. We’re living in such a pressured age, no time for meditating or thinking, and we need to stop to take a look at ourselves and not gloss things over, not be deceived, not have a light view of sin. God’s Word says, “Let no man think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but let him think soberly.” (Romans 12:3)

You know how a baby grows? A baby grows by air and food and water and love, and that’s just about the way a Christian grows. Air is the prayer, and the food is God’s Word, and water is the thirst that’s in your soul and the everlasting love and power of God and His Words, and then love that’s in your heart.

You can tell if you’re growing, if you’re really growing in love. Are you more obedient than you used to be? Our time is so short and these things that we have to say to you, but let me just say this in closing, that you can’t make yourself grow in any way; it comes from just abiding in the Lord Jesus Christ.

It comes just from living in Him and living in His Word and the sweet personal union with Him. It isn’t by any straining or self-effort. It’s no self-dependence. It’s just putting yourself utterly in His hands. The center of Christianity is Jesus Himself—a living, loving personality. It’s fellowship with Him that will bring you the victory and bring about the growth that you want in your Christian life.

God bless you, and we pray that you’ll feed on the Word of God until you grow into the fullness of stature of Christ Jesus. He’s still on the throne and prayer changes things.

Monday, February 26, 2024

The Common Place

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1970-02-01


Virginia Brandt Berg

Greetings again, and welcome to Meditation Moments, and again our old-time greeting: the Lord bless you and make you a blessing!

Let’s have a breath of prayer for these that have written in for prayer. Our Father God, we come to Thee in the blessed name of the Lord Jesus Christ and we bring to Thee these that are in need. We know Thou dost hear us and Thou hast told us to ask and we shall receive, and we do believe Thy Word. (Matthew 7:7) You said to call upon Thee in the day of trouble and Thou wilt deliver. (Psalm 50:15) We do ask for deliverance for these that are in distress.

We ask also, Lord, that Thou give courage and grace to bear and faith to bring out into victory these that are suffering. We do pray for the victory through the name of the Lord Jesus Christ—that precious name that’s so powerful. For these others that have written about troublesome things, and to know Thy will, show them the way, and give them wisdom. And we ask Thee, Lord, that they may desire above all things that Thy will shall be done in their lives. We pray Thee, Lord, for wisdom on our part and our little team here, that we may do our best for Thee, that there might be such prayer backing this program that Thy presence will be felt. We want more than anything else that Jesus Christ shall be manifested to each one that listens in. So we do pray in His blessed, precious name, and Thy blessing upon each one. Amen.

We’ve been talking to you about the humble people, and now we’re going to say a few words about commonplace things and living in the grind of the commonplace. In 1 Corinthians 1:27–29, God’s Word says, “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world, and the things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and the things which are not, to bring to nought the things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.”

This text sort of hangs a halo of glory around commonplace things and it puts the idea of human greatness completely out of balance, and puts it on rather shaky foundations. This letter was written to the Greeks, and you’ll remember that they were not caring so much about the commonplace. The ever-present things of life had lost their charm for them. They were wanting something new all the time. (Acts 17:21)

Now, what is “the commonplace”? Well, it’s the valley where the millions meet; it’s where the multitudes travel, and what the multitudes do. It has nothing to differentiate and bring it to the limelight. But it’s the real work of the world; there is generally a desire on the part of many people to get out of the commonplace, to do something great, and they forget the cooking, washing, mending, sewing, and farming, nursing the sick, doing little kindnesses, and child-training. All of these things that come in the everyday round of the commonplace are great things in God’s sight, and God created them as well as He did the great things.

We get numbers of letters, especially from women, who are groaning about the commonplace, and dear ones who are nursing a loved one and they’re shut in to just four walls sometimes. But you know, there is an economic necessity for the love of the commonplace. There’s real character building in making the fires and washing dishes and doing cooking and raising your own garden, and a man doing carpentry. I love to see a woman who loves cooking and washing and mending, and I like to see a man who delights in his plows and his teams and his produce. For these things are divine. God made the farmer and He made the housewife.

God made the commonplace. I don’t know why it is that it seems like the very grind of it gets into people’s souls, and they begin to feel like they’re nobodies and that they don’t amount to anything in man or in God’s sight. Well, Dorcas was of more value than Bernice, the society daughter of Herod, and you’ll find many characters in God’s Word who lived amongst the commonplace.

God’s Word says, “Having food and raiment, let us therewith be content. We brought nothing into this world, and certainly we can carry nothing out of it” (1 Timothy 6:8, 7). Now that’s kind of a hard dose to swallow for anyone that’s craving for the high place in life and just likes to hit the high places and wants notoriety, and wants fame, and they detest the common round of things every day. But God’s Word is true, and to those that are grumbling about the monotony of life’s dead level—and that’s the great majority of us that have to traverse that, but for those who are complaining about that, let us remind you that God’s Word is just full of the commonplace and about the commonplace. For most of us, there is a trivial round every day. The morning bell calls us to do the same routine of the commonplace, and there seems no chance for doing anything really heroic or worth having lived for.

