The Power of God

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Yesterday I had time and opportunity to read a sermon by Charles Spurgeon entitled "The Sword of the Spirit". What a powerful word from the Lord, truly he spoke as it was given him by the Holy Spirit.  In essence he shared with us that the Sword of the Spirit of Truth slays us(in a true way, not the "slain in the Spirit" crazy antics we've all seen on TBN), kills us, so that the Spirit of God can bring us true life in Jesus, and that as His workers we take up the sword of the Spirit, the Bible, and use it as an offensive weapon and not a defensive weapon against the enemy of our and other people's soul, exposing lies and sin and heresy. I hope you can make time in your day to read this powerful message:

http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/2201.php

Believer's Baptism

Number 5 on the list of things that need to happen in order to be saved is the need of baptism:

There are many views on how this needs to be accomplished; infant baptism, adults only baptism by immersion, baptism by sprinkling, to name a few. I will give my view on this issue....and will try to make it as brief as I can without (hopefully) oversimplifying it. And I hope you will do your own research on this complex topic by using the Bible as your source main source of information.

Let's first begin with reviewing the above Bible verses (all Bible verses in this post will be from the ESV version):

Matthew 28:19-20  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Mark 16:16  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Acts 2:38  And Peter said to them, "Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.




Acts22:16  And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.'

We can also add to the above list the passages which tell of Jesus being baptized by John the Baptist even though He being perfect needed no forgiveness of sins....and there is this one with Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch:

Acts 8:36-37  And as they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, "See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?"   And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 

There are the exceptions to the rule, such as the thief that hung on the cross beside Jesus who received no baptism (that we know of, the ritual of baptism was already in use at the time of Christ). Some take this to mean that the water baptism is a physical type for the spiritual effect of having our sins washed away by the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

 1John 5:4-8 
For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. 
 And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.  
Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. 
And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 
 For there are three that testify: 
the Spirit
and the water 
and the blood; 
and these three agree.


My own view on this is that water baptism is necessary as part of the believer's testimony of the truth of his conversion. Whether the thief on the cross was or was not baptized in water is irrelevant to your and my circumstances. We are not hanging on a literal wooden cross which makes it impossible to perform such a simple task in obedience to following Jesus. Some say it must be in "the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19) some say in the name of Jesus only (Acts 2:38), the important matter is that you confess your sins and be baptized in the sacrifice of God in Christ for the remission of sins, with the realization of the incredible price Jesus paid in order to wash those sins away having died to self, being born anew in the Spirit, and then beginning a new life that is alive in Christ.


I hope this little series on salvation basics was helpful, but please do your own research, read the above verses in their full context by reading the entire books of the Bible carefully. There is so much there that cannot be summed up in a blog post. I pray that you study to show yourselves approved, and receive the full blessings from seeking the Lord with all your hearts.

Repentance

Have you noticed that not many pastors preach on the topic of repentance anymore? Repentance has gone out of fashion, true humility is out and pride is in. Did God approve of that idea?

Luke 3:2-9 ... the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.  And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins;   As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.  Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;  And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.  Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?   Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.  And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree therefore which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. (ESV)


Acts 17:30-31 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:  Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. (ESV)


Luke 15:4-10  "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?  And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.'  Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.  "Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?  And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.'  Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

We've all heard or read the parable of the prodigal son. The son foolishly squandered everything his father gave to him, until realizing his foolishness, turned back to his father in humble submission asking for forgiveness, and everything was restored to him. But what about the other son, the one that "didn't need" repentance? He always remained with the father, did what he was told to do, was possibly happy that his good for nothing loser brother was gone and now all attention could go to himself. He got angry when his brother returned, rather than rejoice with his father. Let's take a look:

Luke 15:28-32  But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, 'Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!' And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'"

Pride is a terrible thing, hatred and anger is at the root of it, and Jesus said he who is angry with his brother is guilty of murder. Does that not require repentance? Does that not call for humility before a holy God who can cast people into outer darkness (no vision) and fire (feelings of torment) forever? None of us are perfect, we must all approach the Lord in humility asking forgiveness for the things we have done, for the sorrow we have caused him and our fellow men. 

Have you repented of your sins before the feet of Jesus? 

It's All About Jesus

Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder.
Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility:
for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God,
that he may exalt you in due time:
Casting all your care upon him;
for he careth for you.

1 Peter 5:5-7 (KJV)

Humility is a funny thing,  the minute you think you have it you don't. My husband likes to quip "I'm humble, and I'm proud of it!".

I recently saw a post on Facebook by a gentleman who is a somewhat famous Christian performer, a singer/songwriter, who went on and on about how he isn't as wonderful as everyone keeps telling him that he is, about how terrible he is, how he's done things that caused him to lose friends, things he's embarrassed to talk about, loathsome even, and that he's wanted to commit suicide but hasn't because he's too much of a coward and doesn't want to face the Lord who would then chastise him for having cut short his life, a gift from God which only God has the right to begin and end. All the things he said were correct with what we ought to think about ourselves when our focus is on self.

