Though it may be an unusual connection for you, the title immediately reminded me of the pirates that roamed the Caribbean, Atlantic, and other oceans of the world. Since I am from the Caribbean, I studied some about the pirates in centuries gone by.
Arrrrr!
No, this is not a history about pirates, though a small sample is included to reveal an eye-opening truth.
What is known as the Golden Age of...
Though it may be an unusual connection for you, the title immediately reminded me of the pirates that roamed the Caribbean, Atlantic, and other oceans of the world. Since I am from the Caribbean, I studied some about the pirates in centuries gone by.
Arrrrr!
No, this is not a history about pirates, though a small sample is included to reveal an eye-opening truth.
What is known as the Golden Age of Piracy from the 1650s to the 1730s were the days of famous pirates like Edward “Blackbeard” Teach, Stede Bonnet, Samuel Bellamy, Calico Jack Rackham, Bartholomew Roberts, Edward England, and others. There were also some feared women pirates such as Mary Reade and Anne Bonny. [1]
One woman pirate that lived just before the Golden Age deserves special mention. The Irish Gráinne Ni Mháille, anglicized as Grace O’Malley, was the legendary “Queen of Pirates.” She was resourceful, fearless, and a vengeful warrior! She was classically trained (spoke Latin fluently) and was of outstanding intelligence. Her maritime and leadership skills were second to none. Hundreds of men followed her into battle and respected her command. Yet, she was obviously, very womanly or feminine. She got pregnant by her husband and gave birth to one of her sons in the middle of a battle! She wrapped the newborn in a cloth and went topside on her ship with the baby in her arms to rally her crew for battle. Grace was one tough cookie! O’Malley’s crew of pirates won that battle though the odds were against them!
Some pirates of the Golden Age like Samuel Bellamy were known for their generosity. He gained the nickname “Prince of Pirates” and thought of himself as a seafaring Robin Hood. His crew called themselves Robin Hood’s men.
Other pirates were known for their extreme cruelty, such as was the case with Edward “Ned” Low. Ned Low violently tortured prisoners he captured on the boats he raided, plundered, and burned. After repeatedly brutalizing his prisoners in his twisted sense of enjoyment, he would murder them mercilessly.
Pirates were often vile and heathenistic, but contrary to all ideas of pirates and their activities, many pirate ships had a code of “ethics” written into a contract that crew were required to sign before coming onboard. It varied some from ship to ship, but the main points had to do with division of spoils and not stealing from your shipmates.
In one contract it was stated that if a pirate forced a woman to have sex without her consent (rape), the perpetrator would be put to death or be marooned on a deserted island. On another vessel there was a death penalty for bringing a female passenger on board.
The skull and cross bones flag came to be called the Jolly Roger during that “Golden” period. It was a flag designed to strike fear in all those that saw it. The black flag announced that the vessel bearing the flag were pirates and that they intended to raid a targeted ship. Sometimes there were variations of the figures of the black flag, and at other times it was just a plain black flag without any symbols. The flag announced to the ship to be raided that if they surrendered immediately, they would not be killed and would be given quarter. The black flag meant “surrender your vessel or die!” It was meant to strike fear in all who saw the flag and get them to surrender their vessel immediately without any bloodshed. If a ship decided to fight the pirates, the black flag would be lowered and a red flag would be raised indicating that no one on the targeted ship would escape death! [2]
On June 21, 1720, the pirate captain Bartholomew Roberts sailed into Trepassey harbor in Newfoundland. His black flag was flying brazenly as he entered the port. There were fighting vessels in the large bay that day, having about forty cannons of various sizes between them. If they had combined their forces, they could easily have defeated Roberts’ ship. Whatever you may think of the pirate Roberts, he had some guts and spine. As the Greeks would say it, and I don’t know why I chose Greek instead of Spanish here, Bartholomew Roberts had “thrásos” (θράσος)! By definition and his action, he had audacity, effrontery, nerve, and even recklessness! What he did was extremely ballsy, but it worked.
When the crews of the armed boats saw the black flag, they freaked out, all the blood drained out of their faces, and they surrendered immediately! The pirate Roberts took control of all 172 fishing and merchant ships at anchor in the bay without a fight because the crews feared the black flag! He then burned 22 of the vessels and commandeered a brigantine [3] from Bristol before departing.
Now it is time to state an inconvenient and unsettling truth, but it is the naked truth. It was the reason for writing about piracy.
A black flag was raised in February/March of 2020 for Covid-19 by government authorities. Churches all over the planet surrendered like those vessels in Trepassey Bay without a fight because they feared the specter of a plague (really a flu bug), though it is 99.9% survivable for most people on the planet. Why not do what has been done for centuries with great success? Let the sick stay home until they recover, but the rest of the world can go about it's business!!