I wonder when we’ll ever learn the lesson that it’s doing some little duties of life faithfully, punctually, thoroughly, reverently, not for the praise of men, but for the “well done” of Jesus Christ, not for the payment to be received, but because God has given us a little place of work to do in His great world. Not because we must, but because we choose, not as slaves of circumstances, but doing it with the Lord in mind, doing it “as unto the Lord and not unto men,” doing it as Christ’s freed ones. (Colossians 3:23)

Then far down beneath the surge of common life, the foundations of a character are laid, more beautiful and enduring than coral, which shall presently rear itself before the eyes of man and angels, and will become an emerald island, green with perennial beauty and vocal with the songs of paradise. We ought therefore to be very careful how we complain about the common tasks of daily life. We’re making the character in which we have to spend eternity.

Let it be granted that you’re a person of ordinary ability; there’s only one chance in a thousand that you may be removed in some great sphere. Isn’t it a pity then to spend your life in useless regret and complaining and not being willing to do the humble task as unto the Lord, and do it with a sweet and cheerful spirit?

It’s a greater thing to do an unimportant thing with a great motive for God and for truth and for others, than to do a great, important thing and do it with such a complaining spirit. It’s greater to suffer patiently each day a thousand stings than to die once as a martyr at the stake. An obscure life really offers more opportunities for the nurture of a loftier type of character, the growth of Christian graces, more opportunities than any greatness, such as men call greatness. We sometimes will go down the story book of history and say, “Oh, if we could have been Grace Darling or Florence Nightingale, someone like that.” But God meant you to be for Him just where He put you, if you do as unto Him and not unto men.

God bless you to learn the lesson. He’s still on the throne, and prayer changes things.

Sunday, February 25, 2024

Friday, February 23, 2024

Thursday, February 22, 2024

Wednesday, February 21, 2024

Come Jesus Come - With Commentary

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Dennis Edwards: Of course, we groan with all of the creation for the return of Christ to set the world right and bring peace and plenty for all. But God is bound by His word. Jesus won't come today because the prophecies must first be completed. The world government and Antichrist will first arrive bringing persecution to God’s people as we have seen in the past in both Russia and China and in other communist countries. 


The "Great Tribulation," and their trumpets found in Revelation 8-10, will proceed the coming of Christ. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the rapture or gathering together of God’s children to Him in that supernatural event occur. 


While the saints enjoy the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in heavenly places, God’s wrath found in Revelation 16 in the seven vials shall be poured out on the unbelieving and Antichrist worshipping world. But even then many will not repent and evil men led by demonic spiritual forces will bring the world to the point of total annihilation. 


At the Battle of Armageddon is when Christ returns physically to the earth to stop the carnage and save mankind from total destruction. The Devil will be bound a thousand years and the Antichrist and his False Prophet will be cast into the Lake of Fire until they repent or face the second death. 


Christ will reign on earth for 1000 years. After which the Devil will be released for a short while and go forth and deceive the nations once again and bring them against the Holy City headquarters in or around Jerusalem. It's at that point that God destroys the surface of the earth with fire and recreates a new heaven and a new earth. 


Those who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior will live with God in His heavenly city. Those whose good deeds out weighed their bad deeds though they either believed not, or obeyed not, will get to live on the surface of the New Earth and continue in their process of spiritual growth until they too accept Christ and learn to love and obey Him. 


That's the happy ending, or happy beginning because we will have eternity ahead of us to continue to learn to love and live like God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Don’t wait until death to accept Christ when you will see Him in the spiritual realm. Accept Him today and start storing up rewards in Heaven by your acts of love and truth. Start living today. There is only one way. Jesus Christ is the way. He's the truth, and the life. Call upon Him today and He'll answer. He's just a prayer away. 



 

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Monday, February 19, 2024

What Are the Sacrifices of Righteousness That God Wants?

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Dennis Edwards

Psalm 4:1 Here me when I call, O God of my righteousness: Thou has enlarged me (or relieved of comforted me) when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.

Here we see David approaching God in prayer. David realizes that his righteousness comes from God and not from his own efforts and works. He approaches God with a humble spirit asking God to extend mercy or love and forgiveness to him.

Psalm 4:3 But I know the Lord has set apart him that is godly for Himself: the Lord will hear when I call unto Him.

David understands that the people of God, the followers of God are to be separated from the world of worldly men. Like Apostle Paul quotes in his epistle.

2 Corinthians 6:17-18 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.

God’s people were to be a separate nation, a nation dedicated to the worship and service of God.

