The Sons of Belial

1Samuel 2:12  Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.

I ran across this in my daily reading and had to take a closer look...

H1100

בְּלִיַּעַל
belı̂ya‛al
bel-e-yah'-al
From H1097 and H3276; without profit, worthlessness; by extension destruction, wickedness (often in connection with H376, H802, H1121, etc.): - Belial, evil, naughty, ungodly (men), wicked.
Total KJV occurrences: 27

This is talking about the sons of Eli, the high priest. In our day we may liken the situation to a very prominent pastor having good for nothing PK's (preacher's kids). They took care of sacrificing animals for Israelites coming to the tabernacle and taking these sacrifices they ignored the proper way to perform what was necessary to intercede on behalf of the people before the Almighty God. This was very serious.

In the recent past few days I've been in conversations with people in cyberspace about television evangelists, people who earn megadollars to finance yachts and mansions and ugly wigs through peddling their false feelings of misdirected hope through a false message and by performing faked healings. Some of the cyberspace people are indignant of these atrocities, and some say "They are still God's children. Do not judge them." And there are untold millions who get even more turned off to the real truth about Jesus because these have put a smear on His name.

Eli loved his sons. He overindulged them and didn't correct them when they went wrong.

At this time the light of God was withdrawing from His people, and Eli was getting very old, he was beginning to lose his eyesight:

 1Sa 3:2  And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see;
1Sa 3:3  And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep;

 Then God called out to Samuel who was still a youth at the time. I've always seen "little Samuel" portrayed as a little boy barely out of the toddler stage, but he may have been about 12 years of age, time of Bar Mitzvah is 13, so his being a 12 year old boy at this time would not be unrealistic.

 1Sa 3:11  And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.
1Sa 3:12  In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end.
1Sa 3:13  For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.
1Sa 3:14  And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever.


Eli was very aware of his sons transgressions. Eli was very old so we aren't talking about teenaged sons. We are talking about grown men who should have known better by now. Eli never corrected nor restrained his sons from doing evil. What Eli's sons did regarding the false sacrificial practices was so evil that God said Eli's house would NEVER be purged of it's evil.

By today's standards (from what I've been hearing from many who call themselves Christians and say "Do not judge") this father Eli was right, and God was very unkind and in fact too harsh and hateful.

We are on the threshold of being judged by a holy and just God. Many will see His hand as it causes many to wail....and yet the Bible tells us they still won't repent and think they themselves are more holy and righteous than God Himself. We will see the final outcome of that, just as we see the outcome of what happened to Eli and his worthless sons. 

The Vatican and Israel

Interesting developments in Israel talked about in this video, this world is getting more and more wicked:

Pelagianism

What is it and why on earth do we have to know about it now? Isn't it some ancient heresy that has been put to rest centuries ago? Well, no. The devil knows what works against the truth of God's word so he tends to use the same deceptions repackaged over and over again.

 In this message Phil Johnson explains what Pelagianism is, why it counters what the Bible says, how it attacks the foundation of our relationship with Christ, and where we see it today. I am amazed by this, truly, and need to listen to this one several times, it is that good. I've heard many of the questions brought up by Pelagian brought up today with the "therefore the Bible is either: A. untrue or B. corrupted, or C. we are misrepresenting what it actually is saying" such as what we hear from agnostics, atheists, and even many who consider themselves Christians and yet say God's word cannot be saying what it is saying because it makes no sense...blahblahblahblahblah....ad infinitum ad nauseum.

Gnosticism: A Deadly Viral Infection

  Beware 

lest any man

 spoil you

 through philosophy 

and vain deceit, 

after the tradition of men,

 after the rudiments of the world, 

and not after Christ. 

For in him dwelleth 

all the fulness of the Godhead 

bodily. 