People were so afraid of the specter of death presented by evil government actors, wicked politicians, totalitarian social media, and the perverted mainstream media that they readily obeyed human governments and disobeyed God’s Word. Churches surrendered without a fight on a global scale! From the smallest to the most prominent churches and ministries, they all fell for the black flag event. There were only rare exceptions.
Many Churches and ministers became cowardly kowtowing to the world and their “piracy” demands even though it was only “one ship” against a huge armada! Had we joined forces, we could have easily defeated our enemy! That armada, the church of the living God, supposedly armed with the armor of God and the authority of the Name of Jesus, caved like a bunch of sissies with no strength, no power, and no spine! They just opened wide their legs and they were castrated!
Welcome to a castrated future UNLESS there is heart felt repentance! God can do a miracle give men back your "manhood" ONLY IF they repent!
MANY churches violated Hebrews 10:25. The majority of churches in the Western world caved in disobedience to God's Word without so much as a whimper of protest!
Not forsaking or neglecting to assemble together [as believers], as is the habit of some people, but admonishing (warning, urging, and encouraging) one another, and all the more faithfully as you see the day approaching. (AMP)
Many things led to a worldwide disobedience (rebellion) against the Word of God in the churches. It was the beginning of a great revolt and rebellion, the great falling away, the apostasy of the church against God. (1 Timothy 4:1-5, Matthew 24:12-14)
Here is the truth about what churches did beginning in March/April of 2020.
Churches stopped having altar calls, ministering via the laying on of hands (Mark 16:18), anointing with oil (James 5:14-16), evangelism (Mark 16:15), having communion or the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:25-30), and numerous other things taught in the Scripture that churches are supposed to do. Not only did they stop doing those Scriptural things, but they shut down for months.
The churches quit following this order from the apostle Paul about reading the Scripture in public gatherings, and about preaching and teaching:
Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. (1 Timothy 4:13 NIV)
You do understand that the word “public” means a public gathering, an in-person, face-to-face gathering? A “gathering” via Zoom or some other electronic means does not qualify. The internet is not a substitute for face-to-face ministry.
A huge number of churches were not obeying Scripture anyway because they had a form of godliness but denied the power of God. (2 Timothy 3:5) They didn’t cast out demons, heal the sick, or minister to people to receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit with the manifestation of speaking in other tongues. (Mark 16:17, 18; Acts 19:1-6) They were not preaching the Scripture (2Timothy 3:16-4:2), but only mouthed off little mousey sermonettes that confirmed their deadness. With the so-called pandemic, it became painfully and abundantly clear who were the living churches, and who were the dying or dead churches.
Many churches were filled with dead men’s bones before the plan-demic. Yep, it was planned by Satan and his henchmen to be a pandemic, but the hand of God turned it into a “nothing burger” with another purpose!
The surrendering of the church to local and state authorities confirmed the true dying state of most churches around the world. The churches looked so prosperous with their beautiful buildings and properties, so blessed, and so hugely successful in many parts of the world. So many were on national TV and were all over social media. Yes, so whitewashed, and beautiful on the outside. They seemed to be reaching the masses via social media outlets and on Television platforms, but truly, they confirmed they were dying or dead!
You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. (Revelation 3:1 NIV)
Most churches were like the church at Sardis. They had a reputation of being alive and successful, but they were DEAD!
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders (hypocrites)! For you are like tombs that have been whitewashed, which look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything impure. (Matthew 23:27 AMP)
That is where the title of this message came from. Churches were beautiful on the outside when they caved to government mandates and restrictions shutting down Church operations for many months, BUT they were whitewashed sepulchers full of dead men’s bones! The plan-demic meant for evil by the governments of the world to gain tyrannical control over their citizens, God has repurposed it to clearly show the fact that most churches are not ready for the coming of the Lord! Most Churches are dying or dead!
The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” (Ezekiel 37:1-3 NKJV)
Churches were like this valley of dry bones. Can these bones ever be alive? Can they come back to life? The wages of sin is death. Disobedience to the Word of God brought sin and death. God’s gift is eternal life in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:23) The only way to make the dead alive is through repentance and putting faith and trust in the Blood or sacrifice of Jesus that cleanses us of all sin and unrighteousness. There is NO other way for any believer! There is no other way for ministers, pastors, and for churches!
But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word is not in us. (1 John 1:7-10 NKJV)
Many have never confessed their sin of bowing to the world and rebelling against the Word of God. Many surrendered like cowards and will perish UNLESS they repent.