Psalm 4:4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

David is reminding us of the greatness of God and that we should stand in reverence to Him, in the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. When we look up into the starry sky at night, it gives us the feeling of awe at God’s greatness, His power, and might. When we pray, we should remember God’s greatness and humble ourselves before Him in reverence and quiet petition. It is often upon our bed in prayer at the end of a long day where we reflect upon our lives, our past, our present, and our future.

Psalm 4:5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord.

What exactly are the “sacrifices of righteousness” that David mentions here that we are to offer? That’s our study today. Let’s read from Genesis where we find the first sacrifice.


Genesis 4:3-7a And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord, And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou does well, shall thou not be accepted?

Here we see Adam’s first two sons offering perhaps their first sacrifice to the Lord. Maybe until that time Adam had done the sacrificing for the family. Now the boys were old enough to make their own sacrifice to the Lord. The earliest record of a killing of an animal, however, goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden right after the fall.

Genesis 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

Could it have been that God himself performed a little sacrifice with Adam and Eve present before the making of their clothes? Could it be that God initiated the first example of sacrifice in the Garden when He told them about the Promised Seed that would come and redeem them? About 1,500 years later, we see Noah, after the flood, offering a sacrifice unto the Lord.

Genesis 8:20-21a And Noah built an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour.

The next great man of God, Abraham, is asked to sacrifice the promised seed, his son Isaac. At the last moment, the angel stays Abraham’s hand and Abraham finds a ram caught in the thicket to sacrifice in Isaac’s stead.

Some 430 years later, we see God’s people escaping Egypt on the Passover night as the angel of death passes over Egypt. Those who had followed Moses’ commandment from the Lord and had slain a lamb and painted its blood on their door posts, were saved.

Could it be that Adam had already performed sacrifices to the Lord in the presence of his sons, Cain and Abel before they made their sacrifices? Adam’s sacrifices would have been animal sacrifices in accordance to God’s commandment to Adam. Those sacrifices would have looked forward to the sacrifice of Jesus as the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world, the Redeemed or Promised Seed that would crush the head of the serpent? In the New Testament we read,

John 1:29 The next day John sees Jesus coming unto him, and says, Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.

1 Peter 1:18-21 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

Revelation 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him (the beast or Antichrist), whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Other passages in Revelation 5 show that Jesus is the Lamb that was slain who was worthy to open the book with the seals and He has redeemed us to God by his blood.

Revelation 5:9 & 12 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou was slain, and has redeemed us to God by thy blood… Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

In our study so far, we see the figure of lamb sacrifice all the way back to Cain and Abel and possibly to the Garden of Eden. We see the imagery of Abraham sacrificing his promised seed son Isaac and having him replaced with a ram or male sheep. We see the Passover lamb slain and its blood on the door post saving those within. In Isaiah 53 we see the words of the prophet depicting the Messiah’s death, and his submission to it, like a lamb to the slaughter.

Isaiah 53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.

Therefore, going back to Genesis, what was Cain’s sin? Why did God not accept Cain’s sacrifice? Could it be it was because it was not the sacrifice the Lord demanded. God wanted a sacrifice that looked forward to His own death on the cross years later. An animal blood sacrifice, a lamb in particular, which would be the perfect symbol of His own future sacrifice for mankind.

Cain leaned to his own understanding and sacrificed the work of his own hands. Cain offered his good works, when God wanted his heart, his obedience, his submission. Abel ‘s sacrifice was accepted because Abel obeyed God’s command. Abel showed his love for God by his obedience. Cain leaned to his own understanding and fell into disobedience and rebellion. King Saul would later try the same way of worship and the prophet would admonish him.


1 Samuel 15:22-23 Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou has rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected thee from being king.

We see the true sacrifice that God wants is our obedience to Him, to His word, and to the voice of His Word which we hear when we read God’s word, or when we listen to the still small voice of conscience in quiet meditation. Moses had written years before:

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: that thou may love the Lord thy God, and that thou may obey his voice, and that thou may cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou may dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

Therefore, the sacrifice that God demands of His children is their obedience. “Offering the sacrifices of righteousness” is nothing more than offering to God our submission, our obedience, our yieldedness, our dependence on Him. Here are some other verses along that line.

Jeremiah 7:21-24 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Put your burnt offerings unto your sacrifice and eat flesh. For I spoke not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt. Concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: but this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all my ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward. 


Micah 6:6-8 Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousand of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed thee, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.

Hosea 6:6 For I desired mercy and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

Isaiah 1:13-14, 16-17, 19-20 Bring no more vain oblations, incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment; relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword.

Matthew 5:23-24 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there remember that thy brother has aught against thee. Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

Proverbs 21:3 To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

Matthew 9:13 But go to and learn what that means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. 

John 14:15, 21 &23 If ye love me, keep my commandments. He that has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Ps 51: 16 & 17 For you desire not sacrifice, else would I give it: you delight not in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou will not despise.

We see God wants us to have humble hearts before Him. The sacrifice of God is a humble and contrite heart. Here are a few verses that confirm that.