Colossians 2: 8-9 (KJV)

To me it is a "no-brainer": if the Bible doesn't teach it, it is heresy and needs to be thrown out. There are all kinds of false teachings out there, and I tend to bottomline these all into a single category of HERESY and DON'T GO THERE. Yep, simple, straight forward, the KISS method (Keep It Simple Stupid). It works for me. Every once in a while the Lord reminds me that there are people tangled up in this stuff for whom it isn't so easy, and that I need to dig a bit into the garbage pits and get my hands dirty so that perhaps I can be used by the Lord if He so desires, to reach some that are sincerely struggling and lost in these false doctrines.

My husband used to kid me and say "You don't need to examine every piece of garbage to know that it stinks" because I would look at many things going on today to try to understand many of the weird things that are going on these days...and if we are talking about myself only, he is of course correct. However, I do have friends and family that are tangled up in various philosophies of this world, and it would help if I knew the enemy which has them tangled so that perhaps I might better confront the errors that bind them. It isn't only all about me, and just because I have my life jacket doesn't mean I can sit pretty and not attempt to pass some of these life jackets out to those around me. If I truly believe there are people headed for hell, and I do, I should try everything I can to reach them with the truth and not hide my light under a bushel. That means I need to sharpen my understanding not only of what is true, but also learn a bit about the falsehoods that are tangling up those loved ones.

One of the main deadly heresies circulating today is gnosticism. Wikipedia gives it to be an ancient belief system (which it was) which taught esoteric (obscure) wisdom which could only be obtained through philanthropy.

Phil Johnson (a favorite pastor of mine) gave a series on heretical teachings entitled "A Survey of Heresies". He offers a very clear and concise view of gnosticism and the form it has morphed into in our modern times. He says it infects the church subtly. He says it attacks Christianity at it's very foundation, muddying up the person of Jesus Christ, that He wasn't really who He said He was, and that He didn't really do the things that He did, or that He didn't really come in the flesh but was some kind of spirit or mass hallucination. Pastor Johnson states that gnosticism takes many shapes, but that there are 3 common errors in all forms of gnosticism. These 3 errors are:

1. Dualism: everything in the universe is reducible to 2 fundamental realities (yin and yang, mind and matter, flesh and spirit) and this has a "Christian sound" to it, but it is very different.

2. Syncretism: the merging of 2 systems of beliefs (philosophy merging Judaism with Hellenism of his day -- about the time of Christ and the Apostle Paul)

3. Docetism: "to seem" which is to say that Christ only appeared to seem human but was something that was not actually human because all flesh is corrupted and therefore it was impossible for Christ to be human.

Phil Johnson points to some of the places we see modern gnosticism flourishing today, including "the Church" that it has infiltrated like a deadly virus (leaven; which always equaled sin in scripture in the parables of  Jesus, therefore sin permeating the kingdom of God) I would encourage anyone reading this and interested to know about this horrible infection that plagues us today to go to the link A Survey of Heresies.

T
.....Also the Jewish Encyclopedia has very detailed information on the topic of gnosticism.

Man's Way or God's Way?

This morning I revisited the idea of man's desire for advancing himself by his own means, and lately it is taking the form of what is called "transhumanism". Technology can be our friend, and, as these videos reveal to anyone given God's discernment, man's advancements contain the seeds for our own destruction as well.

This first video talks about the recent discoveries and experiments which the videomakers themselves admit has a similarity to Frankenstein's Monster. They confess that their desire is to remove man's consciousness and implant it into a machine which can go on forever, and admit that they do not know if that will equate to eternal life because they do not know what life consists of, nor do they know what a soul is, and what love is, etc, so in their minds they believe that what we experience now might not be so different from what we can experience through being conscious in a machine...forever.

To me that sounds like hell, trapped in a machine kind of like Dr. Reinhardt in "The Black Hole" wanting to do that to his crew, and himself becoming trapped in his robot "Maximilian" and burning in what looks like a lake of fire.

