There is reluctance today to state the facts as Peter did. "It wasn't the Jews who crucified Christ, but the Romans" is offered in evangelical circles in order to avoid giving offense to Jews. Peter was there. He knew the facts as no one living today could know them. Inspired of the Holy Spirit, he indicted his fellow Jews with having crucified God's Son. Of course, the Romans nailed Jesus to the Cross, but it was at the insistence of those, stirred to hatred by their rabbis, who cried, "Let him be crucified."
Pilate objected, "Why, what evil hath he done?" But the mob "cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified...his blood be on us and on our children" (Matthew 27:22-25). The truth is that in response to the haunting question posed in that old spiritual, "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?" we must all, Jew and Gentile, confess with repentant hearts, "Yes, I was there. It was for my sins that Christ died!"
Is the gospel for the Jews? Let Hagee and all others who have any doubts where Jews stand in relation to the gospel take note of Peter's specific language, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36).
It was likely the next day, at a gate of the Temple and in the name that Ravi Zacharias purposely kept from Jewish participants in the National Day of Prayer, that Peter and John healed a man who had been a hopeless cripple "from his mother's womb" (Acts 3:2). They commanded him, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk" (Acts 3:6).
Arrested for this good deed and standing before the religious hierarchy, they were asked, "By what power, or by what name, have ye done this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel...be it known unto...all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead...doth this man stand here before you whole....Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:7-12).
The council commanded Peter and John "not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus" (Acts 4:18). Tragically, it takes far less than that to stop some of today's Christian leaders from speaking in the name of Jesus; they do it on their own initiative for the sake of money and popularity. May God deliver us all from ever succumbing to such shameful motivation.
The response by the apostles to this threat was instant and fearless: "Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard" (Acts 4:19-20).
The miracles being done in the name of Jesus through the apostles caused growing multitudes to believe on Him. The high priest and his cronies "were filled with indignation, and...put them in the common prison. But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, Go...speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life" (Acts 17:5-20).
Meanwhile, another larger council was called, and officers were sent to the prison to bring the apostles before them again. The officers found that the prison was secure, the doors locked, but the apostles not there--they were obediently teaching in the temple. The apostles were brought again to the council and reminded of the warning they had been given not to preach in the name of Jesus. Peter responded, "We ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29). They continued testifying for Christ and His resurrection. "And daily in the temple, and unto every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ" (Acts 5:40-42).The rabbis' reaction was to "take counsel to slay them" (Acts 5:17-33).
The apostles were beaten and released after one more warning "that they should not speak in the name of Jesus." Did they obey men rather than God? No. They rejoiced that "they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name."
Centuries ago, Joshua challenged the people of God, "Choose you this day whom ye will serve...as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15). We are faced today with the same choice. To obey our Lord may be costly in terms of money, prestige, and influence--but the issue is really time vs. eternity, God vs. man. That should not be a difficult choice to make.
When we at the Berean Call are denounced by critics for daring to disagree with popular Christian leaders, we simply point to the Bible and reply, "Check it out there!" TBC
Quotable:
It is time for us Christians to face up to our responsibility for holiness. Too often we say we are "defeated" by this or that sin. No, we are not defeated; we are simply disobedient! It might be well if we stopped using the terms "victory" and "defeat" to describe our progress in holiness. Rather we should use the terms "obedience" and "disobedience."
Jerry Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness
William MacDonald explains that the expression "those who are accounted worthy to obtain that age [the millennium]" does not suggest that any people are personally worthy of heaven: the only worthiness sinners can have is the worthiness of the Lord Jesus Christ. "Those are counted worthy who judge themselves, who vindicate Christ, and who own that all worthiness belongs to Him."1
William MacDonald, The Believer's Bible Commentary, comment on Luke 20:35
1. C.A. Coates, An Outline of Luke's Gospel
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Satanic Teachings of Oprah's Guru Linked to Barack Obama
MEDIA ADVISORY, September 22 /Christian Newswire/
In a series of essays published at www.solvinglight.com/blog/, author Robert Bowie Johnson Jr. presents evidence that Barack Obama is directly linked to Satanic teachings through his close association with Oprah Winfrey, who parrots and relentlessly promotes, worldwide, the anti-Christian doctrine of her guru, Eckhart Tolle. A summary:
Michelle Obama has written that Oprah Winfrey is the one who challenges her and Barack "to make the world as it is the world as it should be," calling her a "global role model," and "the first to show us how it can be done."
To change the world, forming a global "new kind of tribe," Oprah, in turn, relies upon the virulently anti- Christian teaching of her pathologically narcissistic guru, Eckhart Tolle.
Tolle, in turn, relies on a spirit or force he calls the "Source" which he says resides within him, Oprah, and all others who believe as Oprah does.
Tolle's "Source" tells him and Oprah that the word of the God of the Bible cannot be trusted, that there is no death, and that he and Oprah both are as God, able to say of themselves, "I Am That I Am." These things that the "Source" has told Tolle and Oprah are the same things the ancient serpent told Eve in the garden. According to Scripture, Satan is another name for the ancient serpent.
"The voting public has a right to know to what degree Barack Obama, who has called himself a 'committed Christian,' considers himself and his wife to be integral parts of Oprah's and Tolle's New Age global tribe, a tribe that has adopted the "wisdom" of the ancient serpent as its own," Mr. Johnson said.
Please see www.solvinglight.com/blog/Obama-and- Satan/ and www.solvinglight.com/blog/Sarah-and- Oprah/ and www.solvinglight.com/blog/category/essays/ and www.solvinglight.c om.
The author is available for interviews.
Christian Newswire
In a series of essays published at www.solvinglight.com/blog/, author Robert Bowie Johnson Jr. presents evidence that Barack Obama is directly linked to Satanic teachings through his close association with Oprah Winfrey, who parrots and relentlessly promotes, worldwide, the anti-Christian doctrine of her guru, Eckhart Tolle. A summary:
Michelle Obama has written that Oprah Winfrey is the one who challenges her and Barack "to make the world as it is the world as it should be," calling her a "global role model," and "the first to show us how it can be done."
To change the world, forming a global "new kind of tribe," Oprah, in turn, relies upon the virulently anti- Christian teaching of her pathologically narcissistic guru, Eckhart Tolle.
Tolle, in turn, relies on a spirit or force he calls the "Source" which he says resides within him, Oprah, and all others who believe as Oprah does.
Tolle's "Source" tells him and Oprah that the word of the God of the Bible cannot be trusted, that there is no death, and that he and Oprah both are as God, able to say of themselves, "I Am That I Am." These things that the "Source" has told Tolle and Oprah are the same things the ancient serpent told Eve in the garden. According to Scripture, Satan is another name for the ancient serpent.
"The voting public has a right to know to what degree Barack Obama, who has called himself a 'committed Christian,' considers himself and his wife to be integral parts of Oprah's and Tolle's New Age global tribe, a tribe that has adopted the "wisdom" of the ancient serpent as its own," Mr. Johnson said.
Please see www.solvinglight.com/blog/Obama-and- Satan/ and www.solvinglight.com/blog/Sarah-and- Oprah/ and www.solvinglight.com/blog/category/essays/ and www.solvinglight.c om.
The author is available for interviews.
Christian Newswire
In the Name of Jesus by Dave Hunt, Part 3
Although Christ's own words, as well as many other scriptures, plainly said that the gospel was for all mankind, the apostles were certain that the gospel was only for Jews. In order to persuade them to preach to Gentiles, the Lord had to give Peter the vision of the sheet let down from heaven with all manner of unclean animals in it (Acts 10:9-20).
The language of Scripture is so clear that those who withhold the gospel from the Jews are guilty of willful disobedience.
In addition to Hagee, there are other highly esteemed church leaders guilty of the same, among them apologist Ravi Zacharias. As the 2008 Honorary Chairman of the National Day of Prayer, Ravi composed a generic prayer suitable for anyone. It does not contain the name of Jesus, which was left out, we are told, "so as not to offend the Jewish participants.
We have previously pointed out the unscriptural nature of a "National Day of Prayer," which, though led by Christians from the beginning, has encouraged non-Christians to join in by praying to their own god or gods. Can anyone imagine that when a disciple asked Jesus, "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1), Christ included a generic prayer for all "people of faith" to whatever "higher power" they espoused?
Let's test Ravi Zacharias's model prayer against reason and Scripture to see how hopeless it is to craft a prayer for all "faiths.'' It begins, "Holy Father...." Repeatedly, the Qur'an says that Allah (Islam's god) is not a father and has no son. Already, the Muslims are offended. The "Holy Father" to whom Ravi refers is the God of the Bible, who is called "the God of Israel" 203 times.
The Muslims would be worse than offended. They would be highly incensed. Allah hates Jews, and Islam teaches that every Jew on earth must be killed before any Muslim can be resurrected. If that happened, it would be a great embarrassment to the "God of Israel"! He couldn't just change His name; He would have to admit to being a false god and Allah the true one.
The God of the Bible is jealous for the honor of His holy name. To Moses He declared: "I AM...the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob...this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations" (Exodus 3:13-16). Jesus confirmed that this was God's name (Luke 20:37). But Islam opposes Israel, and Allah hates Jews.
Islam teaches that what the entire world once understood to be the land of Israel was actually given by Allah to the Arabs/Muslims. As we show in Judgment Day , this belief exposes the fraud of "Palestinian" negotiations with Israel for "peace." It reveals the fact that the trips to the Middle East by Bush and Rice, as well as by EU, UN, and Vatican representatives, are futile.
The Islamic world has drawn the entire non-Muslim world into a false "peace" effort, which so-called Palestinians and their Muslim brethren hope will lead "peacefully," step by step, to the utter destruction of Israel and, finally, to the extermination of all Jews on earth.
Ravi's prayer ends, "In God's holy name...." What does "In God's holy name" mean to Muslims and to millions of Americans who are non-Christians? The National Day of Prayer makes as much sense as Elijah calling apostates in Israel, who worshiped Baal and other false gods, to join with the followers of Yahweh in praying for "God's" blessing upon Israel! If the followers of various religions are praying to different gods (which they are), then what is being accomplished? Is this uniting America? Yes, but only in confusion and deceit.
What about leaving out the name of Jesus from this model prayer in order not to offend Jews? Our Lord Jesus Christ commanded His disciples "that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem..." (Luke 24:47). Nothing could have been more offensive to the Jews. Wouldn't it have seemed logical to the disciples to hold a meeting to discuss this command and to decide that using the name of Jesus--especially at that sensitive time just after the crucifixion--would be counterproductive and probably arouse hatred and maybe get them killed? No, the issue was not how to please the audience but obedience to Christ.
In obedience to their crucified and resurrected Lord's command to preach in His name, the disciples boldly proclaimed the truth in the name of Jesus where that name was despised and where to obey their Lord would mean hatred, persecution, and even death. Without compromise, they indicted the Jews with having rejected and crucified Christ, though He dearly loved His brethren after the flesh and mourned over their unbelief. Peter did not preach a special gospel to the Jews. He declared, "Jesus of Nazareth...approved of God...by miracles and wonders and signs...ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain..." (Acts 2:22-23).
(To be continued...)
The language of Scripture is so clear that those who withhold the gospel from the Jews are guilty of willful disobedience.
In addition to Hagee, there are other highly esteemed church leaders guilty of the same, among them apologist Ravi Zacharias. As the 2008 Honorary Chairman of the National Day of Prayer, Ravi composed a generic prayer suitable for anyone. It does not contain the name of Jesus, which was left out, we are told, "so as not to offend the Jewish participants.
We have previously pointed out the unscriptural nature of a "National Day of Prayer," which, though led by Christians from the beginning, has encouraged non-Christians to join in by praying to their own god or gods. Can anyone imagine that when a disciple asked Jesus, "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1), Christ included a generic prayer for all "people of faith" to whatever "higher power" they espoused?
Let's test Ravi Zacharias's model prayer against reason and Scripture to see how hopeless it is to craft a prayer for all "faiths.'' It begins, "Holy Father...." Repeatedly, the Qur'an says that Allah (Islam's god) is not a father and has no son. Already, the Muslims are offended. The "Holy Father" to whom Ravi refers is the God of the Bible, who is called "the God of Israel" 203 times.
The Muslims would be worse than offended. They would be highly incensed. Allah hates Jews, and Islam teaches that every Jew on earth must be killed before any Muslim can be resurrected. If that happened, it would be a great embarrassment to the "God of Israel"! He couldn't just change His name; He would have to admit to being a false god and Allah the true one.
The God of the Bible is jealous for the honor of His holy name. To Moses He declared: "I AM...the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob...this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations" (Exodus 3:13-16). Jesus confirmed that this was God's name (Luke 20:37). But Islam opposes Israel, and Allah hates Jews.