Psalm 34:18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and save such as be of a contrite spirit.

Matthew 5:3-8 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

It seems that all these “blessed” would have contrite and humble hearts.

Isaiah 57:15 For thus says the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Isaiah 66:2b But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at my word.

James 4:6 & 10 But He gives more grace. Wherefore he says, God resists the proud, but gives grace unto the humble. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

Abel’s humble obedience showed his love and submission to God. His sacrifice was more excellent than Cain’s, because it was done in obedience and with a humble and contrite heart. God counted him righteousness because he trusted in God’s love and mercy, not his own goodness and works.

Romans 12: 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

John 4:23-24 But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Our lives should be living sacrifices showing forth the power, the love, and the light of God within us. We must worship God in the way we live our lives.

Hebrews 13:15 By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

Psalm 69:30-31 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that has horns and hoofs.

Psalm 107:22 And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare His works with rejoicing.

Praise is a pleasing sacrifice that God desires, always, therefore in everything we should give thanks!

Psalm 141:2 Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.

David is saying our prayers and worship of God are likened unto a righteous sacrifice.

Hebrews 13:16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

God is pleased with the sacrifices we make to communicate with one another. Communication between the brethren is often a sacrifice to do, but it’s one that God is well pleased.

In conclusion, the sacrifice of righteousness which we offer to God is our complete, humble, praiseful, submission and obedience to Him in all we do and say, and in our prayer and worship. Our lives should be a living sacrifice in that we seek to love and obey the Lord with all our heart, mind, body, and soul. Then we shall love our neighbour, or anyone who needs our help, as ourselves and that shall please the Lord more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices we could make.

Mark 12:30-34 And thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength; this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou has said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other than He: and to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. And Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, He said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.

What’s at Stake for Julian Assange—And the Rest of Us

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 On February 20 and 21, the High Court of Justice in London will conduct a hearing to decide whether WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can appeal the court’s earlier decision to extradite him to the U.S. to face 17 charges under the Espionage Act and one for computer crime, with a Methuselan prison sentence of 175 years. This, even though Julian is not an American citizen (he’s Australian), and he was not under U.S. jurisdiction when the “crimes” were allegedly committed. 

At the end of the two-day hearing the court could grant Julian permission to appeal, it could deny it, or it could postpone its decision to a later date. Or the two judges might have some other ruling up their puffy sleeves.

In the first instance, if permission to appeal is granted, whilst awaiting another hearing, Julian would most likely be returned to high-security Belmarsh Prison where he has been held for nearly five years under arbitrary detention in near-total solitary confinement, though he has been convicted of no crime. Belmarsh is known as Britain’s Guantanamo because of its torturous conditions as well as for its population of mostly alleged murderers and terrorists.   

Julian, an award-winning journalist and publisher, a life-long promoter of peace, a nine-time nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, is quite obviously not in that category, though there are those who think he is. Most notable among these is former CIA Director Mike Pompeo, who pronounced Julian “a darling of terrorist groups”, and defined WikiLeaks as a “nonstate, hostile intelligence service”.

The crime that Julian is essentially “guilty” of is revealing truths most uncomfortable to the ruling powers—practicing journalism as it should be practiced.

The second possible outcome of the upcoming hearing, denial of permission to appeal, could mean that within hours Julian would be shackled and placed on a U.S. military jet headed for Alexandria, Virginia. There his case will be heard by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, where many residents work in national security (CIA, FBI, Department of Defense) or have a family member who does. The jury pool comes from this group and, not surprisingly, no one brought before this court under the Espionage Act has ever been exonerated.

Not only would Julian be denied a fair trial there, according to experts such as Nils Melzer, former U.N. rapporteur on torture, but he would not be able to use the defense that what he did was in the public interest, though clearly it was. The outcome there for Julian has virtually been decided even though his final appeal in Britain has not yet been heard.

What happens to Julian after a near-certain conviction by the federal court is that he will forthwith be sent to Supermax ADX Florence Colorado—or a comparable hell hole—which was described by a former supervisor there as being worse than death.

Possible Stay of the Extradition


There is one intervention that could at the very least delay Julian’s rendition to the U.S. if his appeal is denied: Julian’s lawyers will petition the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to become involved as a last resort. Julian’s case certainly falls within the scope of Rule 39, under which the court takes on a case if “the applicant would otherwise face an imminent risk of irreparable damage”. This would be Julian’s case in the U.S. where he would be subject to inhuman and degrading treatment—torture.

But there are also a few complications: it is not certain that Britain would respect the court’s decision, and if extradition has already taken place, the U.S.  may very well not honor a decision made by a European court.

If (the big if) the plane bearing Julian has not yet left the tarmac in Britain, and the ECtHR has taken on the case in time, it’s probable Julian would be returned to Belmarsh to await the subsequent ruling. Bail has previously been denied, even for health concerns, because Julian is considered a high flight risk, and it’s doubtful bail would be granted at this point.

