I'm offended.  I'm offended.  You hear this expression all the time--from the social and religious vandals who want to wreck Christian civilization. madlyn o'hare was only one of them. her cry was, every child in every schoolroom in the country must be forbidden to pray. They must be forbidden even a moment of silence. They can't even be allowed to look like they might be praying.

Jesus Christ offends these people!   An activist judge defies the Constitution and the entire history of the United States, and declares the words "under God" are offensive! They must be banned from the pledge to the flag.  In the middle 80's, the Supreme Court of the United States forced upon America the very same regulation that had long been enforced in the officially godless Soviet Union.    They banned the classroom display of the Ten Commandments.

There is at this present moment a movement in England to remove Jesus Christ from the Christian calendar.  For several years this movement has been sneaking into history books.  How do you remove Christ from the Christian calendar?  You can't start counting from the number one again, can you?  But the offended ones in the high corners of academia have found a way around that.  Just remove the designation for what the year stands for.  For years I've seen history books in the library that no longer use the terms, BC, and AD. BC stands for Before Christ. AD stands for anno domini, year of our Lord.  But now the years before Christ are called  BCE. Before Common Era.  The years of our Lord since then, are no longer referred to as the years of our Lord.  They are referred to as CE.  for Common Era.

There is nothing common about the past 2000 years, as we have watched the war between good and evil, between Almighty God and the hordes of Hell, spread itself across the pages of history. But these offended ones are determined to remove the name of Christ from any public honor whatever. Now that they have this little trick in the history books, they are now teaching it to children in British schools. The teachers are told that it is offensive ---there's that word again---offensive--to the students in the class who are not Christians.  The school principal claims that the use of the term AD was an attempt to lead the children to the Christian faith.  

 So Christians are expected to cave in and erase 2000 years of history, because there are people who who can't stand any public  reference to the Saviour.  In england this "offense" thing has gone  into the edge of insanity. What other word can you use to describe it when, in parts of london and liverpool, people have been forbidden to bake the traditional hot cross buns, to celebrate easter. a hot cross bun is a bun with the frosting on top in two strips crossing each other. but people in  wolverhampton, york, wakefield, and liverpool, were told, don't bake hot cross buns for Easter because it would offend the Muslim population.

 Where did people get the notion that they have some kind of constitutional right to not be offended?

Isaiah says, learn to fear the judgement of this God of endless love. he shall be for a sanctuary, (verse 8;14), but also, for a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense. There's that word again. Romans 9;33, behold, I lay in Zion a stumblingstone, and a Rock of Offense. Whoever believes on Him shall not be ashamed. Jesus Christ is the Rock of our salvation. But here, in the written Word of God, the Word Incarnate, Jesus Christ, is called a stumblingstone. He is described as a rock of offense. 

 Why? just what is the offense? What has Almighty God done to make his created man so angry at him?  One of the offenses is that the Lord of heaven is a God who is holy and righteous, and expects that kind of behaviour from his creation. John 16;8, Jesus says the Spirit of God will come, and He will reprove the world of sin.

You might be a highly educated, good looking, hard working, kind hearted, charming person. but somehow, when someone says to you, Jesus Christ is the lord of glory, and he wants your heart, suddenly, you react like you've been pinched in a sore spot. Don't talk to me about religion! Don't try to proselitize me!   People use the term proselitize as if it were some contemptible thing. All it means is that someone would like to persuade you to a different opinion, and introduce you to the Almighty God who wants to do endlessly wonderful things for you. But, you know, instinctively, that to look Jesus Christ full in the face, and see His divine glory, also means that you will have to look your own self full in the face,   and be willing to say, Lord,  I'm a sinner. That is the scaryest thing you can think of.  You don't want to even think about it, It offends you.

 The other most common complaint against the message of Christ is that it is absolutely 100% exclusive. Jesus said, enter in at the narrow gate. Wide is the gate, broad is the way, that leads to destruction. Narrow is the way that leads to life. In John 10,9, Jesus says, I am the door. By Me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. He is the door. He is the narrow gate. By Him we find entrance to heaven. But what is narrow about it? Because he is the only one. There is only one God. He is revealed in Jesus the Son. There is no other God.   People don't mind Jesus as a friend. A teacher. The one who threw the money tables upside down. But when He declares that He is the only God there is, and He is the one we have to answer to in judgement, the very nicest people get nervous and hostile. They are offended. 2 Peter 2;6-8. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief Cornerstone. Elect. Precious. To you who believe He is precious. But to those who are disobedient, the Stone that the builders rejected, the same is made the Chief Cornerstone. A Stone of Stumbling, and a ROCK of OFFENSE!!!!!