Islam teaches that what the entire world once understood to be the land of Israel was actually given by Allah to the Arabs/Muslims. As we show in Judgment Day , this belief exposes the fraud of "Palestinian" negotiations with Israel for "peace." It reveals the fact that the trips to the Middle East by Bush and Rice, as well as by EU, UN, and Vatican representatives, are futile.
The Islamic world has drawn the entire non-Muslim world into a false "peace" effort, which so-called Palestinians and their Muslim brethren hope will lead "peacefully," step by step, to the utter destruction of Israel and, finally, to the extermination of all Jews on earth.
Ravi's prayer ends, "In God's holy name...." What does "In God's holy name" mean to Muslims and to millions of Americans who are non-Christians? The National Day of Prayer makes as much sense as Elijah calling apostates in Israel, who worshiped Baal and other false gods, to join with the followers of Yahweh in praying for "God's" blessing upon Israel! If the followers of various religions are praying to different gods (which they are), then what is being accomplished? Is this uniting America? Yes, but only in confusion and deceit.
What about leaving out the name of Jesus from this model prayer in order not to offend Jews? Our Lord Jesus Christ commanded His disciples "that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem..." (Luke 24:47). Nothing could have been more offensive to the Jews. Wouldn't it have seemed logical to the disciples to hold a meeting to discuss this command and to decide that using the name of Jesus--especially at that sensitive time just after the crucifixion--would be counterproductive and probably arouse hatred and maybe get them killed? No, the issue was not how to please the audience but obedience to Christ.
In obedience to their crucified and resurrected Lord's command to preach in His name, the disciples boldly proclaimed the truth in the name of Jesus where that name was despised and where to obey their Lord would mean hatred, persecution, and even death. Without compromise, they indicted the Jews with having rejected and crucified Christ, though He dearly loved His brethren after the flesh and mourned over their unbelief. Peter did not preach a special gospel to the Jews. He declared, "Jesus of Nazareth...approved of God...by miracles and wonders and signs...ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain..." (Acts 2:22-23).
(To be continued...)
Religious Leaders Launching New York Leadership Center
A Lighthouse Trails Commentary
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils." I Timothy 4:1
This past week marked the Launch of the New York City Leadership Center. This is a inter-religious venture that is being supported by some of the country's most prolific Christian figures including Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Greg Laurie, Ken Blanchard, Bob Buford and Frances Hesselbein (representing the late Peter Drucker). The new Leadership Center hopes to "see the redemption of [their] communities through leaders leading together."1 The Leadership Center website states:
The New York City Leadership Center (NYCLC) has been planted by Concerts of Prayer Greater New York to encourage, unify, and support faith leaders throughout the New York metropolitan area and beyond. We believe the redemption of our communities will be realized through effective leadership, coupled with the powerful embrace of united prayer.
Underlying the Center's focus on helping the needy, the uneducated, etc., is the new spirituality that is being propagated today and carries the philosophy of emerging and contemplative spiritualities. Ken Blanchard, a proponent of mysticism, sits on the Advisory Board and will have significant influence in this new organization. Rick Warren is a major "evangelist" for both contemplative and emerging and will use the Center to launch his 40 Days of Love campaign." Bob Buford, founder of the Leadership Network, was the driving force in initiating the emergent church movement. Peter Drucker worked with Buford on this formation. Bill Hybels has joined together with Brian McLaren and other emerging church leaders in bringing the new spirituality to the surface of evangelicalism. In June, Lighthouse Trails issued a report: "Greg Laurie Connects Purpose Driven to a Move of God - Gives Financial Support." Laurie is one of two "event sponsors" for the New York Leadership Center's Launch. The Center told Lighthouse Trails that this sponsorship was financial. While Laurie is a Calvary Chapel pastor (which has officially rejected Purpose Driven, contemplative, and emerging), his ministry supports the efforts of the New York Leadership Center. 2As the nation's Christian leaders race forward convincing tens of thousands of Christians that the church needs this inter-faith structure in order for the Gospel to be effective, they are simultaneously helping (whether they know it or not) to bring about a dangerous, mystical, interspiritual philosophy that will ultimately lead people away from the Cross and the Gospel message.
Rick Warren and Bill Hybels, in particularly, have made it distinctly clear that they are on the emerging/contemplative spiritual path. These and other Christian "leaders" are focusing on "leadership." But it is important to understand that what is taking place isn't truly about leadership - it is about training people to follow: follow without question or dissention. Rick Warren's ministry says those who oppose are like "leaders from hell."3 Unfortunately this path that so many people are now following will lead to great spiritual deception.
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils." I Timothy 4:1
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils." I Timothy 4:1
This past week marked the Launch of the New York City Leadership Center. This is a inter-religious venture that is being supported by some of the country's most prolific Christian figures including Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Greg Laurie, Ken Blanchard, Bob Buford and Frances Hesselbein (representing the late Peter Drucker). The new Leadership Center hopes to "see the redemption of [their] communities through leaders leading together."1 The Leadership Center website states:
The New York City Leadership Center (NYCLC) has been planted by Concerts of Prayer Greater New York to encourage, unify, and support faith leaders throughout the New York metropolitan area and beyond. We believe the redemption of our communities will be realized through effective leadership, coupled with the powerful embrace of united prayer.
Underlying the Center's focus on helping the needy, the uneducated, etc., is the new spirituality that is being propagated today and carries the philosophy of emerging and contemplative spiritualities. Ken Blanchard, a proponent of mysticism, sits on the Advisory Board and will have significant influence in this new organization. Rick Warren is a major "evangelist" for both contemplative and emerging and will use the Center to launch his 40 Days of Love campaign." Bob Buford, founder of the Leadership Network, was the driving force in initiating the emergent church movement. Peter Drucker worked with Buford on this formation. Bill Hybels has joined together with Brian McLaren and other emerging church leaders in bringing the new spirituality to the surface of evangelicalism. In June, Lighthouse Trails issued a report: "Greg Laurie Connects Purpose Driven to a Move of God - Gives Financial Support." Laurie is one of two "event sponsors" for the New York Leadership Center's Launch. The Center told Lighthouse Trails that this sponsorship was financial. While Laurie is a Calvary Chapel pastor (which has officially rejected Purpose Driven, contemplative, and emerging), his ministry supports the efforts of the New York Leadership Center. 2As the nation's Christian leaders race forward convincing tens of thousands of Christians that the church needs this inter-faith structure in order for the Gospel to be effective, they are simultaneously helping (whether they know it or not) to bring about a dangerous, mystical, interspiritual philosophy that will ultimately lead people away from the Cross and the Gospel message.
Rick Warren and Bill Hybels, in particularly, have made it distinctly clear that they are on the emerging/contemplative spiritual path. These and other Christian "leaders" are focusing on "leadership." But it is important to understand that what is taking place isn't truly about leadership - it is about training people to follow: follow without question or dissention. Rick Warren's ministry says those who oppose are like "leaders from hell."3 Unfortunately this path that so many people are now following will lead to great spiritual deception.
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils." I Timothy 4:1
Monday, September 22, 2008
Scripture References for Sept. 21, 2008
BobbiLyn: Welcome to http://www.apostasywatch.com/ Sunday morning live Bible study and fellowship
BobbiLyn: Ps 66:1 ¶ To the chief Musician, A Song or Psalm. Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands:
Ps 66:2 Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious.
BobbiLyn: Ps 66:3 Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee.
BobbiLyn: Ps 66:4 All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name. Selah.
Ps 66:5 Come and see the works of God: he is terrible in his doing toward the children of men.
BobbiLyn: Ps 66:6 He turned the sea into dry land: they went through the flood on foot: there did we rejoice in him.
Ps 66:7 He ruleth by his power for ever; his eyes behold the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah.
BobbiLyn: Ps 66:8 ¶ O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of his praise to be heard:
Ps 66:9 Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved.
BobbiLyn: Ps 66:10 For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.
Ps 66:11 Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins.
BobbiLyn: Ps 66:12 Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.
Ps 66:13 ¶ I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows,
BobbiLyn: Ps 66:14 Which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble.
BobbiLyn: Ps 66:15 I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah.
Ps 66:16 Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.
BobbiLyn: Ps 66:17 I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue.
Ps 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
BobbiLyn: Ps 66:19 But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
Ps 66:20 Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.
BobbiLyn: Eph 4:17 ¶ This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
Eph 4:18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
BobbiLyn: 2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
BobbiLyn: Eph 4:19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
BobbiLyn: Mr 7:22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
BobbiLyn: Mr 7:23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
BobbiLyn: Ro 1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
BobbiLyn: Eph 5:3 ¶ But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
BobbiLyn: Eph 4:20 But ye have not so learned Christ;
Eph 4:21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
Eph 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
BobbiLyn: Eph 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
BobbiLyn: Mr 4:11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:
Mr 4:12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
BobbiLyn: Ro 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
BobbiLyn: Eph 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
BobbiLyn: Eph 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
Eph 4:27 Neither give place to the devil.
BobbiLyn: Eph 4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
BobbiLyn: Zec 8:16 These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:
BobbiLyn: Zec 8:17 And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.
BobbiLyn: Ps 4:4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
BobbiLyn: Ps 4:5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.
BobbiLyn: Ps 37:8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
BobbiLyn: Eph 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
BobbiLyn: Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
BobbiLyn: Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
BobbiLyn: 1Pe 4:8 And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
BobbiLyn: Eph 5:1 ¶ Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
Eph 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
BobbiLyn: Eph 5:3 ¶ But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
Eph 5:4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
BobbiLyn: ph 5:5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Eph 5:6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
BobbiLyn: Eph 5:7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
BobbiLyn: ph 5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
Eph 5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth
Eph 5:10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
BobbiLyn: Eph 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
Eph 5:12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
BobbiLyn: Eph 5:13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.
Eph 5:14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
BobbiLyn: Eph 5:15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
Eph 5:16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
BobbiLyn: Eph 5:17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
Eph 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
BobbiLyn: Eph 5:20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Eph 5:21 ¶ Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
BobbiLyn: Ps 66:1 ¶ To the chief Musician, A Song or Psalm. Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands:
Ps 66:2 Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious.
BobbiLyn: Ps 66:3 Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee.
BobbiLyn: Ps 66:4 All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee; they shall sing to thy name. Selah.
Ps 66:5 Come and see the works of God: he is terrible in his doing toward the children of men.
BobbiLyn: Ps 66:6 He turned the sea into dry land: they went through the flood on foot: there did we rejoice in him.
Ps 66:7 He ruleth by his power for ever; his eyes behold the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah.
BobbiLyn: Ps 66:8 ¶ O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of his praise to be heard:
Ps 66:9 Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved.
BobbiLyn: Ps 66:10 For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.
Ps 66:11 Thou broughtest us into the net; thou laidst affliction upon our loins.
BobbiLyn: Ps 66:12 Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water: but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.
Ps 66:13 ¶ I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows,
BobbiLyn: Ps 66:14 Which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble.
BobbiLyn: Ps 66:15 I will offer unto thee burnt sacrifices of fatlings, with the incense of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah.
Ps 66:16 Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.
BobbiLyn: Ps 66:17 I cried unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue.
Ps 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
BobbiLyn: Ps 66:19 But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer.
Ps 66:20 Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.
BobbiLyn: Eph 4:17 ¶ This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind,
Eph 4:18 Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:
BobbiLyn: 2Co 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
BobbiLyn: Eph 4:19 Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
BobbiLyn: Mr 7:22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
BobbiLyn: Mr 7:23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.
BobbiLyn: Ro 1:29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
BobbiLyn: Eph 5:3 ¶ But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
BobbiLyn: Eph 4:20 But ye have not so learned Christ;
Eph 4:21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:
Eph 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;
BobbiLyn: Eph 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
BobbiLyn: Mr 4:11 And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:
Mr 4:12 That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
BobbiLyn: Ro 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
BobbiLyn: Eph 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
BobbiLyn: Eph 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
Eph 4:27 Neither give place to the devil.
BobbiLyn: Eph 4:28 Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
BobbiLyn: Zec 8:16 These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:
BobbiLyn: Zec 8:17 And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.
BobbiLyn: Ps 4:4 Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.
BobbiLyn: Ps 4:5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD.
BobbiLyn: Ps 37:8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.
BobbiLyn: Eph 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
BobbiLyn: Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
BobbiLyn: Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
BobbiLyn: 1Pe 4:8 And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
BobbiLyn: Eph 5:1 ¶ Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;
Eph 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
BobbiLyn: Eph 5:3 ¶ But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints;
Eph 5:4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.
BobbiLyn: ph 5:5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Eph 5:6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
BobbiLyn: Eph 5:7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them.
BobbiLyn: ph 5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
Eph 5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth
Eph 5:10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
BobbiLyn: Eph 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
Eph 5:12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
BobbiLyn: Eph 5:13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.