It’s possible that the judges will not hand down a decision on February 21, but postpone it. A delay would avoid a messy outcry from the increasing numbers of fervent supporters of Julian during an important election year for both the U.S. and Britain, when a virtual death sentence of a publisher would not look good for an incumbent or any candidate who condones the extradition yet touts “a democratic society”.

In any case, barring instant extradition, nothing short of a deus ex machina could prevent Julian from being returned to Belmarsh to await his appeal, intervention by the ECtHR, or a delayed decision on the right to appeal from the High Court.

Deus ex machina?


As improbable as it might seem, the suggestion of a deus ex machina did recently come onto the scene in the guise of former president Donald Trump. Donald Trump, Jr., one of his father’s chief advisors, recently said that based on what he knows now, he would be in favor of dropping the charges against Julian Assange.

Vivek Ramaswamy, former candidate in the Republican party primary, now a Trump supporter who throughout his campaign said he would pardon Julian on day 1, stated that in a recent meeting with Trump, when they discussed various issues, Trump said he would be amenable to pardoning Julian. Three other presidential candidates also want to see Julian freed: Jill Stein, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and Marianne Williamson.

For a Trump pardon of Julian to happen, many factors would have to come into play here. Trump has previously flipflopped with regard to Julian, and may well do so again. “I love WikiLeaks!” he declared with great fervor in 2016, lauding WikiLeaks for having published internal emails of the Democratic National Committee showing it undermined Bernie Sanders’ chances of becoming the Democratic presidential nominee and instead installed Hillary Clinton.

But then Trump indicted Julian under the spurious 107-year-old Espionage Act and declined to pardon him during his last days in office. And, under Trump’s presidency, the CIA plotted to kill Julian. Perhaps now Trump wants to be seen as doing the right thing for Julian—or just gain the hundreds of thousands of votes of those who want to see that happen.

The possibility of Trump being elected and then pardoning Julian is of course very far from certain. If indeed it did happen, it couldn’t be before January 2025. By that time, unless extradited, Julian will have suffered yet another year in Belmarsh prison, where he has been held since April 11, 2019, on remand, at the bidding of the U.S. 

Increasing Demands for Julian to be Freed


As Julian’s dire situation gathers more attention, voices from all around the world have risen up calling for his liberation. In a groundbreaking cross-party show of unity, members of Australia’s House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly (86 to 42) on February 14 for Julian not to be extradited but to be brought home. What was particularly significant here and welcomed by Julian’s supporters well beyond Australia is that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also voted in favor, after months of waffling.  

“Enough is enough”, he kept saying, yet not insisting that the U.S. pardon and release his country’s most famous citizen. This despite the fact that Julian’s return is what nearly 80 percent of Australians want. Perhaps Albanese’s previous inaction was motivated by a recently signed juicy agreement with the U.S. to buy nuclear submarines, bringing the country yet more into the orbit of the U.S. as a strategic satellite in a geopolitically important part of the world.

In view of Albanese’s reticence, a multi-partisan group of Australian parliamentarians has been consistently acting on behalf of those constituents who want Julian freed. Recently they uncovered a ruling by the U.K. Supreme Court that could be the cog in the drive to send Julian to the U.S. According to the law, if a government stipulates that a country to which a person is to be extradited from Britain has given assurances that that person’s health or life won’t be threatened in the receiving country, then those “assurances” must be thoroughly investigated by a third party before extradition can take place.

And so the parliamentarians have written to British Home Secretary James Cleverly calling for a probe into the risks to Julian’s health should he be extradited to the U.S.

In the U.S., House Resolution 934, introduced by Rep. Paul Gosar, a Republican from Arizona, calls for the U.S. to drop the charges against Julian Assange, stating that “regular journalistic activities, including the obtainment and publication of information, are protected under the First Amendment”. The Resolution has eight other co-sponsors from both parties and is currently before the House Judiciary Committee. While its passage there, then onto the floor of the Congress, then over to the Senate could be a lengthy route, its supporters hope that thousands of people will write to their representatives urging their support for this resolution, thereby bringing massive attention to Julian’s case and what it means.

Parliamentarians in France, where Julian also has a family, have called for Julian to be granted political asylum, though it’s questionable if this could be allowed if a demand for asylum has not been requested while the person is actually on French soil. Mexico and Bolivia have offered Julian asylum. Cities in dozens of countries have named Julian an Honorary Citizen.

The five major publications, The New York Times, The Guardian, Le Monde, El Pais, and Der Spiegel, which had “partnered” with WikiLeaks in publishing thousands of files, signed an open letter on November 22 of last year calling for an end to the prosecution of Julian Assange They’re rather late to the game, even with that wishy-washy letter, having profited from enormous sales when the WikiLeaks files were released, then not only ignoring Julian, but criticizing him, often using lies and slander.