These things, although true, ought to be (for the most part unless giving encouragement to someone who thinks they cannot be saved because of this or that sin in their life) a private condition that we have between ourselves and the Lord, and as we cast all of these cares on Him it is He who takes care of these things, and will exalt us in the proper way and the proper time. I read many of the comments this young man received in response to his posting. Predictably many  of them said "You are awesome" and "Amen" and some talked about the suicide of a loved one. The focus was still wrong, on self, not on Jesus.

Our walk with Jesus does cause us to reflect on our sinful nature, to realize the price He paid to save us, and thereby live a life that glows with the gratitude of receiving grace that is undeserved. When the focus is me, it pulls me down and back into thinking about the things the flesh wants, and all the trouble that it gets me, and when I get pulled down enough and feel more and more terrible (the "slough of despond" in the book  Pilgrim's Progress), the Lord reminds me that He saved me from all of that stuff.

I do appreciate the fact that this performer wants to confess his sin at a time when most want to pretend sin doesn't exist, or that it is all a state of mind and that we can choose whatever we want as long as we ourselves are happy, making that the only thing that matters. However let us instead keep the focus on Jesus and what He has done for us. He has forgiven our sin when we confessed it and are truly humbled by what we know to be true about ourselves.

It really doesn't matter what other people say and think about us and the social medias are full of people saying things that they may or may not mean. What matters is Jesus, and Him alone. As John the Baptist said: "He must increase and I must decrease".

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. 

Saved? or Self Deceived?

In this 2 part sermon, John MacArthur pours out his heart to exposit on the passage:

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? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 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:  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.   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:   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.   And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine
Matthew 7:22-28 (KJV)

Pastor MacArthur explains what he sees as marks of a true believer, and the evidences that expose those who may be false and self deceived "followers" of Christ.

False "believers":

1. Want signs and healings
2. Want gimmicks
3. Want to feel good
4. Want to receive blessings
5. Or they may be religionists. Many "Christians" that aren't are simply trying to work their way there by doing all the moral and religious works they believe will make them good enough...

True believers:

1. Want only Jesus
2. Are penitent and truly sorry for their sins

He says much more, take a listen...the good medicine convicts and brings you truly to the throne of forgiveness and God's grace:

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.

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.

The Problem of Evil Points to the Reality of God

A couple of Bible excerpts and then a powerful message from R.C. Sproul

But Joseph said to them,
 "Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?  As for you, 
you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good,
to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today..."
Genesis 50: 19-20 (ESV)

and

Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Isaiah 53:10-11

It seems that inevitably those who question God, call Him a liar, etc, inevitably bring up the subject of how an omnipotent and good God cannot and would not create or allow for evil.

In the video which follows, R.C. Sproul talks about evil, what it is, what it is not, why God allowed for evil (he admits he doesn't know, and then gives the best explanation I have ever heard for why God would allow for evil), and why what is terrible and evil would be in accordance with His supremacy and His perfect will.

What is Sanctification?

Justification and sanctification are terms that get tossed about when discussing salvation. What are they? Are they different terms that describe the same thing? If not, how are they different?

Let's look at their definitions:

Justification

1.a reason, fact, circumstance, or explanation that justifies or defends: His insulting you was ample justification for you to leave the party.

2.an act of justifying: The painter's justification of his failure to finish on time didn't impress me.

3.the state of being justified.

4.Also called justification by faith. Theology . the act of God whereby humankind is made or accounted just, or free from guilt or penalty of sin (legal position of being set free of the legal obligation of debts).

Sanctification 

actually the word being defined is "sanctify":

1.to make holy; set apart as sacred; consecrate.

2.to purify or free from sin: Sanctify your hearts.

3.to impart religious sanction to; render legitimate or binding: to sanctify a vow.

4.to entitle to reverence or respect.

5.to make productive of or conducive to spiritual blessing.

>>>>*<<<<

So from this definition for the word "sanctify" we can establish that sanctification is a process of becoming sanctified (purified, made holy, set apart). 

Still continuing on my Voddie Baucham binge, I happened across this wonderful sermon on the topic of sanctification. I tried to find it all in one piece, but could only find it given in three parts:

 

Sermon Audio also provides many of Voddie's sermons online in the audio format only. Enjoy!

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):

Neglecting So Great a Salvation

I've heard many objections to the reality of hell. Here are a few:

1. God cannot be a good God and send people to hell

2. It is only for the angels who sinned not for people

3. It is not a literal place, it is only symbolic, people will just disappear and the eternal aspect of it is they will be eternally nothing, their suffering and gnashing will be an eternal fact of the past, but will forever attest to their once having been, and forever having disappeared.