Anyway, I think it is good to know what these guys are up to, they spin it as a good thing, of course. God tells us that man's ways are not God's ways. These things are man's attempt to circumvent God's plans for us, thinking they can find "a better (or have convinced themselves this is the way God plans to perform His next step for us) way":




Then part 2 uses many of the terms used in the Bible such as redemption, salvation, born again, etc, and interestingly they talk about eternal existence and it's possible (or probable) contrast to eternal life...the contrast of course is man's way vs God's way. 

Frank J. Tipler (professor in New Orleans) in this film uses many of these Biblical terms to represent what will happen through our advances in technology. At 44 min mark Prof. Tipler says that the name God gives as His Name to Moses is "I will be who I will be" and stresses the future tense, however it actually is past present and future, best translated "I am that I am". This video, although rather disturbing, is important (approx 1 hour) to understand where these guys want to take mankind:



We need to be thankful that the Lord is allowing us time to see what is coming, to understand our need of His redemption, not this false means of "eternal existence" which will cause many to be thrown into the lake of fire with the Beast and his false prophet. Pray for strength and wisdom to withstand the evil that is increasing and that which was held back by the restraining power, is soon to be unleashed on the world, however those who are in Christ and sealed with His seal will be able to stand against it, and die a martyr's death if need be, to oppose this false system.

Pray for the perseverance of the saints, and to be found in Him when this beast is unleashed.

The 10 Kingdoms

Lately I've been revisiting "last days eschatology" because I haven't done so for quite some time...years have passed since I've searched that topic because most of it out there is "pre-trib" and I burned out on it. However lately I've been getting the urging to glean what I can, and granted I do find much that I disagree with, but I search with my heart open to what the Lord wants me to see.

 image link

The Rising Beast 2: Regional and Global Government has some information about the 10 regions that are forming, and says the 10 nations in the book of Revelation could be these 10 regions. He gives information about the formation of the EU and the African Union, and the forming (in process) of the North American Union (this sermon was given in 2007, he gives the projected date for the formation of the NAU as 2010, however the Lord is giving us more time...he said the EU took 40 years in it's various stages of formation).

Pastor Fernandes is "pre-trib" and thinks the verichip "is not the MOB"  but some precursor to it because you have to give formal allegiance to "the Beast" and with the verichip there is no such ceremony. I personally see the acceptance of this thing itself as the giving of allegiance to the Beast and see no problem with this being the MOB. Having a "pre-trib" mindset makes one have to make the MOB future when all Christians have been raptured, therefore not a consideration if you are still here, which I see as the main problem of the pre-trib mindset. It's kinda like what a magician does; he's moving his left hand like crazy while you don't see what is happening on the right...THAT is the problem with pre-trib, you are looking at the left hand all-the-while saying no need to look at the right hand because it has nothing to do with us...sigh...

However, I do find what he has to say about these 10 regions to be of value. Also see the image link for a good article that further outlines this global confederacy.

Gifts of the Spirit Part 3

In Gifts of the Spirit Part 2 I posted a video clip that covered a portion of the Strange Fire conference. In that clip they mention Andrew Strom and the fact that he noticed that the people that experience "holy laughter" and etc, exhibit the same physical manifestations as those from Hindu Kundalini  ecstatic experiences. Andrew Strom admits he is "charismatic" but rightly says the gifts of the holy Spirit of God are quite the opposite of what is going on here. He mentions that some of these "leaders" have said that they have contact with "angels" but then in their descriptions of these beings they have none of the characteristics of Biblical angels which strike terror and conviction in the hearts of those who see them in the Bible passages. Mr. Strom rightly says that discernment is lacking in the church today, and many are falling prey to these demonic spirits.

Mr. Strom says that we are not to go to the opposite extreme and reject all the miraculous as demonic because there are true gifts of the Spirit. We are to seek the Lord truly in His word and guard our hearts and be sober minded. We are to cast our burdens on Jesus, pray for deliverance from all evil, have a contrite heart before Him to protect us and deliver us from the foolishness and evil that is pouring out in these latter days.