The Word of God is speaking to us. Jesus is the Word! (John 1:1-3, 14) The Word of God says the following:
But unless you repent, you too will all perish! (Luke 13:3, 5 NIV)
In Revelation chapters 2 and 3, Jesus commanded 5 of the 7 churches to repent for what they were doing, what they did, or whatever evil they allowed at their churches. Remember that it was Jesus, the Head of the Church universal, THE Word of God, that said all these things and commanded the churches to repent of their wrongdoing, their disobedience to the Scripture!
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. Revelation 2:4, 5
Study what this church at Ephesus did at first in Acts 19:1-20. There, you will find the first love from which they had fallen away. People converted to the Lord Jesus, were baptized in water and in the Holy Spirit, and spoke with other tongues. They had mighty healing services and saw demons cast out. Books (handwritten scrolls) on witchcraft were burned! They had a powerful example in the apostle Paul! They preached and taught the Scripture, and the Word grew mightily among them. They were to continue to do everything Paul showed them by example. (See also Acts 20:17-35). In Acts 19 were recorded the mighty things they had forsaken and from which they had fallen away. Jesus wanted them to repent and get busy doing what at first, they loved doing for God!
Obviously, the church at Ephesus had fallen away from being a witness with supernatural manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was calling them back through repentance. If they did not repent, then He was going to remove the lampstand. Any light and anointing that was left, whatever they had received that was producing results, was going to be removed!
The church didn’t repent, and their lampstand was removed. Ephesus was destroyed in 262 A.D. by the Goths, and the city lay in ruins for at least 130 years. The church at Ephesus that started in the anointing of the Holy Spirit was finished because they never did repent.
The church at Pergamum were told to repent for idolatry and sexually immoral behavior or the Lord was going to fight against them with the sword of His mouth! (Revelation 2:16)
Pergamon was almost destroyed by an earthquake in 262 A.D. and shortly after that it was sacked by the Goths. It never recovered, and today, like Ephesus, it lies in ruins.
Hmmm…
Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols. I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds. (Revelation 2:20-23 NIV)
Time is given for repentance, but if they are unwilling to repent, then the unrepentant will be cast into a bed of suffering. Their ONLY escape is repentance. Again, remember that this is the Lord Jesus speaking to a disobedient and rebellious segment of His church. If they don’t repent, He will repay each evildoer according to their deeds, and not their good intentions!
I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God. Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you. (Revelation 3:1-3 NIV)
The segment of the church at the town of Sardis had the reputation of being a living church, but they were dead even though everybody thought they were successful. They had a good reputation in the world, but they were DEAD! They were not ready to meet the Lord. They were commanded to repent and wake up! Did they do it? Maybe some did, but Sardis lies in ruins today.
Again, hmmm…
Finally, the church at Laodicea, the lukewarm church, was commanded to repent in Revelation 3:19. Evidently the church never repented of being lukewarm and eventually disappeared from history. The city was destroyed in the 14th century and the church along with it, but the church was a useless religious relic in the city long before the destruction of that city. Laodicea is a "nice" archaeological park today. Only the ruins remain.
Wow, and “hmmm” again!
Could we be seeing the writing on the wall unless churches come to repentance for their disobedience to God's Word? Are you seeing where churches are spiritually around the globe, and why they need to repent? It is an ominous warning from the Head of the Church, I know, but let the truth sink in.
You say, “Oh, but many churches have opened back up. Isn’t that good enough?” They opened back up, but did they repent of their rebellion, unbelief, and disobedience to the Scripture? Did they open back up acting like nothing happened? Will everything be OK for them? Is it ever OK for the unbeliever, rebellious, and the disobedient in the Bible?