4. Hell only means "grave". It is from a word that translates to mean "the grave". If you believe Jesus, and truly take to heart what Jesus says about hell, you would know that it does mean that the person has died and their mortal body has gone to the grave...but it goes further, there is an immortal portion that goes deeper and further and lower than simply a hole in the ground.

Jesus said none of those things. The Bible reveals that it is a place, a real place, and that there will be angels who get sent there, but that there will also be people that will get sent there...and Jesus said MANY will go there, that few will go the narrow road that leads to eternal life and many will go the wide path to eternal destruction.....

Are Enablers Nice?

First off, I want to admit right off the bat that left to myself, I am one, an enabler that is. I want people to like me, and want to agree with all sorts of error and sin if it gets their saying: "Susan is such a nice person"... and would be lying if I didn't confess that straight away.

However, the Holy Spirit just won't let me off the hook that easily, and when I do this candy coated evil, I feel very uncomfortable. He won't allow me this hypocrisy for long before I have to confess my error, my sin, my thin veneer of "nice" over a dark icky glob of ENABLER TO WICKEDNESS, ugh!

Rom 1:20  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Rom 1:21  For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Rom 1:22  Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
Rom 1:23  and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.


Notice the regression:
1. they knew God
2. they did not honor Him as God
3. they became futile in their thinking
4. their foolish hearts were darkened
5. they claimed to be wise
6. they became fools
7. they exchanged the glory of immortal God for something that is more similar to mortal man; judging God by mortal and fleshy standards.

which then leads to a whole bunch of other errors, which in our crafty sinful flesh can be covered up with all kinds of "nice"...but the Lord is not fooled...and then not only do they harbor all kinds of covered up ugliness, but the Lord says:

Rom 1:32  Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. 

Wow, there it is. Enablers. Not very pretty at all, is it? If we encourage sin, we are complicit in sin. If we say there is no sin in homosexual behavior, we are complicit in homosexual behavior. If we say there is no sin in abortion, we are complicit in murder. And there is no sin that is not forgiveable...except one, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, in which the truth of sinfulness is revealed, and known, but they would rather cling to the flesh and love fallen sinfulness and decaying wretchedness more than the truth of what God says about it, and encourage those who likewise love sin more than truth. Forgiving: yes....Enabling (encouraging, saying wrongly that it isn't sin, therefore needs no forgiveness): no

Are you an enabler? Do you want to confess the horribleness of it and come clean about it before Christ? He is all-forgiving of the worst sins if we truly humble ourselves before Him with all of our wretched behaviors and mindsets, and confess that He alone is Holy, Gracious, and True, and able to make us partakers of His good qualities through His Holy Spirit,
only by the cross,
the crucifying of our flesh with Him,
by Him and through Him,
His power,
His glory,
His forgiveness,
His goodness,
forever, and forever,
Amen.

Agnostic/Atheist also a "Former Christian"? Is That Really Possible?

 1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
1Jn 2:18  Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
1Jn 2:19  They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

I've had this conversation several times with persons who truly believe they were once saved and eventually have fallen from that "saving faith" into all sorts of error (atheism, agnosticism, Buddhism, Judaism, anything but the truth of God's word, just holding to the fragments that appeal to them) or persons who have "friends" who were "once saved" and now are not. 

I can honestly say that if you do not believe God now, you never did. How can I say that? I didn't know these people, and I don't really know them now, so how can I make such an assessment? By God's word, the Bible. The Bible says so. Is that so shocking? Is that a ridiculous reason to accept that as a fact? Then the Christians who say they believe these false ones over the Bible are also suspect for possibly being the same type of (non)Christians.

These are interesting times, and MANY are falling out with the Church. Some may eventually turn to Christ in truth, but I sadly believe that many will not. These had an "appearance of Godliness" but they rejected His power (the Bible tells us 2 Timothy 3:5) and they are "ever learning" but never actually coming to the full truth (2 Timothy 3:7). They put more faith into their own faulty belief system than understanding the fact that none of us can fully comprehend something (and Someone) that is completely out of our league, but by His power and strength is able to grow us to learn truly about Him, and grow us to be His brothers and sisters by maturing in His grace and His knowledge, which is far superior to anything we can come up with on our own. The fact that they don't want to give up on their own ability to come up with these things causes them to judge God as "unfair" and "unloving". Unfair? Yes. Because we all deserve hell, so the fact that those who truly grow in Him won't go to hell is very unfair. It's called grace because we do not deserve it. I don't want fair because of the fact that it would be completely fair to send me to hell.

