Beware of placing Our Lord as a Teacher first. If Jesus Christ is a Teacher only, then all He can do is to tantalize me by erecting a standard I can not attain. What is the use of presenting me with an ideal I cannot possibly come near? I am happier without knowing it. What is the good of telling me to be what I never can be – to be pure in heart, to do more than my duty, to be perfectly devoted to God? I must know Jesus Christ as Saviour before His teaching has any meaning for me other than that of an ideal which leads to despair. But when I am born again of the Spirit of God, I know that Jesus Christ did not come to teach only: He came to make me what He teaches I should be. The Redemption means that Jesus Christ can put into any man the disposition that ruled His own life, and all the standards God gives are based on that disposition.

The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount produces despair in the natural man – the very thing Jesus means it to do. As long as we have a self-righteous, conceited notion that we can carry out Our Lord’s teaching, God will allow us to go on until we break our ignorance over some obstacle, then we are willing to come to Him as paupers and receive from Him. “Blessed are the paupers in spirit,” that is the first principle in the Kingdom of God. The bedrock in Jesus Christ’s kingdom is poverty, not possession; not decisions for Jesus Christ, but a sense of absolute futility – I cannot begin to do it. Then Jesus says – Blessed are you. That is the entrance, and it does take us a long while to believe we are poor! The knowledge of our own poverty brings us to the moral frontier where Jesus Christ works.

SAM: This is simply a wonderful piece written by the great Oswald Chambers. As a Preterist, it even takes on more meaning: coming into the Kingdom as paupers. He must increase as I decrease. It’s not about me.

I was listening to Todd Rundgren’s song, “Stood Up” off his “Liars” album (sorry, I still use the word, “album” – just showing my age):

When I found we could have some brains
I was the first in line, cause we were, like
Dragging our knuckles along the ground
(dragging our knuckles along the ground)
Ever since, I’ve been convinced that every
Sacred thought is mine, and you were still
Dragging your knuckles along the ground
(dragging your knuckles along the ground)

Cause I think I’m there, dude (don’t get ahead of yourself)
I think I’m there, dude
(Already high)

And when they asked us who will lead
I thought it surely must be me
But I stood up too fast
(I stood up too fast)
Because as soon as I was boss
The next one in line took my head clean off
Cause I stood up too fast
(I stood up too fast)

I was barely in my teens when I decided I was tired
Of always like dragging my knuckles along the ground
(dragging my knuckles along the ground)
So with all due haste I based until I got so freakin wired
Forgot I was dragging my knuckles along the ground
(dragging my knuckles along the ground)

I thought I was there, dude (you’ll got ahead of yourself)
I thought I was there, dude
Already high

And when they asked for volunteers
I must have thought they said ‘drink beers’
And I stood up too fast
(I stood up too fast)

I can imagine things that can’t possibly exist
And then I add them to an ever-expanding list
And when I’ve solved every significant test there is
Then I’ll move on no matter how many clues I’ve missed

It’s so easy to be smart but it’s a struggle to be wise
You shouldn’t be always throwing your weight around
(always throwing your weight around)
It’s much better to be humble than to have a big hat size
Or you’ll be just begging somebody to take you down
(begging somebody to take you down)

And you’ll be nowhere, man (you got ahead of yourself)
And you’ll be nowhere, man
Already high

And right before your very eyes
I have ignored my own advice
Cause I stood up too fast
(I stood up too fast)
And nobody has the slightest choice
But to put up with my droning voice
When I stood up too fast
(I stood up too fast)

Oswald and Todd make a great pair.

Samuel Frost

With a B.Th., Sam completed a M.A. in Christian Studies; M.A. in Religion, and Th.M. from Whitefield Theological Seminary, Lakeland, Florida (with combined credits in Hebrew exegesis from Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, Florida - and in Greek exegesis from Church of God School of Theology, Cleveland, Tennessee). Author of Full Preterist works, Misplaced Hope, Exegetical Essays on the Resurrection of the Dead and House Divided with Mike Sullivan, Dave Green and Ed Hassertt. Also edited A Student's Hebrew Primer for Whitefield Theological Seminary. Samuel M. Frost co-founded Reign of Christ Ministries, and has lectured extensively for over 8 years at Full Preterist conferences, including the Evangelical Theological Society conference, of which he is currently a member. Samuel is ordained, and has functioned as Teaching Pastor at Christ Covenant Church in St. Petersburg, Florida (2002-2005). He helped host the popular debates between Don Preston and Thomas Ice (with Mark Hitchcock) and Don Preston and James B. Jordan. Samuel is widely regarded by many of his peers as being one of the foremost experts on prophecy, apocalypticism, and Preterist theology. He was highly influential in the Full Preterist movement, having been published by Don Preston (Exegetical Essays), footnoted in several Full Preterist works, and authored one Forward, Reading the Bible Through New Covenant Eyes, by Alan Bondar. He has come to denounce his Full Preterist views in 2010 and affirms the historic Christian Faith and orthodoxy. Samuel Frost owns and operates his own business and resides in Florida with his wife Ann Marie, and his children, Janet, Jacob, Hunter, and Olivia.

Website - Twitter - Facebook - More Posts