Here is Mr. Strom's clip of the false Kundalini Spirit masquerading as the Holy Spirit...I don't call what these gatherings are "church". They are not churches. I don't know what they are, but they are not church.

Dr. Alan Cairns

Dr. Cairns gave this message in 2006 shortly before retiring from preaching. You can hear and feel with him the heaviness in his heart for America, for how far she has fallen from grace. You can hear and feel the heaviness in his heart that he bears for the individuals who boldly and brazenly reject the offer that God makes to fallen man through His beloved son Jesus. The prayer he prays at the end is so solemn and so penetrating, so humbling and yet so powerful. God help us, America is so filled up to the brim with her sins that like Dr. Cairns woefully admits, her sins today make the sins of yesterday look so innocent and so minor...although all sin is horrible. The sodomites and the abortioners (child murderers) can't get enough of their murderous and adulterous ways. They lust for more and more blood and filth and horror. God help us, we are on the brink of destruction (parts 1-5):

We Were All God's Enemies

 image link

Psalm Chapter 2

  Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?  

The kings of the earth set themselves,

 and the rulers take counsel together, 

against the LORD and against his Anointed,

 saying, 

  "Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us." 

He who sits in the heavens laughs; 

the Lord holds them in derision. 

  Then he will speak to them in his wrath,

 and terrify them in his fury,

 saying, 

  "As for me, 

I have set my King on Zion, 

my holy hill." 

 I will tell of the decree: 

The LORD said to me, 

"You are my Son; today I have begotten you. 

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, 

and the ends of the earth your possession. 

  You shall break them with a rod of iron

 and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." 

 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;

 be warned, O rulers of the earth. 

  Serve the LORD with fear, 

and rejoice with trembling. 

  Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, 

and you perish in the way, 

for his wrath is quickly kindled. 

Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (KJV)

There are many in today's world who rage against God, and against His appointed rulers of this world and against all authority of any kind. The Lord's outright opponents, the haters, the blasphemers, seething with anger and hate, are not His only opponents. We find in the New Testament that we all (at one time or another) were His enemies, not just those who "put on a show" about it:

  .... while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.  Romans 5:10

 Something I have yet to grow into (Lord help me) is when a person, or persons, gets hostile, and thereby do the things which reveals to me they are my enemy(ies).  I would hazard to say that most people today are God's enemies and therefore because I abide in Him they are by extension also my enemies. However, many are not openly hostile and ugly. Many of them are seemingly model citizens, but their words reveal their rebellion against the Son, and therefore also against the Father, and are "inwardly seething" (Psalm 62:4; Matthew 7:15). Sure they can put up a good front (can't we all?) and seem like they are "nice people", however eventually the truth will come out about who is truly against us and who is for us and with us, with our God (1 John 2:19), they can't hide out forever. 

And yet, not all of them will remain His enemies. I was every bit His enemy (although mostly I thought I was a "good person") and even though I was only "nice" on the outside and thoroughly sinful and deceitful on the inside, the Lord chose to reveal that fact to me and rescue me out of that horrible condition. Should that make me proud??? Of course not. My flesh would like me to be, and at times I do slip into such a Pharisaical condition.....and then the Lord corrects me and reminds me that I was no better, and that any virtue that I have today is only possible because He is virtuous, and His life has been infused with mine. That is humbling, and when I dwell upon my fleshy condition too long, it is down right mortifying. 

And that is why we are to meditate on Him, on His holiness and goodness and purity. When I dwell upon the flesh, this world's evil condition and my own weaknesses and shortcomings, it brings me down, I get depressed, and then I am to bring it up to the Father in prayer, and rejoice in the fact that it is all working together for good for those who love the Lord (Romans 8:28).

Guard Your Heart

 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.   But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Hebrews 3:12-13  (ESV)

Hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. The worst sin is pride. It caused satan to think he was superior to God Himself, and cause others to come with him and join him in his falling from grace.