I think I'm only observing the beginning of this trend, this falling away. I believe many will fall out, that there are many "pew warmers" who think they believe God, and do not. They go for the good times, to be proper American citizens, or at least go to see their friends, etc, but as far as having a relationship with Jesus? Truly? He will say to many: "I never knew you" (Matthew 7:23)

In the above (2 John 2:19) we find that it is actually a good thing that the falling away occurs, because the appearance of godliness is outed for what it really is. It isn't godliness at all, only something that has that appearance, on the surface. If it were true it would be throughout those individuals lives, permeating their very existence, and to the point they would never abandon the Lord who so mercifully and lovingly saved them from their wretched selfish lives. It just wouldn't happen, so the wheat is then being separated from the tares. The tares look similar to wheat, but when both mature, the tares reveal what they really are. Their fruit has a black fungus on it that is poisonous if ingested, causing sleepiness in small amounts, or if concentrated into a juice/oil solution it can even cause death. What appropriate symmetry and symbolism. The message such persons "preach" is that there is the possibility of a "true Christian" to fall away, and it is a lie, and is pure poison, evil from the pit, which can cause true believers unnecessary anguish.


Phil Johnson has an excellent sermon on this topic : The Vine and the Branches (Sermon Audio- approx 1 hr)


Previous posts on this topic:

Can a Truly Saved Person Fall Away

Can a Truly Saved Person Fall Away Part 2

Can a Truly Saved Person Fall Away Part 3

Can a Truly Saved Person Fall Away Part 4
There's a difference between having doubts which the Lord corrects and helps you with, and an all-out falling out and away from Him which is discussed a bit in comments section of this blog entry

Maturity in Christ: Fruit 

The Great Falling Away

 The Falling Away of the Church 

The Problem of Atheists

It's Sunday night and we just got back from a long drive to visit relatives. One of the things we do on these long road trips is listen to sermons that my husband downloads onto an MP3 from Sermon Audio. One of today's selections (we listened to four today, I think) was a sermon given by (my favorite) Phil Johnson entitled "What You need to Know About Answering Atheists". There were so many things that came to mind as I was listening to this, things that I also have heard time and time again when I've dialogued with atheists, or read in the comments sections of various blog sites from people who seem to think they know a whole lot more than the Christian ignoramuses who blindly believe the unprovable and therefore (they think) unbelievable...and while I considered this I also thought about the fact that they are right, partially anyway. It would be stupid to trust and believe something that is unknowable and unbelievable, and in this fallen condition that is what the things of God are to those who do not (and cannot) believe. But there are enough hints to reveal that there really is a God that made the heavens and the earth, and if He is perfect (which He would have to be to masterfully have created this universe and everything in it) He also would provide the way to the redemption that is needed to be made whole (which we definitely are not, everyone who is honest will admit to the myriad of problems we encounter at present).

Phil explores these issues and more in a very pragmatic approach which defines these problems and how the scriptures really do answer these problems. These things can only be understood by having the Holy Spirit intervene on our behalf, these things truly are foolishness to those who do not believe. The paradox is that the Bible reveals the true fools to be the atheists:

"The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good. " Psalm 14:1


Phil then brings up the fact that many atheists are "nice people" who do "good deeds". However, none of us do good unless the Lord gives us the ability to do good (without any ulterior motives that is, we all want some kind of pay off). Phil explains this and many other fallacies that atheists make here. I hope you will enjoy this sermon as much as I did.

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).

But I'm a Good Person

"The depravity of man at once the most empirically verifiable reality but the most intellectually resisted fact."  --Malcom Muggeridge (and retweeted by DebbieLynne)

I saw this retweeted by DebbieLynne this morning and it reminded me of the book by Mr Muggeridge. I write about that aspect on my other blog. 

Yesterday my husband and I got to visit with Kent Clark in Pontiac, Michigan. We were hesitant to go because the snow was coming down pretty thick and it was foggy to boot. I'm glad we decided it was worth the effort, because it truly was worth that. The topic of man's depravity is Pastor Clark's favorite and most oft revisited, or so it seems. Yesterday was no different in that respect. He again talked about exactly what that means, and how that fact showcases God's grace towards us. He said that the ones least likely to truly understand this fact are the most religious amongst us. They still think that they aren't as bad as so and so, but the fact is they are JUST AS BAD. He reminded us that God can see everything we think we keep hidden from prying eyes, all the dirty thoughts, the pridefulness, the arrogance, the "little white lies", the anger and hatred which are equal to murder (Jesus said that in Matthew ch 5), the ways we fool ourselves into thinking we are better than others (see Luke ch 18) when truly we are even worse than others if we view ourselves like that.

This is Pastor Kent about what is happening in Pontiac, Michigan:



And this is from CH Spurgeon about man's depravity and our inability to come to Him without His drawing us to Himself:

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