Eph 5:14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
BobbiLyn: Eph 5:15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
Eph 5:16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
BobbiLyn: Eph 5:17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
Eph 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
BobbiLyn: Eph 5:20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Eph 5:21 ¶ Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
Friday, September 19, 2008
In the name of Jesus by Dave Hunt, Part 2
From Genesis to Revelation, we are instructed to stand firm, following the Lord with pure hearts, not turning from the narrow way. Christ's command to every Christian was and still is, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). This is every Christian's marching orders.
Earnestly contending for the faith does not mean arguing over moot points that are not essential to the gospel. We must be patient with differences of opinion on minor matters of doctrine and practice. Yes, Paul openly rebuked Peter to his face before the church at Galatia, but his rebuke concerned the gospel, which cannot be changed one iota: "I withstood him to the face...when I saw that they [the believers who had been led astray by Peter's compromising in order to placate the Jews] walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel..." (Galatians 2:11-14).
We must stand up for God's truth and not compromise. Sadly, we have Christian leaders today who not only disobey but even dare to revise what God has clearly written in His Word!
We cannot make what we think will be acceptable "small adjustments" to God's way of salvation. If we tamper in the slightest with the gospel, we are despising God's Word and jeopardizing the eternal destiny of souls! The unchanging and unchangeable "gospel of Christ [not the latest revision of it]...is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth [it]" (Romans 1:16). This is the only way of salvation. Jesus said that for anyone to "see [and] enter into the kingdom of God [i.e., be saved] he...must be born again" (John 3:3-7). Peter declares that we are "born again...by the word of God...which by the gospel is preached" (1 Peter 1:23-25).
No wonder we must proclaim the gospel. Only in believing this Word from God can anyone be saved. Tragically, as we have repeatedly documented in these pages, the gospel is being tampered with and compromised by many who claim to believe and preach it. Passages of Scripture such as the above, which are crystal clear in the duty they impose upon every Christian, are being willfully set aside to avoid "offending" the unsaved. How can someone's hurt feelings be compared with an eternity separated from God in the torments of the damned?
We have quoted John Hagee (Q&A, 4/08 ) declaring: "I'm not trying to convert the Jewish people to the Christian faith...trying to convert Jews is a waste of time....Everyone else needs to believe in Jesus...but not Jews. Jews already have a covenant with God that has never been replaced by Christianity..." [The Houston Chronicle (4/30/88, sec. 6, p. 1)].
In stark contrast, Paul was absolutely certain that unless they believed the gospel, Jews, like anyone else, would be eternally lost. So concerned was he that he would have gone to hell in their place if that would have saved them (Romans 9:1-5). He declared, "I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh....My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved" (Rom 9:1-3; Romans 10:1).
Apparently, Paul did not know what Hagee knows, which, had he known it, would have removed Paul's concern for the salvation of Jews. One wonders when and how Hagee received this revelation that Jews don't need the gospel and whether he thinks the Bible ought to be revised in that respect. That would involve changing so many scriptures that I doubt it could be done.
When Paul proclaimed, "The gospel...is the power of God unto salvation" he added, "to the Jew first..." (Romans 1:16). Christ commanded His disciples to "preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15), which surely must have included Jews. In fact, they were to "begin at Jerusalem" (Luke 24:47), which Peter did obediently on the day of Pentecost when 3,000 Jews (with maybe a few Gentiles among them) were saved.
(To be continued...)
Earnestly contending for the faith does not mean arguing over moot points that are not essential to the gospel. We must be patient with differences of opinion on minor matters of doctrine and practice. Yes, Paul openly rebuked Peter to his face before the church at Galatia, but his rebuke concerned the gospel, which cannot be changed one iota: "I withstood him to the face...when I saw that they [the believers who had been led astray by Peter's compromising in order to placate the Jews] walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel..." (Galatians 2:11-14).
We must stand up for God's truth and not compromise. Sadly, we have Christian leaders today who not only disobey but even dare to revise what God has clearly written in His Word!
We cannot make what we think will be acceptable "small adjustments" to God's way of salvation. If we tamper in the slightest with the gospel, we are despising God's Word and jeopardizing the eternal destiny of souls! The unchanging and unchangeable "gospel of Christ [not the latest revision of it]...is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth [it]" (Romans 1:16). This is the only way of salvation. Jesus said that for anyone to "see [and] enter into the kingdom of God [i.e., be saved] he...must be born again" (John 3:3-7). Peter declares that we are "born again...by the word of God...which by the gospel is preached" (1 Peter 1:23-25).
No wonder we must proclaim the gospel. Only in believing this Word from God can anyone be saved. Tragically, as we have repeatedly documented in these pages, the gospel is being tampered with and compromised by many who claim to believe and preach it. Passages of Scripture such as the above, which are crystal clear in the duty they impose upon every Christian, are being willfully set aside to avoid "offending" the unsaved. How can someone's hurt feelings be compared with an eternity separated from God in the torments of the damned?
We have quoted John Hagee (Q&A, 4/08 ) declaring: "I'm not trying to convert the Jewish people to the Christian faith...trying to convert Jews is a waste of time....Everyone else needs to believe in Jesus...but not Jews. Jews already have a covenant with God that has never been replaced by Christianity..." [The Houston Chronicle (4/30/88, sec. 6, p. 1)].
In stark contrast, Paul was absolutely certain that unless they believed the gospel, Jews, like anyone else, would be eternally lost. So concerned was he that he would have gone to hell in their place if that would have saved them (Romans 9:1-5). He declared, "I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh....My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved" (Rom 9:1-3; Romans 10:1).
Apparently, Paul did not know what Hagee knows, which, had he known it, would have removed Paul's concern for the salvation of Jews. One wonders when and how Hagee received this revelation that Jews don't need the gospel and whether he thinks the Bible ought to be revised in that respect. That would involve changing so many scriptures that I doubt it could be done.
When Paul proclaimed, "The gospel...is the power of God unto salvation" he added, "to the Jew first..." (Romans 1:16). Christ commanded His disciples to "preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15), which surely must have included Jews. In fact, they were to "begin at Jerusalem" (Luke 24:47), which Peter did obediently on the day of Pentecost when 3,000 Jews (with maybe a few Gentiles among them) were saved.
(To be continued...)
In the Name of Jesus - by Dave Hunt, Part 1
A major part of Paul's ministry was spent in disputing, reasoning, and persuading (Acts 19:8; Acts 19:26; Acts 28:23) in synagogues and market places (Acts 17:2-3; Acts 17:17; Acts 18:4; Acts 18:19; Acts 19:8), in religious schools (Acts 19:9), and wherever debates were held, such as on Mars Hill (Acts 17:18-34). Paul tells us that we are to follow his example, so Christians should be earnestly reasoning with and persuading others of the truth of the gospel as the Lord gives opportunity. Friends, neighbors, perhaps family members are on their way to a Christless eternity. Let us try to help them!
Time is short. Whether by death or the Rapture, we're all leaving this world soon.We also saw with equal clarity that the Bible does not promote ecumenism of any kind or any other compromise of the faith. We are to "earnestly contend for the faith," a clause that cannot be twisted to mean, "emphasize what we have in common and avoid controversial differences so that we can all work together for the common good." That may sound commendable, but it is not biblical and is shameless disobedience to our Lord's command.The early church made no alliances with apostates, heretics, or non-Christians, even for seemingly good causes. There is no time to waste and we must decide our priorities. Will we spend our time and resources in partnership with the world in political and social action, or will we preach the gospel and earnestly contend for the faith once for all committed to the saints?
To be continued.........
Time is short. Whether by death or the Rapture, we're all leaving this world soon.We also saw with equal clarity that the Bible does not promote ecumenism of any kind or any other compromise of the faith. We are to "earnestly contend for the faith," a clause that cannot be twisted to mean, "emphasize what we have in common and avoid controversial differences so that we can all work together for the common good." That may sound commendable, but it is not biblical and is shameless disobedience to our Lord's command.The early church made no alliances with apostates, heretics, or non-Christians, even for seemingly good causes. There is no time to waste and we must decide our priorities. Will we spend our time and resources in partnership with the world in political and social action, or will we preach the gospel and earnestly contend for the faith once for all committed to the saints?
To be continued.........
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Willing to be Lost and Searching
Willing to be Lost and Searching Rather Than Accept the Gospel According to Jesus Christ
July 8th, 2005 - PBS' Religion & Ethics Weekly has just released a news story on the emerging church movement. The story shows how far this movement's leaders are willing to go to bring a whole generation into their emergence. These leaders are compromising the gospel and keeping thousands of young people from hearing the true message of salvation.
The underlying foundation of the emerging church is New Age mysticism. With labyrinths, yoga, chanting and meditating, the emerging church is helping to unite all the world's religious traditions.
The three emerging church leaders featured in the PBS story, Brian McLaren, Doug Pagitt, and Tony Jones, speak of a new Christianity: Doug Pagitt - "When people discover we are a church with a yoga class ... they sometimes assume that we're simply out to appeal to the cultural creatives and the neo-hippies." (p. 53, Reimagining Spiritual Formation)
Brian McLaren: Endorsing the back cover of Alan Jones' book, Reimagining Christianity, which says the doctrine of the Cross is a vile doctrine.
Tony Jones, author of Soul Shaper:"The first time I introduced this, the kids came in, and I had a candle going and a little incense burning and some Gregorian chant music on the CD player."
You may view a video clip of this story at their web site. You won't believe what you see!
PBS Airs Part II of the Emerging Church
See the Egyptian god symbol used in the "sanctuary" at the 25 second mark of this video.
July 8th, 2005 - PBS' Religion & Ethics Weekly has just released a news story on the emerging church movement. The story shows how far this movement's leaders are willing to go to bring a whole generation into their emergence. These leaders are compromising the gospel and keeping thousands of young people from hearing the true message of salvation.
The underlying foundation of the emerging church is New Age mysticism. With labyrinths, yoga, chanting and meditating, the emerging church is helping to unite all the world's religious traditions.
The three emerging church leaders featured in the PBS story, Brian McLaren, Doug Pagitt, and Tony Jones, speak of a new Christianity: Doug Pagitt - "When people discover we are a church with a yoga class ... they sometimes assume that we're simply out to appeal to the cultural creatives and the neo-hippies." (p. 53, Reimagining Spiritual Formation)
Brian McLaren: Endorsing the back cover of Alan Jones' book, Reimagining Christianity, which says the doctrine of the Cross is a vile doctrine.
Tony Jones, author of Soul Shaper:"The first time I introduced this, the kids came in, and I had a candle going and a little incense burning and some Gregorian chant music on the CD player."
You may view a video clip of this story at their web site. You won't believe what you see!
PBS Airs Part II of the Emerging Church
See the Egyptian god symbol used in the "sanctuary" at the 25 second mark of this video.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Urgent Prayer Request!
Hello everyone,
Last week I sent in a prayer request concerning the unemployment compensation that I was receiving had ended last week. God provided for the electricity in the amount of ($218.47) to be paid, but I have yet to satisfy the rent which has now accumulated late fees bringing it to a total of ($486.50 + 133.00 = $619.50). I have been blessed to start working a new job on October 1st after being unemployed for five months but the rent still needs to be paid for the month of September. Please pray and stand with me and my daughters as we trust in God for this need to be met and His will in this situation. This is an urgent need. Thank you.
God Bless,
Nakia
Last week I sent in a prayer request concerning the unemployment compensation that I was receiving had ended last week. God provided for the electricity in the amount of ($218.47) to be paid, but I have yet to satisfy the rent which has now accumulated late fees bringing it to a total of ($486.50 + 133.00 = $619.50). I have been blessed to start working a new job on October 1st after being unemployed for five months but the rent still needs to be paid for the month of September. Please pray and stand with me and my daughters as we trust in God for this need to be met and His will in this situation. This is an urgent need. Thank you.
God Bless,
Nakia
Are You Being Deceived (Part 2 Continued)
Practices
While many, even within the Word-Faith churches, are unaware of some of the doctrinal heresies of the movement, none can plead ignorant of the strange and bizarre practices and emphasis of its leaders. The following things are standard occurrences in virtually every one of their television broadcasts, evangelistic campaigns, and church services.
A Prosperity Gospel
Nothing will create more euphoria in the average person than the promise to make them wealthy, and this the Word-Faith leadership knows very well. The Word-Faith teacher's lifestyle is clearly identified by opulence, luxury, riches, and the assurance that all of this can be his followers as well -- if only they apply certain principles.
Robert Tilton is normative. On a Trinity Broadcasting Network program in 1990 he said:
"Being poor is a sin, when God promises prosperity. New house? New car? That's chicken feed. That's nothing compared to what God wants to do for you" (Charismatic Chaos, p. 285).
Fred Price on a similar broadcast explains how it works:
"If you've got one dollar faith and you ask for a ten-thousand dollar item, it ain't going to work. It won't work. Jesus said, 'According to your [faith],' not according to God's will for you, in His own good time, if it's according to His will, if He can work it into his busy schedule. He said, 'According to your faith, be it unto you'" (Charismatic Chaos, p. 286).