If a person is truly saved, changed from the inside, born again, it is impossible for such a one to lose their salvation (Jesus said so)...and some may lose their way temporarily, but will return to Him because He draws His own to Himself (John 6:44) however there are those who have an "appearance of godliness", they appear "good" but it isn't the goodness that comes from God because they deny His power, and we are to turn away from those.

2Ti 3:1  But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
2Ti 3:2  For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
2Ti 3:3  heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,
2Ti 3:4  treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
2Ti 3:5  having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
2Ti 3:6  For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions,
2Ti 3:7  always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

However there are warnings in the Bible. There are things to avoid, just as we would avoid anything icky and disgusting and horrid. In the Old Testament there were rules for how to deal with lepers. They had their own area that they had to be in so the healthy would not be in contact with them. They had to remain "outside the camp" until they were deemed cleansed.

I have been reading the Old Testament beginning from the beginning. I'm now in the book of Numbers. There is a scene in the text where Aaron and Miriam stand against Moses, and God punishes Miriam (I wonder why not Aaron? oh well) with leprosy. Moses pleads for Miriam but God says she has to endure the disease for 7 days after-which she

The Saddest Words in the Bible

 John 6:66  From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. (KJV)

 To me those are the saddest words in the whole Bible. There are several methods to "walk no more with Him", they involve rejecting what He said, to follow some other teacher who has a "better message". They stopped following because they believed not.

 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.   And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.   Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?  Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?   He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve. John 6:64-71 (KJV)

Truth

Do we, as Christians, believe Jesus words? Is God's word true? Or are the philosophies that say "There are distortions" or "There are contradictions" or "The Bible's message changed throughout the ages, hell was added later" are these the ones telling the truth?

What did Jesus say?

Jesus said "there WILL BE weeping and gnashing of teeth"  5 times recorded in the gospels.

Matthew 8:12

Matthew 22:13

Matthew 24:51

Matthew 25:30

Luke 13:28

Regarding the sheep and the goats, Jesus said:

Matthew 25:46  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.(KJV)

He couldn't really have meant EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT could He? That's probably a mistranslation...or probably that was added later by a monk who was having a bad day...either we believe the Bible, or we will want to change it and believe those who say "it couldn't really have meant it the way it is being exegeted, it must have changed over time or mistranslated". Jesus is "too loving" to allow for this, isn't He?

What about this famous passage:

Matthew 7:13  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
Matthew 7:14  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. (KJV)


The way that leads to Jesus is narrow and few find it...what? How unfair! No that cannot be true. The Bible must be lying. It actually says "EVERYONE GOES TO HEAVEN, THERE IS NO HELL" doesn't it? I heard a college professor tell people so when she explained how the Bible's message added hell after the time of Daniel. That's probably where Jesus got the idea, right? Then do you also not believe that Jesus is God and was with the Father from the beginning? Do you also not believe that He raised Lazarus from the dead and that He Himself is raised from the dead?

Jesus said:

Luke 16:31  And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. (KJV)

So who shall we believe? Jesus? Or shall we change things around a bit so that we will "feel better" about ourselves and get around those sticky verses that make us uncomfortable. Let's just make it that EVERYONE goes to heaven. Forget about what Jesus said, that stuff about the straight and narrow that not many will find. Who needs it? Too depressing. Everyone can go, because all we have to do is change what we believe and then all is well. Who cares where such philosophies will lead to because everyone will go to heaven. Period. End of discussion. You can talk all you want to, but now that I have my mind made up, no one, not even Jesus, can change it.

REALLY?

Matthew 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Matthew 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Matthew 7:24  Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
Matthew 7:25  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
Matthew 7:26  And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
Matthew 7:27  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. (KJV)


What foundation do you have your ideas based on? Feelings? Theories? Someone's new religion? Or is it based on what Jesus said?