The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts. (Revelation 9:20, 21 NIV)
“Has the Lord as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obedience to the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed [is better] than the fat of rams. “For rebellion is as [serious as] the sin of divination (fortune-telling), and disobedience is as [serious as] false religion and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you as king.” (1 Samuel 15:22, 23 AMP)
He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. (Revelation 21:7, 8 NKJV)
We already can see how cowardly the churches were in all that Covid mess. What about unbelieving? We can see how most churches rebelled against the Scripture. Unbelief or unbelieving is rebellion just like faith is obedience to the Word! The following portion of Scripture proves that beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Take care, brothers and sisters, that there not be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving heart [which refuses to trust and rely on the Lord, a heart] that turns away from the living God. But continually encourage one another every day, as long as it is called “Today” [and there is an opportunity], so that none of you will be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin [its cleverness, delusive glamour, and sophistication]. For we [believers] have become partakers of Christ [sharing in all that the Messiah has for us], if only we hold firm our newborn confidence [which originally led us to Him] until the end, while it is said, “Today [while there is still opportunity] if you hear His voice, Do not harden your heart, as when they provoked Me [in the rebellion in the desert at Meribah].” For who were they who heard and yet provoked Him [with rebellious acts]? Was it not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose dead bodies were scattered in the desert? And to whom did He swear [an oath] that they would not enter His rest, but to those who disobeyed [those who would not listen to His word]? So we see that they were not able to enter [into His rest—the promised land] because of unbelief and an unwillingness to trust in God. (Hebrews 3:12-19 Amplified Bible)
Any takeaways? Yes, there are several. A Christian can yield to having an unbelieving heart. An unbelieving heart is wicked, and it turns away from the living God. That is an apostasy or falling away from the faith. Don’t harden your heart by settling into rebellion because of the deceitfulness of sin. Sin is a deception. You are a partaker of Christ only IF you hold fast to your confidence or faith firmly to the end. That means that the partaker of Christ obeys God’s Word willingly! It also means that you are a partaker of Jesus only IF you stand firm till the end. That means that Christians can lose their participation in Christ through sin and rebellion. (See 2 Corinthians; Hebrews 5:9, 3:6; Colossians 1:22, 23; Matthew 24:12, 13.) God is provoked and gets angry at rebellious acts when they are persisted upon. Does God get angry at sin? Not according to some erroneous theology that claims that God no longer is angry at sin.
God is a just judge; He is angry throughout the day. If a person does not repent, God will wield his sword. He has prepared to shoot his bow. He has prepared deadly weapons to use against him; He gets ready to shoot flaming arrows. (Psalms 7:11-13 NET)
You get it all the time, “Yes, but that was in the Old Testament. In the New Testament we only have mercy and love for sinners.” Sorry, but mercy and love are ONLY for those sinners that repent. The humble get the grace! The proud get resisted! Just in case you still don't understand that, read the book of Revelation and get a better picture of God’s wrath or anger at unrighteousness. He hates it!
Read Paul’s own teaching on the subject. The following verse destroys the pantywaist and sissified teaching that “it is all love in the New Testament”.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness. (Romans 1:18 NET- See also Ephesians 5:6 and Colossians 3:6.)
Check this one out.
Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. (Revelation 19:15 NKJV)
Yes, He still gets angry at sin. He is not the heavenly Teddy Bear of hugs and kisses that many make Him out to be. He is God. He is above all, the Sovereign One! He is Father, not sugar daddy, but the Ruler and Creator! He is THE King! And yes, God gets ticked when people refuse to repent! Yes, He is merciful and will give His people time to repent. How much time is in the Lord's hands, but His patience with sin is not eternal.
I stated it above, but here is the Scripture reference.
God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble! (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5)
The proud get nothing! Grace comes ONLY to the humble.
Mark it down.
Those that do not humble themselves and repent now, will fall again through the deceitfulness of sin, and shut their doors the next time the government decides to close them down. It will happen again. Bad and evil governments will attempt to shut everything down again and again.
Not only that, watch ministers and churches that have not repented publicly of their rebellion to the Word of God. Watch how they flounder and flip-flop. They profoundly compromised their integrity to the Lord. They went so far into disobedience that they obeyed men rather than God, and they will do it again UNLESS they repent.
Most churches are in full-blown preparation to take the mark of the Beast!
He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. (Revelation 13:16-18 NKJV)
Do you understand that right now QR codes and vaccine passports are required to buy, sell, or trade in Europe? Do you understand that this is already starting to spread to the U.S.? Have you heard of the Excelsior pass in the state of New York that limits where the unvaccinated you can congregate, exercise, or eat?
Churches that capitulated and submitted to closing their doors and followed the unscriptural, ungodly Covid mess have passed with flying colors the antichrist test for future branding! They are ready to receive the antichrist’s deception and mark UNLESS they repent and do it quickly so they are not in the category where “God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie”! Many have already fallen for a strong delusion and believe a lie! Read it in 2 Thessalonians 2:11. It refers to the coming antichrist or the beast with his lying signs and wonders used to deceive the world. (See the context in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12.)
Don’t leave it for tomorrow! Wake up and repent!
NOTES:
[1] A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the most notorious Pyrates by Captain Charles Johnson. It is a primary source of information on the golden age of pirates. It is easy to find online and download. It is full of interesting stories, biographies, exploits, and facts about the life and death of those famous pirates.
[2] I got interested in pirate history while living on St. Thomas some 23 years ago. I owned a retail store that carried a few “pirate” related souvenirs. Tourists wanted to take back home a Jolly Roger (skull and cross bones) flag, bandana, key chain, mug, or something like it.
[3] The brigantine was a very maneuverable and fast sailing vessel that was perfectly suited for the needs of piracy.