Julian’s importance has been acknowledged by hundreds of thousands of parliamentarians, human rights authorities, medical doctors, religious leaders (including the Pope), artists, teachers, trade unionists, legal professionals, journalists, students, writers all over the world who publicly demand his immediate release.

Nevertheless, the Americans and Brits may very well prevail, keeping Julian locked up for more years as he wastes away under the grueling prison conditions awaiting a final decision. Or they could prevail in having Julian sent to a supermax prison via the U.S. district court.

2 by 3 Meters in Belmarsh

During the nearly five years Julian has been incarcerated in Belmarsh, he has been kept mostly in solitary confinement in a cell measuring 2 meters by 3 meters, for 23 hours a day, allowed to stretch his long legs in an enclosed concrete area for an hour. Food is budgeted at 2 British pounds ($2.50) a day per prisoner, with meals consisting of gruel, thin soup, and little else.

Image: Julian Assange in Belmarsh Prison in 2019 (Source: WSWS)


Julian has not seen sunlight since he entered the Ecuadorian embassy in London in 2012 seeking asylum there, apart from the day he was dragged from the embassy, or the days he was driven in a van from Belmarsh to those court hearings he was actually allowed to attend in person—albeit enclosed in a glass box (as is often the case in British courtrooms).

Not surprisingly his health has been consistently declining. Julian has lost a lot of weight and is paler than any human should be. In 2021, during or before a court hearing, (it’s unclear) he suffered a mini stroke at the age of just 49. He has subsequently been diagnosed with nerve damage and memory problems, and may very well suffer a much more serious stroke.

Death is never far away in Belmarsh—when Julian’s father John Shipton visited his son there, he reported that three suicides and one murder had occurred in the prison just during the past month alone. Nor was death far away in the embassy, where plain-clothes and uniformed officers menacingly patrolled and surveilled the embassy 24/7.

While Julian was considered paranoid for believing the U.S. wanted to kill him, an exhaustive investigation by Yahoo News in September of 2019 revealed that the U.S. and British intelligence services conspired to assassinate Julian by poisoning him while he was in the embassy or shooting him on the street or else kidnapping him from there.

Psychological Torture

Julian’s mental health has also suffered severely, as would be the case for anyone incarcerated for so long in such horrifying conditions, undergoing repeated legal proceedings to determine whether the equivalent of a death sentence—lifelong internment in a U.S. supermax prison— will be imposed.

In a supermax prison, and especially under “special administrative measures” that would most likely be applied to Julian, he would be completely isolated. At least in Belmarsh he can now have some visitors, though restricted, and, finally, some books and writing paper. In the U.S. prison he would be in a virtually empty cell, forbidden any contact with the outside world, or even fellow prisoners, and thus denied any support or motivation to keep on living.

The toll on Julian’s mental health has been so significant that when Nils Melzer visited Julian in Belmarsh in May of 2019 with two medical experts, he stated unequivocally that Julian showed all the signs of psychological torture. His excellent book, The Trial of Julian Assange, lays out the case in great detail.














Judge Vanessa Baraitser, the magistrate who officiated during Julian’s first hearing, recognized Julian’s psychological fragility, as described in evidence presented to the court. Although she ruled in favor of extradition based on the 18 points presented by the American lawyers (obtaining, receiving, and disclosing classified information), she ruled against extradition on the grounds that she was certain Julian would commit suicide if placed in a supermax prison.

It’s unlikely Baraitser was motivated by the milk of human kindness, as she refused bail, saying Julian would “abscond”, and, ironically, had him sent back to the same place where, testimony showed, he had seriously contemplated and possibly even attempted suicide. Moreover, subsequent hearings and a final ruling on the 18 points for which she supported extradition would mean Julian would never be released from any prison.

It is clear to many that the process—the relentless persecution and prosecution of Julian—is the punishment. Keeping him silenced, in a deathly dungeon, unable to do what has always been his passion—revealing truths so that we may all act upon them to make the world a better place—is clearly an eroding and fatal punishment.

A Threat to the Real Criminals


Why this ongoing punishment has been inflicted on Julian is to completely break him down, physically and psychologically, without even having to impose the very questionable ultimate blow of locking him up in a supermax prison for 175 years. The 10 million documents Julian published on WikiLeaks earned the wrath of those politicians, officials, plutocrats, dictators, rulers, generals, corporate executives whose murderous, illegal deeds he revealed, whether war crimes, crimes against humanity, corruption, mass surveillance. Ironically none of the perpetrators of those crimes has ever been convicted, while the publisher who revealed them remains in prison.

Revelations have helped end torture in Guantanamo, for example, overturn corrupt governments as in Egypt, end wars, for example in Iraq, aided by the very disturbing  Collateral Murder video showing U.S. soldiers in Baghdad joyfully shooting down civilians from an Apache helicopter. Julian has done more than anyone to uncover how governments, politicians, corporations, the military, and the press truly operate. It’s not surprising they want him silenced forever.