The only sin that can keep us from truly being born again is rejecting the truth and filling ourselves up with vain doctrines of men. Jesus said to enter into His kingdom we must be born again. It has to be all of Him in our lives, to be regenerated by His Spirit.

 Romans 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Romans 8:10  And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Romans 8:11  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. (KJV)


and remember:

 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,  
 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.  
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.   
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.   
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Matthew 5:2-13 (KJV)

Don't believe the lies. There are many of them "out there". Some do it to make a profit. Some do it to get around the truth of God's word because they think it is "too hard"...it's impossible without the Spirit...you must be born again. There's no way around it. Is that unfair? Is that mean and unloving? No. It just is the way it is. Those who reject it are the unloving ones, because they reject the way of Truth, the way of our merciful and loving God.

Street Preaching 2: Offending People

Many today think it is a sin to offend people with the truth about the need for repentance. That is a big sign of our evil times.

John the Baptist didn't shy away from telling the truth for fear of offending people:

Mat 14:3  For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife.
Mat 14:4  For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her.
Mat 14:5  And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet.
Mat 14:6  But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.
Mat 14:7  Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask.
Mat 14:8  And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist's head in a charger.
Mat 14:9  And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath's sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her.
Mat 14:10  And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.
Mat 14:11  And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother.
Mat 14:12  And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus. 

Luke went a little further and said that John the Baptist reproved Herod for ALL the evil he had done, and not just the sexual immorality which everyone already knew about anyway. Just like today, people knew about their corrupt politicians:

Luk 3:19  But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done

Matthew points to the fact that Herod would have killed John the Baptist but because he feared the multitude, he put him in prison. And then he later behaves as though he is sorry that his daughter asks for John's head, but nevertheless all of a sudden "gets religious" about being honorable to an oath (he never seemed to be concerned about being so honorable before) and has John beheaded. That is how the flesh operates. 

We shouldn't offend people for the sake of wanting to offend them. If that is what you gain from what I'm saying, you couldn't be more wrong. But we do need to be bold, to speak up, tell the truth about sin, and explain where those who stubbornly cling to their sin (rather than repent of all their sin) are headed. Their sins will cost them eternity in hell if not repented of. Even something as seemingly small as disobedience to parents can send someone to hell.

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;   Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.   For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,  Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 2 Timothy 3:1-7

 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.Philippians 3:18

 
Those times spoken of in the above passages are here today more so than than has ever been true in the past. Should we not all be speaking up about all the various offenses to God in hopes that perhaps even one person in a thousand will have his or her conscience pricked and perhaps be used by God to save that one person? But I agree that it is much easier to type into a computer from the safety and anonymity of those who might hate us for saying what needs to be said. We can sit in a comfy chair and "speak up" all we want and others can ignore us just as easily online as they can in person...can't they? I'm guilty of this too. I sit at home and see others speak out about their faith in God (and I can find defects in their delivery, or their grammar or their seeming lack of compassion, or what have you). 

But:

Mat 25:14  For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
Mat 25:15  And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
Mat 25:16  Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.
Mat 25:17  And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.
Mat 25:18  But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.
Mat 25:19  After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
Mat 25:20  And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
Mat 25:21  His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
Mat 25:22  He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
Mat 25:23  His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
Mat 25:24  Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
Mat 25:25  And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
Mat 25:26  His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
Mat 25:27  Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
Mat 25:28  Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
Mat 25:29  For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
Mat 25:30  And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Let's not hide behind "I knew God is a very demanding God and I knew that I wouldn't get everything exactly perfect as He would expect me to, so I didn't go out to all the people to tell them about sin and repentance and forgiveness of sin", because we are without excuse. God will supply us all we need, and even though others will criticize us for it, it should not make us afraid to serve Him by taking the truth out to the streets.