Of course, the road to prosperity somehow always leads to the offering plate of the Word-Faith Movement. Gloria Copeland (Kenneth's wife) pulls no punches in her book God's Will Is Prosperity:
"Give $10 and receive $1000; Give $1000 and receive $100,000 … give one house and receive one hundred houses or a house worth one hundred times as much. Give one airplane and receive one hundred times the value of the airplane. … In short, Mark 10:30 is a very good deal" (p. 54).
A Health Gospel
The "name-it-and-claim-it" pundits are not content with mere wealth; they want to feel well enough to enjoy their prosperity. So do most of their listeners. So while you are giving away wealth, why not dispense health as well?
The Word-Faith teachers, as is true of many other charismatics, believe that Christ provided for physical healing at the cross. As a result, not only are Christians saved from sin, they are promised a life of health. Kenneth Copeland writes in Healed … to Be or Not to Be:
"The first step to spiritual maturity is to realize your position before God. You are a child of God and a joint-heir with Jesus. Consequently, you are entitled to all the rights and privileges in the kingdom of God, and one of their rights is health and healing" (p. 25).
But, if healing is part of the atonement, why do Christians get sick? Lack of faith, as Benny Hinn explains:
"The Bible declares that the work was done 2,000 years ago. God is not going to heal you now -- he healed you 2,000 years ago. All you have to do today is receive your healing by faith" (Rise and Be Healed, p. 44).
Of course reality, in the form of sickness, has to be faced even by the Word-Faith leaders. Fred Price may proclaim "we don't allow sickness in our home," but his wife still has cancer. Kenneth Hagin brags that he has not had a headache, the flu, or even "one sick day" in nearly 60 years, but he has had four cardiovascular crises. Paul Crouch may have healed Oral Roberts of chest pains on a TBN Broadcast, but it didn't stop Oral from having a heart attack a few hours later (Christianity in Crisis, pp. 237-238). How are these things explained away? Predictably, by blaming them on the devil. Sickness in the Word-Faith camp is usually seen as satanic attacks that must be repelled by words of faith (i.e., "positive confession").
Experiences
The faith leaders make some amazing claims. Hagin, for example, has visited (so he says) both heaven and hell as well as had out-of-body experiences (Christianity in Crisis, p. 334). He has had many visits from Jesus and angels. He boasts of the ability to heal, cast our demons, and levitate people (p. 336). Hinn opens his best selling book with these words:
"It was three days before Christmas 1973. The sun was still rising on that cold, misty Toronto morning. Suddenly He was there. The Holy Spirit entered my room. He was as real to me that morning as the book you are holding in your hand is to you. For the next eight hours I had an incredible experience with the Holy Spirit. It changed the course of my life (Rise and Be Healed, p. 1).
Hinn speaks of frequent personal visits from the Lord, the first being at age eleven:
"I saw Jesus walk into my bedroom. He was wearing a robe that was whiter than white and a deep red mantle was draped over the robe. I saw his hair. I looked into His eyes. I saw the nailprints in His hands. I saw everything. ... When it happened, I was asleep, but suddenly my little body was caught up in an incredible sensation that can only be described as 'electric.' It felt as if someone had plugged me into a wired socket. There was a numbness that felt like needles -- a million of them -- rushing through my body. And then the Lord stood before me while I was in a deep, deep sleep. He looked straight at me with the most beautiful eyes. He smiled, and His arms were open wide. I could feel His presence. It was marvelous and I'll never forget it" (Rise and Be Healed, p. 22).
When Hinn describes his conversion, he does not mention the cross, repentance, or faith; rather, it is all couched in terms of experience:
"What I really felt, though, was that this surge of power was cleansing me -- instantly, from the inside out. I felt absolutely clean, immaculate, and pure. Suddenly I saw Jesus with my own eyes. It happened in a moment of time. There he was. Jesus" (Rise and Be Healed, p. 31).
Hinn claims power of a supernatural nature often emanates from his body:
"Once, my mother was cleaning the hallway while I was in my room talking with the Holy Spirit. When I came out, she was thrown right back. Something had knocked her against the wall. I said, 'What's wrong with you, Mama?' She answered, 'I don't know?' Well, the presence of the Lord almost knocked her down" (Rise and Be Healed, p. 42).
Both the appeal of the book and its dangers are evident in this quote:
"Are you ready to meet the Holy Spirit intimately and personally? Do you want to hear His voice? Are you prepared to know him as a person? That's exactly what happened to me, and it drastically transformed my life. It was an intensely personal experience, and it was based on God's Word. You may ask, 'Was it the result of a systematic Bible study?' No, it happened when I invited the Holy Spirit to be my personal friend. To be my constant guide. To take me by the hand and lead me 'into all truth.' What He will uncover and reveal to you in Scripture will make your study of the Bible come alive" (Rise and Be Healed, p. 48).
Both the Word-Faith leaders and their followers make the same mistake of basing their lives on experiences and feelings rather than upon the inspired Word of God.
Luminaries within the Movement
Kenneth Hagin is considered the father of Word-Faith. He has a syndicated radio show carried by about 250 radio stations; a Bible School (Rhema Bible Training Center) with 12,000 graduates from 1974-1992; a magazine with 400,000 subscribers; and has sold millions of books and other publications.
Kenneth Copeland is the heir-apparent to the Faith throne (although Benny Hinn has moved in to challenge). Copeland's empire spans the globe with similar ministries as Hagin.
Benny Hinn was pastor of Orlando Christian Center in Orlando, Florida. (He recently moved his ministry to Dallas.) Hinn reaches the world through evangelistic campaigns, television, and literature. His book Good Morning Holy Spirit was the best selling Christian book in 1991, selling a quarter of a million copies in only three months. He is perhaps best known as a "Faith-Healer" in the traditions of Kathryn Kuhlman (his idol) and Oral Roberts. His "ability" to "slay in the Spirit" large groups of people at once (by blowing on them or waving his arm their direction) has brought him considerable notoriety.
Frederick K.C. Price, the most prominent of black Word-Faith preachers, pastors the 16,000-member Crenshaw Christian Center, and has his own television show.
John Avanzini, best-known fundraiser among the Word-Faith leaders. He has said, "A greater than a lottery has come. His name is Jesus!"
Robert Tilton perfected the Christian infomercial through his "Success-N-Life" television program.
Marilyn Hickey is (except for Gloria Copeland and perhaps Jan Crouch) the best-known woman in the movement. She teaches people to speak to their wallets and checkbooks in order that their wealth may increase.
David Yonggi Cho is the pastor of the 700,000 Full Gospel Yoido Church in South Korea. Cho, who often speaks at Robert Schuller Conferences on church growth (along with Bill Hybels), is perhaps the closest link to the occult. He teaches a concept called the "Fourth Dimension." The first three dimensions are physical and are controlled by the fourth, which is the spiritual. Cho teaches that Christians can get anything they want by calling upon the spirit world in the Fourth Dimension and visualizing what they want. When a person (Christian or unsaved) follows the proper formula of positive thinking, speaking and visualizing, they "incubate" and eventually give birth to their desires. These techniques are the same used in his occult-infested country. Cho is aware of this fact, but believes what works for "them" will work for "us" -- so use it.
* This report has been excerpted and or adapted from an article ("The Word of Faith Movement") in the April 1999, Think on These Things, Southern View Chapel, Springfield, IL, Gary Gilley, Pastor.
While many, even within the Word-Faith churches, are unaware of some of the doctrinal heresies of the movement, none can plead ignorant of the strange and bizarre practices and emphasis of its leaders. The following things are standard occurrences in virtually every one of their television broadcasts, evangelistic campaigns, and church services.
A Prosperity Gospel
Nothing will create more euphoria in the average person than the promise to make them wealthy, and this the Word-Faith leadership knows very well. The Word-Faith teacher's lifestyle is clearly identified by opulence, luxury, riches, and the assurance that all of this can be his followers as well -- if only they apply certain principles.
Robert Tilton is normative. On a Trinity Broadcasting Network program in 1990 he said:
"Being poor is a sin, when God promises prosperity. New house? New car? That's chicken feed. That's nothing compared to what God wants to do for you" (Charismatic Chaos, p. 285).
Fred Price on a similar broadcast explains how it works:
"If you've got one dollar faith and you ask for a ten-thousand dollar item, it ain't going to work. It won't work. Jesus said, 'According to your [faith],' not according to God's will for you, in His own good time, if it's according to His will, if He can work it into his busy schedule. He said, 'According to your faith, be it unto you'" (Charismatic Chaos, p. 286).
Of course, the road to prosperity somehow always leads to the offering plate of the Word-Faith Movement. Gloria Copeland (Kenneth's wife) pulls no punches in her book God's Will Is Prosperity:
"Give $10 and receive $1000; Give $1000 and receive $100,000 … give one house and receive one hundred houses or a house worth one hundred times as much. Give one airplane and receive one hundred times the value of the airplane. … In short, Mark 10:30 is a very good deal" (p. 54).
A Health Gospel
The "name-it-and-claim-it" pundits are not content with mere wealth; they want to feel well enough to enjoy their prosperity. So do most of their listeners. So while you are giving away wealth, why not dispense health as well?
The Word-Faith teachers, as is true of many other charismatics, believe that Christ provided for physical healing at the cross. As a result, not only are Christians saved from sin, they are promised a life of health. Kenneth Copeland writes in Healed … to Be or Not to Be:
"The first step to spiritual maturity is to realize your position before God. You are a child of God and a joint-heir with Jesus. Consequently, you are entitled to all the rights and privileges in the kingdom of God, and one of their rights is health and healing" (p. 25).
But, if healing is part of the atonement, why do Christians get sick? Lack of faith, as Benny Hinn explains:
"The Bible declares that the work was done 2,000 years ago. God is not going to heal you now -- he healed you 2,000 years ago. All you have to do today is receive your healing by faith" (Rise and Be Healed, p. 44).
Of course reality, in the form of sickness, has to be faced even by the Word-Faith leaders. Fred Price may proclaim "we don't allow sickness in our home," but his wife still has cancer. Kenneth Hagin brags that he has not had a headache, the flu, or even "one sick day" in nearly 60 years, but he has had four cardiovascular crises. Paul Crouch may have healed Oral Roberts of chest pains on a TBN Broadcast, but it didn't stop Oral from having a heart attack a few hours later (Christianity in Crisis, pp. 237-238). How are these things explained away? Predictably, by blaming them on the devil. Sickness in the Word-Faith camp is usually seen as satanic attacks that must be repelled by words of faith (i.e., "positive confession").
Experiences
The faith leaders make some amazing claims. Hagin, for example, has visited (so he says) both heaven and hell as well as had out-of-body experiences (Christianity in Crisis, p. 334). He has had many visits from Jesus and angels. He boasts of the ability to heal, cast our demons, and levitate people (p. 336). Hinn opens his best selling book with these words:
"It was three days before Christmas 1973. The sun was still rising on that cold, misty Toronto morning. Suddenly He was there. The Holy Spirit entered my room. He was as real to me that morning as the book you are holding in your hand is to you. For the next eight hours I had an incredible experience with the Holy Spirit. It changed the course of my life (Rise and Be Healed, p. 1).
Hinn speaks of frequent personal visits from the Lord, the first being at age eleven:
"I saw Jesus walk into my bedroom. He was wearing a robe that was whiter than white and a deep red mantle was draped over the robe. I saw his hair. I looked into His eyes. I saw the nailprints in His hands. I saw everything. ... When it happened, I was asleep, but suddenly my little body was caught up in an incredible sensation that can only be described as 'electric.' It felt as if someone had plugged me into a wired socket. There was a numbness that felt like needles -- a million of them -- rushing through my body. And then the Lord stood before me while I was in a deep, deep sleep. He looked straight at me with the most beautiful eyes. He smiled, and His arms were open wide. I could feel His presence. It was marvelous and I'll never forget it" (Rise and Be Healed, p. 22).
When Hinn describes his conversion, he does not mention the cross, repentance, or faith; rather, it is all couched in terms of experience:
"What I really felt, though, was that this surge of power was cleansing me -- instantly, from the inside out. I felt absolutely clean, immaculate, and pure. Suddenly I saw Jesus with my own eyes. It happened in a moment of time. There he was. Jesus" (Rise and Be Healed, p. 31).
Hinn claims power of a supernatural nature often emanates from his body:
"Once, my mother was cleaning the hallway while I was in my room talking with the Holy Spirit. When I came out, she was thrown right back. Something had knocked her against the wall. I said, 'What's wrong with you, Mama?' She answered, 'I don't know?' Well, the presence of the Lord almost knocked her down" (Rise and Be Healed, p. 42).