The possibility of Julian’s cranking up WikiLeaks to once again be the propaganda and lies-shattering, truth-telling online publication that it was makes him a huge threat to all those all around the world who are committing unseen—or even seen—and with impunity the same and even more nefarious crimes Julian earlier revealed.

During Julian’s incarceration and WikiLeaks slowdown, alternative journalists and bloggers have done heroic jobs of reporting what must be brought to light—in Gaza, Ukraine, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, for example. But few, if any, has the capability to receive securely and completely anonymously major revelations from whistleblowers and then publish them for free for anyone anywhere in the world, as WikiLeaks did so successfully using a revolutionary method Julian invented and pioneered.

The two-day hearing beginning on February 20 will be the fourth time Julian’s case has been in court. The first time, under Judge Baraitser in the Magistrate’s court that denied extradition but upheld the Americans’ 18 points, was followed by a hearing before two judges of the High Court, ruling on the U.S. demand to appeal the extradition decision based on additional assurances. While highly unusual, if not illegal, to present new assurances at that point, the High Court nevertheless agreed to hear the appeal.

In December 2021 it  overturned the denial of extradition, accepting the specious assurance by the U.S. that Julian would be treated well in a U.S. prison, unless, their worthless caveat stated, he did something to warrant changing that. Not only could such “assurances” be revoked, but they are unenforceable.

Assange’s lawyers then filed an application for a cross appeal to the High Court of the first court’s judgement as well as the Home Secretary’s decision to extradite. That application was denied by a single High Court judge.

Craig Murray (craigmurray.org), Kevin Gosztola (Guilty of Journalism: The Political Case against Julian Assange), and the excellent Consortium News have done thorough reporting on all these hearings, while the brilliant investigative reporter Stefania Maurizi has followed Julian and WikiLeaks from the beginning, uncovering, as in a detective novel, the government forces arrayed against Julian and their treacherous tactics (Secret Power: WikiLeaks and Its Enemies).

The right to an appeal will now be heard this February 20 and 21 by two High Court judges, Mr. Justice Johnson and Dame Victoria Sharp, who were recently announced. Sharp and her family have long and strong connections to Conservative party leaders, and Sharp’s recent ruling against a journalist, Carole Cadwalladr, in a libel case, was denounced by press freedom advocates for supporting the repression of public interest journalism. Previous judges ruling on Julian’s case have had equally questionable connections. 

A Case Rife with Illegalities

The illegalities in this case are numerous, as the bona fides of some of the judges suggest, and further underscore the fact that all along this case has not been about justice but politics. Among the many transgressions of justice and the rule of law figure initially the conditions under which Julian was kept in the Ecuadorian embassy, from which he could never step outside, even for a moment, even for urgent medical care, without risk of being whisked away and imprisoned.

He and his visitors, including his doctors and lawyers, had all their interactions with him filmed and ultimately sent to the CIA. Their electronic devices were confiscated during their visits, photographed, and that information was also sent to the CIA, thereby violating the rights of legal and medical confidentiality—to say nothing of the Fourth Amendment right to privacy—and potentially severely compromising Julian’s legal case.

Two lawyers and two journalists have filed a lawsuit against the CIA and Mike Pompeo plus UC Global, a Spanish security company that carried out the spying in the embassy, for these violations, and a federal judge in New York has agreed to let the suit go through, though any final decision will not be immediate.

An embassy’s premises are meant to be inviolable safe places for those seeking asylum there, yet British police, with the agreement of the Ecuadorian embassy under its newly elected government, dragged Julian—who is also an Ecuadorian citizen—from the embassy and locked him away in Belmarsh. They kept all his belongings, including his computers and legal notes. In Belmarsh he has been kept under conditions that violate any sense of human rights.

Image: Julian Assange was secretly recorded while living at the Ecuadorean embassy in London. (Source: EPV)

The original “crime” for which Julian was brought to prison was breaching bail when he went to the Ecuadorian embassy, rightfully fearing extradition from Sweden to the U.S. following subsequently dismissed—and fabricated—allegations of sexual assault in Sweden. Breach of bail in Britain carries a maximum penalty of a year’s incarceration, though in most cases it results in a fine or dismissal.  


Yet Julian has been kept in Belmarsh well beyond that limit, never convicted of any crime, in clear violation of habeas corpus. Much of the irrefutable evidence presented by Julian’s lawyers—he did heavily redact documents before releasing them on WikiLeaks, not a single person was harmed because of the releases, Julian did not help Chelsea Manning leak classified documents—was indeed fallaciously refuted by the judges.