 A man's enemies shall be they of his own household. Why? Because some recieve the news of redemption from sin to eternal life with thankfulness and a willingness to obey.   Others get offended. They want to worship a  convenient God, who makes them feel good,but who does not judge between right and wrong. 

 If you want the genuine, eternal Creator, the true God of heaven, you have to give up griping aabout it anc come to Jesus.  that's the way it is and ever shall be. I did not say come to church and hope the church will give you Christ. I said come to Christ, face to face. heart to heart, That makes you part of his church. Belonging to Christ and belonging to ANY CHURCH DENOMINATION are two different things. And whether you pray in the dark lonliness of a prison cell after midnight,   or whether you pray in a crowded church on Sunday morning, with the entire congregation praying for you and shouting encouragement, this is something you have to do alone.

Other people can pray for you. But no one else can say your prayers for you.

The Old Testament gives us the descriptive names of God. I Am--I exist. Jehovah--the Lord.  Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide. Jehovah nissi, the Lord my banner.  Jehovah shammah, the Lord is there. Jehovah tsidkenu, the Lord our righteousness.  Jehovah shalom, the Lord send peace. Isaiah 45:21, the Lord speaks by the spirit of prophesy in first person. He declares, there is no God else beside me. Look to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth. Philippians 2;9-11, the Spirit speaks of what   God the Father has done for God the Son. God has highly exalted Him, and given Him a Name which is above every Name. That at the name of Jesus Christ every knee shall bow. Every toungue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. He says, if you want to talk to Me, call Me by My right Name. Lord Jesus Christ.

The First and Second Commandments repeat this. I am the lord your God. The only one there is. Do not worship anyone else. Do not put up graven images and say they represent Me, and fall down and worship them. The name Lord Jesus Christ is the only Name He will answer to.

It means, Almighty gGod, Saviour, Covered With Power.

 The Name of the  Lord Jesus Christ above every Name. His Name is his authority, and carries in it the power of heaven. Why does His Name offend you?

He is giver of the eternal moral and spiritual law that runs the universe. He is perfect love, perfect justice, perfect knowledge, perfect mercy. He is perfect in all things good and right, and He is the one who defines what good and right is. The Bible says that we as Christians have a more sure word of prophesy, a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the daystar arise in our hearts. (2 peter 1;19)  Our sure word of prophesy is the absolute trustworthy Word of Almighty God. 2 Corinthians 4.6, the one and only true God commanded the light to shine out of darkness.   

 Jesus declared, I am the Light of the world. He that follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (Matthew 6;23)    in Jesus Christ wants to drive the dark out of your soul. But coming to the light of Jesus makes you nervous. Coming to the light of Jesus makes you afraid. Coming to the light of Jesus makes you angry. You don't want any God butting into your business. Coming to the light of Jesus makes you feel vulnerable, afraid that other people will call you weak and gullible.

 John 6, the Lord heard his disciples arguing because they couldn't understand some of His teachings. He confronted them with a question. "Does this offend you? What are you going to do when you see Me ascend up to the glory of heaven, where I was before?"  Verse 66, it tells us that many of his followers couldn't take it. They went back from following Him. They were offended. Jesus turns to Peter and asks, will you also go away? Peter answers,  "to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and are sure that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

If you leave off following the Lord of heaven, just because you can't understand some of the things He does, where else is there to go? In Matthew 13, the Lord speaks of the judgement of the last day.     He says He shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend. There's that word again! But now it is the Lord of glory who is in charge. Now, He gets to decide what is offensive.

Now, those who were so offended by the name of Jesus Christ, and the prayers of children, that they forbid them by law, now they will learn just how offended the Lord is at their behaviour. 

He will direct his angels to remove from His kingdom all things that offend. The angels will find all those who are offended by hearing little children pray. They will bind them with chains, and carry them to a dark and lonely place filled with the fire of their own hatred. They will never have to put up with hearing a child pray again. The offended God will not have to put up with the presence of the one who resents His power and glory.    The one who resents the power and glory of God will never again have to be in God's presence.

Seems like a fair arrangement, doesn't it? 

(Matthew 14;43) Jesus says, "the righteous shall shine forth as the sun

 in the kingdom of their father."  In Luke seven, Jesus says, "blessed, blessed for ever and ever, blessed is he, that shall not be offended in Me."