Both the appeal of the book and its dangers are evident in this quote:
"Are you ready to meet the Holy Spirit intimately and personally? Do you want to hear His voice? Are you prepared to know him as a person? That's exactly what happened to me, and it drastically transformed my life. It was an intensely personal experience, and it was based on God's Word. You may ask, 'Was it the result of a systematic Bible study?' No, it happened when I invited the Holy Spirit to be my personal friend. To be my constant guide. To take me by the hand and lead me 'into all truth.' What He will uncover and reveal to you in Scripture will make your study of the Bible come alive" (Rise and Be Healed, p. 48).
Both the Word-Faith leaders and their followers make the same mistake of basing their lives on experiences and feelings rather than upon the inspired Word of God.
Luminaries within the Movement
Kenneth Hagin is considered the father of Word-Faith. He has a syndicated radio show carried by about 250 radio stations; a Bible School (Rhema Bible Training Center) with 12,000 graduates from 1974-1992; a magazine with 400,000 subscribers; and has sold millions of books and other publications.
Kenneth Copeland is the heir-apparent to the Faith throne (although Benny Hinn has moved in to challenge). Copeland's empire spans the globe with similar ministries as Hagin.
Benny Hinn was pastor of Orlando Christian Center in Orlando, Florida. (He recently moved his ministry to Dallas.) Hinn reaches the world through evangelistic campaigns, television, and literature. His book Good Morning Holy Spirit was the best selling Christian book in 1991, selling a quarter of a million copies in only three months. He is perhaps best known as a "Faith-Healer" in the traditions of Kathryn Kuhlman (his idol) and Oral Roberts. His "ability" to "slay in the Spirit" large groups of people at once (by blowing on them or waving his arm their direction) has brought him considerable notoriety.
Frederick K.C. Price, the most prominent of black Word-Faith preachers, pastors the 16,000-member Crenshaw Christian Center, and has his own television show.
John Avanzini, best-known fundraiser among the Word-Faith leaders. He has said, "A greater than a lottery has come. His name is Jesus!"
Robert Tilton perfected the Christian infomercial through his "Success-N-Life" television program.
Marilyn Hickey is (except for Gloria Copeland and perhaps Jan Crouch) the best-known woman in the movement. She teaches people to speak to their wallets and checkbooks in order that their wealth may increase.
David Yonggi Cho is the pastor of the 700,000 Full Gospel Yoido Church in South Korea. Cho, who often speaks at Robert Schuller Conferences on church growth (along with Bill Hybels), is perhaps the closest link to the occult. He teaches a concept called the "Fourth Dimension." The first three dimensions are physical and are controlled by the fourth, which is the spiritual. Cho teaches that Christians can get anything they want by calling upon the spirit world in the Fourth Dimension and visualizing what they want. When a person (Christian or unsaved) follows the proper formula of positive thinking, speaking and visualizing, they "incubate" and eventually give birth to their desires. These techniques are the same used in his occult-infested country. Cho is aware of this fact, but believes what works for "them" will work for "us" -- so use it.
* This report has been excerpted and or adapted from an article ("The Word of Faith Movement") in the April 1999, Think on These Things, Southern View Chapel, Springfield, IL, Gary Gilley, Pastor.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Are You Being Deceived?
I asked myself, how in the world could any born-again believer in Christ buy into this rubbish. Well, Saints, I have the answer for you. They don't know their Bible. They don't know the very words of Jesus, Himself. They are being deceived by these false teachers. This is a part of the answer to "why". There is a lot more written on this subject in our Bibles. This only begins to touch on the answer to "why".
Please read this very good article written by a brother, Gary Gilley. The title of the article is:
The Word of Faith Movement by Gary Gilley
Word of Faith
The fastest growing segment of Christianity today is the Word of Faith Movement, also known as the Positive Confession or simply "Faith" movement. It’s growth is at least partially due to the massive amounts of money the leaders are able to extract from the faithful. This influx of cash allows for huge buildings and extensive ministries, and more importantly, wide exposure on television, which translates into numerical growth. Not only do many Word of Faith preachers broadcast their services and campaigns, but the largest Christian-based television network in the world is owned by Faith adherents, Paul and Jan Crouch. The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), founded by the Crouches, with an estimated net worth of one-half a billion dollars, is capable of televising the Faith message (as well as many other errant messages) all over the world.
Well-known personalities within the movement include Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Robert Tilton (who is staging a come-back), Paul Yonggi Cho, Benny Hinn, Marilyn Hickey, Frederick Price, John Avanzini, Charles Capps, Jerry Savelle, Morris Cerullo and of course, Paul and Jan Crouch.
Beliefs
Faith is a Force
As is implied by the title "Word of Faith," the supporters of this movement believe that faith works like a mighty power or force. Through faith we can obtain anything we want — health, wealth, success, whatever. However, this force is only released through the spoken word. As we speak the words of faith, power is discharged to accomplish our desires. Hank Hanegraaf summarizes Hagin’s theme as found in his booklet How to Write Your Own Ticket with God:
In the opening chapter, titled "Jesus Appears to Me," Hagin claims that while he "was in the Spirit" — just like the apostle John on the Isle of Patmos — a white cloud enveloped him and he began to speak in tongues. "Then the Lord Jesus Himself appeared to me," says Hagin. "He stood within three feet of me." After what sounded like a casual conversation about such things as finances, ministry, and even current affairs, Jesus told Hagin to get a pencil and a piece of paper. He then instructed him to "Write down: 1,2,3,4." Jesus then allegedly told Hagin that "if anybody, anywhere, will take these four steps or put these four principles into operation, he will always receive whatever he wants from Me or from God the Father." That includes whatever you want financially. The formula is simply: "Say it, Do it, Receive it, and Tell it."
1. Step number one is "Say it." "Positive or negative, it is up to the individual. According to what the individual says, that shall he receive."
2. Step number two is "Do it." "Your action defeats you or puts you over. According to your action, you receive or you are kept from receiving."
3. Step number three is "Receive it." We are to plug into the "powerhouse of heaven." "Faith is the plug, praise God! Just plug in."
4. Step number four is "Tell it so others may believe." This final step might be considered the Faith movement’s outreach program (Christianity in Crisis, p. 74,75).
Kenneth Copeland states the faith formula this way: "All it takes is 1) Seeing or visualizing whatever you need, whether physical or financial; 2) Staking your claim on Scripture; and 3) Speaking it into existence" (ibid. p. 80).
Paul Yonggi Cho, borrowing from the occult, has developed what he calls the "Law of Incubation." Here is how it works: "First make a clear-cut goal, then draw a mental picture, vivid and graphic, to visualize success. Then incubate it into reality, and finally speak it into existence through the creative power of the spoken word" (ibid. pp. 83,84). If a positive confession of faith releases power, then a negative confession can actually backfire. Capps says the tongue "can kill you, or it can release the life of God within you." This is so because, "Faith is a seed. . . you plant it by speaking it." There is power in "the evil fourth dimension" says Cho. Hagin informs us that if you confess sickness you get sickness, if you confess health you get health, whatever you say you get. "This spoken word. . . releases power — power for good or power for evil," is the commonly held view of the movement. It is easy to see why the title "Positive Confession" is often applied to this group.
As you might guess the teachings of the Faith movement are very attractive to some. If we can produce whatever our hearts desire by simply demanding what we want by faith; if we can manipulate the universe and perhaps even God, then we have our own personal genie just waiting to fulfill our wishes. Frederick Price wastes no words when he writes, "Now this is a shocker! But God has to be given permission to work in this earth realm on behalf of man. . . .Yes! You are in control! So if man has control, who no longer has it? God. . . . When God gave Adam dominion, that meant God no longer had dominion. So, God cannot do anything on this earth unless we let Him or give Him permission through prayer" (Prayer: Do You Know What Prayer Is. . . and How to Pray? The Word Study Bible, p. 1178). This is certainly a theology that would appeal to the masses, and thus accounts for the Faith movement’s popularity.
The Deification of Man
Faith teachers like to teach, based upon serious mishandling of passages such as John 10:31-39 and II Peter 1:4, that Christians are "little gods." Copeland says, "Now Peter said by exceeding great and precious promises you become partakers of the divine nature. All right, are we gods? We are a class of gods!" (Christianity in Crisis, p. 116). Benny Hinn declares that "God came from heaven, became a man, made man into little gods, went back to heaven as a man" (ibid. p. 382 n. 43). Earl Paulk wrote, "Until we comprehend that we are little gods and we begin to act like little gods, we cannot manifest the kingdom of God" (Satan Unmasked, p. 97).
The Humanization of God
While man is glorified, God is humiliated in the Faith system. Copeland claims that God is a being who stands about 6’2", 6’3", that weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple of hundred pounds, and has a hand span of 9" across (Christianity in Crisis, p. 121). Copeland also declares that "Adam was the copy, looked just like (God). If you stood Adam beside God, they looked just exactly alike. If you stood Jesus and Adam side-by-side, they would look and sound exactly alike" (ibid. p. 137).
Many embrace a heresy known as Tritheism which in essence teaches that there are really three separate Gods. Hinn, under supposed inspiration, explains:
Man, I feel revelation knowledge already coming on me here. Holy Spirit, take over in the name of Jesus. . . . God the Father, ladies and gentlemen, is a person; and He is a triune being by Himself separate from the Son and the Holy Ghost. Say, what did you say? Hear it, hear it, hear it. See, God the Father is a person, God the Son is a person, God the Holy Ghost is a person. But each one of them is a triune being by Himself. If I can shock you — and maybe I should — there’s nine of them. Huh, what did you say? Let me explain: God the Father, ladies and gentlemen, is a person with his own personal spirit, with his own personal soul, and his own personal spirit-body. You say, Huh, I never heard that. Well you think you’re in this church to hear things you’ve heard for the last 50 years? You can’t argue with the Word, can you? It’s all in the Word (Christianity in Crisis, p. 123,124).
Hinn, under fire, later retracted his remarks, only to reaffirm them two years later.
Jesus supposedly told Copeland, "They crucified me for claiming that I was God. But I didn’t claim I was God; I just claimed I walked with Him and that he was in me" (ibid. p. 137,8). Many of the Faith heresies concerning God can be traced to the notes found in Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible.
The Distortion of the Cross
Hanegraaf documents four atonement-related errors on the part of the Faith teachers (see footnotes in Christianity in Crisis):
First, many of the Faith teachers contend that Christ was re-created on the cross from divine to demonic. To put it in Faith vernacular, Jesus took on the very nature of Satan himself. Second, according to Faith theology, your redemption was not secured on the cross, but in hell. In fact, many Faith teachers claim that Christ’s torture by all the demons of hell was a "ransom" God paid to Satan so that He could get back into a universe from which He had been banished. Third, many Faith teachers insist that Jesus was reborn (or born again) in the very pit of hell. Fourth, Faith theology holds that Christ was reincarnated through His rebirth in hell and that those who (like Christ) are born again can become "incarnated" as well. Thus Faith teachers take Christ, the spotless Lamb, and pervert Him into an unholy sacrifice on the cross (Christianity In Crisis, p.153).
To be continued.....(Practices & Experiences)
Matthew 24:3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"
4 And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.
Please read this very good article written by a brother, Gary Gilley. The title of the article is:
The Word of Faith Movement by Gary Gilley
Word of Faith
The fastest growing segment of Christianity today is the Word of Faith Movement, also known as the Positive Confession or simply "Faith" movement. It’s growth is at least partially due to the massive amounts of money the leaders are able to extract from the faithful. This influx of cash allows for huge buildings and extensive ministries, and more importantly, wide exposure on television, which translates into numerical growth. Not only do many Word of Faith preachers broadcast their services and campaigns, but the largest Christian-based television network in the world is owned by Faith adherents, Paul and Jan Crouch. The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), founded by the Crouches, with an estimated net worth of one-half a billion dollars, is capable of televising the Faith message (as well as many other errant messages) all over the world.
Well-known personalities within the movement include Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Robert Tilton (who is staging a come-back), Paul Yonggi Cho, Benny Hinn, Marilyn Hickey, Frederick Price, John Avanzini, Charles Capps, Jerry Savelle, Morris Cerullo and of course, Paul and Jan Crouch.
Beliefs
Faith is a Force
As is implied by the title "Word of Faith," the supporters of this movement believe that faith works like a mighty power or force. Through faith we can obtain anything we want — health, wealth, success, whatever. However, this force is only released through the spoken word. As we speak the words of faith, power is discharged to accomplish our desires. Hank Hanegraaf summarizes Hagin’s theme as found in his booklet How to Write Your Own Ticket with God:
In the opening chapter, titled "Jesus Appears to Me," Hagin claims that while he "was in the Spirit" — just like the apostle John on the Isle of Patmos — a white cloud enveloped him and he began to speak in tongues. "Then the Lord Jesus Himself appeared to me," says Hagin. "He stood within three feet of me." After what sounded like a casual conversation about such things as finances, ministry, and even current affairs, Jesus told Hagin to get a pencil and a piece of paper. He then instructed him to "Write down: 1,2,3,4." Jesus then allegedly told Hagin that "if anybody, anywhere, will take these four steps or put these four principles into operation, he will always receive whatever he wants from Me or from God the Father." That includes whatever you want financially. The formula is simply: "Say it, Do it, Receive it, and Tell it."
