Christ-caused Division

There are so many today that are crying for "unity" and "peace", but Jesus said He did not come to bring peace to the world but a sword. David Dykstra speaks on this topic so eloquently, his words melt my heart as his voice seems to tremble with yearning for people to hear the words of the Lord. And his words clearly bring flesh to the dry bones of those who long to hear those life-giving words of truth which do not compromise with the world and with the flesh.

  Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:  For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three.  The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. Luke 12: 51-53

Jesus was quoting Micah:

 Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit.   The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.   That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.  The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.  Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom.  For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house.   Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.  Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.  I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness. Micah 7:1-9


Hear Pastor David Dykstra preach ever so beautifully and heart-wrenchingly:


http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=1111121445492

The Myth of Merit

The fact that we cannot earn our salvation is admitted by most born again Christians...and yet we often still act as though our works mean something, and that we should get recognition for it or be elevated for superior service. Of course most won't come right out and say so, but will feign "humility" as they receive acknowledgment for their "goodness" etc, and I am no different. My flesh enjoys being stroked as well as any other mortal, and I recognize the evil in my flesh. That is why we are to mortify it:

Rom 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.
Rom 8:12  Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
Rom 8:13  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Rom 8:14  For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

The following link speaks on the topic of "The Myth of Merit" by David Dykstra. He uses as his text:


Luk 17:7  But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat?
Luk 17:8  And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?
Luk 17:9  Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not.
Luk 17:10  So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

God alone is worthy of praise. If we encourage one another, we do it not by lifting each other's vanity and pride, but however we do it by encouraging each other in God's faithfulness to provide more than all our needs.

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=616131510207

True Love

Open rebuke is better than secret love.   
Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. 
 Proverbs 27:5-6


Does anything more need to be said?

The Falling Away of the Church

In this study by David Dykstra which he entitled "The AntiChrist and Apostacy" Pastor Dykstra brings us a study on the third element of evidence for our assurance of our salvation which he says is doctrinal accuracy. Today we are seeing many churches watering down orthodoxy and even introducing mysticism and rituals that come directly out of the occult and New Age mysticism.

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
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.




They went out physically and doctrinally, by removing themselves from the truth of what God's word says and introducing their own ideas over and above what God's word actually says.

Pastor Dykstra makes clear what the Bible reveals to us about the truth of eternal security showing  that those who are truly His will remain in the truth of what the Bible says even when the going gets tough, the true ones will still speak up about Him even when it gets uncomfortable and downright dangerous to do so. The elect of God won't bend to every false doctrine that is easier and demands less painful participation. They won't stoop to heretical beliefs over the uncomfortable truth. Many today get their theology from "stupid novels" (David Dykstra's observation) rather than from the Bible itself or from Godly preachers (of course using our God-given discernment and making sure what the pastors teach is correct according to what the Bible says- Acts 17:11).

Part two of this message



Rom 10:9  That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 


I have seen that verse very often taken out of context. If you read the entire thought on this all the way through it goes on to say:

Rom 10:10  For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Rom 10:11  For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 

Confession that Jesus is Lord should be whenever the opportunity arises, especially when it would bring our own dishonor to do so, showing that we are not ashamed to be made a fool of for doing what is right...we have access to a boldness that comes from Jesus Himself to confess who He is and what He has done for us....IF we are saved, the evidence is revealed who we really are, by what we say. The truth will show whether we are truly in Him or not in Him by whether we bear fruit that brings a harvest. It is said that the biggest harvests were fertilized with martyrs blood. Reading this passage in it's entirety reveals that many think their empty words said as a ceremony or religious rite is enough to save them, instead of what the passage is actually saying. We do not "get saved" by saying "Jesus is Lord". We are saved when we confess and are not ashamed to tell others that Jesus is Lord. And we find out from the rest of scripture that we will say it even if it costs us our lives because we have eternal life with Jesus, so what if we lose this temporary one? We will die anyway. It is appointed unto us once to die...but after this, the judgment..

"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.

For Their Sakes...

John 17:19  And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.

David Dykstra gives an amazing sermon on the profundity of this verse. I mentioned to my dear husband last Sunday how often I run over verses that are so packed with so much incredible meaning, such wealth, and I barely skim off of the surface (if that even) barely even touching what is there. This is one of those verses. I've heard this so often that I have grown callous to the richness of the text, the amazing things that Jesus has done, and does, for each one of His "called out ones". I pray that we stop being so haphazard and overly casual with His divine word, and learn to humble ourselves, and submit to the profound truth that is there, in all of it's powerful glory. David Dykstra helps me to "stop and smell the roses" of God's Word.

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=1121071424537

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.