The Espionage Act, under which a journalist or publisher has heretofore never been prosecuted, was designed, as its name suggests, to prosecute those Americans working to undermine the U.S. war efforts by delivering national defence information to the enemy—espionage coming from espion, or spy, in French. Not only is Julian not an American citizen, and he was in Europe when he was publishing WikiLeaks, but the “enemy” to whom he was meant to have supplied classified information—information in the public interest—must ipso facto be any member of the general public anywhere in the world!

The U.S. First Amendment protects the publication of documents, even those that are classified. Moreover per extradition agreements between Britain and the U.S., a person convicted for political reasons—and the case against Julian is purely political—or who could face a death penalty in the receiving country, may not be extradited from Britain.

One of the most egregious transgressions of justice during Julian’s first hearing was the fact that the principal evidence against him was supplied by a diagnosed sociopath, Sigurdur Thordarson, who had been convicted of fraud, embezzlement, and crimes against minors, and who later recanted his testimony, saying he had been bribed by the U.S. to say what he did.

Though Julian’s defence in any impartial courtroom based on the rule of law would undeniably be upheld, he remains condemned, locked up, perhaps forever, with the uncertainty of his future a gnawing torture.

Groundswell of Support


Thousands of people from all over the world plan to gather outside the Royal Courts of Justice where the hearing will be held on February 20 and 21 to support Julian, to demand that justice be done. As this is not a trial but a hearing to determine if an appeal against extradition can take place, it is unclear whether Julian will be present, though he has requested that he be allowed to be in court so he can confer with his lawyers. Though for most of his time in Belmarsh Julian was deprived of a computer—although he was once allowed one that had the keys glued—he has nevertheless played a major role in helping his lawyers prepare his legal case.

Stella Assange, Julian’s wife, mother of their two children, and one of his lawyers, has been travelling all over the world trying to convince world leaders, journalists, individuals why it’s in all of our interests that Julian be freed, that justice be upheld, that freedom of expression is sacrosanct, as is our right to know, and that governments must be held accountable.

There has been a groundswell of support for Julian as the court date approaches. Day X, as  this date has been referred to in calls to action, has rallied even those who haven’t been active in Julian’s defense to protest in support of what may be Julian’s last attempt to be freed. From Boston to Buenos Aires, Sydney to Naples, Mexico to Hamburg, San Francisco to Montevideo, Denver to Paris, and well beyond, major demonstrations have been planned all across the world on February 20 and 21.

What’s at Stake


What’s at stake for Julian is horrendous. What’s at stake for the rest of us is terrifying. If Julian is extradited and convicted under the draconian Espionage Act, the message will be that anyone anywhere in the world who says or writes anything that the U.S. considers against their interests can also be locked away forever.

While the U.S. seems to feel that extraterritorial jurisdiction is its right alone, other countries may decide to follow suit, picking off journalists or activists who don’t toe the government line. If a journalist and publisher is locked away forever for revealing truths, a clear message is broadcast, and even more journalists and publishers will self-censor, so the same fate isn’t rained down on them. And that ends a free and open press, that kills our right to know.

Today it is open season on journalists in many parts of the world, most egregiously in Palestine where some 120 journalists—and often their families as well—have been targeted and assassinated by the IDF of Israel. Increasing numbers of so-called news organizations unquestioningly publish government press releases essentially as news reports, to maintain access to those governments. Bloggers who write on Twitter or Facebook or other social media sites are frequently censored.

To understand what’s going on in the very complex world of today, we desperately need Julian Assange, with his analytical, erudite, prophetic mind, to reveal, assimilate, and interpret this precarious world so we might understand and act.

Some Good News


The good news is that Julian has behind him his devoted family, travelling the world, speaking out for him. The excellent film “Ithaka” shows this in detail and very movingly. Julian also has behind him a dogged legal team of hundreds of lawyers and researchers looking for every possible way to secure his freedom.

And he has behind him the hundreds of dedicated supporters who hold weekly vigils whether in Piccadilly Circus or outside Belmarsh prison or in a square in Brussels or Berlin, or who join marches and rallies all over the world.

The other good news is that Julian is indefatigable. While incarcerated in the Ecuadorian embassy, under very difficult circumstances, during the last year often without Internet or telephone connections, Julian helped to publish 5 million documents, produced 3 books, launched more than 30 publications, and gave 100 talks. And he is extraordinarily resilient—few, if any of us, would be able to go through what Julian has, and to keep on going.

John Pilger, the brilliant journalist and filmmaker who recently passed away, said of his dear friend, whom he visited on several occasions in Belmarsh, “Julian is the embodiment of courage.” As Pilger was leaving the prison visitors room, he looked back at Julian. “He held his fist high and clenched, as he always does.”

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Karen Sharpe is the author of Julian Assange in His Own Words, translated into French (Julian Assange parle), and into Spanish (Julian Assange habla).

Featured image: Campaigners pressing for the release of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange take part in a demonstration during a Night Carnival in Parliament Square in London, February 11, 2023

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