1. Step number one is "Say it." "Positive or negative, it is up to the individual. According to what the individual says, that shall he receive."
2. Step number two is "Do it." "Your action defeats you or puts you over. According to your action, you receive or you are kept from receiving."
3. Step number three is "Receive it." We are to plug into the "powerhouse of heaven." "Faith is the plug, praise God! Just plug in."
4. Step number four is "Tell it so others may believe." This final step might be considered the Faith movement’s outreach program (Christianity in Crisis, p. 74,75).
Kenneth Copeland states the faith formula this way: "All it takes is 1) Seeing or visualizing whatever you need, whether physical or financial; 2) Staking your claim on Scripture; and 3) Speaking it into existence" (ibid. p. 80).
Paul Yonggi Cho, borrowing from the occult, has developed what he calls the "Law of Incubation." Here is how it works: "First make a clear-cut goal, then draw a mental picture, vivid and graphic, to visualize success. Then incubate it into reality, and finally speak it into existence through the creative power of the spoken word" (ibid. pp. 83,84). If a positive confession of faith releases power, then a negative confession can actually backfire. Capps says the tongue "can kill you, or it can release the life of God within you." This is so because, "Faith is a seed. . . you plant it by speaking it." There is power in "the evil fourth dimension" says Cho. Hagin informs us that if you confess sickness you get sickness, if you confess health you get health, whatever you say you get. "This spoken word. . . releases power — power for good or power for evil," is the commonly held view of the movement. It is easy to see why the title "Positive Confession" is often applied to this group.
As you might guess the teachings of the Faith movement are very attractive to some. If we can produce whatever our hearts desire by simply demanding what we want by faith; if we can manipulate the universe and perhaps even God, then we have our own personal genie just waiting to fulfill our wishes. Frederick Price wastes no words when he writes, "Now this is a shocker! But God has to be given permission to work in this earth realm on behalf of man. . . .Yes! You are in control! So if man has control, who no longer has it? God. . . . When God gave Adam dominion, that meant God no longer had dominion. So, God cannot do anything on this earth unless we let Him or give Him permission through prayer" (Prayer: Do You Know What Prayer Is. . . and How to Pray? The Word Study Bible, p. 1178). This is certainly a theology that would appeal to the masses, and thus accounts for the Faith movement’s popularity.
The Deification of Man
Faith teachers like to teach, based upon serious mishandling of passages such as John 10:31-39 and II Peter 1:4, that Christians are "little gods." Copeland says, "Now Peter said by exceeding great and precious promises you become partakers of the divine nature. All right, are we gods? We are a class of gods!" (Christianity in Crisis, p. 116). Benny Hinn declares that "God came from heaven, became a man, made man into little gods, went back to heaven as a man" (ibid. p. 382 n. 43). Earl Paulk wrote, "Until we comprehend that we are little gods and we begin to act like little gods, we cannot manifest the kingdom of God" (Satan Unmasked, p. 97).
The Humanization of God
While man is glorified, God is humiliated in the Faith system. Copeland claims that God is a being who stands about 6’2", 6’3", that weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple of hundred pounds, and has a hand span of 9" across (Christianity in Crisis, p. 121). Copeland also declares that "Adam was the copy, looked just like (God). If you stood Adam beside God, they looked just exactly alike. If you stood Jesus and Adam side-by-side, they would look and sound exactly alike" (ibid. p. 137).
Many embrace a heresy known as Tritheism which in essence teaches that there are really three separate Gods. Hinn, under supposed inspiration, explains:
Man, I feel revelation knowledge already coming on me here. Holy Spirit, take over in the name of Jesus. . . . God the Father, ladies and gentlemen, is a person; and He is a triune being by Himself separate from the Son and the Holy Ghost. Say, what did you say? Hear it, hear it, hear it. See, God the Father is a person, God the Son is a person, God the Holy Ghost is a person. But each one of them is a triune being by Himself. If I can shock you — and maybe I should — there’s nine of them. Huh, what did you say? Let me explain: God the Father, ladies and gentlemen, is a person with his own personal spirit, with his own personal soul, and his own personal spirit-body. You say, Huh, I never heard that. Well you think you’re in this church to hear things you’ve heard for the last 50 years? You can’t argue with the Word, can you? It’s all in the Word (Christianity in Crisis, p. 123,124).
Hinn, under fire, later retracted his remarks, only to reaffirm them two years later.
Jesus supposedly told Copeland, "They crucified me for claiming that I was God. But I didn’t claim I was God; I just claimed I walked with Him and that he was in me" (ibid. p. 137,8). Many of the Faith heresies concerning God can be traced to the notes found in Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible.
The Distortion of the Cross
Hanegraaf documents four atonement-related errors on the part of the Faith teachers (see footnotes in Christianity in Crisis):
First, many of the Faith teachers contend that Christ was re-created on the cross from divine to demonic. To put it in Faith vernacular, Jesus took on the very nature of Satan himself. Second, according to Faith theology, your redemption was not secured on the cross, but in hell. In fact, many Faith teachers claim that Christ’s torture by all the demons of hell was a "ransom" God paid to Satan so that He could get back into a universe from which He had been banished. Third, many Faith teachers insist that Jesus was reborn (or born again) in the very pit of hell. Fourth, Faith theology holds that Christ was reincarnated through His rebirth in hell and that those who (like Christ) are born again can become "incarnated" as well. Thus Faith teachers take Christ, the spotless Lamb, and pervert Him into an unholy sacrifice on the cross (Christianity In Crisis, p.153).
To be continued.....(Practices & Experiences)
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Jehova Jireh - The Lord Will Provide
God went through an experience with Abraham that God would also go through Himself
2000 years later.
Genesis:
22Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!"
And he said, "Here I am."
2 Then He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; the [fn1] lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you."
6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. 7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father!"
And he said, "Here I am, my son."
Then he said, "Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"
8 And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering." So the two of them went together.
9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!"
So he said, "Here I am."
12 And He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me."
The burnt offering was entirely for God.
Hebrews 11:
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 [fn4] of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called," 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
Genesis 22 is an illustration of what God would suffer 2000 years later. God asked Abraham to give up his only son. Yet in vs. 5 Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; the [fn1] lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you."
Abraham believed God’s promise that he would make him the father of many nations. He believed that God would raise Isaac up and that they both would be returning.
Give me the son you love. Abraham was experiencing a revelation of God, himself.
The thought of resurrection gave him hope.
God allowed Abraham and his son in Genesis 22 to go through what God went through with his Son.
Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of the place, [fn2] The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, "In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided."
There was a tender bond between Abraham and his son. There was an intimate relationship with the Father and His Son.
“Where is the lamb? God will provide a lamb for the offering”
God and Son would provide a sacrifice for men.
Isaac carried the wood; Jesus carried His cross and was nailed to the cross between two thieves. When Abraham put Isaac on the wood, God stopped him. Jehova Jireh – God will provide. God made a provision for sin. He kept us free from judgment and able to go on to glory; to become a child of God and have intimacy with God. The barrier was removed between men and God.
God loved us so that he sent His Son that we would have life.
Glory to God!
2000 years later.
Genesis:
22Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!"
And he said, "Here I am."
2 Then He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."
3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; the [fn1] lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you."
6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. 7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, "My father!"
And he said, "Here I am, my son."
Then he said, "Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"
8 And Abraham said, "My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering." So the two of them went together.
9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
11 But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!"
So he said, "Here I am."
12 And He said, "Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me."
The burnt offering was entirely for God.
Hebrews 11:
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 [fn4] of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called," 19 concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.
Genesis 22 is an illustration of what God would suffer 2000 years later. God asked Abraham to give up his only son. Yet in vs. 5 Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; the [fn1] lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you."
Abraham believed God’s promise that he would make him the father of many nations. He believed that God would raise Isaac up and that they both would be returning.
Give me the son you love. Abraham was experiencing a revelation of God, himself.
The thought of resurrection gave him hope.
God allowed Abraham and his son in Genesis 22 to go through what God went through with his Son.
Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of the place, [fn2] The-LORD-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, "In the Mount of the LORD it shall be provided."
There was a tender bond between Abraham and his son. There was an intimate relationship with the Father and His Son.
“Where is the lamb? God will provide a lamb for the offering”
God and Son would provide a sacrifice for men.
Isaac carried the wood; Jesus carried His cross and was nailed to the cross between two thieves. When Abraham put Isaac on the wood, God stopped him. Jehova Jireh – God will provide. God made a provision for sin. He kept us free from judgment and able to go on to glory; to become a child of God and have intimacy with God. The barrier was removed between men and God.
God loved us so that he sent His Son that we would have life.
Glory to God!
Bible Study Scripture References for September 14, 2008
BobbiLyn: Welcome to http://www.apostasywatch.com/ on-line live Sunday morning Bible study
BobbiLyn: Ps 52:1 To the chief Musician, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech. Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually.
BobbiLyn: Ps 52:2 Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp rasor, working deceitfully.
Ps 52:3 Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah.
Ps 52:4 Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.
BobbiLyn: Ps 52:5 God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.
Ps 52:6 The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him:
BobbiLyn: Ps 52:7 Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.
Ps 52:8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.
BobbiLyn: Ps 52:9 I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.
BobbiLyn: Ps 52: 1-9
BobbiLyn: Jer 17:5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
BobbiLyn: Jer 17:6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
BobbiLyn: Pr 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
BobbiLyn: 2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
BobbiLyn: 2Th 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
BobbiLyn: 2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
BobbiLyn: 2Th 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:1 Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came near,
Jer 42:2 And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for
BobbiLyn: we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us
Jer 42:3 That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:5 Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:6 Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.
Jer 42:7 And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah.
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:8 Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,
Jer 42:9 And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:10 If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:11 Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the LORD: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:12 And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.
Jer 42:13 But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God,
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:14 Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:15 And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:16 Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:17 So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:18 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:19 The LORD hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day.
Jer 42:20 For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the LORD your God, saying, Pray for us unto the LORD our God; and according unto all that the LORD our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:21 And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, nor any thing for the which he hath sent me unto you.
Jer 42:22 Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.
BobbiLyn: Jer 43:1 And it came to pass, that when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the people all the words of the LORD their God, for which the LORD their God had sent him to them, even all these words,
BobbiLyn: Jer 43:2 Then spake Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely: the LORD our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there:
BobbiLyn: Jer 43:3 But Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us, for to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might put us to death, and carry us away captives into Babylon.
BobbiLyn: Jer 43:4 So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, obeyed not the voice of the LORD, to dwell in the land of Judah.
BobbiLyn: er 43:5 But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, that were returned from all nations, whither they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah;
BobbiLyn: Jer 43:6 Even men, and women, and children, and the king's daughters, and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah.
BobbiLyn: Jer 43:7 So they came into the land of Egypt: for they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: thus came they even to Tahpanhes.
Jer 43:8 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,
BobbiLyn: Jer 43:9 Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in the brickkiln, which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah;
BobbiLyn: Jer 43:10 And say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that I have hid; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them.
BobbiLyn: Jer 43:11 And when he cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt, and deliver such as are for death to death; and such as are for captivity to captivity; and such as are for the sword to the sword.
BobbiLyn: Jer 43:12 And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captives: and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment; and he shall go forth from thence in peace.
BobbiLyn: Jer 43:13 He shall break also the images of Bethshemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire.
BobbiLyn: er 44:1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying,
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein,
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:3 Because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, and to serve other gods, whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:4 Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.
Jer 44:5 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:6 Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:7 Therefore now thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; Wherefore commit ye this great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, to leave you none to remain;
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:8 In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:9 Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they have committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:10 They are not humbled even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.
Jer 44:11 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:12 And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed, and fall in the land of Egypt; they shall even be consumed by the sword and by the famine: they shall die, from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine: and they shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:13 For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence:
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:15 Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:16 As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.
BobbiLyn: er 44:17 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:18 But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:20 Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying,
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:21 The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them, and came it not into his mind?
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:22 So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:23 Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:24 Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt:
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:25 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her: ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:26 Therefore hear ye the word of the LORD, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the LORD, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord GOD liveth.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:27 Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:28 Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:29 And this shall be a sign unto you, saith the LORD, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil:
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:30 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give Pharaohhophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.
BobbiLyn: Ps 52:1 To the chief Musician, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech. Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually.
BobbiLyn: Ps 52:2 Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp rasor, working deceitfully.
Ps 52:3 Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah.
Ps 52:4 Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue.
BobbiLyn: Ps 52:5 God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.
Ps 52:6 The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him:
BobbiLyn: Ps 52:7 Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.
Ps 52:8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.
BobbiLyn: Ps 52:9 I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints.
BobbiLyn: Ps 52: 1-9
BobbiLyn: Jer 17:5 Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
BobbiLyn: Jer 17:6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
BobbiLyn: Pr 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
BobbiLyn: 2Th 2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
BobbiLyn: 2Th 2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
BobbiLyn: 2Th 2:7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
BobbiLyn: 2Th 2:9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:1 Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the people from the least even unto the greatest, came near,
Jer 42:2 And said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us unto the LORD thy God, even for all this remnant; (for
BobbiLyn: we are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us
Jer 42:3 That the LORD thy God may shew us the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do.
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:4 Then Jeremiah the prophet said unto them, I have heard you; behold, I will pray unto the LORD your God according to your words; and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the LORD shall answer you, I will declare it unto you; I will keep nothing back from you.
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:5 Then they said to Jeremiah, The LORD be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do not even according to all things for the which the LORD thy God shall send thee to us.
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:6 Whether it be good, or whether it be evil, we will obey the voice of the LORD our God, to whom we send thee; that it may be well with us, when we obey the voice of the LORD our God.
Jer 42:7 And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the LORD came unto Jeremiah.
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:8 Then called he Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which were with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest,
Jer 42:9 And said unto them, Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before him;
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:10 If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up: for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:11 Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the LORD: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand.
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:12 And I will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon you, and cause you to return to your own land.
Jer 42:13 But if ye say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice of the LORD your God,
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:14 Saying, No; but we will go into the land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread; and there will we dwell:
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:15 And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there;
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:16 Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die.
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:17 So shall it be with all the men that set their faces to go into Egypt to sojourn there; they shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: and none of them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring upon them.
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:18 For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:19 The LORD hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have admonished you this day.
Jer 42:20 For ye dissembled in your hearts, when ye sent me unto the LORD your God, saying, Pray for us unto the LORD our God; and according unto all that the LORD our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we will do it.
BobbiLyn: Jer 42:21 And now I have this day declared it to you; but ye have not obeyed the voice of the LORD your God, nor any thing for the which he hath sent me unto you.
Jer 42:22 Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn.
BobbiLyn: Jer 43:1 And it came to pass, that when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking unto all the people all the words of the LORD their God, for which the LORD their God had sent him to them, even all these words,
BobbiLyn: Jer 43:2 Then spake Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest falsely: the LORD our God hath not sent thee to say, Go not into Egypt to sojourn there:
BobbiLyn: Jer 43:3 But Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us, for to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might put us to death, and carry us away captives into Babylon.
BobbiLyn: Jer 43:4 So Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the people, obeyed not the voice of the LORD, to dwell in the land of Judah.
BobbiLyn: er 43:5 But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, that were returned from all nations, whither they had been driven, to dwell in the land of Judah;
BobbiLyn: Jer 43:6 Even men, and women, and children, and the king's daughters, and every person that Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard had left with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah.
BobbiLyn: Jer 43:7 So they came into the land of Egypt: for they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: thus came they even to Tahpanhes.
Jer 43:8 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah in Tahpanhes, saying,
BobbiLyn: Jer 43:9 Take great stones in thine hand, and hide them in the clay in the brickkiln, which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah;
BobbiLyn: Jer 43:10 And say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will send and take Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his throne upon these stones that I have hid; and he shall spread his royal pavilion over them.
BobbiLyn: Jer 43:11 And when he cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt, and deliver such as are for death to death; and such as are for captivity to captivity; and such as are for the sword to the sword.
BobbiLyn: Jer 43:12 And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captives: and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment; and he shall go forth from thence in peace.
BobbiLyn: Jer 43:13 He shall break also the images of Bethshemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire.
BobbiLyn: er 44:1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at Migdol, and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of Pathros, saying,
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah; and, behold, this day they are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein,
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:3 Because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, and to serve other gods, whom they knew not, neither they, ye, nor your fathers.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:4 Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate.
Jer 44:5 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to burn no incense unto other gods.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:6 Wherefore my fury and mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; and they are wasted and desolate, as at this day.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:7 Therefore now thus saith the LORD, the God of hosts, the God of Israel; Wherefore commit ye this great evil against your souls, to cut off from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, to leave you none to remain;
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:8 In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth?
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:9 Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wickedness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wickedness of your wives, which they have committed in the land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem?
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:10 They are not humbled even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before you and before your fathers.
Jer 44:11 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and to cut off all Judah.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:12 And I will take the remnant of Judah, that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed, and fall in the land of Egypt; they shall even be consumed by the sword and by the famine: they shall die, from the least even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine: and they shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:13 For I will punish them that dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence:
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:15 Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying,
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:16 As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.
BobbiLyn: er 44:17 But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:18 But since we left off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have been consumed by the sword and by the famine.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:20 Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and to the women, and to all the people which had given him that answer, saying,
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:21 The incense that ye burned in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the LORD remember them, and came it not into his mind?
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:22 So that the LORD could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which ye have committed; therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, as at this day.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:23 Because ye have burned incense, and because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, nor walked in his law, nor in his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is happened unto you, as at this day.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:24 Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all the women, Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah that are in the land of Egypt:
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:25 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying; Ye and your wives have both spoken with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her: ye will surely accomplish your vows, and surely perform your vows.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:26 Therefore hear ye the word of the LORD, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt; Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the LORD, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord GOD liveth.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:27 Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not for good: and all the men of Judah that are in the land of Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, until there be an end of them.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:28 Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs.
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:29 And this shall be a sign unto you, saith the LORD, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil:
BobbiLyn: Jer 44:30 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will give Pharaohhophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his life.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Scripture References for Sept. 12, 2008
BobbiLyn: Da 4:17 This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.
BobbiLyn: Da 2:47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.
BobbiLyn: Da 2:48 Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.
BobbiLyn: Isa 3:12 As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.
BobbiLyn: Isa 3:16 Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:
BobbiLyn: Isa 3:17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts.
BobbiLyn: Da 2:47 The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.
BobbiLyn: Da 2:48 Then the king made Daniel a great man, and gave him many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief of the governors over all the wise men of Babylon.
BobbiLyn: Isa 3:12 As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.
BobbiLyn: Isa 3:16 Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:
BobbiLyn: Isa 3:17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts.
Breaking the Chains - By Mike Ratliff, Pt.4
Ephesians 5
19"speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of [fn3] God."
All of the Greek verbs in this passage and their participles are present tense. That means that this whole section of commands that Paul is describing is a continual process that repeats over and over and over. We don't become Spirit-led and then stop. No, this requires a walking before the Lord this way as a way of life.
Now, look at v21. This is the key to closing the loop, to complete the circuit that keeps this process going. We see that as a result of our being Spirit-filled, we will submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. If you read through the rest of Chapter 5 and into Chapter 6 down through v9 you will see that everyone in Christ are to submit to one another. There are no exceptions. This treating others as we wish to be treated is the marker that reveals the Holy Spirit. We will not look at anyone in our sphere as less important than ourselves. In fact, our view will be that all are more important than us. This is the essence of Christlikeness. If a church is full of people like this, what will it be like? wouldn't it be a true New Testament Church like that found in Acts that was pastored by the Apostles themselves?
This is how God builds up His Church. I did not say grow His Church. I said, build up His Church. More mature believers should disciple the newer Christians. No one should lord it over any other believers there. All of these submissions are done out of reverence for Christ. What is keeping us from doing this? God taught me this in 2004 by taking me through it. I didn't know what was going on at the time, but He did. I woke up one morning in September 2004 and realized that God had totally changed my value system. I no longer cared for material things, or fleshly things or money or anything except pleasing my Lord. I didn't understand exactly how He had done that at the time, but I was, and still am, more grateful than I can describe in words here.
Dear Christian, do not think that God may do this for others but not you. I thought that way for more years than I can imagine. No one becomes Spirit-led by trying harder or becoming more excited. It is a work of God as we obey commands like this one from Ephesians 5. It is only by becoming filled by the Spirit that we can do anything that is not a work of the flesh. Jesus said in John 15 that without Him we can do nothing. This is what He was talking about. His Joy is our strength. When we abide in Him, don't we worship and pray and study His Word and obey Him? Don't we submit to all for His sake? This is Christlikeness. This is killing our sin. This is walking in the Spirit. This is Walking the Walk by Faith. This is being the Christian that God desires for you to be.
19"speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of [fn3] God."
All of the Greek verbs in this passage and their participles are present tense. That means that this whole section of commands that Paul is describing is a continual process that repeats over and over and over. We don't become Spirit-led and then stop. No, this requires a walking before the Lord this way as a way of life.
Now, look at v21. This is the key to closing the loop, to complete the circuit that keeps this process going. We see that as a result of our being Spirit-filled, we will submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. If you read through the rest of Chapter 5 and into Chapter 6 down through v9 you will see that everyone in Christ are to submit to one another. There are no exceptions. This treating others as we wish to be treated is the marker that reveals the Holy Spirit. We will not look at anyone in our sphere as less important than ourselves. In fact, our view will be that all are more important than us. This is the essence of Christlikeness. If a church is full of people like this, what will it be like? wouldn't it be a true New Testament Church like that found in Acts that was pastored by the Apostles themselves?
This is how God builds up His Church. I did not say grow His Church. I said, build up His Church. More mature believers should disciple the newer Christians. No one should lord it over any other believers there. All of these submissions are done out of reverence for Christ. What is keeping us from doing this? God taught me this in 2004 by taking me through it. I didn't know what was going on at the time, but He did. I woke up one morning in September 2004 and realized that God had totally changed my value system. I no longer cared for material things, or fleshly things or money or anything except pleasing my Lord. I didn't understand exactly how He had done that at the time, but I was, and still am, more grateful than I can describe in words here.
Dear Christian, do not think that God may do this for others but not you. I thought that way for more years than I can imagine. No one becomes Spirit-led by trying harder or becoming more excited. It is a work of God as we obey commands like this one from Ephesians 5. It is only by becoming filled by the Spirit that we can do anything that is not a work of the flesh. Jesus said in John 15 that without Him we can do nothing. This is what He was talking about. His Joy is our strength. When we abide in Him, don't we worship and pray and study His Word and obey Him? Don't we submit to all for His sake? This is Christlikeness. This is killing our sin. This is walking in the Spirit. This is Walking the Walk by Faith. This is being the Christian that God desires for you to be.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Breaking the Chains - By Mike Ratliff, Pt.3
Ephesians 5:19 - 21
19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of [fn3] God.
What does it mean to address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart? This is worship in spirit and truth. This is genuine worship. This is not just singing Christian songs for their own sake or thinking that by singing these songs it is somehow worship. It is singing to the Lord in worship because of who He is and what He has done. It is a worship that expresses delight in Him for who He is and what His attributes are.
For instance, we praise Him for His immutability. He never changes. If he makes a promise, He will keep it. That is why we know that we, who are saved, don’t have to fear that He will change His mind and cut us off. Worship that is genuine is inhabited by the Holy Spirit. He is right in the middle of it. He is both edifying our hearts and glorifying God (because he is God) in the midst of it.
How can this cause us to be Spirit-filled? Look at v20. “giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”…
As we worship Him as a way of walking, we also thank Him in all that we do. This is praying continually with a grateful heart. This is walking in the Spirit. This is walking with our minds on the things of “god rather than the things of men. This is walking in humility as pride is being ripped up by the roots. This suffocates and strangles our sin nature because we give no opening to it to blossom its vileness through our members. We give no provision for the flesh, therefore, we are in the process of killing our sin.
How often should we do this? Come back tomorrow for Part 4. To be continued…
19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of [fn3] God.
What does it mean to address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart? This is worship in spirit and truth. This is genuine worship. This is not just singing Christian songs for their own sake or thinking that by singing these songs it is somehow worship. It is singing to the Lord in worship because of who He is and what He has done. It is a worship that expresses delight in Him for who He is and what His attributes are.
For instance, we praise Him for His immutability. He never changes. If he makes a promise, He will keep it. That is why we know that we, who are saved, don’t have to fear that He will change His mind and cut us off. Worship that is genuine is inhabited by the Holy Spirit. He is right in the middle of it. He is both edifying our hearts and glorifying God (because he is God) in the midst of it.
How can this cause us to be Spirit-filled? Look at v20. “giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”…
As we worship Him as a way of walking, we also thank Him in all that we do. This is praying continually with a grateful heart. This is walking in the Spirit. This is walking with our minds on the things of “god rather than the things of men. This is walking in humility as pride is being ripped up by the roots. This suffocates and strangles our sin nature because we give no opening to it to blossom its vileness through our members. We give no provision for the flesh, therefore, we are in the process of killing our sin.
How often should we do this? Come back tomorrow for Part 4. To be continued…
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Breaking the Chains - By Mike Ratliff, Pt.2
Walk in Wisdom:
(Ephesians 5:15-20 NKJV)
15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of [fn3] God.
Christians who become enslaved to their flesh have done so because of their foolishness. They are not wise. Where does wisdom come from?
(James 1:5-8 NKJV)
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
That’s right. We must ask god for it. We must ask believing, that is, with faith. When we do, He gives it to us. If that is all it takes, then why don’t all those Christians who are enslaved to their flesh do this? They don’t know how to ask by faith. Why? They are walking according to the flesh, rather than according to the Spirit. They are not Spirit-led.
Look back at Ephesians 5:15-20. Paul contrasts the drinking of wine to drunkenness with being filled with the Spirit. What happens when a person becomes drunk by drinking alcohol? Doesn’t the alcohol exert a form of control over the members of the body because it permeates the brain and causes motor functions to suffer. The behavior of the drunk also changes from that of when he or she is sober. The drunk has been taken over by the alcohol. The word debauchery is used in the ESV translation in v18 which means “to lose control” or “be out of control.” Those at a wild party are in this state. Paul is giving us a contrast with this fleshly condition with that of a Christian who is filled with the Spirit.
Paul is not saying that all of the evil must be removed from our Hearts so more of the Spirit can fit in there. Instead, he is telling us that a Spirit-filled Christian is one that the Holy Spirit has control of like alcohol has control of a drunk. He permeates their hearts, their entire being and empowers them like wind filling a sail. This is describing being Spirit-led. The Christian is so controlled, and empowered by the Holy Spirit that their character becomes more Christlike. They love what God loves and hate what God hates and it is not just wishful thinking that their sin is in the process of being killed. The chains of bondage to their flesh are now fallen to the ground at their feet.
In this state, the believer prays believing. Their faith is dynamic and growing in depth and strength. He or she prays for wisdom and believes that God will work out the circumstances in their lives so they can clearly see and comprehend and learn His truth.
How do Christians become Spirit-led? How do they become filled with the Spirit? Tomorrow we will look at Ephesians 5:19-21 for the answer….
(Ephesians 5:15-20 NKJV)
15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of [fn3] God.
Christians who become enslaved to their flesh have done so because of their foolishness. They are not wise. Where does wisdom come from?
(James 1:5-8 NKJV)
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
That’s right. We must ask god for it. We must ask believing, that is, with faith. When we do, He gives it to us. If that is all it takes, then why don’t all those Christians who are enslaved to their flesh do this? They don’t know how to ask by faith. Why? They are walking according to the flesh, rather than according to the Spirit. They are not Spirit-led.
Look back at Ephesians 5:15-20. Paul contrasts the drinking of wine to drunkenness with being filled with the Spirit. What happens when a person becomes drunk by drinking alcohol? Doesn’t the alcohol exert a form of control over the members of the body because it permeates the brain and causes motor functions to suffer. The behavior of the drunk also changes from that of when he or she is sober. The drunk has been taken over by the alcohol. The word debauchery is used in the ESV translation in v18 which means “to lose control” or “be out of control.” Those at a wild party are in this state. Paul is giving us a contrast with this fleshly condition with that of a Christian who is filled with the Spirit.
Paul is not saying that all of the evil must be removed from our Hearts so more of the Spirit can fit in there. Instead, he is telling us that a Spirit-filled Christian is one that the Holy Spirit has control of like alcohol has control of a drunk. He permeates their hearts, their entire being and empowers them like wind filling a sail. This is describing being Spirit-led. The Christian is so controlled, and empowered by the Holy Spirit that their character becomes more Christlike. They love what God loves and hate what God hates and it is not just wishful thinking that their sin is in the process of being killed. The chains of bondage to their flesh are now fallen to the ground at their feet.
In this state, the believer prays believing. Their faith is dynamic and growing in depth and strength. He or she prays for wisdom and believes that God will work out the circumstances in their lives so they can clearly see and comprehend and learn His truth.
How do Christians become Spirit-led? How do they become filled with the Spirit? Tomorrow we will look at Ephesians 5:19-21 for the answer….
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Breaking the chains - By Mike Ratliff - Pt. 1
Romans 8:12-17
When God saves His people their hearts are regenerated. This means that they now have the faith that is required for salvation. It means that they are now able to obey God because they have everything in place that enables it. However, many of us can testify to many years of bondage to besetting sins after salvation. Even though our salvation freed us from the penalty of sin and provided the only way for us to become victors over our sin nature, our pride working in cooperation with our sin nature has deceived us into believing that pleasing our flesh would give us more fulfillment than the Joy of the Lord.
When we give in to this by exposing our members to the desires of our flesh, we move away from the light into darkness. If we do not repent of this and learn how to walk according to the spirit, to become Spirit-led, we will eventually become enslaved to our flesh. This bondage can become very hard to break. In fact, we cannot break these chains by OUR WILL POWER. We cannot kill our sin by trying hard or doing good works or being super religious.
What makes this a huge problem is that there are very few mature believers in our time who teach and disciple new Christians how to KILL their sin and thereby live according to the spirit.
In the passage above, the Apostle Paul tells us that all believers are debtors to the Spirit of God, not their flesh. He then tells us that professing Christians who never try to find victory over their flesh are not genuine. Part of the change in a regenerate heart is a hatred for what God hates and a love for what God loves. God hates sin. Genuine Believers will also hate their sin. That does not mean that they know how to get the victory over their sin nature, but they do hate it.
So how do believers get the victory to break the chains of bondage to their flesh? We will find the answer in another part of the Bible written by Paul.....
to be continued........
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors--not to the flesh, to live according to
the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the
Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For as many as
are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive
the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by
whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our
spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs--heirs of God
and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be
glorified together. (NKJV)
When God saves His people their hearts are regenerated. This means that they now have the faith that is required for salvation. It means that they are now able to obey God because they have everything in place that enables it. However, many of us can testify to many years of bondage to besetting sins after salvation. Even though our salvation freed us from the penalty of sin and provided the only way for us to become victors over our sin nature, our pride working in cooperation with our sin nature has deceived us into believing that pleasing our flesh would give us more fulfillment than the Joy of the Lord.
When we give in to this by exposing our members to the desires of our flesh, we move away from the light into darkness. If we do not repent of this and learn how to walk according to the spirit, to become Spirit-led, we will eventually become enslaved to our flesh. This bondage can become very hard to break. In fact, we cannot break these chains by OUR WILL POWER. We cannot kill our sin by trying hard or doing good works or being super religious.
What makes this a huge problem is that there are very few mature believers in our time who teach and disciple new Christians how to KILL their sin and thereby live according to the spirit.
In the passage above, the Apostle Paul tells us that all believers are debtors to the Spirit of God, not their flesh. He then tells us that professing Christians who never try to find victory over their flesh are not genuine. Part of the change in a regenerate heart is a hatred for what God hates and a love for what God loves. God hates sin. Genuine Believers will also hate their sin. That does not mean that they know how to get the victory over their sin nature, but they do hate it.
So how do believers get the victory to break the chains of bondage to their flesh? We will find the answer in another part of the Bible written by Paul.....
to be continued........
Monday, September 8, 2008
John Bunyan - Jailed for Preaching Without a License!
John Bunyan - (1628-1688), Puritan authorJohn Bunyan had very little schooling. He followed his father in the tinker's trade, and he served in the parliamentary army from1644 to 1647. Bunyan married in 1649 and lived in Elstow until 1655, when his wife died. He then moved to Bedford, and married again in 1659. John Bunyan was received into the Baptist church in Bedford by immersion in 1653.
In 1655, Bunyan became a deacon and began preaching, with marked success from the start. In 1658 he was indicted for preaching without a license. The authorities were fairly tolerant of him for a while, and he did not suffer imprisonment until November of 1660, when he was taken to the county jail in Silver Street, Bedford, and there confined (with the exception of a few weeks in 1666) for 12 years until January 1672. Bunyan afterward became pastor of the Bedford church. In March of 1675 he was again imprisoned for preaching publicly without a license, this time being held in the Bedford town jail. In just six months this time he was freed, (no doubt the authorities were growing weary of providing Bunyan with free shelter and food) and he was not bothered again by the authorities.
John Bunyan wrote The Pilgrim's Progress in two parts, of which the first appeared at London in 1678,which he had begun during his imprisonment in 1676. The second part appeared in 1684. The earliest edition in which the two parts were combined in one volume came out in 1728. A third part falsely attributed to Bunyan appeared in 1693. The Pilgrim's Progressis the most successful allegory ever written, and like the Bible has been extensively translated into other languages.
John Bunyan wrote many other books, including one which discussed his inner life and reveals his preparation for his appointed work is Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (1666). Bunyan became a popular preacher as well as a very voluminous author, though most of his works consist of expanded sermons. In theology he was a Puritan, but not a partisan. He was no scholar, except of the English Bible, but that he knew thoroughly. He also drew much influence from Martin Luther's Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians.
Some time before his final release from prison Bunyan became involved in a controversy with two theologians of his day: Kiffin and Paul. In 1673 he published his Differences in Judgement about Water-Baptism no Bar to Communion, in which he took the ground that "the Church of Christ hath not warrant to keep out of the communion the Christian that is discovered to be a visible saint of the word, the Christian that walketh according to his own light with God." While he agreed as a Baptist that water baptism was God's ordinance, he refused to make "an idol of it," and he disagreed with those who would dis-fellowship from Christians who did not adhere to water baptism
Kiffin and Paul published a rejoinder in Serious Reflections (London, 1673), in which they set forth the argument in favor of the restriction of the Lord's Supper to baptized believers. The controversy resulted in the Particular (Calvinistic) Baptists leaving the question of communion with the unbaptized open. Bunyan's church permitted pedobaptists (those who baptize children, such as the Calvinistic Presbyterian Church) to fellowship and eventually, Bunyan’s church even became a pedobaptist church.
On a trip to London, John Bunyan caught a severe cold, and he died at the house of a friend at Snow Hill on August 31, 1688. His grave lies in the cemetery at Bunhill Fields in London.
In 1655, Bunyan became a deacon and began preaching, with marked success from the start. In 1658 he was indicted for preaching without a license. The authorities were fairly tolerant of him for a while, and he did not suffer imprisonment until November of 1660, when he was taken to the county jail in Silver Street, Bedford, and there confined (with the exception of a few weeks in 1666) for 12 years until January 1672. Bunyan afterward became pastor of the Bedford church. In March of 1675 he was again imprisoned for preaching publicly without a license, this time being held in the Bedford town jail. In just six months this time he was freed, (no doubt the authorities were growing weary of providing Bunyan with free shelter and food) and he was not bothered again by the authorities.
John Bunyan wrote The Pilgrim's Progress in two parts, of which the first appeared at London in 1678,which he had begun during his imprisonment in 1676. The second part appeared in 1684. The earliest edition in which the two parts were combined in one volume came out in 1728. A third part falsely attributed to Bunyan appeared in 1693. The Pilgrim's Progressis the most successful allegory ever written, and like the Bible has been extensively translated into other languages.
John Bunyan wrote many other books, including one which discussed his inner life and reveals his preparation for his appointed work is Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners (1666). Bunyan became a popular preacher as well as a very voluminous author, though most of his works consist of expanded sermons. In theology he was a Puritan, but not a partisan. He was no scholar, except of the English Bible, but that he knew thoroughly. He also drew much influence from Martin Luther's Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians.
Some time before his final release from prison Bunyan became involved in a controversy with two theologians of his day: Kiffin and Paul. In 1673 he published his Differences in Judgement about Water-Baptism no Bar to Communion, in which he took the ground that "the Church of Christ hath not warrant to keep out of the communion the Christian that is discovered to be a visible saint of the word, the Christian that walketh according to his own light with God." While he agreed as a Baptist that water baptism was God's ordinance, he refused to make "an idol of it," and he disagreed with those who would dis-fellowship from Christians who did not adhere to water baptism
Kiffin and Paul published a rejoinder in Serious Reflections (London, 1673), in which they set forth the argument in favor of the restriction of the Lord's Supper to baptized believers. The controversy resulted in the Particular (Calvinistic) Baptists leaving the question of communion with the unbaptized open. Bunyan's church permitted pedobaptists (those who baptize children, such as the Calvinistic Presbyterian Church) to fellowship and eventually, Bunyan’s church even became a pedobaptist church.
On a trip to London, John Bunyan caught a severe cold, and he died at the house of a friend at Snow Hill on August 31, 1688. His grave lies in the cemetery at Bunhill Fields in London.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Pilgrim's Progress
This is a wonderful teaching tool for children and adults, too. John Bunyan's book Pilgrim's Progress in animation.
Travel with Christian as he journeys from the City of Destruction (Earth) to the Celestial City (Heaven) of Zion.
There are eight chapters in all.
Travel with Christian as he journeys from the City of Destruction (Earth) to the Celestial City (Heaven) of Zion.
There are eight chapters in all.
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