Mat 28:18  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Mat 28:19  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
 

Street Preaching

Some might find street preaching inappropriate and/or offensive. I personally am glad there are a few that would do it, to be bold by taking the truth about the need for repentance to the lost. Tony Miano has been in Britain and gotten flack for street preaching. Does he do it perfectly with perfect eloquence and tact? No. Is he a bit abrasive and somewhat annoying, perhaps even to the point of badgering? I would say yes to that. But isn't it easier to pick apart why Mr. Miano is wrong (from the ease and comfort from a home computer) than to be out there being uncomfortable. And I also don't like the "Christian rap" at the beginning and end of the video. These however are minor annoyances. John the Baptist would be considered annoying for what he said regarding the need for repentance. He too came right out and named offenses such as what King Herod and his brother's wife were doing, that it was shameful and disgusting and shouldn't be happening. Yes it is terrible to talk about, but it is even worse to be doing these things and then be self-righteous about such sinfulness.

 I personally think that however Jesus and the need for repentance is preached (aside from outright heresy of course, which I did not detect from Tony's message) is needed for people to be pricked. In this clip I believe many are having their consciences pricked, including the officers and the young woman who called the police on him. Perhaps it won't bear fruit immediately, but I do believe the Lord will use this for good.

Separate from Among Them

This morning I awoke with this verse on my thoughts:

"always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth". 2Timothy 3:7


This is something that, when I was first saved would remain heavy in my thinking when I was "studying to show myself approved". I wanted God to apply what I learned into my heart and soul and not just read and read to no avail. But if you examine the context of this verse, it is about the last days, and about the types of people we are to avoid.

Lynn posted a message by Arthur Pink on this topic, and it pierces the soul.

There is also a short audio clip on this sermon on Sermon Audio.

Solid warnings for times such as these. We can be "growing in the knowledge of the truth", or we can be wasting our time "ever learning" yet never arriving at the knowledge of the truth, having a form of godliness yet denying His power.

"Gender Confusion"

I was listening to a series on sermon audio (linked to part 3 at the bottom of this post). The series is on the topic of homosexuality. It is a very heavy topic, one that is often treated superficially.. the pastor talks about gender confusion and the problems that the women that pushed for equal rights brought in (and he admits that this is just a symptom of our fallen condition, one of many symptoms, and that there have  always  been sin symptoms since Adam and Eve). 

I want to share with you what I said to my daughter. I don't want to diminish the terribleness of sin, yet we of course need to acknowledge that we all do sin, continually. This is what I wrote my daughter as a preface to this  sermon:

"... it reveals a bigger problem, and we cannot "fix it" by making all of these things appear to be right. That isn't the point. The point is this world is fallen and there are lots of problems that won't get fixed, but we need to admit that they truly are problems and that they stem from our sinful nature. That is the point. The point is we shouldn't make excuses (me included, I keep wanting to make excuses for my sins) no excuses, but we need to acknowledge that we all fall short, and to call sin what it is, sin. No excuses. So we do sin, every day we do, it is part of this world that we live in. It is full of sin. AND we have forgiveness for sin. 

We do need to know what sin is, it is transgression against a holy God.

We need to be aware of it. We cannot stop it, only God can, and will. We will still sin as long as we live in this sinful world…. but when we turn to Christ, He will reclaim us to Himself, and draw us to Himself. And one day when our fleshy life is over, 
He will give us a life that truly is without sin,
 with Him, 
not in this world,
 but one that He makes for His chosen, 
who don't love sin, 
but who love Jesus, 
and are thankful for His forgiveness, 
and proclaim the truth about His hatred of sin, and His forgiveness of sin.
Anyway, hope this makes sense. I hope you will pray about this, and that the boys will be a light for the dark times that are still ahead of us. It is going to get worse."


Link to the sermon:

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=623131528566

If you have time I recommend also listening to parts one and two of this series.

Do You Love Me?

Jesus asked that of Peter 3 times. "Peter do you love me?....Feed my sheep"

So often I hear people say that they "love" Jesus, and it might be true. However Jesus knows whether we really love Him, or whether the "love" we have is all just talk and no action.

Isa 29:13  Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men

Last night one of the girls I work with said when WTC was hit in 2001, she broke up with her boyfriend the following week. The reason? She said she found herself thinking of all the people she loved, but her boyfriend was the furthest thing from her mind. She realized then that she didn't really love him, so she broke up with him. At first I thought this strange but I realize now that she was right to do this. She was being honest and so she did what she knew she had to do, she had to do what is right.

There are things that you do for the ones you truly love. There is a communion that you have, you would suffer and even lay down your life for those that you love. You would know if that isn't there. How much more would that be true of our relationship to Jesus? He likens our relationship to a marriage. What kind of relationship would it be if the husband did all the loving, and the wife only gave lip service? Would the marriage last?

Joh 15:13  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Joh 15:14  Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

I was brought up Seventh day Adventist, so these verses were always used to say "You see? We have to keep the Saturday sabbath to prove that our love is real." Is that really what He's talking about here?
No, that isn't what Jesus is saying here. That would be too easy, and if that were the case, the pharisees would have been His biggest supporters and truest lovers.

 Jesus laid down His life for the sheep. He died a vicious death why? Just for loving people, truly loving them, and being hated for it. How did He love them? He healed them of all manner of their diseases and told the hypocrites (the ones hiding behind their masks) the truth so that He could heal them of their hypocrisy. And how did they thank Him? You would think that they would love Him, and yet, when He was brought to the courts, even his closest disciples left Him. When He poured out His heart in Gethsemane, the ones who you would have thought would endure everything with Him, fell asleep! Then when Jesus went before the Jewish sanhedrin, the disciple who said he would never let Jesus down denied he even knew Him! That is the kind of love we have, the kind that Peter had, and the kind that I see all too frequently. It is a said love rather than a true love,  and I am ashamed of myself for being that weak. I definitely do not want to be comfortable in that weakness, and pretend to having "love" when I know it is all just talk.

I pray that the Lord would kindle His fire in me, and make my heart of stone into a heart that truly desires to do His will, to the laying down of my flesh.

 1Jn 3:16  Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 


No pretense of love or holiness will pass the test here. God desires our whole entire being. If we truly love Him, we would feed His sheep, the way He fed His sheep, even to the laying down of our lives as truly living sacrifices to the truth of His word, not caring whether people agree with us, or "love" (or say they love) us, but doing what Jesus did even if it gets us killed, but perhaps causes even one person to see the truth and become truly saved by God through any suffering we might suffer. That is true love. That is feeding God's sheep. Not fluffy words that get you "kudos" and empty words of comfort and praise that don't hold the forever test. Not things that stroke our egos into thinking we are something when we are nothing. How true is your and my love really? Can it go through the fires and endure the hatred of men and still all-the-while hold out hands to try to reach those who are lost? Or will we succumb to our flesh and come up with every excuse as to why God doesn't expect us to do that, and that He wants us to coddle our and each other's flesh. Loving our flesh....and each other's flesh....is that the love Jesus taught us? Is that what the Bible says? If your Bible says that, it isn't the same Bible I have been reading.

What is Truth?

Most students entering college today believe that truth is relative, that what is true for you may not be true for me. In this message, Dr. Steven Lawson looks at the influence relativism has had on our culture and explores the consequences. He will explain the absurd and self-defeating nature of relativism and remind us of God’s call to stand for the unchanging absolute truth of His Word.http://www.ligonier.org/learn/conferences/no-compromise-2013-national-conference/feet-firmly-planted-midair/

The Coming Final Persecution

This is coming soon to the U.S.A. It is already happening in some areas of the world. The Bible tells us that the tribulation of those days will be worse than it has ever been in any other time in history:

Matthew 24:21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Does Correct Doctrine About the Rapture Matter?

I think it does. 2 hour video explains with the Bible why the pre-trib doctrine is not Biblical, and why it is a tool of the devil to blind the sheep: