The Baptist Truth

Being A Good Example.

2012-02-11T17:27:00.000-06:00

Titus 2:7 “In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,”

The very first thing every new born Christian should desire and seek to do is to follow the teachings of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Every new born Christian should naturally desire to put away earthly things and to become spiritual because of their new nature. It is over time that some if not most newborn Christians loose their desire to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Lords churches. We began to see ways around following the scriptures and soon find ourselves following the secular world instead of God. This proves the Christian to be weak and unusable to God for His service. Now please let me add here that if God desires to use a person He can certainly cause them to repent. However; as Christians we owe it to God; the wonderful God of grace to keep ourselves available to God at all times. God tells us here “In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works…” The word – pattern – here means – a die or a stamp – therefore the word “pattern” means our works are to be embedded into our life as a stamp is hammered into a piece of steel and cannot be easily taken put. The problem so many “Christians” have and especially today is that they are weak and have no roots. They are like a tumble week that blows in every direction with every direction of wind. Beloved as Christians we are to be strong in doctrine, strong in faith, and strong in church love. When a Christian is strong they will have strong works and therefore being a good example for the younger and weaker Christians. The question is “are you a strong Christian”? If the answer is “I don’t know” or “no I don’t think so” then it is time to fix that and become a strong Christian so that others can look at your life and use it as an example for their life. God tells us in Ephesians 2:10 "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works..." That we are the workmanship of God (that is our salvation) created in Christ Jesus for a purpose in this life. Now we may all not understand why God saved us and what His purpose is for us, but one thing we all can and must understand is that God saved us all to walk in Christ and his word. Some people are saved just to be good bible believing Christians and others are saved for a multitude of reasons but we are all saved to be good examples for others to see and to follow. If we are not good examples then we have failed God in our Christian purpose.

“… in doctrine…” this is a fact one cannot be a good Christian nor a good example if they are not following and believing absolute truth. Truth is one of the two absolutes to worshipping God John 10:24 “…they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” Nothing less will work. One cannot mishandle Gods word and be a good example. "But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God." 2 Corinthians 4:2 One of the things that make the Christian a good example is them searching Gods word for truth. It is our job to make this a point of life. A good Christian accepts the word of God for what it says and is not ashamed of it. Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. “

Beloved are you a good example for the younger and weaker Christians or are you one of the weak ones? Today could be the day for you to step forward and make your life an example for other.

Beware of False Teachers.

2012-02-04T14:20:00.000-06:00

Matthew 7:15 - 16 "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. (16.) Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?"

A false teacher would be anyone who teaches contrary to Gods doctrine. A Christian must beware of preachers who want to change the scriptures into a lie and force them to say opposite to what they really mean to say. The devil is a liar and not just a liar but the father of lies. God says these men are liars like their father the devil; John 8:44 “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” These men are like their father they come as an angel of light, they will look and sound like they are believers, they will teach from the bible, they will have their scriptures, and they will be very likeable and even seem to be very lovable, but beware because beneath their outward beauty they are raven wolves who will steal your mind and heart. 2 Corinthians 11:14 - 15 "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.(15.) Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works." They will go to the ends of this earth to convince you that they are Gods men and bring Gods doctrine when all they truly bring is destruction your way. They will teach about a universal invisible church which cannot fit to the church in the scriptures, they will teach about a salvation outside of Jesus Christ (works, baptism, church membership, and etc.), they will teach about a god that cannot do anything with your soul without your consent. These men are dangerous and will still you away from serving our Sovereign God. They will lead you down a path of separation rather than a path of righteousness. They will have plenty of help thru much support, they will be supported with money (big buildings, gyms, programs, and etc.), they will afford the big nice web sites, and they will also be supported by others who agree with them like conventions, associations, and maybe even nations. They will be on television, radio, and even in print. They will come as what you are i.e a church for bikers, a church for cowboys, a church for gays, or etc. They will come as very loving and caring open door and freewill will be their theme; “come as you are and it is fine with us but just come” will be what they preach. They will mock the Baptist and will make fun of what they believe and teach, they will tell you that the Baptist are hate mongers, that they make salvation to easy, and that their unloving and uncaring. Folks, behind the mask, behind the lies, and behind the good looking things are nothing but evil and destruction. They will take your children and turn their minds into mush; they will cause you to believe lies instead of truth and will cause you to falsely worship a false God. This (while they mean well or not) is the plan of Satan and they are executing it step by step. God says to beware of them because they are on every street corner. The Lord promised that they would “…come to you in sheep's clothing…” looking like men of God “…but inwardly they are ravening wolves…” just simply remove the mask and you will see an ugly devil. God promised that “Ye shall know them by their fruits…” because they are not true Christians however they have deceived enough Christians into following them it is hard some times to tell who is whom, but if you look to the leader, the teacher, you will see the true devil behind it all and His or her true identity will be revealed. Revelation 12:9 “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Please be warned.

Who is Jesus The Christ?

2012-01-28T18:46:00.000-06:00

Hebrews 1:3 "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;"

First of all let’s clear up one gross mistake that may people have about Jesus the Christ, His name is not Jesus Christ, His name is Jesus and He is The Christ. It is very important to understand this because the two names carry two different but equally important meanings. The name Jesus was not an uncommon name in those days and neither is it today. In fact we will find many in Mexico who name their children Jesus. But God went on to call His name “Emmanuel” which comes from the Hebrew word (immânû'êl) which means “…which being interpreted is, God with us.” Matthew 1:23 Now we turn our attention to the gospel of John which tells us that this same Jesus was also called “the Word” "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1 So John tells us that the word was not only in the beginning of creation with God but that this word was in fact God. In verse 14 of John 1 we see “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…” in the person of Jesus the Christ. This would certainly have separated this Jesus from all others. Secondly we call Him Christ but in reality He is “The Christ” which means – anointed – and while it does mean to – smear with oil it also means - to consecrate to an office or religious service – Jesus was the anointed on of God to be the Saviour of mankind. Acts 10:38 “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” Not only was God with him but He himself was God. Therefore the title Christ tells us that He was anointed of God to save us from our sins. "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." Matthew 1:21. This made Him very special because while He was a man He was no ordinary man.

“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person…” while Adam was created in the image of God Jesus The Christ was born with the brightness of Gods glory unlike Adam. This means that He was Divine in nature because He was “…the express image of God himself in nature. This means His nature was the express image of God. Adam was created with attributes like unto God but lost them in the fall. The words express image means and exact copy or He was just like God in every way in nature. Jesus described it this way to Philip - John 14:9 - 10 "Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? (10.) Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works."

“…and upholding all things by the word of his power…” That is He had the power of word just as God did in creation when He spoke the earth and the heavens in to existence. Jesus the Christ had this very same power of words which we see an example of in John 11:43 “And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth." Jesus could have done any thing he had chosen just by the speaking of His voice.
“…when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;" Did they kill Him; no, He gave His life for our sins. He chose to die for our sins and afterword the Christ set down on Gods right hand. 1 John 3:5 “And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.” What a wonderful Saviour and God we indeed have and His name is Jesus and He is the Christ.

You Must Be Born Again!

2012-01-21T20:57:00.000-06:00

John 3:7 “Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”

Man seems to want to make there own rules concerning salvation. God said that one must be born again if they are going to enter the kingdom of God when they die. This is the rules that God has set down and they will be followed. This poor ignorant Jewish ruler named Nicodemus had no idea what the new birth consisted of or how that it was accomplished, but Jesus with much grace and mercy explained in detail how it was accomplished. John 3:5 "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." The two births mentioned are (1.) The natural birth “Except a man be born of water” and (2.) and the spiritual birth “and of the Spirit” and without the second birth one cannot enter the kingdom of God. I know there are some out there that believe there must be other ways to heaven without the new birth or at least without being born again by the Holy Spirit and through Jesus Christ but there is none other way. God said in John 10:1 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." And thieves and robbers are not welcome in Gods kingdom. There is one way to God and that is through Jesus Christ and those that try another way will fail in their attempt. God went on to say in John 10:9 “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” If you enter by the door then you are welcome, and this makes a lot of sense because if you come to my house you are always welcome but please enter through the door and not the windows.

Now some may be confused as to what God meant by “and of the Spirit” John 3:5 so please allow me to explain. Salvation is not by our will or our choice or our decision but it is by the Holy Spirit of God. It is not by our “turning over a new leaf” or by “works which we have done” but rather it is by the Holy Spirit. God said in John 6:61 - 63 "When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? (62.) What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? (63.) It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." It is the Holy Spirit that make one alive spiritually; man cannot wake himself from the dead no more than a man in a grave can make himself alive. God also tells us in John 1:12 - 13 "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (13.) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." I know many men will have their own opinions to what I am saying but they are wrong and God is right. One must hear the scriptures and then obey them and when God says that we are born of God and by God then that is the way it is regardless of other opinions. God concluded in John 5:39 "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." The scriptures are the final authority and they conclude that salvation is thru Jesus Christ and by the Holy Spirit. Therefore we will conclude with this verse: 1 Corinthians 2:12 “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” Thank you Lord for my salvation!

The Wonders of God.

2012-01-14T11:58:00.001-06:00

Colossians 1:16, 17 “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: (17.) And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”

Rarely do we think of the true wonders of God and even when we do it is only a drop of water in a large bucket of what the wonders of God truly are. We learn in here Colossians that God is the creator of “all things” then it proceeds to give us some of the things that God has created and they are; visible and invisible things - not some but all things, thrones this includes thrones that kings and world leaders set on, dominions this is governments that would include all governments of the world, principalities this would include various applications of order i.e. time, place, or rank of everything in creation, and powers which includes anything that has power i.e. kings, the sun, the solar system, all the way down to your boss at work to the governing power of His churches. The wonders of God are that not only did He create all these things but He also eternally controls them and knows every detail of them. We sometimes forget what all this details but if the heavens has hundreds of billions of galaxies and each of those galaxies has hundreds of billions of stars then how Wondrous is God Who not only has them all counted but also all named. We must understand and be reminded often that God controls all things and that includes from the smallest to the largest of all things created. Oh the Wonders of God; how wonderful indeed they are.

God went on to say “…all things were created by him, and for him…” not that He created them all but everything created was created for His own glory. Now this one is sometimes troublesome for us as Christians because we must attempt sometimes answer why God does certain thing certain ways. For example if God truly created and maintains all things in creation whether visible and invisible then why does He allow horrible things to happen such as hurricanes, tornados, and even death? Why did He allow 911 to happen and why does He allow war. Well the truth is we do not have all the answers because we do not know the mind of God. Unless God reveals why He has done something or allowed another power (for example Satan) to do something then we may never know why He allowed something bad to happen, but this is for sure; God has a reason for everything that happens. Let us use Job as an example. Job is a revealed example by that I mean God let us know what happened and why it happened but this is not always the case. When Job suffered his persecution Job and everyone connected thought God was punishing Job for something he done wrong to God; but God in His word revealed they that was not the case, God simply wanted to prove His glory to Satan through Job. We sometimes have to look at events and happenings in our lives and ask “to what glory did God get from that” but know that He did. God’s wonderful mind is so that He knows every detail of every thing.

The Lord concluded that “…by him all things consist.” The word “consist” means - to set together – that is not only set up in a certain order but constantly holds it together. Without God holding things together we would die, for example it the sun was to change then we could burn up or freeze to death. If the oxygen level or any other gases in the atmosphere was to change we would die. The reason we survive is because God continually controls everything and every detail of every thing and beloved this is why we have a God of Wonders. Everything was created for His glory and no matter what happens God will get glory from it even if we consider it a natural disaster. Psalms 97:6 “The heavens declare his righteousness, and all the people see his glory.”

The Wickedness of Mankind.

2012-01-07T14:52:00.000-06:00

Romans 1:17 - 21 "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. (18.) For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; (19.) Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. (20.) For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (21.) Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened."

As a minister and especially as a pastor my main concern is the lost and dying souls of mankind. We like to think of mankind as being good but as we dig deeper and deeper into the souls of mankind we see that there is none righteous no not even one single person. "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:" Romans 3:10 We may see good in them but what God sees is only evil. One of mans biggest issues is understanding God; not just one single issue about God but He as a whole. Certain people will understand this about God and another will understand that about God; but understanding God as a whole is impossible. Let us use this example; there are hundreds of billions of stars in each galaxy and there are hundred’s of billion galaxies in the entire universe and God has them numbered exactly and has them all named. God created the world and all that is within it, he created man and all that is within him. God created the seas and all that is within them, and He created all creeping things and all that is within them. The bible concludes in Psalms "I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well." Psalms 139:14 God created man in His own image and created him as a servant to Him, just as He did with the angels but mankind was given a gift that no other created being was given and that is, he was adopted as a “son of God”. "Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will," Ephesians 1:5 this is a blessing that of all Gods creation has not received not even the angels in heaven. Michael the archangel while such a blessed angel and wonderful servant of God will never be anything more than a mere servant of God. But mankind; the single most awful of His creation will one day be the “sons of God” or at least a remnant of us will be. Mankind is the one single creature of creation that will curse God, belittle God, mock God, refuse and reject God, and simply refuse to believe that He even exist. Mankind would rather believe that life and all that exist came from nothing than to believe that God is the creator of it all. Mankind is sadly mistaken and that mistake will cost them eternal damnation in the lake of fire.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” That is the anger of God has been and will continue to be revealed from heaven against mans ignorance. We think that things happen by accident or happenstance but God controls all things including disasters. There is nothing out of Gods absolute control. When disasters happens we may need to look and see what we have done wrong and correct it before God gets more angry, but being the creature that we are we will not.

“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen…so that they are without excuse:” one thing is for sure mankind will stand before God “without excuse” while they will attempt to explain things away there will be no excuses. Any single person on earth except the retarded among us can look at creation and clearly see Gods handy work. Mankind simply refuses to recognize a Superior Being. "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin." John 15:22

We Are Commanded To Honor Our Parents.

2011-12-31T08:11:00.000-06:00

Ephesians 6:2 “Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)”

This subject was discussed at my mother’s house over the holidays with some of my family. I was asked what it truly means “to honor our parents” and when I answered the question I may have walked into a hornets nest, but the truth is the truth. God never made an exception to when not to honor our parents. We must quickly understand that the bible is law and therefore it must be treated as such. If God says to do something and gives no exceptions then there are no exceptions. Let’s liken it to the law of the road; if the speed limit on the interstate is 70mph maximum then is there any exception to drive 80mph; no there is not, just as there are no exceptions not to honor our parents. I know some parents are awful, godless people and do not deserve any honor in our opinions but we must keep in mind that honor is a commandment; in fact it is in the Ten Commandments. In Exodus 20:12 “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” In fact Jesus Christ took it much farther when he said; “For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.” Matthew 15:4. I would say this is pretty final and a commandment we should all obey. Now please believe me when I say “I understand that there are many parents that do not deserve any honor” but we must all understand that God never said “if they deserve it”. My own father was a drunk, wife abuser, child abuser (not sexually), and sometimes a horrible person but I always honored him as my father and still do even though he has been dead many years. Beloved it is not what I say that counts but it is what God says that counts and He must be obeyed. Please let us remember on thing; we are not to render evil for evil God said; “Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.” 1 Peter 3:9 Do your part and God will bless you for your honor to them and for you’re obeying him. Now to them; if they are bad people and you find it hard to honor them then look to Jesus Christ who also said; "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. (20.) Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. (21.) Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:19 – 21. Beloved obey God and give them the honor that He commanded and God will take care of the “not deserving part”. Honoring our parents is not a choice but rather a command and if we treat it as a choice and not do it then it becomes sin on our part.

In conclusion I think it is proper to let everyone understand what God means by the word “honor”. The Greek word honor means – to prize or to revere – Now as a child we have this command: “for they are not only to be loved, and to be feared, and reverenced, their corrections to be submitted to, offences against them to be acknowledged, their tempers to be bore with, and their infirmities covered; but they are to be honoured in thought, word, and gesture; they are to be highly thought of and esteemed; they are to be spoken to, and of, very honourably, and with great veneration and to be behaved to in a very respectful manner; and they are to be relieved, assisted, and maintained in comfortable way when aged.” As John Gill so wisely points out. God told all children to “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.” Ephesians 6:1 however as we mature in age we are no longer commanded to “obey” them but rather just to honor them for who they are and that is our parents. Matthew 19:5 - 6 "And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? (6.) Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." The word honor and obey are not the same word and while we love and honor our parents we must live our own lives and make our own decisions.

People chasing wealth looses with God.

2011-12-17T16:28:00.000-06:00

Psalms 49:6 - 9 "They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; (7.) None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: (8.) (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:) (9.) That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption."

We can go on and on about wealth and God but there is one single point I want to make in this article and that is chasing wealth will make you a looser with God. Money; as some mythically people conclude “money makes the world go around” but this is as big of lie as believing in Santa Claus. God makes the world go around and money has nothing at all to do with it. In fact this is the truth God will give you more than you will ever get with money. Money tends to turn hearts away from God. God gives riches to those “Christians” who can handle it. We that do not have often wonder what good we could do if we were rich, but the question is would we do it. God said “the love of money is the root of all evil” 1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” God goes on to say “they have erred from the faith” because they have coveted after the money. Before you take a new fancy job that requires you to work on Sunday maybe you need to ask God about it, don’t just assume that it is a blessing from God it could be a temptation from Satan. Before we let money enter into our Christian decisions, we need to first ask God what is His will. It very well could be He wants you to give up the money for Him. Christians sometimes get confused about what God wants for them; and therefore make foolish decisions in life. Let us never forget God always gets His ordained will accomplished and if He must remove something personal to you that stand in the way then He will. I must admit I also love money and would also love to have more of it, but not if it separates me from God. I love God more than money but there are some Christians I wonder about. Beloved the rainbow we are to chase is the rainbow of God and not that of this world. The rewards of God are trillions times more valuable than the riches of this world. God said in our text scripture “They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;” they depend solely in their money and believe they can accomplish anything through their money; in other words they replace God supplying their needs to their money supplying them. And while there is so much they can do with worldly riches they cannot redeem a lost soul; “None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:” Money also cannot change their appointment to death; “That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption." Nor can their money buy them from eternal hell. God controls both and He cannot be bought. The Christian chasing the money rainbow is sad, it is sad when a singer in church turns professional, it is sad when a Pastor retires the ministry for a professional job. Now I have my own opinion of all these people and their call to work for God but these are real examples. Beloved if God has elected you to do something to His glory then do it; let nothing stand in your way, not even money. A good Christian never lets money come between them and God. Ezekiel 22:12 "In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD." Sometimes taking the money is forgetting God. Don’t make excuses to justify your love for money over God; God knows the truth and me or your Pastor is not the one you will have to explain things too. God always comes before money or material things. His rewards will be trillions times greater than the earthly rewards. But if you do not believe me then you will find out in glory when you are judged by Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:13 “Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.”

Christmas; Is It A Christian Holiday Or Not?

2011-12-10T16:24:00.001-06:00

“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21

I believe to find out if “Christmas” is a Christian holiday or not we must explore from where is originated. I found this from wikipedia.org which are normally pretty correct on things, “The word Christmas originated as a compound meaning "Christ's Mass". It is derived from the Middle English Christemasse and Old English Cristes mæsse, a phrase first recorded in 1038. "Cristes" is from Greek Χριστός Christos and "mæsse" is from Latin missa (the holy mass).” The two words “Christ’s” “Mass” will certainly put it into Catholicism and some say it dates all the way back to 354A.D. Most Christian’s call Christmas a “Pagan” holiday which means it is a secular holiday and not an actual Christian holiday. So now that we understand a little about Christians let us now try to answer the question; is it a holiday that Christians and churches ought to be celebrating. The correct answer is “no” because that the Paganism is involved. Christmas is a worldly holiday and not a Christian holiday therefore for churches to involve themselves would be to link themselves to what the holidays represent. Now if there were any Christian holidays they would not include myths and lies and Christmas is full of myths and lies. The lies start’s with the date of the Lord Jesus birthday; is December 25th the Lord’s actual birthday no one could know this date. The myths start with Santa Clause and proceed on through the fairytale holiday. As for Christians and churches being involved it would involve churches being liars and celebrating mythical people such as Santa Clause. Nothing as sinful as Christmas should involve churches or even her membership. Both Christmas and Easter are pagan holidays involving myths and lies. These are not Christian holidays even if the Catholics created both of them. There is absolutely nothing in the scriptures about celebrating holy days of any sort. There is no example in the scriptures about any church or group of Christians celebrating holy days.

Now I will conclude with this thought. Christmas affects us all in one way or another and like it or not we take part in it one way or another. Our church will not alter our services nor will we recognize the Christmas day this year or any other year. There will be no “Christmas message” it will be a normal day of worship to God, just as we do every other Sunday. As I said the holy day while it is not a Christian day but is a secular day or “secular holy day” and celebrated world wide. As for me this is how it affects me, we are going to have a Christmas lunch at work and I will attend because the food is good and we will receive a Christmas bonus, not too many folks will turn down a good meal and money. We will also have some paid days off of work for Christmas. I will be using the time off to visit my family and mostly my mother during the holiday on Saturday the 24th. Now some will call me a hypocrite because I disagree with the holiday and take benefits from it; but they could not be more wrong. Christmas unlike any other day of the year affects the entire world. I did not say not to celebrate the holiday I said it was not a Christian day and churches should not observe it. It is a worldly holiday and however a person or a Christian chooses to observe it, then so be it. Some will say to have any part in the celebration is anti God while they accept their Christmas bonus and enjoy a paid day off for it. We must accept it for what it is and that is a secular holiday and not a Christian holiday. God cannot be connected with any holiday full of lies and myths as both Christmas and Easter are.

Marriage is no game.

2011-12-03T17:09:00.000-06:00

“Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery.” Luke 16:18

Marriage is not a game in life and people should not ever take it that way. We live in a nation with more than a fifty percent divorce rate and the reason we do is because people treat marriage like a game. Some of my brethren and I are disagree on this subject but I learned many years ago that I will never agree one hundred percent of the time with any other person, therefore I must simply understand that I am not infallible and neither is any other human. With this being said divorce is (1.) biblical and (2.) not good. God gave certain laws in the scripture for divorce but God never meant for marriage to be treated as some sort of game. God said that if a man puts away his wife for unscriptural reasons and takes another wife it is adultery and by that he also causes the woman whom he has taken as his new wife to live in adultery. Therefore today’s preachers simply overlooking this or man simply ignoring this is not a solution. I am one who believes that once a sin is done then undoing it is impossible. I am one who also believes that the blood of Jesus Christ covers every single sin man can sin and therefore something done out of ignorance or something done in error is also forgiven by the Lords blood. We are all sinners and therefore we must be forgiven daily for our sins and this includes every Christian. 1 John 1:8 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” However with this being said it is not an excuse to sin at will; we must understand our Christian standing in Jesus Christ. Sin is not permitted nor is it just excused, Jesus Christ gave His life and blood for our sins and therefore this pardon came with a high price. Therefore it is without reason that Christians sin at will. Marriage was created to be a life long commitment and should be treated as such and any church member that fails to do so is subject for expulsion from the church. While it is understood that divorce happens it is not just, too just put away a wife or a husband at will and for just any reason. It is God who said that one commits adultery when they re-marry and therefore that makes it law. Christians must be very carful as to what they do and never purposely disobey nor ignore Gods Holy Law.

God said in 1 John 1:6 “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:” If we say that we have fellowship with God and walk in darkness we are liars and do not know the truth. How can one know the truth and walk in darkness. If we knew the truth we would be to fearful to walk disorderly therefore the conclusion is that for one to walk in a disorderly way proves they do not fear God. This brings us back to our main point and that is Christians that treat marriage like a game walk fearless of God and do not understand His laws. Because one that fears God understands that God is not going to simply overlook our sins in life. In John 3:20 – 21 God said; “For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. (21.) But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” Sin pulls us from the light and righteousness pulls us to the light therefore sin pulls us from fellowship with God. How can one fellowship with God and simply ignore Gods laws. Beloved what is done is done and sin cannot be reversed therefore we must live with the consequences of our sins but faithful Christians neither ignores Gods laws or sins for convenience. God gave us many laws on marriage and we must respect those laws and to violate them for any reason is sinning against God.

Christians Do Not Hide Their Light.

2011-11-26T19:48:00.001-06:00

Matthew 5:15 - 16 “Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. (16.) Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”

The Lord reminded us last week that if we are saved; if we are Christians; if we are believers in Jesus Christ as our Saviour, then we are the light of the world and if we are then we are like a city that sits on a hill all lite up where all can see. One thing that is easy to decipher is a Christian from a lost person if the Christian is letting their light shine. The problem we face today is so many Christians are dimming their light so much that it is almost, if not altogether impossible to see their light. If you were to look on the hilltop you would never see the city because the light was too low. This is a great mistake on these Christians part because the blessings missed will be theirs. The Lord reminds us in verse 15 not to hide our light by “putting it under a bushel” but instead lift it on a “candlestick” so that the light can be clearly seen by all and yes even your friends. The Lord even goes a little further here and tells us “…and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.” That your light by itself is giving light to the entire house by itself. Now imagine this; why if every church member allowed their light to so shine that it would light the entire house then how bright would 15 lights or 20 lights or etc. be? How is your light? Is it bright? Well now is the time to test it because once you die or once Jesus Christ returns then it is too late to brighten the light. God never meant for a lit candle to be hid; Luke 8:16 “No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.” No man and especially God, He saves every sinner for a reason or purpose, what is His purpose in saving you? Do you know?

God said in verse 16 “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works” your good works is your light shining. That is, that seeing your good works, they may be moved to love and serve God likewise. Why would they want to repent and move to an entire different direction in life if you works are no different than theirs? You light should be an example to them that life on the other side of salvation is different. Christ saves people to do His earthly work. Titus 2:14 “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” How is your “zeal” for the works of Christ?

“…and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Ah this is the entire purpose of all our lights shinning, of all our good works, not for our glory but for the glory of God. Only a selfish person would want the glory for something God does and all our good works are by the power of God and for His glory. Any preacher that is any good at all would never want the glory for their sermons and neither would even the greatest of all preachers. God is always to get the glory because it is God work in us. Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

You Beloved Are the Light Of The World.

2011-11-19T17:49:00.000-06:00

Matthew 5:14 “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.”

This is a most wonderful thought, we as Christians are the light of the world or we are the brightness of it. Last Wednesday night we started a new two or three week study taken from Daniel Chapter 6 with verse 16 being out text scripture. “Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.” As the King was by his own decree forced to have Daniel cast into the lions den because Daniel had broken the decree. However the King told Daniel “…Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.” The King actually believed that Daniels God would deliver him and He did. In Daniel 6:22 we read “My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.” Now the question must be asked how did the King know, well the answer is found in verse 16 of Daniel 6 “…Thy God whom thou servest continually…” Daniel was faithful to his God and the King knew this because Daniel faithfully serving his God and the King saw his light shine. Beloved it is our responsibility to make sure our light of salvation shines and shines bright. It is the light in the lighthouse on the sea side that the ships see to guide them home. There is no other light; no more than there is a second gospel. There is only one of each and your light could be the guide that guides a lost ship home. We do not always see the results of the lost ship docking at home in the foggy waters but be assured that they do, just as we may not always see our light as the one that guided a lost sinner to Jesus Christ. Beloved God can use any or all tools at His disposal to deliver a lost sinner and what a glorious thing indeed if one sinner came to Christ as a result of your light shinning. I know that God does not need our light but He also does not need the gospel being preached to save a lost sinner, but that is the system God has chosen to use to saving sinners. 1 Corinthians 1:21 “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”

God reminds us in James 2:18 “… I will shew thee my faith by my works.” This is your light so shinning and if it is not then men may never see it. It is every Christian’s responsibility to make sure their light so shines. Daniel served God continually and the King noticed it; do people notice yours? God also reminds us in Proverbs 4:18 “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.” The light of a Christian shines more and more until we are with the Lord. If the light grows too little light then we need to work to brighten it back up.

Verse 14 continues with this thought “…A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.” Do not worry about men seeing the light shining because beloved it cannot be hid. It will be as bright as a whole city lit up setting on a hilltop. A light that never grows dark. 1 Thessalonians 5:5 “Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.” Beloved let your light so shine that all the world can see it. Let your light so shine that other will be convinced that your God will deliver you when you are cast into the lions den.

The Salt Of The Earth.

2011-11-12T18:14:00.000-06:00

Matthew 5:13 “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”

The word “savour” means - to become insipid (in•sip•id) – the word “insipid” means – to become dull or flavorless – the word “savour” comes from the Greek word (Moros) which means – dull or stupid – now with all of this defined to its fullest it gives us a more point blank definition which means if the salt has lost it savour it becomes flavorless or dull or stupid. For the salt to loose its savour is like a Christian losing their standing in the Lord as a good Christian or a useable Christian. This Christian becomes dull or flavorless which means they have become stupid. Only a stupid Christian would loose their value to the Lord in putting themselves in an unusable position. God saved people to use them, He calls preachers, missionaries, and other workers to use them, but if a Christian allows Satan and the world to draw them away and back into sin then they become useless to the Lord, the ministry, or the church, they are likened to salt without flavor. It is a Ministers job to be an example and to lead others by word and deed but if a minister cannot lead then he will loose all of his gifts that God has given to him and become useless to God and the ministry. This can also be done by not having doctrine that is very sound and good; if our doctrine is not sound and good then it will be rendered as unsavoury and vain. A Christian can do this by living worthless and sinful lives. How useful is a Christian that lives the same as the ones you witness too?

God said in 2 Peter 2:20 - 21 "For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. (21.) For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them." This is the reason the definition “dull or stupid” makes so much sense to me; because a minister or a Christians that has lost their savour is “stupid”. Now I have been told for years from a young minister into my Pastor years not to use the word “stupid” because it is bad grammar but here it is in one of our definitions so here I am allowed to use this bad grammar word in a good way. God said in 2 Peter 2:21 “For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness…” because God is going to deal with them in a very harsh way. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 26:24 "The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born." Isn’t it a betraying God to leave His doctrinal truth and His church? Wouldn’t it be a betrayal for the salt to loose their savour? Indeed it would be. Beloved a Christian must watch their walk in every step and not allow the rudiments of this evil world cause them to loose their savour. Ministers and Pastors must also walk cautiously and not loose our savour. Beloved we all walk by the grace of God and therefore it is to Him we must continually pray that we be kept from falling into the evil hands of Satan. If you are a Christian or Minister that has lost its savour it is time to repent and come back home. The doors are open and we are waiting because God never shuts the door to His own Children.

Rejoice!!

2011-11-05T17:13:00.000-05:00

Matthew 5:12 “Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

As we have just looked at persecution and the hatred against the Christian, we now turn another corner. The Lord tells us to rejoice and be exceeding glad because your sufferings on earth will carry a greater reward in heaven. Please let us understand something here; not all Christians have rewards waiting on them in heaven, only those who have earned them. Some believe (out of ignorance of Gods word) that all believers will be the same in heaven therefore “churches” and “Pastors” have tried to equalize everything involving Christians but it is not theirs to equalize; it is Gods. Jesus Christ will judge every Christian, it is He who will try our works by fire, and it is He who will give the rewards. Christians that have little works and believe little truth will receive little rewards if any at all. Everything a Christian believes and does in their life will account against or for there rewards in heaven. 1 Corinthians 3:15 “If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” Those who do not worry about accomplishing works for God will find little once they are there. But on the other side of this thought are those who have worked for rewards, theirs will be great in heaven. Those that have suffered on earth will buy gain in heaven, and the greater the sacrifice the greater the reward and those that gave their life to the enemy for Gods sake will indeed gain the greatest rewards. God said “be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven” The words “be exceeding glad” actually means - properly to jump for joy – because your loss here on earth buys ten fold in heaven. You have rewards that are preserved in heaven for your eternal joy and no one can hurt them, steal them, nor will they corrode before you get to heaven, no they are reserved for you for your day of judgment. Remember what God said about Peter and John after their arrest “And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.” Acts 5:41 They were “exceeding glad” to be able to suffer for the Lord Jesus Christ even though their lives were threatened. Many over the years died; as many as fifty million just in the dark ages alone; but beloved think of what it must have been like when they opened their eye after death, oh how blessed they were to see Jesus Christ the very One they had just died for. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:17 - 18 “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; (18.) While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

“…for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” Beloved let us all remember no matter what sufferings we have on this earth not will ever suffer as Jesus Christ did, nor will we ever suffer as much as so many before us, therefore before we cry so much about how hard it is to be a Christian of truth let us reflect on the suffering of so many other believers before us who actually died for the Lords church and the biblical truths. 1 Thessalonians 2:14 – 16 “For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews: (15.) Who both killed the Lord Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men: (16.) Forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they might be saved, to fill up their sins alway: for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost.”

Blessed are you when mankind hates you! Part 2

2011-10-29T20:15:00.000-05:00

Matthew 5:11 “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.”

There are several things mentioned here; first – “when men shall revile you”; second - “persecute you”; third – “say all manner of evil against you falsely”; “and for my sake.” Let’s look at these independently of each other.

“when men shall revile you” The word “revile” means – to defame or to taunt – therefore those that try to mark us as hate mongers for believing the truth are actually blessing us; because God said this make us blessed. Let us not forget what they called our Lord Jesus Christ in John 10:20 “And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?” but we need to remember what God said in Philippians 1:29 “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;” We are blessed because we are actually suffering in the place of Jesus Christ as He did for us at Calvary. They hate us because of Him and His word or truths. Beloved count it joy when men revile you.

“when men shall persecute you” This is different of sort from verse 10 “which are persecuted for righteousness' sake” because verse 10 deals with doing an act of righteousness and verse 11 deals with just any Christian that suffer persecution for any reason. This also includes verbal persecution.

“when men shall say all manner of evil against you falsely” The word falsely here means - to utter an untruth or attempt to deceive by falsehood – As sovereign grace Baptist we are always spoken of in an untruthful matter and described as evil people because of what we believe in the scriptures. There are not many today who believe any of God’s doctrinal truths anymore; they all fall under the category of those who call the truth a lie and a lie the truth. Beloved we are greatly hated and not just by non-Christians but by actual Christians who follow untrue teachings because we are landmark sovereign grace. The words “all manner” means any hurtful or evil thing uttered. Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 4:14 “If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.”

“for my sake.” This is the bottom-line purpose for their persecution and evils against us; it is because of Jesus Christ. It is not that they hate us personally because in the flesh we are all the same but when we believe in Christ, when we believe in
His truths, then they turn against us as they did Him. Our Lord reminds us in Matthew 10:22 “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” And the Psalmist reminds us in Psalms 44:22 “Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.” – beloved don’t count it bad when you are persecuted in the name of the Lord but rather a blessing and a joy!!

Blessed are you when mankind hates you!

2011-10-22T21:07:00.001-05:00

Matthew 5:11 “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.”

The next Beatitude covers several areas but one in general and that is mans hate for the Christian. The Lord uses such words as revile, persecute, evil, and falsely; these are things that mankind loves to do to the Christian, simply because they hate them. Christian such as Baptist and a few others were grossly persecuted by others that called themselves Christians but were not acting as though they were Christians. I am about to get myself in trouble with someone I love very much as I did a couple of weeks ago; but what I am about to say is very provable in history so therefore I can say it with confidence. In what is known as the “dark ages” (that is a period between 500ad – 1700ad) some fifty million Baptist and other Christians were killed by the Roman government, Catholicism, and other that were the product of the reformation period. It was natural for those such as Martin Luther, and many other who left Catholicism who are known as Protestants to hate, revile, and even hurt and kill Christians not associated with them or Catholicism. History will prove out that the early settlers here in America were fleeing from the “Church of England” and other haters of the Baptist and other Christians. Now let me please reiterate this is all very provable if one would simply do an internet search on this subject. I would also recommend one read a book entitled “The Trail of Blood” by J.M. Carroll which is also found on the internet. I understand that Catholicism of today does not seek to kill Baptist and other Christians not associated with them but it is in their past and not denied by the Catholic Hierarchy nor by anyone else that knows Catholic history. I have several Catholic friends and some of my family is Catholic and I love them all but the facts are the facts and history is history.

So today we want to take some time and will most likely we will extend this to another week because it covers such a wide area we simply cannot cover this in just one article. Last week we look at another beatitude “persecuted for righteousness' sake” blessed are them that suffer for doing acts of righteousness but here we see and addition to that which covers a very wide area. This verse basically speaks against those that hate Christians and them that the Lord calls blessed. We sometimes find it hard to understand how we can be blessed when men hate us, but we are because they hated Jesus Christ first and because of that they will hate all other Christians. The world is against us and even in our own Nation today we are most hated by many other Americans. There are many Americans today that would love for the Christians to walk two by two into the sea and disappear. If you are a member of either political party there are those inside of that party that hate and revile you, and would rather you were not a part of their party. Our own government hates us because we disagree with their political laws such as abortion and homosexuality. We are known as “hate mongers” if we disagree with them. But we that are Christians need to “pull up our boot straps” and keep marching forward no matter what is said or done. When we see religions of the world allowed doing things, when it is forbidden for the Christians; please never forgetting it is not you they hate; it is He whom you believe in as your Saviour. You are the only one that they can exercise their frustration on; yes you because to them Jesus Christ is dead. Beloved every time you hear of another Christian being persecuted please remember it is Christ Jesus they truly hate and blessed are you and all other Christians around the world that suffer for the cause of Jesus Christ.
We will continue this verse next week.

Blessed Are Those Blessed Saint Who Are Persecuted.

2011-10-15T22:22:00.000-05:00

Matthew 5:10 "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Blessed are they who are persecuted; not for any reason but for “righteousness' sake”. Sometimes Christians are persecuted for unrighteous sake; just because a Christian suffers persecution does not mean that it is righteous persecution. God warned us Christians that the world sets traps for us, “The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.” Psalms 37:12 I do not believe this is littoral but rather a metaphor to show an expression of their malice and hatred toward the Christian. But we cannot over look the expression to be something taken from hell itself. Matthew 13:42 “And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” This expression shows a couple of thing (a.) the intensity that the lost will persecute the Christian and (b.) how close the lost are to hell and Satan. Let us not for get God shows this closeness in John 8:44 “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” With this being said we as Christians must make ourselves aware that the world has a great desire to harm us and with the intensity that they will use to harm us. But the Christian must also make themselves aware that God promised that we will suffer persecution in this life. 2 Timothy 3:12 “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” Now a deeper look at this verse shows us that persecution is immanent for any Christian that does the righteousness of God. Any Christian walking with the Lord in TRUTH will be persecuted; maybe not with death but at the very least you will be hated and despised for the truth you believe and the walk that you walk. However God did warn us through the Apostle Paul “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;” Philippians 1:29 and here in Matthew God tells us that because of this persecution we are blessed and not only blessed but also made us this promise; “…for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

When God says “…for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." He does not mean that this suffering persecution will get us into heaven but the reward of our persecution will be in heaven. Christians do not suffer persecution just to suffer as a Christian but that God had or has a purpose for the suffering; just as He did with His faithful servant Job, Job did not suffer because he had done something ill toward God but rather because he was such a glorious servant to God that God knew that if he were persecuted he would never curse God. But the glorious thing for Job is (while he may not have understood what God was doing) that he was well rewarded for his suffering both here on earth and in the world to come, and so shall we be also. God never forget His faithful servants and the sacrifices they make on His behalf. While He has promised them He has also promised to reward us for them “…for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." With this all being said I will conclude with this passage of scripture; 2 Thessalonians 1:4 - 7 "So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: (5.) Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: (6.) Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; (7.) And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,"

Blessed are them who makes peace.

2011-10-08T21:55:00.001-05:00

Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”

We now come to our next beatitude and that is the peacemaker, a peacemaker is one who makes peace with others. There never been any doubt that God is a peacemaker; not with all mankind but with all who will be saved. A peacemaker is one who makes peace with Gods creation; God never commanded that Christians live any other way than peaceful. Romans 12:18 “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” People tend to attempt to make Christianity as an un-peaceable religion but it is not; neither un-peaceable or a religion. Christians and mostly Baptist have always tried to live peaceably in this world. Now remember God commanded in Romans 12:18 “If it be possible…” meaning there will be times when it will not be possible. However even with that being said God did command “But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Matthew 5:39 meaning we are to be a longsuffering people also. When we look at all of this from top to bottom and side to side we see that the finality of t all is that we are to be like God a likeness we lost in the fall. When God said He created man in His own image He meant that man was created in His likeness in attributes, not all attributes but many and these are regained by mankind in salvation or in Christ.

We must understand this does not mean that we can make peace with God because man does not have the ability to make peace with God. God makes peace with man only through Christ Jesus. Romans 5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:” man lives under the misunderstanding that we can make peace with God. We have nothing with God except through Christ Jesus which is our all and in all with God.

Now being peace does not make us children of God but means we will be called the children of God because we are saved in Jesus Christ not because we are peacemakers. As we look at the worlds religions we see evilness in all of them to a point and some more radical than others as in the Muslim faith. Now some attempt to make the lying point that the Christian faith is just as evil as the religionist but they do not understand what a Christian is; for example I do not consider Catholicism as a Christian faith but rather as a religionist faith. I also do not consider those out of reformation a Christian faith. How can one be considered a Christian faith if they do not have faith in Christ Jesus. But those that do have faith in Christ also are peacemakers and are also called the children of God because none others in this world can be called either; peacemakers or Gods children. Ephesians 5:1 - 2 “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; (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.”

Blessed Are The Pure In Heart.

2011-10-01T20:48:00.000-05:00

Matthew 5:8 "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God."

Our sixth blessing of salvation or our sixth Beatitude is “pure in heart”. A pure heart would be a clean heart which means a heart that has been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. This is the test of Christianity that most miss; and that is God deals with the heart or as Paul called it the “inward man” in 2 Corinthians 4:16 “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” The “inward man” is renewed day by day because it is the spirit of man; that is the same spirit that was killed by the sin of Adam and made alive by the second Adam, Jesus Christ. The heart of a Christian is pure because it cannot ever be dirty again by sin because the blood of Jesus Christ continually cleanses it or as Paul said “renewed day by day” with this being said we can see that all the children of God are the pure in heart and all will see God.

People today as a lot of people of old have a gross misunderstanding of what it takes to satisfy God; they seem to think that we satisfy God with the outward man and outward acts of kindness but this is their biggest mistake, we worship God in spirit and in truth and whatever is in the spirit should be our outward show of work. John 4:24 "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." This is the reason we can worship God and one day will see God because our spirits are renewed day by day. Now on the other side of things; those that are still lost will never see God except for their judgment day because their sprits are still dead and unclean. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:14 “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” There is no communication between God and the lost man; He does not see them, He does not hear them, He does not help them, and when it is all done and over with they will not see Him in His glory. The Christian is so blessed that it will only be when we are all with Jesus Christ in our new glorified state that we will fully be able to understand what this means.

I think Paul may have summed it up best in Titus 1:15 "Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled." Unto all that are saved all things are pure therefore there are no un-pure thing with the Christian and on the flip side to the un-pure or the lost nothing is pure but rather all is un-pure. Let us not forget from whom our cleansing came from and we can understand why it can never be called unclean again. Acts 10:15 “And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.”

This is why when one shows their righteousness outwardly and not from the heart then you can be assured that they are not saved. Beloved it is not what you do outwardly but what comes from the renewed heart that counts and what is done from the renewed heart will show on the outside but in a very much different way. Matthew 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

Blessed are the merciful.

2011-09-24T20:42:00.000-05:00

Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”

Oh, how so many Christians and church members miss this blessing! The word “merciful” mean – compassionate – and refers to words and deeds. Now let us not misunderstand the second part of this verse; receiving mercy from God is not conditional but is a gracious act on His part. However with this being said I do believe that extra blessings from God can be earned just as crowns of righteousness can be earned and I believe that if a Christian is more and more gracious to others then God will be extra gracious to that Christian. With that all being said the beatitude is that we are to be merciful and it fears me that a lot of Christians fail in this area. We truly live in an unmerciful ere and for the Christians this needs to change. We must be reminded of the mercy that God has had on all whom are saved and called Christians, we were not saved by merit but by grace and mercy and God continues to have mercy and grace on the Christian continually. However the question must be asked; why aren’t we merciful like our Lord, we are told to be, “Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?” Matthew 18:33 I would to God that we all had this very kind of mercy on each and every Christian, I would to God we all put the other Christian before self, and did everything in our power to help our fellow believer. God said in Ephesians 5:1 - 2 "Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; (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." God said to be followers of Him and have the same love that He had that He sent His only beloved Son in the form of Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins, so beloved I must ask what have you done to help your fellow Christian or church member? We are also reminded in Galatians 6:2 “Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” Are you bearing the burdens of other Christians? Are you doing anything to help your fellow Christian, church, or Pastor? If not then you are not walking as the Lord has commanded and are not worthy of more mercy. This is why the Lord reminded us in Romans 15:1 “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.” We who are stronger in anything, we that are stronger in doctrine are to help the weaker, we that are stronger in money are to help the weaker, and we who are stronger knowledge are to help the weaker, oh how I believe we fail so much in this area as believers. This is simply having mercy on others as God has had much mercy on us, but why if God was like we are, why if He was to withhold His mercy, oh, we would cry to the highest mountain begging for His mercy, but beloved we don’t have to because He knows and supplies our every need before we ever ask. I wonder what the feeling would be if we were to help another Christian before they ever asked for the help; but rather countless times I have heard Christians refuse to help other that they could, what mercy are they owed of God? Proverbs 11:17 “The merciful man doeth good to his own soul..." Proverbs 19:17 "He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again." James 3:17 "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy."

Beloved please remember the merciful has more mercy bestowed on them.

Blessed are the hungry and thirsty!

2011-09-10T15:50:00.001-05:00

Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”

Oh the promises of God to those who seek Him and His righteousness: what a blessing it is to seek the Lord God. God is just full of promise to His children that seek to do His blessed will. He not only promised us the kingdom of heaven is ours; or that we will be comforted in all our troubles and needs; or that the earth will be ours; but here God extends His promise that if we seek His righteousness we will be filled with it, truly what a blessing this is. But the question must be asked; what do you seek? When you get up in the morning and start your day is it the righteousness of God that you seek; or is it other things, like worldly things? When you get up on Sunday morning and decide whether to attend church or do something else does pleasing God play a part in your decision? As a Christian does your soul seek the Lord; does it hunger and thirst for His righteousness? The Psalmist wrote: "O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; (2.) To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Psalms 63:1 – 2 This is the very power your thirst and hunger should be for the righteousness of God; as though the pantry is empty and the river is dry and therefore you will never have enough, what a blessed thought. People somehow think that their one hour in church a week or even three hours a week in church is enough; but dear one if it is then your soul is easily filled and lacks sufficient nourishment. People that diet eat less and the less they eat the less they desire food and as a result they loose weight; now let’s compare this to Gods righteousness, if one seeks less then they will want less and over time will loose not weight but righteousness and blessings of God. Beloved if you want to eat less and loose weight then so be it; but never diet from Gods righteousness. Go ahead and pig out eat and drink all you want; want it ever second of every day, pig out so much that your spiritual man blows up into a big old righteous glutton. God just promised that if you seek He will supply so go ahead and enjoy the time and keep yourself full. Go ahead it is free; that is right no charge, eat and drink all you want and never pay a dime for the spiritual food. "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. (2.) Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. (3.) Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." Isaiah 55:1 – 3

Folks God is so wonderful to us; He sent His only Son to this world in the man Christ Jesus to die a humiliating death on the cross so that we could enjoy being Christians. Why is it that Christians do not seek the righteousness of God more and more; why is it that some are satisfied with one or three hours a week and the rest of their life is spent fulfilling the lust of the flesh. Why is it that we will spend hours upon hours on overtime at work to buy worldly treasures but think the hour or so a week at church is wasted or is of little value? God has promised if we seek He will supply; but we will not find it at work but rather only in Jesus Christ. “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. (38.) He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” John 7:37 - 38

Blessed are they that mourn!

2011-08-27T14:41:00.000-05:00

Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.”

When I look at the Beatitudes I see them as being written to the saved and not the lost; just as when I see the entire word of God, I also see it being written to the saved and not the lost. However there are others who see both as being written to the lost and saved, however the issue I have with their theory is; God has one message to the lost and that is to repent and believe on Jesus Christ or else go the eternal hell. Here God has no message to the lost; it is a message to the first church and only to her membership and future Christians. This is what makes the Beatitudes so special to every Christian that reads them. Here the Lord says “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.” The word mourned means - The feeling or the act of grieving – therefore it requires us to believe it is speaking about an act; with that act of grieving being over sin. This is the way I see it; if a person has been saved then sin is the last thing they want to do; however it is something we all do. With this thought in mind we must gather from this verse that the Christian, while grieving over the sin in their life must understand that comfort will come and that comfort is that the blood of Jesus Christ will forgive all our sins and not just the past or present. And beloved this delivers to us all a great comfort. However our greatest mourning of all is living a life from a daily presence of being with our Saviour Jesus Christ. Mourning for the Christian could come in many areas, it could come in death, it could come falling away from the church, or falling into apostasy, but this is the very bottom-line fact; there is comfort in our time of mourning and that comfort is only found in Jesus Christ. Isaiah 30:18 - 19 "And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him. (19.) For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee." Indeed those who trust in Jesus Christ there should be no mourning; but in this flesh dwelleth no good thing Romans 7:18 Therefore we do mourn just as we worry, and as we do so many things in life that shows the weakness of our flesh; however we also know even if we do, comfort is right here with us in Jesus Christ. We learn in Job 14:22 "But his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn." As long as we are in these bodies pain and misery is assured however on day when we shall shed these bodies sin will no longer mourn us. Job knew a thing or two about pain and mourning in this flesh but he also knew about the comfort of the Lord and beloved we too should have that same comfort. We truly see a great example of this in Micah chapter 7 where the prophet speaks about the great effect of sin "The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net." Micah 7:2 and then the comforting of the Lord “He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” Micah 7:19. Beloved our comfort will be the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, when we shall sin no more, when no more tears will dim the eyes, yes beloved there is comfort in our time of mourning but we must look in the right place and He resides in your heart if you are saved.

Blessed are the poor.

2011-08-20T13:43:00.000-05:00

Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

My apologies to all because I promised a couple of weeks back to write about the Beatitudes but I had gotten sidetracked on couple of other issues. The Beatitudes was the first sermon preached in a church after Jesus Christ had called her out and assembled her together for the first church meeting. Here He begins to preach a sermon that is universally accepted as “The Beatitudes”. The first one is “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” not blessed are the poor but rather poor in spirit which is everyone who has just been saved; since their recent conversion they have not learned much and that makes them poor in spirit or weak in spirit. Some folks want to believe that being monetarily poor that God has a special blessing for them and they will live eternally wealthy because they suffered enough on this earth, but that could not be farther from the truth. God hath concluded that He has no respect of persons Romans 2:11 which means; God does not love you nor hate you because you are a particular race, creed, nationality, or group of people. In John 3:16 we see that “God so loved the world” not that God loves everyone in the world but that He loves people from all different nationalities of the world. God is never going to bless people here on this earth just because that are poor; if God wanted you to be rich, He would have made you rich! Paul said “I am what I am by the grace of God” 1st Corinthians 15:10. Those that are “poor in spirit” are those who have believe that Jesus Christ is their Saviour; those whom are weak in faith. We must understand that the lost are not weak in spirit they are spiritually dead, therefore it is simple to understand that the Lord is speaking to those Christians who had just been “called out” and saved. However weak in faith they may be they are certainly blessed of all other people on this earth because God has saved their souls from eternal hell fire. Luke mentions these poor in spirit in Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,” This is actually a quote from Isaiah 61:1 where the word “poor” is rendered “meek” or the poor in spirit. Now looking at the scripture in Luke we see that God had sent him to preach the gospel to the poor in spirit, God had also “anointed” him or elected him to preach the gospel to the meek or poor in spirit, God had also “sent” him, and God had also given him the message to be delivered, and now beloved we understand why we are blessed. This is no “Mickey Mouse” preaching you hear in your average churches pulpit today; this is truly a man who knows our Sovereign God and how He works. If you are saved today it is because God has in totality saved your soul; from the particular soul, to the sermon to be preached, to the one who was to preach it, to the working of your faith in Christ, nothing left for you to do or anything to doubt; this is why the poor in spirit are indeed blessed beyond our imagination. This is why Paul wrote; "And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. (20.) Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, (21.) Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." Ephesians 3:19 - 21

God has made no such promises to America!

2011-08-13T20:27:00.000-05:00

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

We as Gentile Christians are certainly blessed beyond our imagination of God. However blessed we are we need never forget Gods first love is Israel. God made many promises to His first love and He will certainly deliver on every single promise. We Gentiles are blessed because of Israel’s downfall and for a time God has elected to set His first love aside and use the Gentiles. While we do find many promises in the scriptures to the Gentiles we find nothing like God made to Israel. It is my belief that God created and blessed the United States of America as a blessing to Israel. But America will not be allowed the same downfalls that Israel was; the Lord will simply allow us to fall. Let us never forget whom we are dealing with; He is the most judgmental being in all of creation. He will not sit by while America continues to act as a nation of heathen for much longer; we have made our bed and now we must answer to God for our sins. I am not claiming to have some great revelation from God; but am warning God will not continue to bless our sinful ways. “For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.” Isaiah 60:12 I must ask have we not seen America made into a waste land in the last 20 or so years? If I remember right the greatest down fall began in the sixties and have continued thru today and has only gotten worse and worse. The dope smoking hippies of that era are now running our nation and have turned it into a waste land. Abortion is still murder to God; He has not changed! Homosexuality is still an abomination to God; He has not changed! It is still wrong not to pray in the name of Jesus Christ; it is wrong to have worship services in the fashion that most are conducted and call it a worship of God! It is still wrong to be ashamed of God or Jesus Christ in public. And it is wrong to forget the One who blessed you from the start; and to say He had nothing to do with it. Yes; yes indeed it is all still wrong! God has not changed and He never will and this is why America is in her final years. God has made promises to His beloved Israel; not because she is any better but because this is the way He has elected it to be. God made Israel many promises that we Gentiles often use as our own but they do not belong to us; therefore we will not see them extended to us. We will fall more and more until one day we are a nothing. We just saw our nations credit rating fall to AA+ and our government and nation treat it as though it was a political move; but not everything is political something’s are punishment from God. I see no mention of America in the scriptures and no promises from God that even though we turn into a - greedy, selfish, God hating, and allowing anything nation - that He will continue to bless us. For more than 200 years we have been blessed as the greatest nation on earth out side of Israel; and we have ignorantly lost that status. Israel has not wakened from their blinded state but they will because God has promised to redeem them and use them once again, but not America. Greed has taken our hearts from God; we no longer need God today because we are smart and strong; but in reality we are ignorant and weak. People vote for politicians out of ignorance and those politicians to keep their jobs have voted to allow the mess we have today. America has been destroyed by greedy and selfish people and she will not return. People today do not care about the good of America they only care about what government can do for them. When a nation is in 14 trillion dollars in debt and on her way to 16 trillion and even beyond; but no one cares as long as the government doesn’t remove their government handout; then we are without a doubt a doomed nation. 1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” - Proverbs 1:19 “So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.”

What Wonderful Words To Hear!

2011-08-07T07:34:00.001-05:00

“And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.” Luke 7:50

The most wonderful words a lost soul can hear are “Thy faith hath saved thee”. Most wonderful because it cancels any thoughts of works for salvation. Now please understand I am not against works; I am against works for salvation! Now one may ask “why are you against works for salvation?” Well I am glad you asked that question; we cannot live good enough or have sufficient works to enter the kingdom of God. If we fell short before salvation then we will most certainly fall short after salvation. If the blood of Jesus only cleanses our sins before faith has come then what about after faith has come. If one single sin will condemn us to eternal hell before faith then won’t one single sin condemn us to eternal hell after salvation? God said through James; “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” James 2:10 It is not just big sins that condemns us but any single sin; just the smallest of though can condemn us because our thought are also sin. “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” Matthew 5:28. So if sin includes the thoughts of our hearts then sin is inescapable. To believe that works is a part of salvation means we will all surly go to eternal hell. Salvation that includes works also means we cannot live a life of peace after faith has come; Jesus told this woman of many sins “…go in peace.” How could she go in peace if she had to live a sinless life? Having to examine every thought before she even thought it; or is that even possible? I could find no peace in that!

The Lord Jesus Christ; the Saviour of mankind told this woman that her faith had saved her even though she had many sins. “Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.” Luke 7:47 and she had many sins after faith had come. I have had many sins after faith came to me. But she and I were both glad to hear that the blood of Jesus was sufficient to cleanse all our sins and not just our past sins. “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;” Ephesians 1:7. Now I can live in peace on this earth knowing that even though I may sin many times over, my sins have all been forgiven by the blood of Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus also told this very sinful woman “And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.” Luke 7:48 He did not specify her past sins He said “Thy sins are forgiven.” As in all her sins; then she was told to live in peace because knowing that all her sins were forgiven she could, what a wonderful, blessed way to live in a sinful world. If you want your sins forgiven come to Jesus; bathe in His blood and you too can live sin free the rest of your days. You can live a life of peace in this evil world. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:” Romans 5:1

We will continue the Beatitudes next week. This passage truly made a great impression on my heart this week.

The Beatitudes; Introduction

2011-07-30T21:49:00.001-05:00

"And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: (2.) And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying," Matthew 5:1 – 2

As we take the next few weeks to look at the Beatitudes let us remember who it was that delivered this sermon, it was Jesus Christ. As people look at the Beatitudes it sort of looking at the Ten Commandments “I will pick and choose which ones I will obey and which ones I will turn my head the other way on” but beloved it simply should not be that way; just as the Ten Commandments are God’s Holy Law so is the Beatitudes of Jesus Christ. This was the very first sermon ever delivered in the very first church. If you will read the entire twelfth chapter of 1st Corinthians you will find the order of the first church and all churches that followed. We find in 1 Corinthians 12:28 it states "And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers…” Now to find this church read Matthew chapters 3 – 4 first you will find John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness and baptizing those whom had been saved. Now one may ask who was John baptizing if the church had not began yet but I say it had; John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus Christ preparing the way for Christ Jesus in preparing the assembling of the first church in Jerusalem. The first church was organized by God in calling John the Baptist to preach and baptize, however the first church was assembled on the mountain top. Next we see John the Baptist baptize Jesus Christ, then we see Jesus tempted of Satan, then we see Jesus began to build the church as He walks through the towns and villages calling out people to follow Him. First, the Apostles, secondly teachers, and then followers. God setting those in the church as it had pleased Him. As all those who had been gathered by Jesus and baptized by John went to the mountain and then to the top of the mountain sit by as the first church service began with Jesus Christ delivering the first sermon and His sermon topic was “The Beatitudes” as we know them (not that this was actually His message title). This would have to be known as the greatest sermon ever delivered because it was the sermon of the Son of God. Now Jesus preached many sermons while He was on earth but this one had special meaning because by this time the church had officially been assembled and the first sermon delivered and what a sermon it was “Blessed are”. Blessed are you whom God has elected to be saved, blessed are you that are church members, blessed are you who are knowledgeable, blessed are you who are followers of Gods holy word and etc, etc, etc. The word “blessed” means – fortunate but it also means happy – we sometimes make the meaning happy and bypassing the fortunate part but while we are happy in spirit if we follow the beatitudes we are also fortunate that we have the ability to follow them. Fortunate that we are saved and are Gods children.

As we take a closer look at the “Beatitudes” for the next several weeks let us remember they are for us and our benefit. These are Gods law just as the Ten Commandments are and are to be followed the same. Please heed them and place them as part of your life and you will be happy and blessed in your life. The Ten Commandments shows us our sins but the Beatitudes shows us how to be happy in Jesus Christ. "Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven...” Matthew 5:12

Rejoicing In Heaven

2011-07-16T18:29:00.000-05:00

“I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” Luke 15:7

What love God hath for His elect. He loved them so much that He sent His only begotten Son to die for their sins. He loved them so much that He allowed the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to be sufficient payment for their sins. Oh what a most wonderful God we indeed do have! And our Saviour, let us not forget just how wonderful, loving, and caring He is also, that He allowed Himself to be crucified for our justification. Without this most gracious act we would still be lost in sin. Oh we still sin but all of our sins are paid in full by the glorious blood of our Saviour. We are still in the flesh and as long as we are we must continually ask God for forgiveness, but how wonderful it is that God is just and He will on a continual basis forgive our transgressions.

Please let us notice that Jesus does the searching, and Jesus does the rescuing, and it is also Jesus who does the delivering, beloved it has nothing to do with man or the person being rescued it is all the work of Jesus Christ. He is the Sheppard of the flock and He is the single person who cares for the flock. This is why there is rejoicing in heaven, because salvation is the work of God. Any time God does anything it is a miracle, and causing a sinner to go against their very own nature and to turn from serving Satan and sin it is a miracle. Therefore heaven breaks out into rejoicing.

I thank God that many years ago Jesus Christ came looking for me and that He found me and saved my soul from eternal destruction. He brought me back to the fold that His Father had elected before the foundation of the world and now I am back to where I belong. This is also something you that are part of that ninety-nine need to continually rejoice over, that you to have been found. Jesus will continually search for that lost sheep until He returns and He will continually find them, put them on His loving shoulders, and tote them back to the fold until the one hundred have been returned, and then He will return to rapture them out of this world, what a wonderful future we have.

See you over yonder!

2011-07-09T21:44:00.001-05:00

2 Corinthians 5:6 - 8 "Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (7.) (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) (8.) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord."

As we have seen two wonderful Christians pass this week and we take much comfort in knowing that they are now with the Lord. Sister Janet Pugh was a most wonderful Christian that walked in her Lord footstep and followed her husband into the mission field first in Canada and then to Romania and her reward will be great in Gods kingdom. Sometimes we forget that beside a faithful Missionary or Pastor or Minister is his faithful wife, living the same life and helping in the same glorious work.

Brother Vigil Hoskins was a very faithful servant to the Lord that dedicated his life to the service of the Lord and the Lords church. When one member of the Lords local body goes home he is missed and we will miss both of these wonderful Christians.

The Lord says to be home in these bodies that we are absent from the Lord and that is so true. Then the Lord goes on to say that since we walk by faith and not by sight we should rather be absent from these houses called bodies and present with the Lord. While we all miss those that have gone on before us let us never forget they had the same goal that we all have and that is to be at home with the Lord. We sometimes sorrow greatly for those that have gone home but we should not, because if we are all walking by faith then as their desire came to fulfillment ours will also. They have what we all pray soon to have that is the faith we have that someday, soon, we too will see and walk with Jesus Christ our Saviour; who died to give us life. Beloved it is all by faith because what we cannot see in these bodies one day we will actually see it and it is all going to be a glorious sight for our spiritual eye to behold. The Psalmist wrote "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." Psalms 17:15 Yes indeed we will be satisfied with what we see when we awake from death from these earthly houses and awake to see Jesus sitting on the right hand of God. The Psalmist said “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness…” I also will behold His face in righteousness and so will so many that have gone on before us and so also shall our two beloved departed. This is the question; will you? Will you “… behold thy face in righteousness…”, because there are only two ways to see Jesus Christ in righteousness or at the Great White Throne; where will your viewing be.

As for these two beloved saints of God; they have already viewed His loving face in righteousness. They no longer walk by faith but by sight and beloved someday we will also no longer walk by faith. We will be as they and see His blessed face and we like them will also be happy with what we see. So while we this week say goodbye to these two beloved saints let us not forget that someday soon; real soon we will join them once again except this time with our beloved Saviour and this time for eternity; always happy with what we see.

With this being said; we say for now goodbye and soon we will see you over yonder! But for now we will be just as Paul was; hung between here in these houses or being in our spiritual houses. "For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:" Philippians 1:23

Where God; There Is Freedom.

2011-07-02T19:31:00.000-05:00

“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” 2 Corinthians 3:17

It was July 4th 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was signed which gave those who had given their blood a glorious victory. It is because of their victory and the signing of this glorious document that allows us to have the freedom in America that we enjoy today. We sometime get so tied up in this world that we forget those who died so we could share in the freedom that we so much enjoy today. Thousands upon thousands went toe to toe with the British troop in order to deliver to us Americans our freedom from the King of England and the great persecution suffer at the hand of the Catholics and the Church of England. It is this time of year that we all should celebrate our freedom as Americans. It must have been such a wonderful feeling and glorious victory as those 56 men signed this great document. However it was the blood of the thousands upon thousands that gave their blood before this was made possible. We sometimes forget that freedom comes from the blood of those fighting the good fight to give others freedom. Today we have thousands who have given their lives to free others around the world, so if you see a soldier of our military just say thank you!

We celebrate the freedom to attend church services because of blood given by so many millions through history. It is believed that as many as fifty million Baptist and other Christians died at the hands of Catholicism and those of Reformation to continue the faith we share today. One day God will pay them back for their transgression and Catholicism shall fall for her sins. Revelation 18:20 - 21 "Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. (21.) And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all." One day there will be a great celebration in Heaven and it will be for the fall of the New Testament Babylon; Catholicism.

We as Christians have much to celebrate today because our Declaration of Independence was signed before the creation of the world between the Father and the Son when God The Father gave His elect to the Son with the promise that the Son would shed His blood as the Son of man for our sins and He did some two thousand years ago. Again we see blood being shed for freedom but this blood frees us from the bondage to sin and gives us liberty in Christ. Our text says “…where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” Well if you are saved then He dwells in your heart and where He is there is freedom. So while we enjoy the freedom to live in the greatest Nation on this earth, let us enjoy everyday the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. It is because of His blood that we can enjoy freedom to sup with the Father. Matthew 26:28 “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Today celebrate salvation and the freedom you have in Christ Jesus, the one single man Who died to give millions life eternal. Acts 17:28 "For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. (29.) Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device."

Pastors Are Teachers Not Builders!

2011-06-25T18:36:00.000-05:00

1 Timothy 5:17 "Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine."

I spoke you a young man today who told me they had a new young Pastor and “he was happy because; while the older one preached well he could not add to the church and he had hope the new one could; he has more energy he told me”. I responded to this young man “I guess we disagree on what a Pastors job is” because a Pastor is a teacher not a social organizer. He was not happy with the older Pastor because he taught too much, hum, but apparently this young man did not listen? Folks a Pastors job is not to build churches, nor is it to be a social organizer, his job is not to pat you on the head and make you happy, his job is not to be a fundraiser, folks, his job is to be an overseer of the Lords church and to teach the membership Gods word. I believe the reason people have the wrong idea what a Pastor is, is because most of the graduates for these seminaries are not pastors but social organizers and therefore people have concluded that all pastors should be likewise. This is what God defines as a good pastor; "Let the elders that rule well…” That is a pastor that oversees the church well, ruling well is not being a good fundraiser, nor is it being good at socializing, ruling well is working to under-sheppard the Lords church, which is keeping it running according to the scriptures and according to Gods command and will. It is possible that a pastor that does his job well may not be the most popular man in the church or even the community but he will be to the Sheppard of the church which is Jesus Christ. Folks don’t get angry at the pastor if the church is not growing, or if the money is not growing, for this anger maybe you should look at yourself and the person sitting next to you at church. If a church is functioning properly then God will grow the church, God himself will deliver the funds not the pastor. Your pastor’s job is to preach the word of God and to care and oversee the church not to be a social planner or a fundraiser. Did not God tell the church at Jerusalem to appoint seven good men to help the pastors with this work, this work is the social part of the church, however some deacons believe they are appointed to control the church and even the pastor, but it would do them well to re-read Acts chapter 6. The text scripture goes on to say “…be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine." Why “labour in the word and doctrine” because that is their real job not all this other stuff. If the church is responding to the scriptures properly and the membership it tithing then the church has no need for fundraising. If the membership is doing their job then the church will grow because they will be energetic in inviting people to church. The Lord reminds us "Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; (38.) Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest." Matthew 9:37 – 38. Maybe a pastor should ask God to send some laborers that is to light a fire under the membership to work the field. A pastor’s time is well spent in study of Gods word so he can teach it to the church. Preaching is not an easy task in fact it is very difficult and one that does it well is one that studies much.

I looked at the newspaper today and it had the social events of the church here in Texarkana and almost every church listed had some sort of fundraiser for their churches, or some sort of singles connection group, and I must ask is this part of the churches work? The Lord will supply the needed funds if a church is functioning well and take away from a church that is not, and sometimes the Lord will leave a church lacking to test their faith, it is Gods work to supply the needs of the church not the pastors, it is Gods job to grow the church not the pastors, for both these works He has assembled a congregation, that is to tithe and to invite and if both of these are accomplished by the church membership then the pastor has time to do his work and teach and lead the congregation. This is the question; are you doing your part?

Fathers; Please Take Your Place!

2011-06-18T18:26:00.001-05:00

“For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.” Ephesians 5:23

Today is “Fathers Day” and whether you celebrate the day or not I would like to take a few minutes of your time to remind all fathers everywhere of our great responsibility as fathers. We have a major problem in today’s society with our children and it all starts at home with the parents and mostly with the father of the family because he is responsible for the family. A father has many responsibilities at the home, he is to make the money, he is to love his wife as Christ loves the churches, he is to tend to his children, and etc, etc, and etc. The problem we have today is fathers have fled their God give responsibilities to their families. They let their wives make the money, they let their wives tend to the children, or they let society tend to them, but whatever is happening outside of what God commanded is wrong and ungodly. Most children today either live with a divorced mother, or are an award to another person or the State. Men we must remember we are all going to answer to God for our downfalls in life and as husbands and fathers we are more responsible. To you fathers that are divorced let me say this; it is not another mans responsibility to raise and support your children, it is yours. How can a man be a father if they never support or visit their children? How can a man be a father if they fail to control their children? How can a man be a father if they are not responding to what God commanded? God said “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." 1 Timothy 5:8 “HE HATH DENIED THE FAITH”. Today on Fathers Day is a time of repentance; and a time to do what God hath commanded, are you a father and do you deserve to be praised by you wife and children on Fathers Day?

God said “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.” 1 Corinthians 11:3 Is Jesus Christ your head fathers? If not then it is time to remedy that and make Him your head. Children are a glorious gift from God and it is up to us fathers and mothers both to make their lives consistent with Gods way of understanding. As children look to their fathers for help let us fathers look to Jesus Christ for help, God never said being a father would be easy, He just said do it and do it right. Maybe if more fathers would have been fathers instead of “their children’s best friend”, or totally absent from their children’s lives then maybe we would not have the mess we have today with children.

Happy Fathers Day!!

The Truth Of The LORD Endureth Forever

2011-06-11T17:59:00.000-05:00

Psalms 117:1 - 2 “O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. (2.) For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD.”

Truth means - stability; trustworthiness, faithful, right, and sure – and all of these are God, yes I said they are God that is His very nature, just as He is holy, Omnipresent, Omniscience, and etc. He is truth. Jesus described Himself as truth in John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." He did not say He told the truth He said He is Truth meaning just as much as He is the Messiah He is Truth. Where there is Truth there is no lie "...that no lie is of the truth." 1 John 2:21 With God there is no such thing as “a little white lie” or “stretching the truth” there is only Truth because God cannot be something that He is not.

Our text goes on to say “…the truth of the LORD endureth for ever.” Since God is truth and cannot lie then He will always, for all eternity be truth. This includes His declarations; His promises; and His assurances of mercy and love. They will never change, ever. James said "...from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." James 1:17 which means God cannot change, ever. God said in Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” Two truths here we want to look at; God will never lie nor will He ever change His mind, ever. “God is not a man…” this very fact is most important because man simply cannot be trusted not to lie, as much as we mostly hate to lie it is our nature to do so "...let God be true, but every man a liar..." Romans 3:4. If one puts too much faith in man you will see him fall but God is different He is Truth and there is no lie in Him. Lying comes from Satan, it started in the garden with Eve and continued with Adams lie to God and has continued with mankind ever since. “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” John 8:44 The phrase “…there is no truth in him...” means God who is Truth is not in him at all.

It is because that God is Truth He is to be greatly praised, applauded, and lifted up, because He can be trusted in every letter of every word which He has promised. All of the promises He ever promised the Israelites have been fulfilled, and just because they have failed to see these fulfillments is there own faults. Whatever God has said will come to fulfillment and we need never doubt, because God cannot lie. God’s next promise is that Jesus will return for the rapture, the Lord’s warning is to be ready, however many today are not ready because deep in their minds they do not believe it is going to happen but it is and when most Christians least expect it He will come. This is why He warned us to be like the five wise virgins and to have our lamps trimmed with oil and ready. Beloved trust God in what He says and never, ever doubt because doubting God is sin. We show our praise to God by trusting Him, not by doubting and every Christian that is not ready for the Lords return doubts God.

"I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name." Psalms 138:2

Thank you Jesus!

2011-05-28T18:01:00.000-05:00

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. (2.) Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” Psalms 32:1 – 2

Blessed is the man of whom God has had great mercy and grace on and hath delivered his unworthy soul from eternal damnation. Blessed is the man whom God hath elected and gave to the Son in eternity past. Blessed is the man because the Father elected to make an eternal covenant with the Son before the foundation of the world; that if He would give His life as the Son of man and spill His blood on that wicked cross then He (God) would count it as just payment for all the sins of all His elect. This is the reason the Son shouted just before His death “It is finished” because payment had been paid in full. Blessed indeed are we oh redeemed sinner stand and shout with happiness because Christ Jesus did for us; something we could never do for ourselves. Thank you Jesus!

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven” – Blessed because our sins have been “forgiven”, this word means – to lift up and to carry away, but it also means to pardon – with this being said we must understand that our sins have been lifted from us and carried away, but where did they go you may ask, they went to the account of Jesus Christ and it cost Him his life on the cross. Since Jesus carried our sins to the cross then we are blessed, the Lord reminds us in Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” because we no longer have them, “white as snow” is as white as white gets and pure is as pure can get. Thank you Jesus! Romans 6:22 "But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life." Since we are white as white can be and pure as pure can be we can now serve the Lord God.

“Blessed is he whose sin is covered” – the word covered means - concealed or hidden; or, in other words, so covered that they will never be seen again by God. – When God sees His saved child He no longer sees their sins, never again because they are no longer ever visible to Him. Our sins are covered by the glorious blood of our Saviour Jesus Christ. To God we are no longer sinners we are His children and as holy as holy can be. This is the reason we are blessed, because even though sin is still in our lives God does not see it nor charge us with it. Thank you Jesus! Psalms 85:2 "Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah."

“Blessed is he whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity” – The word “impute” means – to recon or charge – The Lord will not recon or charge us for our sins because that punishment was reckoned or charged to Jesus Christ on the cross. This is why we as saved sinners will never have to face God for our sins, God considered the death and shedding of blood of Jesus Christ as just payment for our sins. Since our sins went with Him to the cross and this is the very reason He gave His life, then the sins of all of Gods elect have already been punished and justice has been served. 2 Corinthians 5:19 - 21 "To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. (20.) Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. (21.) For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” And one more time, thank you Jesus!

The Conduct of Women in Church.

2011-05-21T18:48:00.000-05:00

1 Timothy 2:11 “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.”

In today society what I am about to say will make me a hatemonger in the eyes of most, but the scriptures are the scriptures and man nor time can change them. Paul is speaking about a woman’s place in a church and it is very clear when it comes to church worship; women are not permitted to speak while the church service is ongoing. I understand that here in 2011 we have women doing everything in churches and even serving as Pastors, but the question must be asked are they right in doing so, and the answer is absolutely not! God never called a woman to preach because that would go totally against what the scriptures teaches. How can a woman preach if she is not allowed to speak? Now some people believe this is just talking about preaching or teaching but how does that allow them to “learn in silence”? The word “silence” means – stillness or quietness – and it comes from the Greek word “hēsuchios” which means - keeping one’s seat, or undisturbing, or peaceable, or quiet. – Any way you look at it a woman is not allowed to speak in the Lord’s Churches. Now most will find this degrading but is it really degrading or is it simply the way that God chose to have things done. It is not to say that women are more ignorant than men no more than it is to say men are greater than women. Some just simply choose to fight God in everything and anything. It is like angels, anytime you have seen an angel image it is most certainly a female figure but how many women angels have we seen in the scriptures, none, besides angel figures are unscriptural and wrong to even have. Deuteronomy 5:8 "Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above..." images become a form of worship and to worship any thing or any one but God is wrong.

Now back to women in the church, they are not allowed to speak which covers every area of a church service except to sing because it is not considered speaking. They are not allowed to teach 1 Timothy 2:12 “But I suffer not a woman to teach…” which by definition means to preach because Sunday School was added to the church much later after the scriptures were complete. However even though while some churches allow women to teach Sunday School they cannot teach a class with men in it “…nor to usurp authority over the man…” 1 Timothy 2:12 nor are they allowed to pray with men present "I will therefore that men pray every where..." 1Timothy 2:8. Even though we are in an era of women ruling in many areas some will fail to see that church services are not secular offices. A woman could be President of The United States and would not be allowed to speak in a church service. Just because the world does something does not open the churches to do the same things.

With all of this being said we all need to understand the scriptures and the conduct of the churches membership. God never assembled the church by giving all her membership equal rights. Members are different and serve the church in diverse ways. Ladies please serve the Lord in honorable ways by obeying Gods word; if you make excuses in order to break Gods words then you are showing little respect for the scriptures. I have found in a church the most beautiful women is those that honor the scriptures. God formed a system for His churches and that system is the only one that works.

So while some of you will “Amen” this and some others will condemn me for my words lets all remember God said "Let all things be done decently and in order." 1 Corinthians 14:40 The Lords churches is not a place to disobey God.

The Great Fabricator.

2011-05-14T20:11:00.000-05:00

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

We have called God many things over the years, but have you ever heard God called a “Fabricator”? Well here in Ephesians 2:10 that is exactly what He is called; the word “created” means – to fabricate, manufacturer, or to form something – The last five years I have been a truck driver for a scrap metal company and in my work I pick up at places that manufacture things and some of the places are fabricator’s. They are called metal fabrication shops. These shops create all sorts of things out of a sheet of metal, they simply take different metals and cut, weld, cut, weld, and cut and weld some more until they have created something valuable and marvelous. Here the Lord is called a Fabricator because He takes something worthless and makes something valuable and marvelous; a Christian. The word “workmanship” means – a fabric or something that is made – so with all this being said we are Gods “fabric” that He bought with the blood of Jesus Christ and He fabricated us into something valuable and marvelous. Now God goes on to say; “…which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” which means He fit up in advance that we walk the way He fabricated us to walk, that is as Christians. God ordained that we be Christians, He also made us Christians, and He also ordained our walk in our Christian lives. To put it in simple terms we are what we are by the grace of God. Paul said this in 1st Corinthians 15:10 “But by the grace of God I am what I am…” We also see Paul explain in 1 Corinthians 4:15 “...for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” The word “begotten” means – to deliver or to cause to be born – again defining the fabrication of God. Now all this brings us back to Ephesians 2 but this time in verse 8 where God said “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” When God said “…and that not of yourselves…” He was saying you can do nothing to save yourself because salvation is of God the Great Fabricator. It brings great laughter to my heart when I hear Preaches proclaim “God cannot change your will” because only God can change your will, we have no power to change our own wills. God said that salvation “…it is the gift of God…” because it is, because by the grace of God He fabricates us into Christians. God goes on and says “Not of works, lest any man should boast.” verse 9. Works of any sorts not only calls God a liar but it makes Him irrelevant in salvation when He is salvation complete. “…he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.”1 John 5:10. God said He hath made us Christians molded us from one lump of clay, some unto dishonor and some into honor. “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” Romans 9:21. Hath not the Fabricator power over the metal to make what He chooses? Does the clay or metal make itself what it wants to be? No it does not, both must have a creator and a designer just as the sinner must have one. Therefore God goes on to say “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” Romans 9:16 again bringing us back to the single point that Paul made when he said “But by the grace of God I am what I am…”

Folks, don’t be fooled into believing that we are the cause of our conversion, for we have not the power to deliver salvation to ourselves no more than a lump of clay can mold itself. The heart must be pricked by the Spirit of God and then we can believe; if yours has never been pricked by the Spirit then ten thousand decisions will never save you. “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Acts 2:37 this is the Great Fabricator molding something valuable and marvelous out of a dirty, rusty piece of metal.

What Is An Honorable Woman?

2011-05-07T21:58:00.001-05:00

Proverbs 11:16 “A gracious woman retaineth honour…”

Our church does not recognize holidays because they belittle the meaning of what they are suppose to be all about. For example is Christmas about Christ birth? Is Easter about the resurrection of Christ? Or is any other “holyday” about what it is suppose to be all about? The answer is no, they are all misused and deceiving. Today about 99% of assemblies will take time from the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ and worship mothers instead, they are going to brag of mothers and most mothers will lick it up like a dog licks up table scraps. Pastors will in the very same breath they are suppose to be praising God say something ignorant and belittling about the Lord to their congregations in order to edify mothers. I remember several years ago passing thru Tyler, Texas and passing by a very large Baptist church and on their sign was this quote “God could not be everywhere at one time so He created mothers”. Now most will doubt this because no Baptist would ever belittle the Lord in this way; however I promise this is true. Although your doubt is correct because no real Baptist Church would ever say anything so ignorant! I emailed the Pastor and told him they need to fire the person in charge of the sign, but I never heard back from him. But this is why we do not celebrate special days.

With all this being said, I would like to take just a few lines to describe a most wonderful mother. In today’s society we do not have very many honorable women or men, just as we do not have many honorable families. The world we live in today will not allow us to be honorable, it makes us all rotten and unworthy of being called honorable. So ladies while you’re Pastors are bragging on you today and causing your heads to float to the ceiling because of how great and wonderful you are, maybe it would do you good to take Gods test on what an honorable woman is and see if you pass. First of all an honorable woman please God, see the rest of the worlds opinion doesn’t matter if God is not pleased, would you rather be praised by man or God? God told us “A gracious woman retaineth honour…” A “gracious woman” is one that has beauty and kindness, not as we see it but as God sees it. God looks at us all differently than we look at each other , we look on the outside and a little on the inside but God only look on the inside, see God could careless how you appear to be but rather how you really are in your heart. I have known several honorable women in my Christian life and I see very few today. A woman that is submissive to the Lord, submissive to her husband, caring for her home, teaching her children, faithfully reading and obeying her bible, and teaching her children the word of God. This is a gracious woman, ladies how do you rate on Gods scale? Now the second thought is this; God said “A gracious woman retaineth honour…” She doesn’t just have these virtues but she “retaineth” them. That means she maintains them or is steadfast in them, or they are with her everyday for the rest of her life. When a woman leaves the purpose that God intended for her then she no longer retains these honors. See an honorable woman or mother is one who pleases the Lord and not her husband or her children, if she pleases God then she will naturally please her Christian husband. It is not about how busy you are, how wonderful you are about succeeding in the world, or even how good you are in the church or community, but rather how you obey and follow Gods word in the way God intended for the woman. But we live in a society that prevents a woman from honoring God with her life because you are a hate monger if you ask a wife to obey and be submissive to her husband, to tend to her home and raise her children, or to cook all the meals for their family. This is no longer a woman’s place, however if you want to be an honorable woman and mother then this is your place. Are you going to obey God or man? But with all this being said; when you see a “gracious woman” you will know her because she will be different from almost all the other women you see, and she will seem to be strange because she is obeying God.

Proverbs 31:10 - 11 "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. (11.) The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil."
Proverbs 31:27 - 28 "She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. (28.) Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.

The wicked desire evil.

2011-04-30T22:57:00.000-05:00

"The wicked desireth the net of evil men: but the root of the righteous yieldeth fruit." Proverbs 12:12

The word “desireth” means they delight in it or they find beauty in it. You might say they find it as something most wonderful and delicious. And the Lord says they “desireth the net” meaning something used to catch something like fish, but here it catches evil. Satan is no doubt the “evil one” and he is the one who has the net and it is his desire to catch all that he can. Now while evil people or people that are lost blindly swim into this net Christians should know better. Christians should have enough biblical knowledge to see the net when it is approaching; however there are many who simply cannot see the danger signs of the upcoming evil net. God went on to say “but the root of the righteous yieldeth fruit." The righteous should yield fruit and this is impossible if they swim into the net of evil.

While Satan is fishing for the lost with his net spread wide, he finds them easy prey because they swim blindly with their eyes closed shut. They cannot produce fruit because nothing they do pleases God, now or never unless they come to Jesus Christ asking for forgiveness and salvation. The Psalmist wrote “He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.” Psalms 10:9 He is not attempting to catch them he is going to catch them “he doth catch the poor” with all of his temptations. Satan knows our desires and he understand how to tempt us, he is not as ignorant as most thinks that he is. He is a great fisherman, he knows the best fishing hole, he knows the best bait, and he has all of the proper tool to fish with, and with all this being said; he is the great fisherman. He is as sly has a fox, he sits in the dark and waits with much patience, he is like unto a snake all coiled up just patiently waiting on you to step just close enough. He knew Eve’s weakness and he also knew Adam was weak thru his beloved wife. He knows your churches weakness and has his net also set for her and just when the church is in her weakest point the net goes out and Satan fishes. If a church and Christians alike keep themselves updated in Gods word we become harder to catch. We see the net when it is stretched to its fullest length and we go over, under, around, or simply turn around.

The Lord said in Proverbs 8:19 "My fruit is better than gold, yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver." The Christians fruit is better than gold even more valuable than fine gold. It is better because its reward is not the blessings of this earth but rather eternal blessings from God. Money is our weakest point; we all desire to have money even if we deny that we do, because money delivers enjoyment to our flesh. If you have money you can buy what you want, have what you want, and it delivers power to them that have it. The Lord went as far to say “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” 1 Timothy 6:10 But remember God said it is also what causes us to “have erred from the faith”. We must understand that we cannot serve two masters; we cannot serve God and mammon with mammon being money. When our love for money gets in our way then it causes us to forget God, it causes us to not allow anything including God to get in our way to make it. It makes church an option rather than a commandment. Beloved let us pray that we do not get caught in Satan’s net, lets swim around it or simply turn back, because he loves to catch Gods children in his net of evil.

“The Death Of Gods Children”

2011-04-23T21:17:00.000-05:00

Psalms 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

As most of you all know my dear fleshly and spiritual brother Kenny Johnson went home to be with the Lord last week. I want you all to know the family could feel the prayers of all who remembered us. The services went wonderful and my mother made it through it very well. The sermon went well and I would like to thank Brother Kelley Hinson for attending the services and giving this preacher some support. I would also like to thank God for His blessed peace during this time. So thank you all for your prayers.

The death of a saint of God is precious to God; it is a homecoming of a blessed adopted child of the living God. We all (who are saved) look forward to being in the presence of the most high God; we look forward to seeing our Saviour Jesus Christ. But death, for the ones left behind is mostly sad because of the sting in it. It should be a time for celebration for the one gone, but in this flesh we celebrate a birth and sorrow a death when it should be vise versa. So while I celebrate Kenny’s home going I will also have a vacant spot in my life where he one was. I look forward to the time when we will once again be together not as fleshly brothers but only as spiritual brothers in Christ Jesus. Revelation 1:18 “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”

In closing please allow me to once again thank you for your prayers and the church here in Texarkana for their kindness shown to their Pastor and his family. I praise God for you all. Amen!

“Doubtful Disputations”

2011-04-09T16:29:00.000-05:00

“Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.” Romans 14:1

As Christians we must all understand that arguing never accomplished anything! We must also understand that judging everyone on everything under the sun also never accomplished anything! The mentality of the natural man in all of us, even Christians, raises a level of competition within us and we must work to tame this competition. First, we must all recognize that we are not right about everything and therefore we must admit we could be wrong about some things. I have corrected my thinking on the scriptures much in my ministry and may even correct it more before I die or Jesus returns. The one single thing I want as a Christian and a teacher of Gods word is to be RIGHT even at the expense of knowing I have been wrong. My judgment before Jesus Christ will be harsher because I am a teacher of Gods word than it will be for the average church member so therefore you can see why I always seek to be RIGHT no matter what it cost me in this life. Secondly, we must tame our judgment of other Christians and realize that some Christians are simply weak in their faith. When we judge other Christians we must use much grace because Jesus said “Judge not, that ye be not judged. (2.) For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged…” Matthew 7:1 – 2 with what matter you judge others you also shall be judged in that same matter except not by man but by Jesus Christ. Now we must understand there is a certain level of judgment that church judges it membership by however she must also be merciful in her judgment if she wants to be judged with mercy. Sometimes Christians wants to judge other Christians about everything under the sun, about how they dress, how they walk, where they eat, how they live, how they talk or speak, or etc. but please remember we will be judged that same as we judge others, as harshly or as gentle. My way of life may differ from your way of life, but that doesn’t make me wrong and you right, no more than if I judged you in the same matter. Sometimes Christians have different manners in life; maybe one will not allow their female children swim with the male children and others may allow it, who is right and who is wrong, well they both are right because God doesn’t tell our children they cannot swim together. One Christian may choose other issues in life and another may not agree but that doesn’t make them wrong and you right. We sometimes expand the meaning of the scriptures to prove our point but fail to look in a mirror and see the same expanded scriptures condemn our own selves. Maybe it would do us all good to pray this prayer “Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.” Psalms 26:2

Jesus The Saviour of Mankind!

2011-04-02T22:01:00.000-05:00

“When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? (11.) She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” John 8:10 - 11

Here in John we have the account of the adulterous that was brought to Jesus for condemnation for adultery, however Jesus did not condemn here but instead saved her soul. If we went by Old Testament law then this woman should have been stoned to death however we are not under Old Testament law but under the law of grace. God has different periods of time and today is the time of grace, the time of judgment is coming and more quickly than we realize. This time is found in the book of Revelations, and this time of judgment will be quick and very hurtful for all of those who are on this earth. As we see the seals broken, the trumpets blown, and the vials empted out we see nothing but judgment on this wicked world. Also as we look at the book of Revelations we see a very small remnant saved and those are predominately if not exclusively Jews. What we absolutely do not find in the Tribulation Period is grace and mercy. I was often told as a child that “if one does not take the mark of the beast then we will be saved” however like so much we hear today about the scriptures that is also a myth. God said in 2 Thessalonians 2:9 - 12 “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, (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. (11.) And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: (12.) That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” God will not allow those in the Tribulation Period to be saved because it is not a time for grace but a time for judgment. So if you are going to be saved it will be before Jesus returns because once He does then the time of grace is over and the time for judgment begins. The Lord warned “(...behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)” 2 Corinthians 6:2. Tomorrow could absolutely be too late. Most people think that they will wait until they are on their death beds to be saved, however that is not the rule of salvation, the rule of salvation is God saving a sinner in order to use them for a work of glory while they are on this earth, therefore most all wanting to live their life in sin and then be saved just before death, well, good luck with that thinking because chances are very great that you will go to hell.

Today is the day of grace, and this is the reason that Jesus did not condemn this adulteries woman. Jesus said in John 3:17 “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” but only while we are still in the day of grace. Although this day (or time) is drawing nigh and the Day of Judgment is quickly approaching. Jesus Christ is the Saviour of mankind to everyone that believeth but only to them that trust Him as their Saviour. This passage also shows us another thought, when adultery was a horrible sin (and do not be fooled it still is today) stoning to death was the punishment, but her sin was forgiven her and you need to understand that no sin except the sin of unbelief is unforgivable. Jesus Christ died for all the sins of all who will trust Him as their Saviour. Jesus Christ came to this world to seek and to save them that are lost and this will continue until He returns so if you have not trusted Him as your Saviour then today is the time for that because if Jesus returns then the door to salvation will closed and the time for judgment will began.

What is simple faith?

2011-03-26T17:09:00.001-05:00

James 2:14 “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?”

The question so many other denominations always ask Baptist is can faith alone save you, well the answer is, absolutely not. Anyone can have faith; anyone can generate faith in their minds, which is not salvation. Therefore it is so very true faith alone cannot save you, but neither can works! Do a bible search on the words works and salvation and you will not find one single time that works is mentioned in relationship to saving one single lost sinner. In fact this is what you will find; “Not of works...” Ephesians 2:9 – “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight...” Romans 3:20 – “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.” Romans 11:6 – The Apostle Paul spent the first seven chapters of the book of Romans detailing every aspect of how it was impossible to be justified by works. However on the other side of this subject I would like to speak to those so-called Baptist that are not truly Baptist because they have never stood on Baptist doctrine. Faith alone cannot save a sinner from eternal damnation! Baptist (true Baptist) have never believed that a lost sinner can be saved by faith alone, and never will. James asked “What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works…” the answer is nothing! However Faith in Jesus Christ as our Saviour is enough. Faith alone is nothing, billions upon billions of people through time past have believed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, but few have believed that He is their Saviour. Faith alone, a choice, decision, or simply a sinner’s prayer confessing faith could never be enough because salvation is much deeper than simple faith, it is the eternal work of God. God before the world began predestinated us to be saved, God before the foundation of the world chose us as His beloved children, God before the foundation of the world elected to accept the sacrifice of the Son of man as acceptable payment for all of these elect’s sins, God sent His beloved Son incarnate in the Son of man to die for out sins on the cross as payment in full, God sent the Holy Spirit to prick our hearts and to lead us to the saving grace of God, and God sent His Holy Spirit to give to us sufficient faith to believe that our Saviour’s blood was sufficient for us to be holy in His sight. So no, simple faith is not enough to save a lost sinner, and neither is a simple choice, or a simple decision, or a simple prayer. Therefore just as James concluded simple faith does not save a lost sinner, God does!

Now back to the rest of the religious world, works has no part in salvation no more than simple faith does. Since the scriptures never conclude works for salvation then the thought must be and is rendered mute. James did not say that works was a part of salvation; he said it is a result of salvation. And that is because God has saved our souls from eternal hell and since He has, He gave us the ability to righteously serve Him by our works, and every real Christian has this ability and has theses works of righteousness. If you do not then you are a product of simple faith and not true faith handed down from God Himself. If you have simple faith then it is time to have real God given faith which comes by trusting Jesus Christ to be your Saviour. “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” John 6:29

Priest Were To Blame, And Pastors Are To Blame Today.

2011-03-12T17:42:00.000-06:00

And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. (2.) If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart. Malachi 2:1 – 2

This next Friday thru Sunday I will be one of the many speakers at the Northside Baptist Church in Oakdale, La. I will be speaking twice once Saturday morning and again Sunday morning. The two sermons that I will focus on is the fall of the Israelites and the rise of the Gentiles as found in Romans chapter 11. Without giving away to many details about the sermons there is one single point I would like to share with you all before these sermons are preached and that is the fall of the Israelites. Paul wrote in Romans 11:8 “(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.” Verse 8 is a deeper explanation of verse 7 which says “What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded” To explain this in simple terms and as short as I can, Paul actually said that God has put the Israelites into a “spirit of slumber” blinding their eyes and deafening their ears that they cannot see nor hear the word of God even “…unto this day”. Meaning God has chosen not to use “…unto this day”. With this being said what was it that caused God to choose to put His first love (humanely speaking) the Israelites on the back burner and use the Gentiles? Well the book of Malachi gives us seven reasons and all seven are their sins against God. We will cover all seven of these sins at the Bible Conference; however in this article we will only cover one. That is their crime of “cheating God”. How did the Israelites cheat God? It was in their sacrifices they were offering lame and blind animals when God commanded they offer only their best. However the Israelites themselves were not the only ones to blame here, the Priest were also to blame because they had turned their heads and allowed the bad animals to be brought to the alter. Verse 2 of our text says “If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts…” By the Priest turning their heads and allowing these bad animals to be sacrificed they were not serving the Israelites nor God in being a watchman over the people therefore allowing without warning these Israelites to cheat God. There is an old saying “if the cat is away the mice will play” and while the cat was there they refused to see the mice playing. When there are no standards or laws then society is in disarray and nothing is done right and when nothing is done right then God is not happy. Therefore with this sin and many others, God chose the put the Israelites on the “back burner” and use the Gentiles and as history has proven it was a wise choice on Gods part, which it always is. Now lets equate this to today while we do not have Priest as they did we do have Pastors and the Pastors are the “overseers” of the Lords churches. Now if the Pastors act like the Priest of old then should we expect a different result? No, we should not. Pastors fail God when they turn their heads to sin and allow the mice to play. Pastors are to blame when they turn their heads to sin in order to build churches. We as Pastors are the overseers or the watchmen of the Lords churches and we will be held responsible when the church fails. “…saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.” verse 2. Pastors, do not think you are blessing God in turning your heads or closing your eyes to sin, the Israelites did not and neither will today’s churches and pastors if we do not follow Gods will. So when Pastors say ignorant things like “we are a non judgmental church” what they are saying is; sin as you please but please come to church, and beloved that is cheating God. 1 Corinthians 5:7 “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:” Galatians 5:9 “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.”

I’m Sorry Who Exonerates Whom?

2011-03-05T17:09:00.000-06:00

“He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.” Psalms 2:4

I was reading our local newspaper this week and was brought to laughter after reading this headline: “Pope’s book exonerates Jews for death of Christ” and almost became unconscious in laughter. Wouldn’t this be like this headline: The fox exonerates the wolf for eating the chickens”? Both will rob the chicken house and eat the chickens so this would be like the guilty exonerating the guilty. I immediately had to ask myself, who does this man think he is, who is he to exonerate anyone? My question to Mr. Pope Benedict XVI is who is going to exonerate Catholics for the murder of the fifty million Baptist and Christians during the “dark ages” (a period between 550ad – 1700ad)? People fled for a new land, a land free of persecution when America was discovered, so what persecution were they fleeing from, Catholicism! And so now a few hundred years later we find that the new Pope has found a heart, well this looks like a prime example of what a wolf in sheep’s clothing looks like. Now to the most logical question, who gave this man the authority to exonerate the Jews for crucifying Christ Jesus? Isn’t that in the hands of God and therefore in the hands of the Man they crucified? John 5:22 - 27 “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: (27.) And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.” Beloved please understand the Catholics and most of those involved in reformation crucified millions of Baptist and other Christians that refused the recant their faith and join Catholicism. This is not disputed, not even with the Catholics themselves. The Pope also added that this is the reason for so much anti-Semitism today, and he is correct. Should people hate the Jews because they crucified Jesus Christ? NO! The Jewish nation is Gods chosen nation just as the Gentile Christians are Gods chosen people, and neither should be judged by man nor persecuted by man. It is true that their have been much unjust persecution against Gods chosen nation, but I cannot believe when Pope Benedict XVI says this was the reason for the Holocaust, no more than I can believe he can exonerate them. Hitler would have crucified Christ if he had the chance, this sort of anti-Semitism was just German hate for Jews period, and Christ had nothing to do with it because I cannot believe Hitler had any love for Jesus Christ.

Now please heed this warning The Jews are Gods chosen nation and one day soon will raise again and carry the word of God once again but this time believing that Jesus Christ is their Saviour. They are still loved of God and for anyone to hate them or harm them is a crime against God. In fact lets look at it from this point, God ordained the Jews to reject and to crucify Jesus Christ. That’s right God ordained it. It was appointed that Christ Jesus die for the sins of man and therefore God chose His chosen nation for this task. “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:” Acts 2:23 The Jews rejecting Jesus Christ was no mistake God ordained it. Therefore to blame the Jews for crucifying Christ is wrong and ignorance of the scriptures. With all of this being said God does not need Pope Benedict XVI to exonerate the Jews because soon Jesus Christ Himself will exonerate a remnant of them. Romans 11:5 “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.”

Come Freely To Gods Throne Of Grace.

2011-02-26T19:50:00.000-06:00

Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”

I am afraid that we have reached a time in society that prayer means less and less because of what society has become, very sinful. I do hope and pray the reason is not that we have came to have little faith in the power of prayer because the very same God is still the one we pray too, and He has not changed. The writer of the Hebrews told us to come “boldly” to the throne of grace, the word “boldly” means – with freedom of speech but it also means with courage – We as Christians have a liberty in Christ Jesus to come freely to God throne of grace and why men do not use that freedom I cannot answer. Beloved we all must remember that God is a most gracious God, He answers prayer, and if we fail to use the liberty created in Christ Jesus we have all missed a glorious blessing. So as we boldly come to Gods throne of grace let us also remember to come with courage, or faithfulness that God can and will still answer prayer. Let us always remember just as Jesus Christ bought our salvation at Calvary He also bought us the freedom to stand before Gods throne with our supplications. If we as Christians fail to use this throne of grace then we either show a lack of faith in God or we are showing disobedience to God. Beloved God understands our issues in life, because Jesus Christ was tempted as we are and therefore there is empathy on His part as to what we go though in the flesh. “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” Verse 15.

The only good thing a Christian has in this life is God; therefore it seems that we would enjoy spending much of our available time speaking to Him. Prayer warriors today are far and in between, but it should not be so. Beloved talk to God, not just once or twice a day but several times a day. Let Him know your needs because His throne is not called the throne of grace for nothing. It is called the throne of grace because none of us deserves to stand there, none of us deserve to have our prayers heard much less answered, but we are praying to a gracious God with Jesus Christ interceding on our behalf. Our liberty in Christ goes much deeper than salvation, it also allows us to talk to God. Whether it is a time of need or just a time of thanksgiving we get to talk to our Heavenly Father Who can do for us as He pleases.

“…that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” And beloved we are in a time of need today. With the world on the way to destruction and true Christians growing weaker by the day we need much help. We will find it only with God, and none other. The solution is not with the government, nor with the rest of the world, it is only with God. Beloved it is time for us all to spend more time before Gods throne of grace, pray for our nation, our world, but pray much for our churches, Pastors, and each other, because the times we live in today are horrible times. Let us all go much to Gods throne of grace and pray that Jesus will return soon because without a miraculous work of God this world is not going to get any better. Mercy is to be found and it is only found at Gods throne of grace.

How Many Years Old Is The Earth?

2011-02-19T16:27:00.000-06:00

“For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:11

I was driving down the road last Friday and as I was listening to the news there was a conversation about something that had happened and the guest made the statement that it only happened once ever one hundred million years, and this drew my attention and began thinking about the ignorance of this man. With this being said I must ask how old is the earth? Well if studied in line with the scripture it seems to be about 6,000 – 10,000 years old. Now some so called “Christians” that define themselves as “Theo-evolutionist” are defined as (1.) Theo means they believe in God and creation, and (2.) evolution means that while they believe in God and creation they also believe in evolution which means they believe in what is called a “gap theory” which we will cover later. Evolutionist, both non believers in God and believers in God stand on the thought that the earth is millions if not billions of years old, however that could not be further from the truth. The Theo Evolutionist believes in what is called “the gap theory” which means there is a gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 which lasted millions if not billions of years but they are all wrong. In Exodus 20:11 the Lord pacifically stated that in six day God created everything, He did not create the heavens and the earth and then wait billions of years to create the rest of creation. This theory has no proof just and Evolutionist have no proof that a cell washed up on the sea side and evolved into man over millions of years, this is why it is called a theory instead of a fact. The only fact that we have is that God created everything in six 24 hour days. Everything outside of creation is known as a theory which means - an explanation or model that covers a substantial group of occurrences in nature and has been confirmed by a substantial number of experiments and observations. – Which basically means there are no facts to prove it. Creation was the only “fact” until the last 15 years or so when “educators” or otherwise known as “school teachers” decided that evolution was now a fact and creation is now a theory, however they are also wrong because a fact must be provable and evolution will never be provable. All of these folks look to Scientist for their proof however there are few Christian Scientist in the world and most of them believe in creation and not evolution.

Now that we have shown evolution to be fiction and not fact let us look at creationism. The only proof we have is the Holy Scripture to actually know about how the world, man, and everything else that has life or is created came about. The scriptures without doubt states that creation took God only six days and He rested on the seventh. There was no “gap” and no evolution at all. Scientist and Evolutionist alike also believe that the world could never have developed as it is today without millions or billions of years of existence, however they never give any thought to God, God created the world and made it as it is today. Fossils found, dinosaurs, the Grand Canyon, and etc. etc. etc. however the flood could have been responsible for some of it and God took care of the rest. God created everything in an adult form, so the ignorant question “which came first the chicken or the egg” the chicken did because God created a chicken to lay an egg. With this thought in mind God could have created the earth with age on it making it appear to be older than it really is. All of these theories were created in order to put doubt in the people’s minds about God. Always look to the scriptures for answers and you shall find them. This is a great example, remember when Columbus wondered if the earth was flat or round? God had the answer; Isaiah 40:22 “It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:”

Satan The great Liar!

2011-02-12T20:28:00.000-06:00

Acts 5:1 - 3 “But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession, (2.) And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet. (3.) But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?”

Sometime we fail to see the exact affects Satan has on us. Sometimes what we do in life is anti-God or against God because if God says one thing and we do another then we go against God and allow Satan to control our thinking. This is not limited to the lost but also to Christians. Satan has a greater effect on our lives than we sometimes give him credit for, because all problems in a church body are caused by Satan affecting one or more of her members. If all things in a church are done according to the commandments of God, then all things in a church will be decently and in order and no problems will arise. This beloved is the central reason we as church members need to make sure we are scripturally correct before arising an issue that will cause debate in Gods house.

The finances of the church are no different. Satan affects peoples will to give as much if not more than he affects the thinking and actions of the people causing the problems. There is much debate today on whether tithe is a commanded in the New Testament churches, I believe it is, however some disagree. However it may be the question must be asked what a reasonable amount to give to the church is? 10 percent, 5 percent, 2percent, or whatever we choose to give, or does God even care? The only amount God has ever spoken of was ten percent. However these two folks were persuaded by Satan not to give what they should have. Please notice in verse 3 when Peter asked “…hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?”

In conclusion please notice the cause of Ananias thinking, it was Satan the father of lying. Jesus said in John 8:44 “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” Satan is the reason we do lie, cheat, and steal, just as he caused Ananias and his wife to fail to give all that was due Gods church. Beloved if all church members in a church tithe it is certain that the church will never have financial difficulty. It is when Satan causes us to find more excuses not to tithe than too that we fail to meet our responsibility to God and the church. What people fail to understand is when we do this we not only lie to the church but also to God. Now the church has no idea what your income is, therefore what you give is what you give. Apparently Peter knew what Ananias and his wife had received for the land, however only you and God knows the truth about your income and if you fail to give God His part He knows. Acts 5:4 “Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.”

These two folks had cheated God and Satan had caused this sin, and while you may not pay the price these two did (both fell over dead) God does know all things. And please let us remember the fear of God should keep us from following Satan’s temptations and lies. Acts 5:11 “And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.”

When is a Christian a Christian?

2011-02-05T19:16:00.000-06:00

1 Peter 2:1-3 “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, (2.) As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: (3.) If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”

I meet a lot of folks who tell me they are Christians, but after observing them and their actins I must as myself, are they truly Christians. I believe there are millions upon millions of people who believe themselves to be Christians but are not. There are ways to, well at least to have a good idea although there is no guaranteed way to tell for certain. First of all a real Christian fully trust Jesus Christ as their Saviour, because one cannot trust Jesus Christ and something else, i.e. works, baptism, church membership or etc. because the scriptures conclude “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7 not because we are walking in the light, but that we have trusted the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse us from all of our sins. We are walking in the light because we are saved; the walk is the result not the cause. The walk is the evidence of our faith in Christ Jesus. God also said in 1 John 1:6 “If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:” So if our walk is not there then there is no evidence of our salvation and therefore we are not laying aside the works of the flesh. James clearly pointed out “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” James 2:18 not that works has any part in salvation but that if you have faith then works are certain to follow. Faith alone cannot save a soul if it is not followed with works. James 2:19 “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” Faith is easy to have, and faith that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God is also easy to have, but faith that comes from the heart is not easy to have. Any fool or even devil can have faith and go to hell for their trouble, however real faith that comes from the heart changes a person forever.

So what else proves a person is truly saved? They “…desire the sincere milk of the word…” the word “desire” means – to intensely crave – the word of God not just to read it and study it and to grow in it “…that ye may grow thereby…” that is to grow in truth. Not Baptist truth, Church of Christ truth, Catholic truth, or etc. but rather biblical truth. I believe that truth is Baptist truth, not just any Baptist but those who believe in a Sovereign God, not those that believe salvation is a decision or choice but rather that God saves sinners. That is growth, anyone can believe a myth, but to believe truth is entirely different, truth comes to those that accept the bible for what it says and not for what a pastor preaches from the pulpit. Seeking and proving is where truth comes from and once believed it cannot be proven wrong.

Another way of proving a sinner has been saved is they have “…tasted that the Lord is gracious.” The word “tasted” means - to experience – they don’t just learn of Gods grace but rather they have experienced Gods grace, now how is this possible if God does not save the sinner. If salvation is not as described in Ephesians 2:8 – 10 then it is not real. Salvation come from God “…it is the gift of God…” Ephesians 2:8 This is tasting of Gods grace when the Holy Spirit has entered the heart of a lost sinner. This is the only way for change to come and therefore changing the sinner to a new person. Just because a person says their saved truly has no meaning without many changes in their life, therefore while they are telling you they are a Christian believe it with a “grain of salt” until there is evidence that the Holy Spirit resides in their heart. If God is there then they cannot be pleased with acting the way of the world.

Is the watchman at his post!

2011-01-29T18:56:00.000-06:00

Habakkuk 2:1 “I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.”

The prophet here says “I will stand upon my watch…”, the word “watch” means – an office to observe, keep, safeguard, and be in charge of – therefore the watchman of today would be the pastor. The Pastor of a church is the “under-Sheppard” and the “overseer” of the Lords churches and therefore he is the one that Jesus Christ the Head of the Churches has appointed to watch-care over His beloved church. Some today fail to understand what the work of a Pastor is, they believe it is just to preach but it goes much deeper than that, for example the sheppard of a flock of sheep keeps watch over them that no harm comes to them and while the Sheppard (Jesus Christ) does exactly that it is the job of the under-sheppard to tend to them. This is a very important appointment and should not be taken to lightly as some today do.

This is a work that requires the cooperation of us all, which is the entire church. If we properly understand the bible it is a tool that teaches us, reproofs us - which means it keeps us from errors and heresies, it corrects us - that is it teaches us what sin is and tells us to refrain from it, and it instructs in righteousness. When your Pastor “snoops” around or asks questions about your life it is not that he is entering an area where it is none of his business it is that there may be something in your life that needs a little correcting. If church members will not allow their under-sheppard do his work which the Lord has appointed him then the Sheppard Himself will tend to you. Each and ever church member is obligated to Lord Jesus Christ first, and secondly the Lords church to keep from error and if not then the Lord will deal with you and also the church will deal with you. It is not that the Pastor or the church enjoys discipline but all must understand that Baptist churches are not open churches that will allow just anyone being a member. The entire membership has an obligation to the Lord and His church to live good lives. A good church member love and works with their Pastor and not against them.

The good “watchman” stands in the tower and keeps his flock under-guard from sin. The Lord told the church “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” Galatians 5:9 and therefore it is the Pastor that has the duty to tend to these issues. It is he that teaches, prays, and watches over the Lords flock and if we fail as pastors then the church may very well fail and Jesus Christ will hold us pastors responsible. However with that being said if a church fails to allow the pastor to do his job and she fails then they will be held responsible. Church members must understand that God works through His pastors and therefore their opinions should be taken very seriously by the church. He is your leader and your over-seer and if a church fails to take his opinion seriously then they are failing to obey God. While it is true that the pastor is not the lord over the church he is a Christ appointed man to lead and watch over the church. Church members that love their pastors and works with their pastors will see a sweet communion between the Head (Jesus Christ) and the church.

God’s Greatness Is Unimaginable!

2011-01-15T19:27:00.000-06:00

“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! (34.) For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? (35.) Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? (36) For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.” Romans 11:33 – 36

The Psalmist said “Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.” Psalms 40:5 Both Paul and the Psalmist remind us just how great and wonderful Jehovah God truly is to us-ward. Paul said “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God…” The two words “depth of the riches” describes to us just how deep and wide the wisdom and knowledge of God truly are. So many today belittle God, every time they preach they belittle God. The most asinine statement I have personally heard is “God can’t change your will, only you can do it”. But the scriptures describe salvation different, the scriptures declare that it is man who cannot change his own will, and God must change it. Paul declared in 2 Corinthians 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.” If Satan has the lost blinded then it is Satan that must be defeated and over powered in order that the blinders are removed. We cannot remove the blinders and defeat Satan on our own; therefore there must be a greater power to save the lost. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:6 “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” The word “commanded” means - to speak or grant – meaning it is God who commanded that the blinders of Satan be removed. It reminds us of creation, God said let there be light and there was light. There was no light without God commanding it just as there is no salvation unless God gives it. Even though people believe they have power over themselves, but in reality man has no power over himself, and therefore he cannot and will not choose good over evil. Jesus said in John 3:19 “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” Men love darkness more than good because it is who they are, and a dog cannot change himself into a cat. Only God can change a dog into a cat and only God can change a man that loves evil to love good.

This is why the greatness of God is unimaginable, because God saves sinners. The eleventh chapter of Romans deals with the return of Israel to where God wanted them in the first place, carrying the word of God. This is the reason Paul was so enthused in our text scripture, God has promised the return of his beloved Israel, and God was going to bring it about. Israel will never return on their own, but God can and will return them to His work. Words cannot be uttered to describe the greatness of God, because it is beyond measure. This is why people when attempting to figure out how God accomplished a miracle they cannot, because it is beyond our understanding in the flesh. “…his ways past finding out!” The only thing we know and understand is “For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.” Everything is to His glory, everything should praise Him in the end. If something praises us it was done in vain. Man must understand, it simple is not about us but rather all about God. It is “of Him, through Him, and to Him” and what you will hear in most pulpits today simply do not meet these standards. God is sovereign and those that believe in a sovereign God give all glory to God for all things, not simply in words but in action. And beloved, this is why, The Greatness Is Unimaginable!

Those that believe on Jesus Christ have the power of God to be His child.

2010-12-25T16:06:00.000-06:00

John 1:11 - 13 “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. (12.) But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (13.) Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

So many read this passage of scripture and simply pass it by as just more scriptures about salvation, however it is much deeper than that. John chapter one itself gives a very detailed account of Jesus Christ and salvation. First of all verse one details Who Jesus Christ is, He is God, He was God from eternity past and God when He was born of a virgin woman. Secondly, He was light, He was the light in creation before the sun was created, He will be the light after the world and universe are destroyed, and He is the light of man in salvation because without Him man lives in total darkness and in this state cannot comprehend the light. Third, it tells us that all things were made by Him and nothing was made without Him creating it. And fourth, He that created the world and all things in it came to His own creation and they rejected Him, in fact He came to His own people the Israelites as one of them and they also rejected Him. However not just the Israelites but all of mankind rejected Him. Mankind does not seek Jesus Christ, they seek themselves instead. They want to be in control of everything and even in control of their own salvation, but God never said one has a right to accept or reject salvation, ever.

In our text scripture God makes four wonderful points about salvation which makes the world’s plan of salvation wrong. (1.) “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God…” The receiving Him here is not the choice or decision of man but rather of God. This actually reads “to them that accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour did so because God gave them the power to do so”. Remember man lives in darkness and cannot (on their own) comprehend the light. The word “comprehend” means – they cannot take it eagerly, or they cannot possess or attain it on their own. It is not something they will ever desire to have without God putting the want in their heart. (2.) “…to them that believe on his name.” not by their own power to believe but believing only comes by the power of God. Since man loves darkness rather than light (John 3:19) then that is bold proof that man will not simply choose Christ Jesus as their Saviour. Why would man ever choose against his own will and his love to live in darkness, and choose light? This is the reason that salvation must be by Gods power and not our own. (3.) “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man…” If salvation is the gift of Gods eternal love and grace then it cannot be of the will or choice of man. Here God explains that salvation included no part of man. “not of blood” means it does not come through the bloodline, “nor of the will of the flesh” means it did not come because someone else wanted you to be saved, and “nor of the will of man…” means you did not yourself desire to be saved. This one single scripture excludes the entire human race from acting in any part in bringing about salvation for the lost sinner. (4.) “…but of God.” God is the total source of salvation. The one who created all things, the one who brought life and light to the world, the one who came to His own creation and was rejected, mocked, and crucified, is the very one that redeems mankind. Titus 3:5 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us…” Therefore when Jonah shouted from the belly of the whale that salvation is of the Lord, he could not have been more right. Because God does indeed save sinners and we play no part in it. To God be the glory! Amen!

How does God save sinners?

2010-12-18T20:11:00.000-06:00

“Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: (28.) For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. (29.) Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. (30.) And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. (31.) And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” Luke 16:27 – 31

God has one form of saving the lost sinner, and it is through the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul told us in 1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” The preaching of the gospel for salvation is foolishness to them that believe it takes more than the simple preaching to save the lost because they know not the way of salvation. The word “power” in 1 Corinthians 1:18 means – force or miraculous power – which is what it takes to save the lost, it takes the power of God. Now this does not mean that we as pastors or ministers have the power to save the lost but that God CHOSE to use this preaching to save the lost sinner. It is the message of the gospel that pricks the heart and causes one to accept the gospel; however this is only possible because the Holy Spirit of God causes the heart to be pricked.

In our text scripture we see the rich man speaking to Abraham, the rich man being in hell and Abraham being in his bosom. The rich man was so tormented that he wanted Abraham to send Lazarus from the dead to cause his father and brothers to believe. However Abraham said “…If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” In other words nothing outside of the gospel has the power to cause a sinner to repent and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. God has a system, and that system is the only one that will work because it is the way that God has chosen to save the lost sinner. Man can invent millions of different ways to cause a sinner to repent, but the only sure way that works is by hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore all these invented ways of causing one to be saved are in vain. All the hell movies, scare houses, hell fire sermons and etc. are useless and in vain, and yes this includes the decision and choice myth also. You will never find any preacher that can out do one rising from the dead and if that will not work than nothing else man can invent will work.

Salvation only comes from the simple message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, therefore some preachers need to stop attempting to show how powerful they are and simply preach the Gospel. Every time in the scriptures you find someone witnessing to a lost sinner they are simply telling them about Jesus Christ and nothing else. This is because this is the path that God has chosen to save the lost sinner. How simple, and how wonderful, God saves sinners and uses His word to do it. Abraham said “…They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” Because nothing, even the dead rising from the grave will cause them to repent. So if you are going to be saved you will hear the message of the pastor or minister because they are Gods sent men with the message from God. So in conclusion, to them that invent other ways to prick the heart of the lost sinner, God has a message for you, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:20 AMEN!

Like root like branches; or maybe not.

2010-12-11T21:36:00.000-06:00

“For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.” Romans 11:16

As we continue through the book of Romans, we just keep finding greater and greater blessings to the Gentile believers. Chapter 11 has truly turned into a diamond for Gentile believers. There is no doubt that in Old Testament times Gods love for Israel was truly wonderful, however it seems that every time God blessed Israel they would turn around and do more against God. Paul said that the root of Israel was Abraham because he was a holy man and because Abraham was the root that the branches should also be holy, however this was not the case. So God started breaking off the branches in order to rid the tree of its unholy branches. It is assumed that a lot of branches were broken off. Then the Lord grafted in other branches and those new branches were Gentiles. As one can see the imaginary picture of this in there mind we see the tree began to take shape as one that looks more like the root which was Abraham, a holy man. However, we as grafted in branches should not get the big head or mock those branches that were broken off to make room for us, but rather we should praise God for grafting us into this tree. Gods love is deep for some but others will never share the experience of Gods love. The grafting in of the Gentile believers was simply an act of grace and mercy of God, and not because we are any better than the branches that were broken off. “Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.” verse 18. But rather than boast of being grafted in we ought to bless the Lord for being grafted in. We ought to use this opportunity and actually do what God commands of us in His word. We ought to look to the branches that were broken off and not make the same mistakes. I see professed Christian’s everyday going about life as though nothing has changed in their lives and for some or most maybe there was no change. However for those of us who were changed, for those of us who God has grafted in were the broken branches were need to beware of what could happen to us. The branches that were broken off were broken off because they failed to believe God and failed to obey His word. They attempted to change the word of God into a lie and to make their own salvation. They thought that their efforts justified them and crucified the One that told them they were wrong. Therefore God broke off their branches and set them aside. The Priest had turned their heads and allowed sin to be justified, but what they failed to realize is God saw what they did and was not happy with it. Paul said in verse 21 “For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.” If God did not spare the branches of His beloved Israelites what make the Gentiles think He will act differently with us. What happened to these Israelites is they lost their fear of God and assumed that God would accept their many sinful sacrifices and their many sinful acts, but He did not and neither will He of the branches that were grafted in. Paul said in verse 20 “Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:” We better fear that God will break us off and set us aside, because He most certainly will just as He did with these Israelites. There are a lot of Christians that have lost their fear of God, so they fail to attend church, pray, read their bible, and to support their local church. They would rather worship in a large church or a more lenient church were the Pastors (like these Priest) will turn their heads rather than preach and expect obedience to Gods word. Beloved just because the Pastor turns their heads to sinful acts or refuses to preach things that rebukes you does not make them good Pastors, but instead makes them more like the Priest of the Israelites. Be warned beloved, God will not accept sinful worship. “Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.” verse 22.

To God Be The Glory, For Ever And Ever, AMEN!

2010-12-04T19:36:00.001-06:00

“For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.” Romans 11:36

What a most wonderful scripture, especially to all Sovereign Grace Baptist and Christians that truly give God glory for all things every day. It is a wonderful pleasure to be able to worship God and give Him the glory for all things, whether good or bad it does not matter; God is over all and nothing happens without His approval or effectual cause. To the Christian all things are from God and for His glory and He will get glory from it all. Man may think that have overridden God, or out smarted Him, but one day they will see that they have played right into His gracious hands. God is over all and He absolutely controls all things, even the lost and even the most hateful God hatters among us in this world. They can take Christ out of Christmas if they want too because He never was in it, they can take the resurrection of Christ out of Easter because it has nothing to do with Christ, they can do all they want in the world because God is the final authority. This verse of scripture keeps us reminded of Who God is and also keeps us reminded that He is sovereign and His sovereign will, will always be accomplished no matter what. The world can kill the body but they cannot harm the soul and spirit because they belong to God, these old bodies are useless to God because they will be made anew soon. Beloved lift your head toward heaven and pray to our Father that sits on the throne because our redemption indeed does draw nigh. (Luke 21:28 “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”)

“For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things…” because it is His, even the evil things of this world God owns. Without the creation of Satan there is no evil but as it is He did create Satan and with him evil. “For of him…” means He is creator and author of all things, nothing exist or happens outside of His beloved and sovereign will, “…and through him…” this explains that not only does God “will” all things but all things are brought to pass by Him. Every person that is born is born by His will and power, every event that happens, happens by His authority and power, every person that is saved is saved by His power, and every person that dies, dies by His choosing. Nothing overrides the blessed will of God. “…and to him, are all things…” that is to His glory. Nothing happens without bringing glory to God in some way. If a child dies God gets glory some way, if a solider dies in battle God get glory some how from it. It does not matter what it is, from the praise and glory we give Him in every church service, to the most horrible death and sacrifices of the early Christians, all brought glory to God. The world thought they got victory in the death of Christ Jesus, they thought they got glory at the death of His saints, and yes today they think they will get glory by canceling the Christmas holiday, but again they will fail. God, no matter the outcome will succeed to get glory because it is His creation and that is one thing neither they, nor Satan himself can take from God.

“…to whom be glory for ever. Amen.” Yes indeed AMEN! Glory belongs to Him and not to man. This is one thing that even some Christians fail to understand, that what ever happens, the glory belongs to God and He will get the glory no matter what. Sometimes man wants to rob Gods glory from Him but it will not happen. Mankind combine together can attempt to save a hundred million souls but the only ones that will ever be saved are those whom God saves. When the final count is done in the end, the only saved will be the remnant that God elected to save, PERIOD! You can try, but God will get the glory because whatever it is, it belongs to Him and functions only by His blessed will.

The Quickening Voice Of Jesus.

2010-11-27T18:17:00.001-06:00

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.” John 5:25

If the dead hear the voice of Christ Jesus and live then those who do not hear it will never live. Life absolutely comes from God, and if Christ be the Son of God then He also has the power to give life to the dead. Let us not forget when God created Adam he did not have life, but was rather a lifeless human laying on the ground. It was God that breathed life into Adam and gave him a living soul and Spirit, therefore making him a threefold being in the image of his Creator Jehovah God (Father, Son, and Spirit). It is when Adam became a living soul that he had a relationship with God, however that relationship was severed when Adam eat of the “forbidden fruit” or sinned against God. Since the creation of Adam God no longer breathes life into a soul but rather speaks life into us because we already live in the body, but rather He speaks life into us. Everyone who is without Christ is a living soul but dead spiritually, and this spiritual life is what we receive when we hear the voice of Christ Jesus. There are three types of death, (1.) Natural death – which comes to us all at some point, (2.) Spiritual death – which is the third part of our threefold being and is the result of sin, and (3.) Eternal death – Which is Gods punishment for sin and Gods eternal judgment for that sin. The life that Jesus speaks into us is spiritual life, which keeps us from the third death which is eternal death. The lost person will hear two calls of Jesus (1.) The call from spiritual death which comes to us from the Holy Spirit, and the call of our bodies from the grave at His second coming, however the living at the second coming will hear the call “come up here” from Jesus as an invitation to join Him in the cloud. Those who are lost at His second coming whether dead or alive will not hear either call at all. I believe Jesus Christ knows the name of every believer and every one of Gods elect and call them everyone by name. Just as He did with Lazarus, John 11:43 “And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.” If Jesus had simply said “come forth” then all that was buried around Lazarus would have come forth because the dead hear His voice. There is no doubt that Jesus knows all our names and we who are saved know His beloved voice, and should always obey our Saviour’s voice. John 10:14, 27 - 28 “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. (27.) My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: (28.) And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish,” It is because we hear His blessed voice that we live and it will be because we hear His blessed voice, whether dead in this life or living we will rise from the grave or we will leave this world and meet the Lord in the air. These two calls are always obeyed by us. We hear His call for salvation and follow His voice just as we will when He returns in the clouds. John 10:3 “To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.” Just as God breathed life into Adam giving him a living soul, Jesus speaks life into us and we become a living spirit. But to us who have already heard the call to salvation the next great call of the Saviour we will hear and will without delay answer will be at His second coming. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 - 18 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: (17.) Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (18.) Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” AMEN!

Who shut their eyes? God did!

2010-11-20T18:44:00.000-06:00

Romans 11:7 - 8 “What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (8.) (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.”

We as Gentile believers can learn so much from the Israelites. As we continue to study the book of Romans, it never fails that we always run upon some deep wonderful truth. Here in chapter 11 we found out what happened to the Israelites, God put them into a deep sleep. Israel tried so hard to justify themselves before God that they missed what exactly it was that God was doing. Their ignorance in justification became a self-justification for them which became a stumbling block for them. The Israelites became so deep in their labors that they missed the greatest gift that God has given to the world and that was Jesus Christ. In fact instead of accepting Him as their Saviour, they crucified Him, choosing a murder over Him! Ignorance has always run deep in this world, and today is no exception. People of all different denominations are attempting to work a self-justification by their works and they (like the Israelites) will miss Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came to this world to do His Fathers will and that will was to die for His elect. This was to fulfill the eternal agreement between the Father and the Son before the world was created. John 17:2 “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.” That is to the elect. Well if God has an elect people, then what about the rest of them? God has shut their eyes that they will not see and their ears that they will not hear. Now I know that there are some Armenians who will deny this but please notice what God did to the Israelites! God has closed their eyes and ears that they will not see nor hear the glorious saving message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ just as He has with so many of today. Verse 8 says God has put the Israelites into a deep sleep as He has also done with most Gentiles today. Nothing we say, nothing we do will cause them to awaken from this deep sleep, only God can awaken them.

Now I must also add this very important verse; in verse 11 “I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.” Because God has put them in a deep sleep that they cannot see nor hear then they certainly cannot proclaim the gospel message to the world, therefore God elected to use the Gentiles for this task and beloved that is a great honor to us-ward. It is no longer up to the Israelites to carry and proclaim God word it is now in the hands of the Gentile churches, and this is why it is so important to deliver the gospel to the world in any fashion that God has made available to us. Mark 16:15 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Not just to those who attend church services or not just to those in our community but rather to the entire world. Beloved this is done in many ways and one of those ways is missionaries. Missionaries are the one single biblical force in that deliverance, however today we have many tools at our disposal with the biggest being the internet. However convenient and cheep the internet may be it will never replace missionaries because they are the ones that God has sent forth from the local churches to accomplish this task. But please allow me to say that we Gentile church have been given a glorious opportunity by the Lord and we need to make sure we deliver and God has commanded. God has promised to return Israel to the task of once again carrying His word by saving a remnant of them in the Tribulation period, and the short time we have left we all need to work hard at fulfilling Gods command.

Why Do You Try To Hide; The Lord God Sees you!

2010-11-13T20:14:00.000-06:00

“Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?” Isaiah 29:15

Some people are simply hypocrites; they move their lips one way but think and do another. I have always said, say and do what is in your heart because it is your true feelings. One thing people must understand is while they may be hypocrites in their words and actions, and fooling man, they are not fooling God, He knows every thought of the heart and every action. Job told us in Job 34:22 “There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.” They cannot hide from God neither can they hide their thoughts. God knows everything and nothing escapes His eyes and ears. People think they hide from God because they are so soon to forget that God is Omnipresent or every place at the very same time. God has promised that not one single word will escape judgment “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” Matthew 12:36. With that being said never think that one thought, one deed, nor one action will go unnoticed by the great Judge. Let us remember Adam and Eve, after eating the forbidden fruit and the Lord came walking in the garden they hid themselves from the Lord and then lied about what they had done, but God knew, He did not have to ask questions because He already knew the answers. While men may fool each other they will never fool God.

The reason these folks sought to hid their true feelings is because they were hypocrites, notice in Isaiah 29:13 “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:” God said while their mouths praise Me their hearts have moved far from me. This is exactly the way that most of today’s religionist are, they seek with their sermons to praise God but in their hearts they are the ones that has all the power, and not God. When man attempts to rob God of His sovereign power and authority then that act belittle God below man by proclaiming that things are accomplished by the authority of man rather than the authority of God. They sing “Amazing Grace” while failing to recognize that salvation is of grace. The Lord went on to conclude in Isaiah 29:16 “Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?” This is like building a house, the builders build it, and then the owner claim that he built it. Man wants so much to be equal with God that they simply cannot accept that God, the sovereign God of all creation saves sinners. They, with their mouths claim that He does but in their hearts deny God the credit. So please do not be a hypocrite, either God saves sinners or man works out his own salvation. God saved me and I need no credit because I had nothing to do with it. God took this piece of clay and molded it just as He wanted it, and I praise God that He did. Every detail of my life is at the will of God. If I had a choice in the matter I would have never chosen God nor would I have ever chosen Christ as my Saviour. I thank God that He saved my worthless soul and made me what I am today. Therefore I can proudly sing “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me....I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now, I see.”

God’s Calendar

2010-11-06T18:52:00.000-05:00

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: (2.) A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; Ecclesiastes 3:1, 2

We have many uses for calendars; we make special dates such as birthday, anniversaries, a date and time for appointments, and etc. Well God has a calendar which He has marked every event that was or is going to happen in time, the difference between our calendar and Gods calendar is we sometimes miss the dates marked on it therefore forgetting a birthday, a special event, or etc. but God never forgets an event, day, or event. Every thing under the sun has an appointed time and happens just as God has predetermined it to happen, from your birth, to your salvation, to your death and all things in between.

In verse 1 the word “season” comes from the Hebrew word (zemân) and it means - an appointed occasion – and it comes from the Hebrew word (zâman) which means – a fixed time or an appointment – which leaves absolutely no doubt that “to every thing there is an appointed time or a set time by God, and to every purpose under the heaven:” not just to something’s but to every purpose under heaven. In saying this we must understand that every event in our lives are ordained by God, a time to be born, a time to be reborn, and a time to die. Many have attempted to destroy the predestination of God but it cannot be destroyed, because it is absolutely a fact. We must understand that there simply are not worldly answers to all that God does or how He does them, nor do they have to be logical or even humanly possible to us. We do not have to logically explain how God parted the Red Sea or how a “big fish” actually swallowed a man and he lived there three days and nights before being vomited up on the sea side. Man who has not faith must be shown proof, but the Christian lives by faith and if the bible says it then it is a fact and needs no proof. Therefore we must also understand man does not make man live longer nor shorter because we live and die by Gods blessed will. Now we can take this much farther because every “…time to every purpose under the heaven:” means everything that happens in time is set to happen by Gods plan and calendar, from political elections to great disasters, and it is not up to the churches, Pastors, or Christians to answer why God does or allows what He has decreed. There are a lot of Pastors and Christians that like to think that God had nothing to with certain events but the fact is nothing escapes His approval because we must remember Jehovah God is in total command and has ordained every event under heaven. We also learn in Ecclesiastes 3:17 “I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.” Or how about this one Ecclesiastes 8:5 - 6 “Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment. (6.) Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.” Sometimes misery is judgment from God not simply a natural disaster that cannot be explained. I know that many consider God to be loving and that He would never allow bad things to happen to those He loves, but always remember God is in control of everything from a political out come to all natural disasters. “For in him we live, and move, and have our being...” Acts 17:28 Maybe instead of attempting to prove that God was not involved in some event or disaster maybe we ought to give some though as to what we did to cause God to allow certain events or disasters. Because we must understand that while God controls every event under the heavens He also has a purpose for them. Maybe a Nation that God has so richly blessed that keeps thumbing their noses at Him and His commandment deserves what has happened over time. Maybe if we would fall on our faces toward God and ask Him to forgive us, maybe He would and maybe some of these bad things would stop.

People Are Always Wanting Something For Nothing!

2010-10-30T22:20:00.000-05:00

John 6:1 – 2 After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. (2.) And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.

As we look into out text scriptures lets notice these words “…a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.” Why did they follow Jesus? Because He could give them healing, they were diseased and wanted Jesus to heal them. These people did not want to hear a sermon, they did not want to believe that Jesus was the Christ The Son of The Living God, they simply wanted Jesus to give them something (healing) for free. We here in Texarkana have people that interrupt our services a lot because they want our church to give them money, they do not come to church, they do not want to even visit and hear the sermon first, they simply want us to stop what we are doing and take up a collection for them, but it simply does not work that way. People are always wanting something for nothing, it also reminds me of the upcoming election next Tuesday, politicians always promise to give everyone something simply for their vote. The government has nothing to give away except the taxpayer’s money, the politician is not going to give away their money, oh no it is our money he or she is promising to give away. But people are always standing with their hands out expecting the government to take from us taxpayers and to give it to them for nothing. I have even heard people ask politician’s “what are you going to give us” and then expect something for nothing. Now please understand I am not against helping others and truly we do our part to help those that are in need, but some people do not need help they simply expect others to give them what they want without doing anything to earn the help. In today’s economic disaster that both the Republicans and Democrats have brought to us has caused millions of good hard working people to be in need, people that normally ask for nothing and other wise help others in need themselves. We are talking about people who just do not want to do anything except to have other give them something for nothing. These people here were the same way, but when Jesus actually preached to them about how God saves sinner then they all (seven thousand) left leaving only Jesus and the other eleven with Him alone. See what they wanted was some healing, they did not intend to hear Jesus preach but that is what they got and all that they got. The Lord said “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” 1 Timothy 5:8 We must understand everyone is not worthy of help and just because Jesus was God in the flesh does not mean He owed everyone the help they wanted and just because we are a church does not mean we owe help to everyone who ask. If you want our church to help then come to church and hear the sermons or ask the church that you go too. Watch for those infidel’s and help those worthy of helping because there are a lot of folks in need and worthy of help. God always helps those who disserve help but don’t expect God to help those who are lazy and refuses to help themselves first. Don’t ignore God and expect Him to be there when you are in most need. God is gracious to them that are Christians and while salvation is not of works, let us not forget Gods blessings in life are more plenteous when we walk daily with the Lord and are lesser when we are failing to serve the Lord. God is not a politician and He is not going to make you a promise for your vote but He will bless you more and more if you walk with Him, and that walk starts by attending church.

Pleasing God!

2010-10-24T07:16:00.000-05:00

“For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10

Do we please God in our lives? Do we go out of our way sometimes and even go against our own wants and wishes to please God? I wonder how many Pastors seek to truly please God and how many churches truly seek to please God. Most churches and Pastors seek to please man rather than God. If one is concerned in building an empire within the church then he seeks to please man because God said in 1 Corinthians 12:18 “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.” If God hath set the member in the church as it hath pleased Him, then why does man seek to build the church into an empire? Oh he may say “God has done it” but that is just being modest because he truly expects the credit. I see many today only seeking to please God when it is convenient to do so, when it does not set them back on money or when they have nothing to do when church is in service. Many today do not seek to please God but rather to please themselves or someone else.

Pleasing God is doing Gods will, and Gods will almost always include putting others before yourself. Selfishness is not pleasing to God, God is not selfish nor should we be. God sent His beloved Son into this world to die a death of humiliation so that we could have eternal life. He had no other reason to do this other than His love and kindness. However it seems that most have their selfish hearts set on what they want rather than helping others first. The greatest example is when we dive a car, have you noticed how selfish people are when we drive? Doing Gods will is learning His word and living what we have learned but there are a lot of people who fail to pay attention in church and fail to follow their Pastor in the study of Gods word. There are also people who fail to keep their children behaved in the services and allow them to interrupt the others trying to hear the sermon. There are those who dress inappropriate to be in a church who also distract from the services. If we seek to please the Lord, let’s all study and learn together and cast away the distractions. Pleasing God is to love one another and help one another. Do you have church members in need? In these bad economic times I am sure we all know someone in need, maybe you need to help them with a few dollars to make the budget, or with a few groceries, have you asked? God supplies our ever need, and it may be He wants us to help your fellow church member. God uses many sources to help us and sometime He uses us to be the helper of others. Being a good church member goes beyond your tithe to the church, and it includes also helping your fellow church member. Before you give to outside organizations that are not church supported how about your church, fellow church membership, or even your Pastor, is there anything they need? Romans 15:1 - 3 “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. (2.) Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. (3.) For even Christ pleased not himself…” As Christians and church members Jesus Christ should be our greatest example, and when churches and church members fail to help their own and others around them then we have failed to follow Christ as our example.

Could It Be Possible That Salvation Could Involve Works?

2010-10-16T19:56:00.000-05:00

Ephesians 2:8-10 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (9.) Not of works, lest any man should boast. (10.) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Last week we looked at Baptism and asked could baptism be part of salvation, and we proved that it could not be at all. Titus 3:5 tells us without doubt “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us…” and here in Ephesians 2 the Lord tells is that works are not a part of salvation. So the question must be asked “how is it that the Baptists are right and the vast majority of the others are so wrong?” Well there are several thought that could be discussed on this subject but we simply do not have enough space in this article to cover them all, except to conclude that even as intelligent as they are, God simply has not revealed it to them. I have concluded for many years that the vast majority that call themselves “Christians” do not know Jesus Christ and therefore while they have a zeal for God, it is not according to the knowledge from God. I have no idea how men conclude that works are a part of salvation when the scriptures conclude so many time that they are not. Paul spent almost the entire book of Romans battling this very subject and concluded multiple times that works of any sort are not a part of salvation. “For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.” Romans 4:2 – “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,” Romans 4:6 How many more time has God got to conclude that works is not a part of salvation? It was not for Abraham neither was it David, nor is it for us. Just as there are no scriptures concluding one being damned for not being baptized, neither is there any showing damnation for not working. Now back to the religionist that believe and teach salvation by works, We must understand that most or the vast majority of the religionist denomination are reformers from Catholicism and still adhere to a lot of their teachings such as baptism and works being a part of salvation, however they are just as wrong as Catholicism is. Paul concluded in Galatians 2:21 “I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” If works is part of salvation then Christ died in vain. Paul has also concluded in Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” How could God promise NO condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus and then condemn us for a lack of works? The truth is Jesus Christ’s blood is enough to save us from all our sins. Colossians 1:14 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:” Beloved the truth is, no sort of works is a part of salvation but rather the results of salvation as told to us in the book of James, James 2:17, 18 “Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. (18.) Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” If a man says he has faith and has no works then his faith is not real, however those that have true faith in Jesus Christ will have some sort of works showing his faith. However this does not conclude that just because a man has works then he must have faith, many people have works but no faith in their hearts toward Jesus Christ as the redeemer of mankind. Romans 10:2 “For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.” Paul had a great zeal for God and to please God when he persecuted the church that Jesus started in Jerusalem as Saul but later found out that zeal was not according to God. Philippians 3:6 - 7 “Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. (7.) But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.” Beloved there are no sort of works involved in salvation otherwise Christ died in vain!

Baptismal Salvation; Could It Be Possible?

2010-10-09T17:30:00.001-05:00

Acts 2:38 “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

Is it possible that salvation could be involved in salvation? Could it be possible that for 2000 plus years the Baptist could have been wrong about salvation? This is an easy question to answer, absolutely not! There are to gross errors with the thinking that this verse justifies Baptism Regeneration (1.) repentance is not salvation because faith in Christ Jesus is and (2.) baptismal waters do not wash away sins because the blood of Christ Jesus does. I understand what the verse says, but this is not a single verse scripture, but it is in a whole chapter, therefore it must be taken in context with the other verses. Verse 41 adds “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” That is those that gladly received His gospel message were saved and then baptized and then added to the church with the 120 members in Acts chapter one. Salvation is all about Jesus Christ it is not about baptism, works, church membership, or etc. because if it were then it would contradict Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” and Acts 16:30 - 31 “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? (31.) And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” neither one of these verse gives anything outside of Jesus Christ for salvation. Now let’s look at the forgiveness of sins, can water really wash away a sinners sins? Not according to the scriptures, Colossians 1:14 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:” So if the forgiveness of sins is through the blood of Jesus is a baptistery full of city tap water as powerful as the blood spilt on the cross? I know they have other verse and I particularly like 1 Peter 3:20 “Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.” Are you really going to tell me that Noah and the other seven souls on that ark were saved by baptism, when baptism only started with John? The truth is the water saved them by raising the Ark above the rushing waters below, not by baptism. Then there is the most logical one that they have of all, Mark 16:16 “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” There are two separate items here; (1.) faith in Christ Jesus and (2.) baptism, but the question that must be answered is, are both required for salvation? The answer is in the verse, “…but he that believeth not shall be damned.” Where does it say that if I am not baptized then I will be damned? The simple answer is, no where! If baptism were included in salvation then wouldn’t God have listed it as damnation for not having it? I can show tons of scriptures were it is damnation for not having faith in Christ but none showing anything else. John 3:18 “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Now let’s look at one more scripture; 1 Corinthians 1:17 “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.” Why was Paul not to baptize but rather to only preach the gospel? Because the gospel is the principal employment in salvation, baptism is the first ordinance after faith has come, because without faith and the cleansing of the blood of Christ Jesus for your sins nothing else matters. In other words baptism is not essential for salvation. I know this is an age old argument, but however old it is, two sides still exist to this argument because without those teaching baptism regeneration actually being saved, they will never repent and be truly baptized by one of the Lord’s churches.

The Root For Decision, The Sinners Prayer, and Other Myths

2010-09-25T14:57:00.000-05:00

Romans 10:9, 13 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (13.) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Most mythical ways of salvation has there roots right here in John Chapter 10. It is a fact that most take these passages of scripture out-of-context to make salvation the sinner’s choice, decision, or etc. In order to fulfill mythical ways of salvation that religionist teaches today, the word of God must be altered in two ways, (1.) the scriptures must be taken out-of-context and (2.) the scriptures must be contradicted. When I was a young preacher and believing most of what religionist believes today my mentor and Pastor Brother Harace Hammond told me in order to understand the scriptures two basic rules must be followed, (1.) all scriptures must be taken in context with the chapter or chapters in which the passage is located and (2.) no scripture or passage ever contradicts another because the entire bible is one single book and perfectly assembled together. With this being understood I began my studies with these two rules in mind and quickly discovered I had been sadly been taught myths instead of truth. I soon learned that that one central and root scripture of truth was Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” and I quickly thought “if salvation is not of ourselves but is of God and the gift from God then how is it that it is mans choice?” Then I began to see words like “elect”, “chosen”, and “predestination” and quickly realized I had a gross misunderstanding of God’s word. If one uses these two rules of thought as they study the scriptures and allows the scriptures to speak to them as they truly are written, then believing the truth’s of the bible are greater than not. However those that simply swallow what their Pastors tells them without studying the scriptures and fact checking then they will always be a “mind-num-robot” rather than a bible student which every believer should be.

In these two scriptures and even in the entire tenth chapter of Romans is Paul is not speaking about “choosing Christ”, “making a decision for Christ”, or “praying a prayer to be saved”. This is also not the “Romans road to salvation”. However taken in context with the rest of the tenth chapter they are scriptures about “how to be saved”. We must first notice in verse 10 “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness…” which means the heart of man must be changed before one can believe because his natural heart is at enmity with God, in fact Jesus said in Matthew 15:18 “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.” So even in mans lost state his evil comes from his heart, meaning nothing good can come from it. Now we see Jesus referencing the difference between the natural heart and a heart changed by God Luke 6:45 “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” Therefore we conclude that the confessing here in John 10 is not a “sinner’s prayer” but rather a confession of their salvation because in verse 11 we see “Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.”

As far as verse 13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” It also is not a prayer but rather is a quote from Joel 2:32 “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.” So whosoever does call shall be saved but only those whom the Lord God shall called first. “…and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.” So without Gods Holy Spirit pricking mans heart first then man will never call upon the Lord. So we conclude with this fact; the lost cannot pray a prayer to be saved because God does not hear the prayers of the lost.

“Choose You This Day Whom Ye Will Serve”

2010-09-11T18:32:00.000-05:00

Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

This is a wonderful scripture that serves such a great thought, but to see it butchered by the religionist is a great shame. The religionists have such a great desire to prove their heresy that they butcher Gods word to make a point. Please understand this one central point; we do not choose Christ for salvation, God chose us before the foundation of the world. “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:” 2 Thessalonians 2:13 The religionist have lied over and over again. Do a bible search and find the phrase “Choose Christ” or “Choose God” it does not exist in the Holy Script at all, it is always “Christ Chose you” or “God Chose you” nor is there one single example in the entire scriptures that tells the lost person to “Make A Decision For Christ” nor does God one single time tell man to “Pray A Prayer To Be Saved” this is all a made up myth by religionist that are afraid to preach the truth, and its only finished work is to make a lost person believe a lie and for that person to spend eternity in hell. If you attend a church that preaches these lies you better check in the scriptures to assure yourself that you are truly saved. “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” John 5:39 We have a great example of a salvation message and it is found in Acts 16:30 - 31 “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? (31.) And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” The question was directly asked and directly answered, simply “…Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved…” there was no sinner’s prayer, no choice made by the jailer nor did Paul or Silas offer one because we do not choose to be saved, God chose us before the foundation of the world. “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.” 1 Peter 1:2 However, if you still think I am wrong ask your beloved Religionist Pastor to show you directly in the scriptures where the lost is told to choose Christ, and without all of the mythical explanations but rather the one single example. This is THE salvation scripture John 3:18 “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Simply believe in your heart that Jesus is the Saviour of mankind and you are saved. However simple it may be, you will not believe until the Holy Spirit convicts your heart to believe. John 6:29 “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” Jesus just made it plain and clear that “…This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” Not the work of your Pastor or anyone else, it is God that chooses, calls, and saves the lost sinner, neither yourself by a choice nor your Pastor by mythical decisions.

Now I would like to explain the scripture that I used for our text scripture. While God never told man to choose Him for salvation, He did tell the Christian to serve Him, and this is exactly how this scripture is defined. We are not to allow little gods take away our service to our Holy God. So choose who you are going to serve God, or a football game, fishing, your money, your family, or etc. because anything you serve other than God, you make that your earthy god. So I will conclude as our text scripture concludes “…but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” and nothing else.

“For God So Loved The World”

2010-09-03T20:53:00.001-05:00

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

We are now, since we have finished TULIP the five points of Sovereign Grace going to take some time to look closely at some of the verses of scripture that the Religionist use in order to lead their hearers down the path of eternal destruction. With this in mind I have selected the number one abused scripture in the bible. Before us we have a most beautiful scripture that so many have misinterpreted for so long, but truly has a most wonderful meaning to those who are saved or are going to be saved. It all comes down to the Greek word kosmos or the word world and what this word actually means. The word kosmos means - orderly arrangement, including its inhabitants – but the question is does it mean that God loves every sinner in the world and He wills for every sinner to be saved as some believe, well if it does then there is contradiction in the scriptures. We must look at this from one of two points; (1.) that God loves every sinner in the world from start to finish, or (2.) It means that God loves some of the population which limits His love. With this being said if God indeed does love every sinner in the world then this would have to include Esau whom God said He hated. “As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” Romans 9:13. If God hated Esau then the thought that God loves everyone ever in the world contradicts the scripture because either God loves everyone ever born in this world or that thought is dead. We must also include Psalms 5:5 “The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.” Here the scripture concludes that God hates “…all workers of iniquity.” not just their sins but He hates them. So let’s do a little thinking so we can put in context the entire scriptures so that we can reach an honest and true meaning of John 3:16 and the word world. First, God never changes because He is eternal, Secondly, God cannot love then hate because He cannot change His love because those that He loves He loves eternally.

We see the same English and Greek words used in John 6:33 “For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.” Since this is the exact same Greek word then if God loved every sinner then here would it not mean that “the bread of God… giveth life unto the world.” and therefore all sinner will be saved? People can make scripture mean anything they choose but that doesn’t make it mean what God meant when He inspired it. God never said He loves everyone in the world, nor can He because He has proven in Esau that it is imposable.

So here we reach the real conclusion to the word “world”. It means the different races, nationalities of people, or etc. What God said was “I do not just love the Israelites but rather the Gentiles also and thanks be to God that He did. We must understand that God has no respect of persons, Romans 2:11 “For there is no respect of persons with God.” This means God does not love people because of nationality or color but that He loves people from all sections and races of the world because He has chosen too. God does not have to love anyone, He is not obligated to love anyone, but He chose to love some out of the world and if you are saved then God loves you. Not only does He not love every soul in the world Jesus in His prayer to the Father refused to pray for everyone in the world. John 17:9 “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.” So next time you hear someone say “God loves everyone” ask them to prove it and if they use John 3:16 you will know they are mislead.

Perseverance of the Saints

2010-08-28T15:27:00.000-05:00

Philippians 1:6 “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” - 2 Timothy 4:18 “And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

We now bring to an end our five articles on TULIP with the Perseverance of the Saints. If we understand that God has before the world predestinated all things to be and that God chose His beloved sheep before the world began, and with the understanding that salvation is of God then we must also believe that none can be lost. Paul said “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” how can one have confidence without assurance, and how can one have assurance without Perseverance of the Saints. If we sin or if we trip in life then doesn’t that cause one to fall from grace, and if we fall can we not be renewed? The writer of Hebrews said “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, (5.) And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, (6.) If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” Hebrews 6:4 – 6 if it is “impossible… If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance” then without Perseverance of the Saints we will all go to hell because we are all going to sin after we are saved. The central thought here is “…seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.” Because Christ died once for sin and if it wasn’t for all of our sins then He must be crucified again and that is impossible. A repeat of salvation is not scriptural neither can be because it is simply a lie. Paul said Perseverance of the Saints is our confidence in God that since He has saved us then we will never loose that salvation, Paul went on to say in the last part of Romans 8 that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, not even ourselves. We had nothing to do with our salvation and we do not have the ability to cast our salvation asunder.

Once saved always saved, is a myth in that it leaves too much room for error. I do not know where this quote came from but it is not a good saying. I must admit I have used it many times but without a slip I shall never use it again. Once God has saved us then we are eternally saved and Preserved until the day of Jesus. We must understand that there are countless millions who have admitted that they are saved Christians but in truth they are not, they have simply made a confession of faith. One Puritan writer of old once said “Perseverance of the saints does not teach this. Perseverance of the saints teaches that once God has renewed the heart of a sinner through the application of the redemption wrought by Christ upon the cross, he will continue to be saved and show forth the fruits of that salvation.” This is so true, once saved, then we are servants of God for life, then for eternity. People use this quote “once saved always saved” to justify their not attending church or tithing or working for the Lord Jesus Christ, this is not Perseverance; this is being lost. When God saves sinners then they want to work for the Lord Jesus Christ, James said “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” James 2:18 we are all saved for a purpose and that purpose is to work until Jesus returns. Those not working for Jesus Christ and His beloved church may not truly be saved. Thomas Watson once said; "God’s decree is the very pillar and basis on which the saints' perseverance depends. That decree ties the knot of adoption so fast, that neither sin, death, nor hell, can break it asunder."

Irresistible Grace

2010-08-21T16:26:00.000-05:00

“For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.” John 5:21

This week we come to our 4th letter of TULIP which is “Irresistible Grace”. The doctrine of Irresistible Grace teaches that when the Spirit of God is sent to change a person's heart, that person cannot resist the change. This is another one that the religionist of today hate and will use a lot of “out of context” scriptures to attempt to disprove it, because God forbid that salvation is not totally in the hands of the lost sinner who is totally at enmity with God and has no desire to ever serve the God of the bible. But some how the old leopard is going to change his spots and turn to Christ for salvation. But God said (A.) Jeremiah 13:23 “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.” and (B.) Psalms 14:2 - 4 “The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. (3.) They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. (4.) Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD.” Now the religionist will say that God wants all to be saved, but apparently they do not believe that God can accomplish all His will because if God wanted all to be saved then all would be saved. So they will have you believe that while God cannot save the sinner (because it is totally up to the sinner) then I guess the sinner is more powerful than God. If one believes this theory then why do we pray to God for the sinner to be saved, why not just pray to the sinner since salvation is in their hands? And where is Grace, it has nothing to do with salvation since God has nothing to do with it. I guess Jesus was the great liar since He Himself said John 6:44 “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” But I must add if the Father draws man and then man rejects Christ then doesn’t that make God a FAILURE? Doesn’t that mean the “counsel of His own will” is not completed? They say that “God's will is frustrated by man” This means the will of God is “obstructed” by man because he chooses not to accept the call of God, but doesn’t this contradict Gods word in that His will is always accomplished? Thank God we were not there when He was creating the world because with that many bosses He would have never gotten it done. They like to quote 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” First of all there is no indication here that God is speaking of all mankind, secondly, this is speaking of Gods longsuffering and promises not salvation, and thirdly, if it meant that God absolutely willed all to be saved and some refused too then that contradicts the rest of the bible. Besides wasn’t Peter speaking about “us-ward” which would include those like him or those elected to salvation just as he was. They also like to use Romans 2:11 “For there is no respect of persons with God.” and there is not and this is why we believe in Unconditional Election also because God did not choose us because we are black, white, red, or yellow – Jewish, or Gentile, He chose us because He wanted too. This is like John 3:16 and the word “world” does God truly love everyone in the world, no He does not because He hated Esau and He also hates the “WORKERS” of iniquity Psalms 5:5. He loves the different Nations of the world not just the Israelites. God never said He loved all the people of the world just as He never said He wanted all the people to be saved. This is religionist preaching error #1. But beloved if God has chosen you to salvation then we will not resist His call but run and accept it without fail, and this is most glorious because without it we would all suffer the eternal wrath of God in Hell. Francis Turretin once said “This calling is an act of the grace of God in Christ by which he calls men dead in sin and lost in Adam through the preaching of the Gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit, to union with Christ and to salvation obtained in him.” – This is Irresistible Grace, Amen!

“Limited Atonement”

2010-08-14T16:19:00.001-05:00

“As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.” John 17:2

This weeks study brings us to our third letter of TULIP which is “LIMITED ATONEMENT”. This bible doctrine is certainly the most hated of all biblical teachings because it limits salvation to a limited number of souls and crushes the Arminian teachings of “God loves every one”, “God wants everyone to be saved”, and “Salvation is your choice”. First, let’s please set the record straight, none of these are true, they are what are known as myths created to please and prick the hearts of the lost world. Therefore we can see why the Religious world hates this teaching.

The doctrine of limited atonement is absolutely proven in the scriptures and therefore whether you hate it of love it, it is so, so true. John chapter 17 is known as the real “Lord’s Prayer” because it is not simply an example prayer or model prayer but a real prayer between The Son and the Father. John 17 is a lot like John 6 it puts the act of giving salvation to God and not man. Here Jesus prayed that “he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.” That is the Son should give eternal life to as many as the Father gave Him before the world was created in the eternal covenant. Jesus went on in verse 6 to say “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.” Noting that the Father indeed gave this “limited” number of souls to the Son. Jesus never promised salvation to an unlimited number of people but rather to a limited number. Let’s look for a moment at the Arminian teaching that “it is Gods will that all men be saved” if this were true would not all men be saved? Isn’t the absolute will of God always accomplished? “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:” Ephesians 1:11 Why does Jesus in His prayer to the Father just before His death declare a limited number that will be given eternal life? We also see Jesus say in John 6:37 “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” And also in verse 44 “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” That same limited number is spoken of again. We also see a limit to salvation in Acts 2:39 “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” This call is done by the Holy Spirit and we see the conclusion to this call in Romans 8:14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” because God cannot fail.

The doctrine of limited atonement is not a hate doctrine but rather a love doctrine because it guarantees at least some of mankind will be saved rather than all be lost to eternal destruction. This is what Charles Spurgeon meant when he said “I may be called Antinomian or Calvinist for preaching a limited atonement; but I had rather believe a limited atonement that is efficacious for all men for whom it was intended, than a universal atonement that is not efficacious for anybody, except the will of man be joined with it.” Limited Atonement makes salvation “efficacious” or capable of or successful in producing an intended result. What end result do the Religionist have, maybe they were saved or maybe not, even Charles G. Finny one of the fathers of our religionist teachings of today once said, “we don’t know if this is working or not” beloved if God does it, it is done and with 100% success. We do not know what the exact number is of limited atonement, but what we do know for sure is with every doctrine, even with the most liberal teachers and their myths, there is only a limited number saved because never is everyone saved. However Limited Atonement guarantees that some will be truly saved.

“Unconditional Election”

2010-08-07T12:42:00.000-05:00

This week brings us to our second letter of T.U.L.I.P. which is “Unconditional Election” or God by His own choosing elected a limited number of sinners to be justified before creation. While this teaching may on the surface sound horrible on Gods part it is not when the bible is taken in context. If Total Depravity is true and it most certainly is as proven last week, then Unconditional Election has to be true and it most certainly is. If all of mankind is totally depraved then no one can or will come to Christ without being delivered. Now the question is who will God deliver? If the answer is all of mankind then God has failed because He was unable to deliver all of mankind, but the scripture has concluded that God elected to hate Esau and to love Jacob, twin brother that God chose to love one and hate another. The average Religionist Pastor will say election shows a non-loving God but that is false because while God did not have to love one single person He elected to love a limited number of mankind. If you study the bible there is a 100% more scripture to prove unconditional election than there it to prove that salvation is man choice which is not biblical at all.

Election concerning Israel: Israel is most certainly a product of Gods electing grace which is proven in Deuteronomy 7:1 “When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;” God chose Israel over all of the other nations of the world but I must as WHY? Was God unjust to the other nations of the world? Was God unjust to Egypt and Pharaoh in using them the way He elected too? I don’t hear the Religionist Pastors denying this election by God, but they laugh and mock when we say that God elected Gentiles. Romans chapter 9 clearly explains in verse 15 “…I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” And God goes on in verse 16 to say “So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” No one is a child of God because they chose too, but rather because God chose them to be His children. In verse 18 God gets clearer when He said “Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.” I.E. Pharaoh, and Esau, God could have chose to love these two men but He chose rather to hate them and use them in evil ways and neither of these men could have ever chosen to be saved.

Election concerning Gentiles: Everyone that is not an Israelite is a Gentile. Religionist Pastors will explain that election in the New Testament refers to Israel but if that was true then only Israelites would be saved, however God changed things in the New Testament and no longer uses the Israelites but now uses the elect Gentiles and Gentile churches if you will notice the Israelites are setting idle among a bunch of heathen who wishes they were dead rather then being used of God. Let us also notice in Romans 9:24 God said “Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?” He said He also loves some Gentiles. Now notice in 2 Corinthians 4:6 “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” If God “COMMANDED” the light of the Gospel to shine then it must shine without fail or God failed in His will. Beloved there was nothing about us that brought about our salvation and we could never cause salvation because we cannot overpower Satan. 2 Corinthians 4:3 – 4 “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: (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.” It is evident that only a limited number of mankind will be saved and that God has elected that number and since this election was before the world was created then it must be unconditional. 1 Peter 1:2 “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.”

Total Depravity

2010-07-31T17:11:00.000-05:00

Romans 3:9 - 10, 18 “What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; (10.) As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (18.) There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

In our study on the Sovereignty of God we now come to the first letter of T.U.L.I.P. which is the “T” and it stands for “Total Depravity”. Please understand these are short articles and I can only cover these subjects in short order, therefore I will leave much unsaid. In most places of worship the thinking is not about a Sovereign God, it is about a sovereign man in total control of his own salvation and in total control of deciding to be saved or not, however this thinking is NOT scriptural in any fashion and contradicts what the scripture has concluded and that is; man is incapable of making that choice in fact the scripture has concluded that mankind and that is all mankind will choose sin over God and that is because we are all “… both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin…” that is we are slaves to sin and “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” John 8:34 the word “servant” means slave in which we cannot escape because we do not want to escape. The natural heart will never desire anything but sin and to remain in sin. The bottom line is that the natural man enjoys sin because it is his nature to enjoy it. We were conceived in iniquity “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Psalms 51:5” we came from our mothers wombs speaking lies “The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.” Psalms 58:3 This is all of mankind and its roots go back to our natural father Adam, it is because of his sin and because we are all a product of him that we are born sinners and will remain sinners as long as we live. Adam had no desire to see or be with God after he sinned, he hid himself from God and we too hide ourselves from God from birth. This is our nature to rebel against God rather than to worship a Holy God. This is called “Total Depravity”.

While the scriptures conclude that man (because of sin) will never come to God on his own, it has also concluded that there is hope and that hope is in Jesus Christ. He died because of our sins and therefore we can have what Adam lost in the fall and that is holiness once again. But if man does not desire to come to Christ for salvation then someone must force us to come and that someone is the Holy Spirit. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Romans 8:14 The Holy Spirit breaks our will for sin and causes us to flee to Christ for salvation. Mankind will never do this on his own because of his love for sin, let us not forget, God said “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” because “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

We will conclude with this, I never said that man does not have a desire to worship God nor did I ever say that man did not want to serve God, but what man does want to do is to do it on their own terms and by their own choice and power and that is totally impossible. God said they would seek to worship Him but not in righteousness. Romans 10:2 - 3 “For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. (3.) For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” Mankind cannot worship God on his own terms nor will he ever choose on his own to worship God in holiness because it is against his nature to do so. Therefore man is Totally Depraved!

The Sovereignty of God.

2010-07-24T17:02:00.001-05:00

“T.U.L.I.P.” (Introduction)

Our study on the Sovereign Grace of God now brings us to the most hated five letter of the alphabet to ever be studied and it is called by most “The Five Points of Sovereign Grace” some call it “Calvinism” after the pastor that systemized these five point. John Calvin lived 1509 – 1564 and is credited with two great accomplishments (1.) systemizing T.U.L.I.P. and (2.) starting the Presbyterian Church. Calvin was (to my understanding) was never a Baptist but did teach many Baptist doctrine. We do know that Calvin was part of the reformation from Catholicism which did not include the Baptist, however many but not all that exited Catholicism in the years of reformation did believe in the Sovereign Grace of God at one time, in fact if one would go back just one hundred years ago you will find many denominations believing and teaching it in their churches. The Wesley Brother believed it, Charles Spurgeon believed it, John Gill believed it, and Albert Barns believed it, as did most of the old time commentators. If you are a member of a church that does not believe and teach this doctrine chances are your Pastor studies all of these men that did believe and teach it. T.U.L.I.P. is not a new doctrine that the Baptist pulled out of the air as most biblical teaching in churches today are teaching, but rather it has been around since Jesus taught all five point in John 6:32 – 71 and His teaching was rejected then also. John 6:61 “When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?” Because Jesus has just told them “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:44

The five letter that make up T.U.L.I.P. are defined as follows “T” is Total Depravity – “U” is Unconditional Election - “L” is Limited Atonement – “I” is Irresistible Grace – and the “P” is Perseverance of the Saints. These are not new teachings but rather are as old as Jesus is. I know there are a lot of men that will claim these teachings are old and untrue but they are scriptural, which is more than we can say about the teachings being taught in most churches today. Each of the letters has a great lesson to be learned and teaches us so much about the Sovereign Grace of God. So as we look at each letter please take note of all of the scripture references that I give and learn about so much that you very well may not know about today. I understand that the two most rejected and most despised are the “L” Limited Atonement and the “I” Irresistible Grace because they cancel out the Arminian teachings of today of “salvation is all up to you”, “you control your own destiny”, “it is your choice”, which all of these are non-scriptural based making them mans doctrine and not Gods. God never promise to save all mankind and God never promised to love all people, but He did promise to save some and to forever love them that He chose to save before the foundation of the world. Next week we will began our study with “T” - Total Depravity - Everyone is born in a state of corruption as a result of original sin. And - Humankind's entire nature, including its reason, is corrupt or sinful as a result of the fall and that people are therefore completely dependent on God for regeneration. – Mankind will never on their own seek to choose God over sin; neither will they on their own ever seek to decide to be saved. Romans 3:11 - 12 “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. (12.) They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

The Sovereignty of God

2010-07-15T20:29:00.000-05:00

“The glorified”
Romans 8:29 - 30 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (30.) Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”

We now come to our 5th word in these two verses that describes the Sovereignty of God and that is “glorified”. It is not strange that this word is last because it is actually a future word. We have had five words in this study and they are divided 2 + 2 + 1 two past words foreknow and predestinate are words that tells us what God did before creation; there are two present words called and justified are words that tells us the due time of the two past words; and then the future word glorified which means - to render glorious – so the question is when will the saints of God be glorified, not until they are like Jesus or totally “…conformed to the image of his Son…” verse 29. Salvation while it is complete as far as we are concerned it is not in that we have not been completely glorified. Complete glorification comes with our new bodies at the second coming of our Saviour Jesus Christ. We read in 2 Thessalonians 2:13 “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: (14.) Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ...” The most glorious time for both the Lord Jesus Christ and the saints of God will be when we are all with Jesus in heaven not only in spirit and soul but as a complete trichotomy being in “…the image of his Son…” or as we call it being in our glorified state. All of the saint of God who have died are indeed most happy and are gloriously worshiping God and the Lord Jesus Christ all the time, however they are still lacking something and that is their new glorified body which will take place when the Lord Jesus Christ returns for His beloved church and all other believers that are still living during His return. 1 Corinthians 15:51 - 52 “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (52.) In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” Here the Lord is speaking first about the living at His return “…We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed…” to a new and final glorified state, then He speaks about the dead in Christ “…and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” Being raised incorruptible means their bodies because the saved are already with the Lord at His return 2 Corinthians 5:6, 8 “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (8.) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” However glorious it will be to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord, and I am certain it will be glorious; it will be the more glorious to be present with the Lord in our glorified bodies when salvation is finally fully complete.

There is nothing more wonderful than to be saved, because salvation is of the Lord our God, and all of this God has given to us that are saved even though none of us deserved it at all. However just imagine what a time it will be when all is said and done. When the Lord Jesus Christ returns, the tribulation period is done, the Millennium period is finished, the melting of the earth and the new earth is complete. No more sin, Satan, or evil of any kind, just us rejoicing with God in His kingdom for ever and ever in a complete glorified state, AMEN!

The Sovereignty of God

2010-07-10T13:28:00.001-05:00

“The Justified”
Romans 8:30 “Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”

This week and next week we come to our last two words in this eighth chapter of Romans and today’s word is “justified” which means – to render just, innocent, or righteous. So in reality it means to be saved because that is the only possible way to be rendered just, innocent, or righteous or to be “…conformed to the image of his Son…” verse 29. Now salvation is a simple process for the believer because God said “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life” John 3:15. And the believer was also set free of all his sins and at no cost to neither the believer nor any effort on his part because this was all accomplished by God our Saviour before the foundation of the world.

I believe we need to review all of the words we have had thus far to get the proper meaning to the word justified. First, we had the word “For whom he did foreknow…” this word remember means – to know beforehand and that beforehand was before the foundation of the world, this word also includes the word election “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.” 1 Peter 1:2 So God not only foreknew us but with that foreknowledge was the choosing of the elect, those foreknown and chosen were also predestinated (which is was our second word) “…to be conformed to the image of his Son…” or to be saved, Thirdly, those foreknown, elected, and predestinated were also called in due time “…to be conformed to the image of his Son…” and those called (and please notice exactly what God says here) “…them he also justified…”. You did not bring about your own justification but rather it was brought about by God Himself and not only by the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ but by His foreknowledge, choosing, predestinating, and calling of God the Father. People are told today that all you must do is make a decision for Christ, but as you can clearly see that is not possible unless God has chosen and called you to salvation and as we see in Romans 8:14 all that God calls by the Holy Spirit will come to Christ for salvation. Now I know all the scriptures that the religionist use to call one to make a decision for Christ but they are all used alone and out of context which makes them read different than God meant them.

I understand these teachings are hard to understand especially if you are new to them and have only been taught the other side of things, so this is my challenge to you, do a bible search on these words and see what scriptures you come up with. Next study those scriptures and pray that Gods Holy Spirit will show you the true meaning. Next if you ask your Pastor about them make him give you an answer to them do not accept the mumbo jumbo he will attempt to give you about the chosen of God are only the Israelites because that is not acceptable. Next read Ephesians chapter one several times over and study it and then read Romans chapter 9 and also study it. We are going to start Romans chapter nine next Wednesday night in our bible study and all the notes to that chapter as well as chapters 1 – 8 are posted on our churches web site under the “outlines” link please view them and study them and if there is any question about them please email them to me. I do not argue Gods word but I do discuss it. Beloved it is so important that you have a full understanding of how God went about saving your soul from eternal damnation. God chose and justified you, you did not choose Christ and justify yourself. Romans 3:10 - 11 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (11.) There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” They seek after religion, but not God in truth. Romans 10:2 “For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.” Knowledge comes from knowing Gods word in detail and truth.

The Sovereignty Grace of God.

2010-07-03T15:20:00.000-05:00

“The Called”
Romans 8:30 “Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”

This week we want to look at the word “called”, who exactly are the called of God. Please let us start by putting this word in context, those that God foreknew He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son and those that He did predestinate, He also called and them He called He also justified. So in context we know for sure that those that God called God did justify them. So the only people who are justified were foreknown, predestinated, and called of God. Therefore this is a fact; all called are saved or will be saved, therefore the thinking of the religionist that all are called of God and it is up to their choosing to accept or reject Christ is mythical. If it is God who justifies then all that are justified have been made accepted by the power of God and through the blood of Christ Jesus. The thought that we somehow choose Christ is mythical because it is a man made fact and not a fact of God or the bible, the fact of God is that all called of God are saved. This better explains so many scriptures in the bible. Let us look at this fact, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:14 this does not say “For all are called and all are chosen” it says for many are called (by the gospel) but few are chosen by God to be His justified. This explains two calls, one by man or by the preaching of His word, and the other by God to salvation which also explains Revelation 22:17 “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” If the Holy Spirit and the Church say come then come and he may accept Christ Jesus as his Saviour. By the Spirit calling also explains Romans 8:14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” For all that are called of God (or led by the Spirit) are saved because God does not fail to accomplish what He chooses to accomplish. This also explains John 3:5 “Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” Being born of water is the natural birth as explained in verse 6 of John 3, but to be born of the Spirit is to be foreknew, predestinated, called, and justified by the power of God. Now with all this in mind we find an explanation of Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” we are saved by Gods grace through faith or believing in Christ as our sufficient Saviour because it (or salvation) is of God and a glorious gift of God. Now lets look at 1 Peter 1:2 “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.” We find here that we were chosen (or elected) “…according to the foreknowledge of God the Father…” So those God foreknew He also chose to be saved and those He chose to be saved He pre-determined them to be called and them He called by His Holy Spirit He also justified by “…conformed to the image of his Son” Romans 8:29.

With all of this being said we find that salvation is only accomplished by the power and work of God, it is not the decision of man at all. However many will preach this morning in their pulpits and request that those present make a choice for Christ which is not scriptural nor truth. It is all a myth made up by men of the past because they were unhappy with the progress God was making in saving sinners. I once heard this quote and I have used it many times over “if salvation is mans decision then why do we pray to God for them to be saved, why don’t we pray to the sinner instead, because it is only within the sinners power” So true! So true! Just give it some thought.

Our God Is Sovereign!

2010-06-26T08:52:00.000-05:00

“The Predestination of God”
Romans 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

Last week we looked at the word “foreknow” and we know that “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.” Acts 15:18. That is everything and anything God has chosen to accomplish throughout the timeline of this world including who He has chosen to save. Now we take a deeper step in proving that point by saying God predestinated all things. The word “predestinate” means - limit in advance – and it comes from the Greek word - proorizō - which occurs 4 other times in the New Testament other than here in Romans 8. Of the six times this word appears in the New Testament 4 of the 6 speaks of God “limiting in advance” those that are going to be saved and the other two also means that. The most hated doctrine of today is the doctrine of limited atonement however just using this one Greek word we see that God says He has limited salvation 4 times and in many other passages He says He has salvation limited, for example in Matthew 22:14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.” We see the general call to go out to the whole world but we see few chosen to salvation. However the religionists like to condemn this doctrine with scriptures that they single out and use out of context to condemn the predestination of God, like John 12:32 “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” However this can be looked at several ways to explain: (1.) the word men was added by the translators and is not part of the original text, (2.) who are the “all” or even “all men” it is the elect of God. God never promised to call all men of the earth to Him because there are so many lost and will never come to Christ, and if God called those that will die lost then didn’t God fail to save them? If this were true then doesn’t that make God a liar, because He said in Romans 8:14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Or all that are called comes.

Now some say that when God speaks of predestination He is not speaking of those who are going to be save, however He says in Romans 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son…” the word “conformed” means - jointly formed or fashioned like unto – so those He predestinated were “fashioned like unto” in the image of His Son Jesus Christ, but would this not have to mean they were saved, being that is the only possible way to be in the image of His Son. So this scripture actually reads “For whom he did foreknow (or chose before hand), he also did predestinate (limit in advance) to be conformed (fashioned like unto) to the image of his Son (or saved)…” I know that many have not been taught these doctrines and if they have been it has been taught as a doctrine of hatefulness; however it is truly a wonderful teaching if one takes the time to learn it. God never has opened salvation to the entire world as most religionist would have us to believe, but rather He has profoundly made the point it is limited to those He has predestinated. Lets notice Ephesians 1:4 - 5 “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: (5.) Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,” Here in verse 5 the very same Greek word is used for “predestinated” when speaking of the “adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself” and this is done “according to the good pleasure of his will,” not according to our will but His will. Beloved please do not fall into the religionist trap of free-willism because it does not exist.

The Sovereignty of God

2010-06-18T21:12:00.000-05:00

“The Foreknowledge of God”
Romans 8:29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

For the next several weeks we are going to look at several words from Romans 8:29 – 30. Every one of these words deals with the Sovereignty of God as far as salvation is concerned. We must understand that salvation that is preached from most pulpits is a myth at best. It clouds the mind with a fairytale of somehow man being able to change his own will and make a choice to follow Christ and this is done by the sinner himself. However as God brilliantly told us through the Apostle Paul in Romans 3:10 - 12 “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (11.) There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. (12.) They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” This means that no one, not one single human being will ever be able to make a choice for Christ, EVER! However there is hope God said in Ephesians 2:8 - 9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (9.) Not of works, lest any man should boast.” This means that salvation is possible because God by His loving grace has elected to save some, not all but some by grace through faith and that faith is not of themselves (or within their own means) but by grace is the gift of God. It is also not by works because that praises the sinner instead of God. Salvation is not something we can boast about but rather something we can praise God for, because it is His gift to all that have it.

With this being understood we now want to look at the word “Foreknowledge” and that is the “The Foreknowledge of God”. Paul said in the 29th verse of Romans 8 “For whom he did foreknow…” The word “whom” tells us that he is speaking of a people but who; well if this verse and verse 30 are taken in context he is speaking of those who are going to be saved and those are the ones that God foreknew. The word “foreknow” means - to know beforehand or to ordain” now most of those fairytale Pastors will tell you that God looked into the future and saw who would make a choice for Christ and foresaw their choice of faith and chose them to salvation, however this whole theory makes no biblical sense because God cannot look into the future if He is already in the future, and this fairytale is not taught anywhere in the entire bible. What this word means is that all things from eternity past, to eternity present, to eternity future are known to God. There is no future with God as he defined by calling Himself “I AM” in Exodus 3:14 “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” When God called Himself “I AM” here He expresses as absolute, unchanging and the eternal Being. God cannot change therefore before the creation of all creation known unto God was all His works Acts 15:18 “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.” This is the facts; God chose them that were going to be saved before the world was created and in time called them to come to Christ, this is why we say God saves sinners. It is not up to man to change his own heart but God Who will change it for him. It is not up to man to choose Christ God chose us in Him before the world began. This is in the “ordained will of God” as stated in Ephesians 1:11 “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:” and Jesus prayed “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.” John 17:2 or those foreknown of God or those ordained to eternal life before the world began.

Our God Is Sovereign!

2010-06-12T20:55:00.000-05:00

His Sovereignty Part II
“And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” Daniel 4:35

King Nebuchadnezzar found out about the Sovereignty of God after a dream which only Daniel could interpret and refused to obey Gods command and found himself in the field eating grass as oxen for seven years after which he uttered these words “And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” At this time King Nebuchadnezzar thought since he was king of the earth that no one not even God could make him change, but he found out different. God controls this earth and does as He pleases and no one has any authority to over rule or over power Gods will. In Ephesians 1:11 we read “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:” God worked the purpose of His own will with King Nebuchadnezzar, also with Pharaoh, and also with every one else whom He chooses. Even here in the United States of America God works all things according to His will. It certainly makes one wonder why He has chosen our modern day Presidents and set them in office, but He has and He has a purpose for it. People are always talking about Gods will; for example it is Gods will for abortion to be stopped, it is Gods will for all to be saved, it is Gods will for all to be rich and prosperous, and it is Gods will for all to be healthy and wise, this is ignorance at the highest degree. If God wanted abortion stopped He would stop it, and if He wanted all of these other things He would also deliver on them, the bottom line is God is allowing all of these things for a purpose and one day man will pay account to God for their ignorance and defiance to obey god and His laws. What kind of a God do we serve if His will is not always done? Do we serve a God who is out powered by man, Satan, or demons? Can the ACLU, the Liberal left, or the Socialist truly out smart and out power God? No they cannot, in fact God made a promise to all the Nations that go against Him “Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD'S anger come upon you” Zephaniah 2:1, 2. No, God does not like abortion but if He truly wanted it stopped He would stop it and He doesn’t need us to fight His fights for Him. God is not weak but rather all powerful and does as He pleases even in this wicked world.

The Psalmist said “Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.” Psalms 33:8 now I must ask does this sound like a God that will be over powered, does this sound like a God that will be defeated, do this sound like a God that cannot change mans will, or does this sound like a God that needs our help, no it does not, this sounds and is the God that can do all things whatsoever He wishes. The Psalmist went on to say in Psalms 33:9, 10 “For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.” This is not the weak insignificant God that so many today have made Him out to be in fact it fits very well with the “potter” and the “clay” that we looked at last week, God controls everything in existence, He allows some things contrary to his commands to happen but be assured of one thing, payback is coming and it’s not going to be pleasant for this world and religionist that belittle God’s Sovereignty.

The Sovereignty of God

2010-06-05T16:50:00.001-05:00

His Sovereignty “For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” Romans 9:15

I believe in order to understand “The Sovereignty of God” we absolutely must understand what the word Sovereignty means. Paul said in Romans 9:21 “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?” Romans chapter 9 cannot be ignored in the study of the bible, and what Paul describes here in verse 21 is very profound because it defines the Sovereignty of God. God is the creator of all things that has, does, or will ever exist. This makes God the “potter” and His creation the clay, and since He is the potter then He can mold and make of His clay as He chooses, and yes one to honor and the other to dishonor. He can elect one to salvation and allow the other to fall into eternal damnation without being unrighteous. Man has belittled God into one who is controlled by His creation or the clay making the potter mold them as the clay wishes, however this is impossible. People seem to believe that our sovereign God can do anything except to save as He chooses and to change mans will, but I must ask where are the scriptures for this. All this says is that the potter cannot mold the clay as He chooses. Some have gotten so bad in their thinking that to hear them speak God can do nothing without man, but this is ignorance in the least. Does the potter need the clay to mold itself? The sovereignty of God means that the potter is in complete control which means He can take one piece of clay, make two vases, one very wonderful and the other very ugly and neither vase has the right to complain about what the potter has made them because both started as a lump of clay, nothing more than wet clay.

Lets look at a couple of examples; did Israel choose God or did God choose Israel, God chose Israel, but why, did Israel do something special for God, no, not at all, God chose Israel because He wanted them to be His elect nation. Now let’s look at Pharaoh;
God made him a king that He could show his power over him, was Pharaoh any worse than the Israelites, no, but God killed Pharaohs son that He (God) could show His power over him. So why should God be evil to elect one sinner to be saved and another one be condemned to eternal hell. We as Gods creation can no more mold ourselves to be Christians no more than Israel chose to be Gods chosen nation. I did not choose to be a Christian no more than I chose to be a minister or a Pastor, God chose my life for me just as He chooses one vessel over another. Is this unjustness with God, absolutely not because God owes no person anything, no more than the potter owes the clay anything. Some preachers make God sound weak by saying “Jesus is pleading with you to choose Him” I never heard Jesus plead with anyone, just as He has never pleaded with anyone to choose Him. I believe the scriptures say; Jesus called and they dropped their nets and followed Him. Jesus does not plead He calls and we react as He pleases. Paul also said in Romans 9:13 “As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” Why did God hate Esau? Was Jacob any better than Esau? God chose to love Jacob because it was His sovereign will to do so. In God’s eyes we are all the same sinners, it doesn’t matter how bad we are as sinners because Paul also said if we break one law we are guilty of all the law, therefore we all deserve hell fire as our punishment. But God loved Israel as His chosen nation because it was His sovereign will to do so, and Jacob for the very same reason, as it was with you if you are saved. The potter can make one vessel to honor and another to dishonor if He chooses because it is all just worthless clay without the potter molding it.

Our God Is Sovereign!

2010-05-28T23:09:00.001-05:00

“Introduction” Part Two
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Ephesians 2:8”

We have started a new study in our newsletter; we are going to take a very long look at the “Sovereignty of God” and look at this subject under many titles. Last week we looked at an “introduction” and this week we are going to continue that introduction. We find in our date in time many today that do not teach or even believe in the sovereignty of God. I believe they hate it so much that they simple despise anyone who believes or teaches it. However the Lord promised that man would cause truth to be a lie and a lie to be truth. “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.” Romans 1:25 there are two “very today” statements in this verse (1.) “Who changed the truth of God into a lie…” and (2.) “…and served the creature more than the Creator…” If one does not believe and teach in a Sovereign God then they have changed that truth into a lie, and this causes one to worship the creature more than the Creator in that it is no longer God that saves but rather the creature that causes and brings about their own salvation. If the creature brings about their own salvation then the great question must be asked, why do we pray to God for one to be saved, why not just pray to the sinner? This is the bottom-line in the scriptures, God saves sinners! However if you listen in most churches today you will not hear this but rather it is totally up to the sinner to deliver themselves to believe in Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Well God makes no doubt in His Word that this is impossible on the sinner’s part. Jesus said in John 6:44 “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” Now some will say that “well it is true that God draws man but the choice to believe is up to man, however Paul said in Romans 8:14 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Jesus also said in John 6:39 “And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.” There are also two great and wonderful truths in this verse; (1.) “…that of all which he hath given me…” and (2.) “…I should lose nothing…” first of all the Father gave to the Son a remnant of souls before the creation of the world and of that number He (the Son) has lost NONE. This is called election or God choosing a remnant of souls in eternity past to be His beloved sons, and during the “eternal covenant” between the Father and the Son that the Father gave to the Son this remnant of souls or what is known as the elect of God with the condition He (as the Son of Man) would give His live on the cross for their sins in which the Father considered just payment, this is why Jesus said just before His death “…It is finished…” John 19:30 meaning the debt has been paid in full which fulfilled His part of the eternal covenant that was made before the creation of the world. If this is not true than how could Christ Jesus be “…the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Revelations 13:5.

What we find being preached in churches today is not truth but rather a lie and those that preach the truth is made to look like liars which is exactly what God said in Romans 1:25. However this is not new from mankind, man has always hated the Sovereignty of God, in John 6:43 Jesus said “…Murmur not among yourselves.” And mankind has “Murmured” at the Sovereignty of God ever since and do more today than ever before. Most Pastors and churches today speak about choice, decisions, sinner’s prayers, and etc. and by these terms taking God out of the work of salvation and putting it into the sinner’s hands, but I must ask where are these terms used in the scriptures? Where was anyone told to make a decision or choice for Christ? Or where was anyone ever told to pray a sinner’s prayer for salvation? It is simple, they do not exist, everywhere you see salvation in the scriptures you see God saving the sinner. And one last point, where do they prove that “God cannot change mans will”? Yes indeed God is Sovereign!

Our God Is Sovereign!

2010-05-22T16:14:00.002-05:00

Introduction

“Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:” Acts 2:23
“In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:” Ephesians 1:11

For the next foreseeable future we are going to look as deep as possible into the Sovereignty of God. I believe that God is sovereign and it is a disgrace to God and the Lord’s churches that so many have been so removed or have at the least little faith in our Sovereign God. People today and churches today have greatly disappointed God and Jesus Christ (the Head of the churches) in that most think of a Sovereign God as a devilish thought rather that a glorious one. Well I am here to say God still sits on His throne and He has not been removed! God still sits on His throne and laughs at the ignorance of man attempting to create a way of salvation rather than to trust God to save sinners. These people will one day stand before the Lord Jesus Christ and will answer for all of the ignorance and the misleading of souls into the lake of fire rather than into the kingdom of God. It will only be because we do have a Sovereign God that some regardless of their false teaching’s and people believing their heresy that some will in the end actually be saved.

I have chosen these two scriptures because they both have a very profound meaning to them and to the sovereign grace of God. (1.) Jesus Christ was delivered, neither by man nor by the will of man, but by God the Father. Jesus said before His crucifixion that He gave His life, meaning it could not have been taken. He was “delivered” by the “determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God” in other words before the world was created, before man was created, before Adam and Eve had eaten the fruit, before Satan brought sin into the world, God had already elected to deliver the man Christ Jesus to the cross to pay the debt for sin. This was the “determinate counsel” or the decreed will of God, according to His “foreknowledge” or His forethought which means the seeing beforehand of an event yet to take place. God had already chose Jesus Christ to die for sin that had not even entered the world, knowing all events that would take place before the world was created. This brings us to point (2.) “…being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will”. And that would be the word “predestinated” means – to predetermine or to before ordain or to foreordain by divine decree or purpose. – so here it means that before the world began that God foreordained a limited amount of people to be saved and in order to accomplish this He also elected to send His beloved Son in the body of a man or in the likeness of sinful flesh so that man could be the sacrifice to pay in full the debt owed for the sins of all the elect.

I know that the words elect, election, or God choosing just truly scares some, but before discounting these words do a bible search and see what they say, and soon we will look at these words. The sovereignty of God puts all things in Gods hands and not in ours. God saving sinners means that salvation is possible because if it were our choice we would never choose Christ as our Saviour. I personally thank God He planned all things before the world was created, because if He had not we would all go to Hell.

Jesus The Christ, Prophet, Priest, And King.

2010-05-15T15:31:00.000-05:00

Matthew 1:16 “And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.”

As we take time to look at this wonderful passage of scripture we want to notice the Jesus is the Christ, His name was not Jesus Christ it was Jesus The Christ or God with us and the Anointed One. The name Jesus was not an uncommon name among the Jews and being anointed was not uncommon of the Jews. But this Jesus was different He is The Christ or the Messiah or God Incarnate. He is the One sent from God the Father to give His life on the cross for our sins that we might have eternal life. No other Jesus, Prophet, Priest, or King had this ability outside of Jesus The Christ.

In verse 23 it says “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” This was the biggest clue God gave mankind, that Mary would be the mother of Jesus The Christ. If we will remember God foretold in Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” This is one of a kind of clue that was overlooked by the Jews and the world because they were not looking for their Saviour just as the world is not looking for His return.

Notice in verse 21 “…thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” Who are his people? Not all of the people of the world neither did He die for all of the people of the world, but rather a small number or small as compared to the number that have been born compared to the number that are saved. There is no doubt that salvation is limited to a certain number because it is clearly told in God’s word. Let us notice in John 17:6 “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.” There is no doubt that before the world was created God chose a certain number of souls that would be saved and in the “eternal agreement or covenant” made before the foundation of the world the Father gave the Son this number of souls as a gift and these are the one’s Jesus died for on the cross. These people recognize who Jesus is and praise His name as the Saviour of mankind. We do not use His name as a swear word as most of mankind does but we hold it in reverence, because to us Christians it has a blessed meaning to it.

So to us who know Jesus The Christ as our Saviour understand that He died for our sins, and through His blood we have eternal forgiveness of our sins. No other name given among mankind has ever had this ability. Only Jesus The Christ could have died because it is He who lived the law to the fullest and it was He that shed His blood on the cross. No other sacrifice would ever have worked because God only accepts perfection and He was the perfect sacrifice of justification. The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world before man or sin was ever created.

Let us together lift up His name above every other name and praise Him for His glorious gift of salvation that He has given to us the elect of the Father. Psalms 69:30 “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. “

Happy Mother’s Day!

2010-05-08T19:00:00.000-05:00

Ephesians 6:1 - 2 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. (2.) Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;)”

Today is Mother’s Day, some will frown upon it and some will celebrate it but none the less today is a day our government has set aside to honor our mothers. As we can see in our text scripture we are to honor our mothers and fathers, but not only one day a year but every day of the year. But to fully understand what the Lord commands here we must first understand what He is commanding us to do. The word “honor” in the Greek is (timaō) which means - to prize – but this actually comes from another Greek word that gives a little more understanding and that is (timios) which means – something valuable or something most precious -. With the two words put in their proper context it tells us “to treat our mothers and fathers as a prize that is most valuable or most precious to us” every day of our life. As we enter into this day of celebrating our mothers let us not forget it is an honorable act and should be a natural thing, not something we feel we have to do because it is “Mother’s Day”. Our mothers carried us for nine months in her womb, suffered many sick and painful days, and she cared for us the rest of her life. The Lord speaks much about our praise of our mothers and praises her much in the scriptures.

The Lord commanded us to honor our mothers but should this be a commandment that is obeyed? The answer is yes, because the Lord commanded it and not just on Mother’s Day but everyday. The commandment is not conditional as to if she is a good mother or even a good person, but rather she is you’re mother and must be respected. I will agree that there are some mothers who are totally worthless, some who value money more than their children, and some who love to party rather than to care for their children, however still the Lord did not put conditions on His commandments.

It is because of these bad mothers (and yes some fathers are included) who have had so little care about their children that we now have a street full of heathenism. The Lord said in Proverbs 30:11 “There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother.” This is that time, and it has many causes, some on the father, some on the mother, and some on the children, however the cause; it is like a run away train and this is that generation.

I am proud to say my own mother is a most wonderful woman and mother, I am proud to call her my mother. She has always looked after her eight children as though they were a blessing from God rather than a curse, and God has a scripture just for all of you mothers that have loved and cared for you’re children “Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.” Proverbs 31:10. Beloved thank your mother and not only today but every opportunity you can, because as so many will tell you one day she will be gone and then you will only have a memory. We fail many times to thank those who deserve it so much that we have to have holidays to remember. First thank God for all of your blessings, thank you’re parents for their sacrifices for you, thank you’re Pastor for his time consuming efforts in God’s work, thank a policeman for their protection, thank a fireman for their effort to save lives and protecting our property, and thank a soldier for your freedom. Should we need special days to remind us of these responsibilities? No, we should not, but like the “CEO” (Christmas and Easter only) church attendee they need Christmas and Easter to remind them to go to church, we need a holiday to remind us to say “thank you mom”. But as it may be, to my mother and all mothers; “thank you mother and happy Mother’s Day”.

Jesus Cried?

2010-05-01T13:37:00.001-05:00

John 11:35 “Jesus wept.”

We who live in Texas and maybe most of the south find that a man crying is unmanly and weak, but we could learn from our Lord and Saviour because here Jesus wept. Most people find it hard to believe that “the man of all men” ever wept, but He did. But lets not just look at it that Jesus Christ the Son of God cried and find it so strange, let us not ever forget while He is God; He is also the son of man. Therefore if we use Jesus as our example, then a man crying is not unmanly. So this brings me to the question I was asked this week, “Why did Jesus cry”? This is very simple to answer; Jesus wept because all of the others He loved were weeping over the death of Lazarus. Jesus did not weep (as I once thought) over the fact that Lazarus died because He is God and knew He could and was going to raise His dear friend from the grave. If we take this verse in context then the answer is found in verse 33 “When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,” Jesus was troubled because those He loved so dear was weeping. It makes a lot of sense because these folks were unified with the Lord. This reminds us of the church here today and the unity we are to share. The Lord told us the church is to be like a body with many members and all of those members being many are to be like one body. “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ”. 1 Corinthians 12:12. So if one of the body members hurts then the rest of the body hurts with that member. Here we see a glorious example of this, Jesus hurt with the body because He was part of that body.

While Jesus did indeed weep because the others around Him were so hurt it was not the same type of crying. Notice in verse 35 the word wept is different that the word weeping in verse 33. The word wept in verse 35 comes from the Greek word “dakruō” which means - to shed tears - but according to A. H. Strong’s concordance this Greek word “dakruō” is to be compared to the Greek word “klaiō” which means - to sob, that is, wail aloud – however Strong’s goes on to tell us - whereas dakruō is rather to cry silently – Telling us while the Lord did weep because His beloved friends were so upset He did not cry aloud as the others did. The word weeping in verse 33 which refers to the others, and there is different altogether. This word comes from the Greek word “klaiō” which means - to sob, which is – to wail aloud – as we said before. So there was some loud crying over the death of Lazarus as they are when we loose a loved one. Mary you may remember did not think of what was about to happen and that was that Jesus could raise Lazarus from the dead. In verse 32 it says “Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” But Jesus called Lazarus from the grave “And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.” Verse 43. How wonderful indeed!

This little short verse is so packed with such a powerful message “Jesus wept”. We see both natures of Jesus here in this passage, (1.) Jesus showed His humanity in His weeping, we see here the love that He had and has for those He loves. Here Jesus silently cried along with His friends because He loved them so, and (2.) it shows His deity in that He was able to raise Lazarus from the dead. Men as we can see here in this passage it is ok to cry, it does not make us weak but rather strong. Let us be reminded of what Paul teaches us in Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” To weep and to rejoice with others makes us a good Christian and church member.

Every Knee shall one day bow to The Lord Jesus Christ.

2010-04-24T17:15:00.001-05:00

Philippians 2:10 “That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;”

As I drive down the road I see many vehicles with many different types of bumper stickers and I must admit most religious bumper stickers are truly hard to look at. One that comes to mind is the one with a child kneeling at a cross and the words read “every knee shall bow”. Well the statement is so very true, but the image is wrong, every knee will one day bow to the man Christ Jesus but not on the cross but rather at the Great White Throne Judgment. Folk’s the cross is worthless, it is true our Saviour died on a cross but the cross is not to be an image of worship; it is cursed because of its involvement in the crucifixion. The cross is what God calls a false graven image and don’t the Ten Commandments tell us not to worship any graven images? In fact I believe it is the second of ten, the first commandment tells that God will not honor any other gods and the second says “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:” Exodus 20:4. We are not to have “…any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath…” which would include images of angels, Jesus, heaven, hell, demons, Satan, and yes even the cross. The cross is not our Saviour, it is not Divine, it will not save your soul from eternal damnation, and no, man will not bow to the cross, they will bow to Jesus Christ the Saviour of mankind, the Eternal God and He is not on the cross. A cross of any kind is a false graven image; yes even the one on your church building if they have one. This is true also of pictures of Jesus; they also are false graven images because there are no true pictures of Jesus. There are no pictures of the Lord’s last supper, or etc. Some may ask “what are we to use to make our point about Jesus Christ”? Well I will tell you the same as I would tell these church that have the readable signs in front of their church buildings and put up all of these ignorant saying, how about scripture? What is wrong with simply using scripture on the bumper stickers, or on the signs in front of the church buildings? Why must there be picture’s involved? So you may ask “what makes them false graven images”? Well, they cause you to further break God’s commandment “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;” Exodus 20:5.

Here we see that one day every knee shall bow before the man Christ Jesus in whose hand is put all judgment, of the saved and of the lost. Two separate judgments, with this one happening at the great white throne. Christians have already bowed to the Saviour and will for all eternity, but the lost have yet to do this but will someday. This includes every soul that has ever lived on this earth that was not saved. When they stand before the Lord Jesus Christ recognizing Him for the power, authority, and dignity He is due they will recognize His Majesty and as God, they will recognize His power over them, and they will recognize His authority over them when He cast them into eternal destruction for ever. This will not (like the tribulation period) be a time for grace and mercy but a time for condemnation. They failed to worship the Lord Jesus Christ here on this earth, but at this time they will worship Him as God, only to His pleasure. All of those that mock His blessed name, refuse His majesty, and refuse Him as Saviour will one day admit that He is. EVERY ONE!

When the door is shut, time has run out.

2010-04-17T15:35:00.000-05:00

This passage of scripture makes us understand something that is not taught or believed by many today, and that is salvation is limited to mankind both in numbers and in time, and time is running short. Anyone who cannot see the coming of the Lord to be soon are not paying attention to the scriptures. God has promised that during the tribulation period He would send strong delusion that will cause them not to believe in Jesus Christ making it known to us that time is running out on salvation. 2 Thessalonians 2:11 - 12 “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: (12.) That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” While God did say He loved the world (that is all races of the world) He did not say He loved all of mankind and never promised to save all or even a large percentage of mankind, but rather a remnant, we also find Jesus praying in John 17 not for the world but rather for them given to Him before the foundation of the world. The Lord spoke much about an apostasy (or a renunciation of the truth of Gods word) and how people would flock to them that had wonderful words rather than truth and we have reached that time. Time is running out on salvation and while there is some time left we need to focus on the gospel of Christ.

Many today have views that are contrary to the scripture which make people believe they are saved rather than the truth that will actually bring salvation. These are they known as the apostasy, them that were not satisfied with God saving sinners and creating other ways to cause them to be saved but truly are not being saved. There are millions upon millions who attend church every Sunday that think they are saved but do not truly believe in their hearts that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God and the Saviour of mankind, but rather have made a decision, a choice or prayed a prayer but have not believed in Jesus Christ. All of these people will walk the wide path into eternal destruction unless a change of heart has been truly made. The path to hell is wide because many more will travel this path rather than the narrow path that leads to eternal life. And we could look at it this way; the narrow path which is salvation through Jesus Christ is simpler and narrower than the path to eternal destruction which is the wide path of salvation they teach.

The Lord reminds us of this very important fact 2 Corinthians 6:2 “(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)” now is the time for salvation because if Jesus Christ returns today like a thief in the night you will be left behind to suffer the wrath of God. I am a strong believer in the saving grace of God and believe that God saves sinners, however He instructed us (the churches) to carry the gospel to the world and I believe the necessity or urgency goes with it. I will leave you all with this scripture; 2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” you’re eternal destiny depends on the out come!

Do Right To Those Under Your Control.

2010-04-10T19:07:00.000-05:00

Colossians 4:1 Masters, give unto your servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.

As we go through life we should have one single mindset and that is to justly serve the Lord our God in every area in our lives. This becomes much harder as we must learn to live and work is a secular world controlled by Satan. As servants to our employers we must give them a proper day’s work for a proper days pay. And like wise with Christians in charge of both the lost and Christians. It is very difficult to be a Christian and live and work in this world but at the same time it is necessary. However we must understand as Christians no matter if we are employers, employees, or one in a supervisory role we must always respect the other people around us and always treat them in a fair and honest way. Always remembering we are not just Christians on Sunday but rather everyday of our life.

We want to look at two words today, masters and servants. Let us start with the word master, this word comes from the Greek word “kurios” and it means – one who is supreme in authority or as a noun it means a controller. The word master is used not only is slavery but also in our everyday life as one who has authority over others or employers, supervisors or etc. While it is true that a lost master is not bounded to the scriptures however one that is a Christian is and therefore should reflect the scriptures in how he rules over them that are under his control. This becomes difficult when a Christian master is under the headship of a lost master himself, but if that Christian wants to hold this leadership roll in the workplace they must always act according to Gods will. Acts 5:29 “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.” Even if it goes against your own master, you always conduct your rulership by Gods word and if you cannot then it would be better not to serve that role. I understand that the fleshly nature we have in us has a great desire to control and rule but our spiritual nature must rule our everyday function. The greatest example of this is politics; a Christian should never be a politician because this world is controlled by Satan and therefore Christians must compromise with the lost in order to accomplish anything. They must learn to lie and sometimes give in to secular law in order to do their job, and this is going against Gods word. But to those who are employers, supervisors or etc. please remember God commanded how you treat those under you “…give unto your servants that which is just and equal…” and that means to treat those under your control as you would like your Master (God) to treat you “…knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.”

Now we want to spend a few words on servants. The word servant comes from the Greek word “doulos” and means a slave or one under the subjection of another. As employees God has rules for them also, Colossians 3:22 “Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God:” As employees are suppose to give your worldly masters an honest day of work for the entire time you are getting paid. The word “eyeservice” means - one that is sight in labor or one that must be watched in order to do your job, this is known as a manpleaser or one who only works when the boss is watching. As a Christian we all should be honest and dependable, working to please God by pleasing our employers or supervisors. A dishonest employee is dishonoring to God just as an un-respectful master is and both need to please God rather than the desires of the flesh.

The Greatness Of God’s Power

2010-04-03T14:19:00.001-05:00

Ephesians 1:19 “And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,”

The first chapter of Ephesians is a sovereign grace believer’s dream chapter because it is so detailed about God’s plan of salvation. Not to the Jewish nation but rather to the entire elect of God. That is to all of them who will ever be saved regardless of nationality, race, or gender. The religious world (as I call them) would like for salvation to be by mans choice and power but they simply could not be more sadly mistaken. God has promised that man would rather serve evil than good, not because we fail to choose good but rather because we cannot choose good in this flesh. Romans 7:18 “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing…” no good at all, in the third chapter of Romans Paul describes the fleshly nature of man and declares that if man could make a choice it would not be to follow God. Romans 3:11 “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” Therefore without a doubt man cannot choose his own salvation, and if it was up to man to choose he would choose evil rather than God.

Paul says here in our text “…what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward…” To show us-ward according to verse 18 “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened…” To show us-ward His great power by changing our will to follow Him instead of following Satan. It is Satan that has our eye and mind blinded that we in this flesh on our own will never choose Christ as our Saviour. How is it that some believes in our choice for Christ when salvation comes from the heart (or the spirit) rather than the mind, how can one ever control a dead spirit and force it to believe. But what Paul said is it is God who is showing us His great power by first quickening our dead spirit and then changing our will to trust Christ as our Saviour. It is not just power, lifting a 100 pounds would take a lot of power from us, but making a dead spirit alive and then causing one to change his will to cry our for salvation takes exceeding great power, like creating a man from the dust of the ground or like creating a world out of nothing. But as some would have you to believe that man can do this on his own, that is as silly as believing the bible tells us to choose Christ, it doesn’t exist. Not one single time does God tell the lost to choose Christ for salvation, not one single time does the scripture tell man to pray a prayer to be saved, and if this was true how could God show us His “…exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward…” in salvation.

“…to us-ward who believe… that is to them that have experienced His exceeding great power and are saved. This excludes those who are not saved, how can they see something that they have refused. They refuse because they do not have the power within themselves to believe. This is why it takes the power of God and once that power has come then they have seen how God saves sinners. If you have not experienced this exceeding great power then you are not saved, regardless of how you may believe that you are saved. If you simply made a choice for Christ or if you simply prayed a prayer than regardless of what some preacher or pastor may have told you, you are not saved from eternal damnation. When one is truly saved that means that they “…were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,” Hebrews 6:4 and when that happens then you know something wonderful has just happened and that is called the work of God and His exceeding great power. Have you had that experience?

What Worth Is The Law Of God If It Not A Part Of Salvation.

2010-03-27T15:50:00.001-05:00

Romans 7:7 “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.”

As we continue to crawl our way through the book of Romans on Wednesday nights, we have found that Paul just continues to define the law and salvation. Paul has from just about a 360 degree angle defined the uselessness of the law when it comes to salvation. I simply cannot understand how anyone can study the first seven chapters of Romans and still believe that works is a part of salvation.

Here in chapter seven Paul is asked a very important question, “…Is the law sin…” and he answers “…God forbid…” Just because the law is not part of salvation does not make it useless, worthless, or even unusable to the Christian. And just because the law teaches us our sinfulness and our need of a Saviour does not make it sin itself. Paul said “…for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.” Or I would not have known I was a sinner before God had the law not told me. In the book of Galatians chapter 3 Paul calls the law a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, and that is accomplished by making our sins known to us. I likened this to driving down the Interstate where the Maximum speed limit is posted and if you go over that posted speed then you have broken the law. However what if there is no posted speed limit and you go over the state maximum speed then are you still a law breaker, yes but unknowingly. Paul went on in verse 11 “For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me…” did the law “deceive” Paul, yes it did, the word “deceive” means to seduce wholly that is the law made Paul a law breaker just as a posted speed limit would make one a law breaker and when he recognized this he found the need for a Saviour. While the law is not sin it does make us sinners, not because if we do as it says then we are sinners but because we fail to do as it says. The law of God does not work like we do, for example if a woman came to church with a short and tight shirt and by that caused a man to look at here with lust in his heart then he has sinned and she has sinned because she was improperly dressed. However with the law of God while it does cause us to sin it is not sin. Paul went on in verse 12 “Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.” The law is holy because it is God’s law and nothing of God is sinful. The law is in itself holy because God spoke it, it is His words and His law. The law was never written to justify man but to show us sinners. Paul told us in Romans 3:20 “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” It is our desire in the flesh to break laws in fact it has been said “laws were made to be broken” however they were not. It is man completive nature not to be told how to live and if the law says not to do something then someone will do it, this is what Paul meant when he said “For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me…” verse 11 The law brought the opportunity by its commandment to cause me to sin.

Please do not expect justification by the law because was not written for that reason, but the law serves a wonderful purpose in that, through it, we have a full understanding how important Jesus Christ is to us. We know by the law that we come up short of God’s standards and lean on Jesus Christ for salvation the only person to ever live the law to its fullness.

The Love Of God; How wonderful It Is!

2010-03-13T16:33:00.000-06:00

Ephesians 2:4 - 5 “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, (5.) Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)”

Beloved have you ever set down and pondered in your heart how much God loves you? Well if you are saved you have always been loved of God. I find so many people who confess “I have loved God all my life” well an in-depth study of God’s word will prove you absolutely wrong, how could you love God if you are (in a lost state) at enmity with God which all mankind is before they are saved. Romans 8:7 “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God...” therefore anyone who says they have loved God all of their life is simply wrong. Now as we look on the other side of this subject those that have been saved, are saved, or are going to be saved, are loved of God and has been loved of God for all eternity; that’s right all eternity. This must be understood first and foremost, God is eternal and He never changes, He never adds any thought, or changes any thought, He knew all things before the world was created. God’s love for us is eternal and He loved us before He created the world. Some will deny this but they are wrong. Notice what Paul says in our text scripture “…for his great love wherewith he loved us…” He loved us putting that love in a past tense form making us ask when did this love start, it started before the world was created; please remember God cannot change “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” Hebrews 13:8. So just how great is the love of God? God’s love is so great that it cannot be matched. Since God loved us before the world was created then it must be a great love indeed. Before we were born God loved us, and after we were born and living a life of enmity against God, and while we were dead in sin God still loved us, (Even when we were dead in sins…” verse 5. How great is the love of God, He loved us while we were sinners and He carried His plan through and saved some of us regardless of our sinful actions and enmity against Him. However this is not the end of God’s love because this love never ends no matter what we do even after salvation. That’s right even if we turn against God He will still love us, even if we fail to attend church God will still love us, no matter what we do after salvation we cannot be separated from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus Romans 8:35 – 39. Please remember God cannot change Hebrews 6:17 “Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:” God showed us, that is those who are saved (…the heirs of promise…) that His will is immutable or unchangeable in any way so that we can trust and depend on Him that His love will never change no matter what we do in this life. Therefore we as Christians can have total confidence that God has an eternal love that cannot end, ever. Please also understand the love of God and the pleasing of God are two different things. God’s love is eternal but God being pleased with us is another matter. While God will love us no matter what we do in this life He will not always be pleased with us, we can only please God by doing His blessed will like attending church or living a life consistent with His biblical will. Beloved God’s love is so great He sent His own beloved Son in the form of a man to die for our sins so His love could be complete. Beloved next time you want to think about God think about the love He had on us not because we were good people but that He elected to love many of this world’s sinners and bless them with salvation from eternal damnation. God’s love is indeed great and we can count on the very fact that no matter what it will never end. Our love for one another may end but the love of God is too great and wonderful to ever end.

One Sent From God.

2010-03-06T19:31:00.000-06:00

“John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.” John 1:15

John The Baptist was one sent from God to bring the world witness of the Messiah Jesus The Christ. John The Baptist was not a self appointed witness to the coming of the Messiah, oh no John was sent from God. Isaiah 40:3 “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” John was not a self appointee of baptizing, oh no he was appointed by God to baptize them that believed that Jesus was the Saviour of man kind. John was known as the forerunner of Jesus Christ to let the Israelite people know that their Messiah was coming, the great shout in the wilderness. However as it was John just as well have been shouting in the wilderness because very few heard the cry. John 1:11 “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” Beloved just as John was sent from God with the great message that the Saviour was coming men today are men sent from God with the message that the Saviour has came and just as it was in Johns day very few are hearing the message. Mankind today is truly no different than those in John’s day, the cry goes out but very few hear it. And just as it was when Jesus was walking the world, no one gave much notice to what the message was they just wanted Jesus to give them something, but what He offered is not what they wanted. One would think if John The Baptist was such a one as he was (a man sent from God) then many would hear him but they refused to hear the message about Jesus Christ. However you would surely think that if Jesus Christ Himself carried the message of salvation that man would surly flock to Him and believe, but they did not. The message about our Saviour and the saving grace of God has never been popular not even when Jesus Christ Himself preached it. The Gospel message Got John the Baptist killed, it got Jesus crucified, and it got all of the Apostles also killed. All of these men were sent from God to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. People because they love evil more than God, people that cannot hear the gospel message because they are deaf to God message will never flock to hear the true message of God. Your pastor is like unto John The Baptist a man sent from God, and that message is that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of mankind, believe on Him as your Saviour, trust in His blood to cleanse you from all of your sins and you to can be a true Christian. But as it was with John, Jesus, Paul, Mark, Matthew, and etc. it is with your pastor people simply do not want to hear.

People flocked to Jesus if He had something to give them and when He gave them something like healing, food, or etc. then they were happy but tell them of their evil heart and present the remedy of healing their wicked ways then they flock away somewhere else. Most places of worship today are like that, give them their programs, pat them on the head and tell them how sweet they are and you can fill the house, but tell them about their evil heart and they will flock to another house. Without programs and freebies they simply are not interested in “worshiping God”. This is why they Lord wanted His men and churches to know that a man that teaches TRUTH is worthy of double honor and the man that fail to do so is unworthy altogether. Beloved if you are one who measures your pastor’s success on the number in the church you could not more sadly mistaken. If you measure your pastors success on how many programs or how much money brought into the church then you are again sadly mistaken. The success of your pastor is how much truth he delivers to the church and the stronger he delivers it the more successful he is. And beloved if many do not flock to hear the message do not worry, not many flocked to hear John, Jesus, or any of the others either.

Men, are we failing God?

2010-02-20T18:16:00.000-06:00

“But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” 1 Timothy 5:8

Were can we even start with this verse of scripture? It has so many roads that as we travel them they could cause our travel to look more like a maze than a road. However it may be; we are going to say as much as we can before we run out of space. First of all let us understand the Lord is speaking here to men. Please understand God gave certain laws to man and others to the woman, men are to provided for the family, men are to provide a living (as far as money), men are to provide protection for the family (as far as security), men are also to be the head in the family as well as make the important decisions of the family. Secondly we find that woman was taken from man to be his helpmate, not to take over for the man or to take over his responsibilities. I understand that as time has progressed women have been given more rights by the government and laws set in place by the government, however no law given by mans government should nor will ever override the laws of God. For example if and when the U.S. Government passes a law that makes gay marriage the same as a marriage between a man and a woman that law will not make it right in God’s sight nor will it be justified with God. Just as a states law cannot override the federal law, neither federal nor state law can override the law of God. We have a thing called biblical doctrine which simply means biblical teachings Paul calls it “…he hath denied the faith…” making it a doctrine of faith. Now there is only one doctrine of faith or one biblical truth and all others are simply wrong. God says it is mans responsibility to command, care and provide for the family or that man “…is worse than an infidel” that is worse than a lost person or worse than the worst among us. He is worse than an infidel because he is a Christian who should be following biblical doctrine but refuses. Men that refuse to support their own children whether at home or those of divorce or even those born out of wedlock, it does not matter they are his to care for and do not belong to the U.S. Government or a foster home or an orphanage, they are his and are his responsibility to care for. Just because some pastor of a church changes this responsibility does not correct the word of God nor does it lessen the responsibility because remember there is only one doctrine. Pastors do and say a lot of things they will be shamed before the Lord Jesus Christ one day in judgment.

Now please understand God never said that a woman could not help a man provide or help her husband do any of the other things that are mans responsibility, however it is not her responsibility to take control of these things for a man but rather she is to be a helpmate. There are many fathers today that are lazy and have no concern in doing these things and yes some of them are Christians and this is a disgrace to God’s wonderful grace. There are many Christian men who allow their wives to command their family duties in their irresponsibility to so and this is also a disgrace to the grace of God.

Family taking care of family, church members taking care of church members is what the faith of the bible teaches. The bible never teaches that man is to rely on the government to take care of their family. But as the bible also teaches it is mans responsibility to make sure these things are done in a correct matter. The man is the leader in the family and the men are the leaders in the churches and just as a pastor is responsibly to care and the teaching and the leadership his church, the man is responsibly care for his family. Both are responsible and answerable to The Lord Jesus Christ for these duties.

Jehovah God Command’s “Turn ye unto me”

2010-02-13T20:48:00.001-06:00

Zechariah 1:2 - 4 “The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers. (3.) Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. (4.) Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD.”

Beloved as Christians we are not Israel, we are different in so many ways and in many ways we are just like them. Here we read a message from God to the people called His beloved “son” Israel, and that message is “Turn ye unto me”; because Israel had a great fleshly desire to turn from Jehovah God and to turn to the thinking with their fleshly minds rather than to what God wanted them to do and that was to worship Him properly in spirit and truth. Jehovah God commanded that if we (as Christians) were going to properly worship Him we were going to worship Him in spirit and truth and anything else was false worship and equal to the falling away which the Israelites so wrongly done. God spoke this warning to His prophet Zechariah to tell the Israelites. Today God has not prophets but rather His called ministers, missionaries, and pastors, and Jehovah God is still making this same command John 14:21 “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” Keeping the commandments of God is worshiping Him in spirit and truth. If we fail to keep His commandment then His blessings will stop coming and we will fail to honor the Lord here on this earth. The Lord says our works will be tried by fire and those of wood, hay, and stubble will burn up and no reward will be given as a result. The blessings of God do not necessarily amount to earthly treasures but can; the blessings of God are mostly heavenly treasures. Heavenly treasures are opportunity to; (1.) to be allowed to do something to bring glory to God, and (2.) something that will bless us here on this earth. There are so many today that believe that God’s blessings to us are earthly treasures such as money, large congregations, lots of programs, good jobs, and etc. however while it is true that God could bless us in some of these things they are not normally what God is talking about. Let us use this example of a blessing from God; God gave the Holy Script to His beloved Israel for their care however they did such a bad job of caring for it God took it away and put it in the hands of the Gentile churches, beloved this is a great blessing for us from God. God calls men to preach or to pastor this also is a great blessing, and God has also blessed us with churches. While it is true the glory of these things are glorifying to God that are also blessings from God and while they may not have much reward here on this earth they will be of great rewards in heaven. Israel is God’s chosen nation, the nation He dealt with and allowed to do His earthly work but since they have failed to comply with God’s commandments He has removed that blessing as He will with us if we continue winking at God’s commandments. The Lord told Israel to turn unto Him or loose His blessings, God also told them how disappointed he was in their fathers but it still did not move His beloved Israel and it will not move Christians today. While so many today look at God’s blessings as earthly treasures, here God’s blessing to Israel was “I will turn unto you” and what a blessing that is. Let us notice in verse 3 the phrase “the LORD of hosts” is repeated 3 times to let Israel know this promise was from Jehovah God or the Trinity. This is like the phrase in Hebrew 13:5 “…I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Is actually from Joshua 1:5 which means the word “I” should also be repeated 3 time as it is a promise from the Trinity and beloved could there ever be a greater blessing from God.

Bathing In God’s Word!

2010-02-06T08:53:00.000-06:00

Titus 3:5 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;”

This passage of scripture has been debated for more years than we need to talk about. The key topic or debate of this verse is “by the washing of regeneration” The Church of Christ as well as a few others will debate this refers to baptismal regeneration however this definition or thought makes absolutely no sense because the scripture could not be more clear as to the facts of salvation which is by grace through faith. To say this passage of scripture is proof that the baptismal waters has saving power is to water down the blood of Jesus Christ and make it worthless i.e. that tap water has the same saving power as the blood of Jesus has which would be no less than blasphemy in the least. This subject has a history going back all the way to the year 100a.d. when the churches of error started teaching it after the apostle’s death even to the point they were baptizing their infants in order to save them, a teaching that Catholicism adopted and still practice today along with a few more outside of the Catholic church. Let it be noted that the fruits of the mother church of error still fall close to the tree of error, which is protestant churches still adhere to the old teachings of their mother.

Let us take a moment to look at their thinking and the contradiction their thinking brings to the scripture. First, if it did mean “by the washing of baptism” then it contradicts its context. The Lord had started verse 5 with “Not by works of righteousness which we have done…” which excludes any type of work on our part for salvation. How could salvation be by works of any type if works renders grace useless i.e. Romans 4:4 “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.” And how many times does the scripture conclude that salvation is by grace. Secondly, verse 5 also says “…but according to his mercy he saved us…” mercy means pity that is God had pity on us to save our unworthy souls. If this meant baptism then where does grace and pity fit into it? What is merciful about baptism or anything that is considered as works on our part? Thirdly, why is it that Paul spent the first four chapters of the book of Romans explaining in very detailed facts that works is not needed for salvation i.e. Romans 4:2, 3 “For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. (3.) For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” And Fourthly, the scriptures never conclude that if one is not baptized that they will be condemned. These believers of baptismal regeneration love to use the scripture in Mark 16:16 “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” But again where does it conclude that if one is not baptized then they are condemned, not one single time in the entire New Testament is it concluded. Salvation and baptism do go hand and hand because once one is saved then they should be baptized and a member of a local church.

In conclusion let it be known that the phrase “by the washing of regeneration” is a reference to the scriptures and not to baptism at all. Let us notice in Ephesians 5:26 “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,” The word of God is the saving message, while it is not salvation in itself it does bring salvation to us by the way of the gospel message. It is neither by our preaching nor by the craftiness of our preaching but rather the message which is the word of God. The word “washing” in verse 5 means - to take a bath – that is to come clean through the word of God, to clean your soul, but to take a bath in the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse your sins.

The counsel of God is always accomplished!

2010-01-30T16:28:00.000-06:00

As we draw closer and closer to the second coming we see more and more doubt and even among some who (at the least) call themselves Christians. I can understand in some ways how there is some doubt because in most “churches” (or some that call themselves a church) doubt is taught from the pulpit every single service. We heard a local Pastor of a “Baptist Church” (or so they call themselves) speaking about John 1:14 and he said “God took a chance in coming to this world in the form of a man in that He could have failed, but we are thankful He did not”. Beloved this an ignorant statement does not deserve a good insult so I will just say “hogwash”. God never “takes a chance” God is sovereign in every possible way and the counsel of His will is always accomplished Ephesians 1:11. It has to make one wonder what kind of ignorant professors are teaching at Baptist seminaries. What has happened to simple Bible Baptist Theology? The simplest minded Baptist Preacher understands this; it was the first thing my professor at the Country Baptist Church in Sulphur Springs, Texas taught me. Brother Hammond (my professor) would have made me direct traffic in the middle of Interstate 30 if even in my youngest ministry I had said something as asinine as that about God. I can still recall the look (almost like it was seconds ago) he gave me in my first sermon when I said we had a choice in salvation; it is still a nightmare to me and this kind of statement I am afraid he would have beat with a water hose (just a joke Ha! Ha!). Beloved God never took a chance at anything; He is absolutely sovereign in every possible way. It is man that has failed to keep the sovereignty of God alive. How could we ever have trust in a God that “took a chance” or was not in absolute control over everything, or has not predestinated all things to come to pass at His own will. The scripture could not be more clear “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” Here we have a woman past her child barren years in Elisabeth the mother of John the Baptist be with child because God made it possible. However this is not the first time we have seen this because thousands of years before we saw Sarah the wife of Abraham have a son after her child barren years. The scriptures cannot be mistaken, God always accomplishes His own will and that is without man’s assistance in any way. Some Preachers will say that God cannot change mans will but that also is “hogwash”, beloved God changed Paul’s will and if you are saved He has changed your will also. When Jesus was speaking to the young rich man and told him to sell all that he had and give it to the poor notice what Jesus said “When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved? (26.)But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. Matthew 19:25-26 what Jesus had just said is if God had wanted this young man truly saved then He (God) would have saved him but unfortunately for this young rich man that was not God’s will; but rather God showing him (mankind) that we do not have the ability within ourselves to change.

Beloved this is fact; God can do and does as He please, when He please, and in the matter He pleases and He depends on no one or anything for help, and this is what is meant by we serve a sovereign God. He did not take a chance on the young rich man selling what he had and giving it to the poor because He already knew that he would not. This was not a condition for salvation it was simply and example of mans greed. This is why we trust in God, because we know His will is always accomplished and this is why we can say “And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. Romans 4:21. Chance, I don’t think so!

Helping those with burdens.

2010-01-23T21:14:00.001-06:00

Galatians 6:2 “Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”

The Lord Jesus Christ has a commandment for all believers; "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. John 13:34. Yes He said for us to love one another and this is not a suggestion but rather a commandment. And as we look here at Galatians 6:2 we are instructed to bear the burdens of other believers. Sometimes we are quick to condemn our brethren for act of unrighteousness but beloved let us all understand there is a time for church action and a time to love and help those in need. The Lord calls this "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Ephesians 5:16 Redeeming the time means buying the time or buy this opportunity. When the Lord gives us opportunity to help our brethren in their time of need then that is our opportunity to redeem the time. If we have a brother or sister in need of spiritual help then that is our opportunity to spiritually help them because of our love for our brothers and sisters. Sometimes (for many reasons) we tend to jump to a conclusion and cause a great divide between ourselves and therefore failing to buy our opportunity to help those with a burden and failing to redeem our time. The Lord gave us the right as a church to bring certain one before the church for expulsion but only if they neglect to hear the warnings and refuse to accept our help, however there should be much love and kindness given first. Sometimes there doesn’t seem to be much patience given by some to help bear their brothers burdens. Patience is a virtue in that it comes with experience and growth as a Christian. With this being said let us see what the Lord says; “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience." Luke 8:15. Isn’t it our prayer that God be patient with us? “The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.” Matthew 18:26, Thank God He is not as quick on condemnation as we sometimes are. Beloved we are all in the same world and sometimes the very same temptation in life and although we may not all react the same we are all subject too. Beloved no Christian is above sin and not all will fall to the same temptation but in this life we will all fail in something. So next time a fellow Christian fails to over come temptation and has some spiritual burdens in life, then help them bear those burdens, and if the time for expulsion presents itself then as a church do what you must. I know as a Pastor there have been time when I have been quick to bring some before the church and I also must learn to be more patient with those who simply need more love and help. Romans 15:1 “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”

“…and so fulfil the law of Christ.” This is the law of Christ in that it is what He taught us all to do. We all who are Christians seek to fulfill His law and this one is no exception. The key to fulfilling this law is love "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Galatians 5:14. Beloved sometimes when one falls it brings a great amount of disappointment to us however as we quickly overcome our disappointment then it is time to bear their burdens with them and redeem the time that God has given us opportunity too. Let us not forget the church is a body and when one member of that body suffers the rest of the body also suffers. We must tend to the hurting arm before you exclude it from the body. 1 Corinthians 12:26 “And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.”

Hold yourself off from a view that is evil.

2010-01-16T16:03:00.000-06:00

“Abstain from all appearance of evil.” 1 Thessalonians 5:22

I think I remember writing about this scripture sometime back, however new light concerning it has come to view. Most Baptist preachers equate this with an act of evil or to something that appears to be evil; however I believe this verse goes much deeper than just that one point. As it was so brilliantly pointed out in a commentary I was looking at; this scripture taken in its context has another side to it and that is its main reference is to doctrinal issues. Without belittling what has been and is so often referred to with this scripture let us take it in the actual context in which God has planted it. Verse 19 “Quench not the Spirit.” The Holy Spirit controls our biblical education, verse 20 “Despise not prophesyings.” That is don’t make light or reject the teaching of old, and verse 21 “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” Prove all the doctrine and stand firm on that which the scripture teaches. And this brings us to verse 22 “Abstain from all appearance of evil” now if we take two words in verse 22 “Abstain” which means - to hold oneself off, that is, refrain” - and the word “appearance” which means - form or a view – and take in the context of the verses before verse 22 the main reference is to the teaching of the word of God. Therefore, it is suggested this verse is teaching us to “Hold yourself off from a view that is evil.” That is anything outside of what the Holy Spirit teaches, despising not the teachings of old, proving all things scriptural to be truth, and standing firm on those truths which is good. The Lord never promised us they would ever be good to the ears of the religionist or of modern day assemblies but always to His chosen few. Beloved it is our reasonability to the Lord to obey His commandment and stay away from anything that sounds or appears to be contrary to His word and this includes modern day teachings. The reason for this is not to allow ourselves get caught up in the teachings of the world and to focus on the truths of God’s Holy Scripture. And in verse 23 we see the reason for this “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” To keep ourselves blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. If we allow ourselves to be led away from God’s truths we will suffer great loss in rewards and therefore being less in God’s kingdom because we have no rewards before the King’s throne.

In Isaiah 33:15, 16 we read “He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; (16.) He shall dwell on high: his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.” Those that stand and walk according to God word will dwell higher than those who left the truth for worldly gain. Beloved the Lord has always rewarded those who are faithful to Him and being faithful to the Lord today is standing on truth and not even viewing other doctrine at all. I know the thought today is you have to hear all sides and then make up you’re mind to what is truth or not and I say hog wash, the Lord say not to even view what they have to say because Satan is a great deceiver and a greater liar and will draw us all into his web of lies if we give him a chance. It is not our concern what they are teaching and therefore we are to look the other way when they are teaching. So here it is “it is not ok to give any attention to false teachers at all” because that means you are viewing evil teaching.

Shout For Joy in The Lord!

2010-01-09T15:40:00.000-06:00

Psalms 5:11 “But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.”

As we take a look at this verse of scripture let us never forget as believers in Jesus Christ we all have great reason to shout and to shout often. The word shout means – to cry aloud with joy outwardly – therefore making it something beyond and inward joy. This is something often missing in church services today, but should not be at all. I believe we as Christians and churches of the Lord Jesus Christ have allowed Arminianism to rob us of some of the goodness of being a real Christian. I believe this is one of those things and would like to see it returned in the churches. What has happened to the word “AMEN” in churches today, the word “Amen” means – let it be so or truth and I agree – however it seem to be that fewer men in churches today have a desire to say it during a sermon. I understand the last thing we as Baptist want to do is to allow ourselves to appear anything like an Arminian with all of the shouting, standing and waving, and etc. but please understand the Lord told us to show an outward emotion and shout, so come on, say AMEN. While we do not go to church for some kind of fleshly satisfaction or for a show which makes us appear to be Christians as the Arminianism, it doesn’t mean we have to silence the inward joy we have in the Lord by sitting silent and motionless. The Lord tells us in Psalms 118:15 “The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.”

The Psalmist reminds us “But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice…” that is those that put their trust in the Lord has much reason to rejoice about and do rejoice in the sermons they hear, but fail in the second fact here “…let them ever shout for joy…” so beloved lift up your voice to the Lord and excite yourself. The Lord also reminds us “let them ever shout” meaning it should not come to an end or to become obsolete in the worship of the Lord. Now please understand I am not talking about the phoniness of the Arminians but when your heart has been blessed by the teachings of God’s word it should be shown with an outward shout. Jeremiah 31:7 “For thus saith the LORD; Sing with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations: publish ye, praise ye, and say, O LORD, save thy people, the remnant of Israel.”

Let us not forget the return of our Lord will be with a shout 1 Thessalonians 4:16 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:” There will be a great shout in heaven because the Lord is returning for all of those in the world that has believed in Him for salvation. I believe this is an example of things to come, that there will be much shouting in heaven. The Lord love’s to be praised for His works and believe me if we are there then the Lord is much glorified because He has performed a great work. Every time a sinner come to believe in Jesus Christ there is much rejoicing in heaven Luke 15:7, 10 “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. (10.) Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” Not only in the angels themselves but “in the presence of the angels of God” as in all of heaven rejoices over the gracious and merciful goodness of God in the saving of another lost sinner. So beloved let us outwardly show the joy in our hearts and shout AMEN! And the Lord shall be praised.

“In Every Thing Give Thanks”

2010-01-02T09:59:00.000-06:00

1 Thessalonians 5:18 "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

In everything give thanks because it is the will of God that we do this, or this is God’s permissive will that we do this. We must understand the difference between God’s permissive will and God’s decreed will; God’s permissive will allows us the freedom to act according to the teaching of His word, and God’s decreed will is His absolute will that cannot be changed and will always happen just as He has predetermined it to come to pass. For example God decreed that Jesus Christ be born and die for our redemption and it must and did happen, on the other hand it is God’s will that we all worship in the Lord’s churches on the Christian Sabbath however sometimes members for various reasons just cannot find the time to do it, this is God’s permissive will. So here we find Paul telling us to give thanks in everything however we all fail in this area and for that we fail to fulfill God’s permissive will. Every time we fail to attend church except for very limited reason we have failed in fulfilling God’s will and every time we fail to thank God for EVERYTHING in our life we fail God’s will. God did not say only in good time or in happy times but in everything. God also tells us “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;" Ephesians 5:20 and “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Philippians 4:6. So as we can see the word “everything” means just that and our failure to do so is failing to abide according to the will of God. Some will say it is hard to give thanks for bad things but let us also not forget that God said “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28. We don’t always know how something bad may in time turn out to have been good for us and therefore we should have thanked God for it. How about we just trust the Lord and always give thanks for everything and therefore not failing to have faith if the workings of God.

I understand sometimes it is hard to remember to thank God in everything especially when hard time or very bad times happens in our life (however this is not an excuse) but what about the simple things like thanking God every day for His blessing on you and your family, what about your health, what about your paycheck, and what about your food? When we eat out at a restaurant we rarely see anyone giving thanks for their food this is especially surprising on Sunday at lunch. I sometimes watch folks set down and eat dressed in their church clothing and never offer thanks, this always disturbs me because if there is one day a week people should be reminded to offer thanks shouldn’t it be Sunday after church? Beloved this is the will of God that we do this and everyday people who call themselves “good Christians” cannot simple act according to God’s permissive will. It makes me wonder if people are thankful for the goodness of God.

Beloved let us not forget what God’s permissive will is for our lives and do those things according to His word. Even the simple things like giving thanks and please remember God is in charge and nothing happens without His Decreed will controlling it, so let us enjoy the blessings of God and thank Him whether or not we think it is beneficial to us. “And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.” Matthew 15:36

God Hates The Workers Of Iniquity

2009-12-26T13:28:00.001-06:00

Psalms 5:5 “The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.”

We find in the world of religion today such a great misunderstanding of the scriptures that most pastors should be ashamed to preach on Sunday morning. There is in churches today such a great empathies on John 3:16 that other scriptures such as Psalms 5:5 are ignored completely. Please understand John 3:16 is a most wonderful verse and has such a great and wonderful meaning that it disserves much expounding upon in today’s pulpits, however only in it’s true meaning. With Psalms 5:5 and John 3:16 put side by side and put in the context most Pastors preach about John 3:16 greatly contradict God’s word and the first thought every young Minister should learn is God’s word never contradicts itself. Psalms 5:5 is such a profound verse that it condemns all sinners in totality, and puts mankind in a true light as a sinner and the scriptures hath concluded that God hates sinners. We hear so much about God hating sin that some choose to forget that it is the sinner that God truly hates. Now this is not to say God doesn’t hate sin because He does in fact, He hates everything connected with sin, even the one doing the act. If this is true then how is it possible that God loves all of mankind? We hear the old false line “Jesus loves everyone” and that is impossible because God has just concluded that He does not. We must understand God’s true relationship with sin and the sinner in order to understand better grace, mercy, and love. Once we understand how much God hates sin and the sinner then we understand God’s salvation and how salvation is by grace and through faith and how “we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus” Ephesians 2:8 – 10. God hates the sinner so much that He has created an eternal punishment in a place called HELL where the fire never extinguishes nor the worm ever dies (that is the suffering and desire to exit ever stops). Man has such a desire to make themselves loved of God that they misuse the scriptures to justify their thinking. John 3:16 is the greatest of examples of this. How is it possible that God loves every living soul and that He wills none to go to hell if He hates the sinner? Well this is were another false concept come into view, they say Psalms 5:5 means that God only hates the worse sinners among us, but this theory still shows to be false because if they suppose that God loves every sinner, then it must be remembered we are suppose to tell everyone that God loves them therefore this concept doesn’t hold water either.

Let us now focus on John 3:16 and the misunderstanding of it. This scripture has been much debated and the reason for this is because I do not believe anyone wants to proclaim the true meaning because they fear hurting someone’s feelings. I have found that John Gill gives the best commentary of this; “Not every man in the world is here meant, or all the individuals of human nature; for all are not the objects of God's special love, which is here designed, as appears from the instance and evidence of it, the gift of his Son: nor is Christ God's gift to every one; for to whomsoever he gives his Son, he gives all things freely with him; which is not the case of every man…the objects of God's special love, and to them Christ is given, and they are brought to believe in him, and shall never perish, but shall be saved with an everlasting salvation; yet rather the Gentiles particularly, and God's elect among them, are meant; who are often called "the world", and "the whole world", and "the nations of the world", as distinct from the Jews.” This commentary by Gill makes so much sense because the word “world means - orderly arrangement, that is, decoration” - and the word “decoration” means - an item, usually one of a group, attached to something to make it look more attractive – or one elected of God before the foundation of the world (one of a group) that (make it look more attractive) through Jesus Christ. Not the entire population but rather those elected by God.

Who Is Your God?

2009-12-19T20:48:00.000-06:00

Jeremiah 10:10 “But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.”

When I ask who your God is, I am asking what God do you truly worship? Do you worship the true God or do you worship a fictitious (not true or genuine) god? Many people will tell me we all worship the same God however after talking to them and comparing our understanding of who God is I simply do not believe we do worship the same God. I worship Jehovah God which is truth, not simply a God of truth but is truth in nature. Jesus Christ reminded us in John 14:6 “…I am the way, the truth, and the life…” He is not “a way” He is the only way, He is not “a life” but He is life itself, and He is not “a truthful person” but rather He is truth. Jesus Christ is all three of these things by nature plus many more; it is not simply part of his nature but rather His total nature. When you speak of eternal life you speak of Him, when you speak of the way to heaven you speak only of Him, and when you speak of truth you also speak of Him. There is no lie in Him He is truth and truth by nature. We can be truthful in this life but we are not truth by nature, however that is what Jesus Christ was while on this earth He never lied. So who is your God, is He truth and only truth? Titus 1:2 "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;” As we look into the prophecies of the Old Testament we see that they have all been fulfilled except for those still yet to be. There is not one lie in the bible, not one, it is total truth and must be because it is the breath of God.

So again I ask who is your God? Is He a living God or is He an idol or an image or maybe a figment of your imagination. My God is alive; I know this because He lives in my heart. I have a picture of Him but only in the scriptures and I can only see Him with my eye of faith, but this I will conclude; He is real and He is truth and I can believe every word He had declared to me in His word. Beloved any thing out side of this is a false idol. We have no pictures of God in any shape or form therefore any sort of worship of images or statues are false worship at the least. My God is real and He alone created the world and all that is within it, He alone sent His beloved Son to this wicked world in the form of the Son of Man in order to be a sufficient sacrifice to die for our eternal life, and it was God Who delivered my unworthy soul from eternal destruction. Is this the God you worship?

Truth, it means - a verified or indisputable fact – this is what God is and every part of His being is. Now we as sinners could never be this by nature however this is what we are to strive for as Christians. We are to be like Him and that would include being truthful and honest. If we are truthful and if we worship the same God then why do so many Christians lie to their children about a fictitious man named Santa Claus? Now I know that some Christians do not consider this to be a lie but rather a “white lie” however a lie is a lie, isn’t it? Churches have a fake Santa to visit their churches, and it is not just Santa what about the Easter Bunny he also normally makes a visit, do they not understand these two figments of imagination become for this short time a god (that is one due worship) to their children? So I ask would God that is Jehovah God approve of these two visiting churches? Are not these two false idols to our children to worship. Beloved it is wrong to lie to your children and it is also more wrong for churches to do it and Pastors to approve of it. Teach them about the birth of Jesus Christ and don’t substitute Him for an idol.

The Preservation Of God

2009-12-12T19:37:00.000-06:00

2 Peter 2:9 “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:”

Two main points we need to focus on here; (1.) “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations…” and (2.) “…and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:” Please notice that God does both, He delivers the godly and He also reserves the unjust, this is the same God that the average Religionist Pastor will tell you God cannot change mans will. The godly spoken of here is those who have been saved by God’s wonderful grace and the unjust is all that did not receive His wonderful grace and is lost and will die lost. Some will say these “unjust” are the very evil ones among us and chances are great they will never decide to choose Jesus as their Saviour and there is nothing that God can do to change their minds, but doesn’t that theory contradict what the actual verse says? If God delivers the “godly” and reserves the unjust then can’t God deliver evil men as He chooses, i.e. Saul of Tarsus also know as the Apostle Paul. If God says that all are ungodly and that none seek Him (Romans 3:10 - 11 "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (11.) There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.") then how else is it that man seems to imagine it is not God that changes mans will?

First, “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations…” God not only knows how to deliver His beloved elect (the chosen ones) to salvation but He also knows how to preserve them from sin. The Lord does not save us and than allow us to walk alone in this evil world but rather walks with us everyday of our Christian life. Satan is not one who only enjoys to tempt the lost to do evil but he gets a greater satisfactory in causing the godly to sin. It is only by the work of God that we do not fall into Satan’s temptations. Please remember he also tempted the man Christ Jesus. God cannot be tempted and Satan is no fool as to even think that tempting God would advantage him, therefore he tempted the Son of Man in hopes there was a weak point but as we all have read there was not one. But just as He did not fall into temptation we also do not have too. God kept the Son of Man from sin and He can also keep us from sinning. Christians sometimes want to think of themselves as strong enough to overcome Satan’s temptations but it is God keeping us from sinning. God preserves those that He has chosen to do certain works i.e. Pastors, Deacons, church members, and etc. other wise how else can His will be an absolute.

Secondly, “…and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:” This a much harder fact for most to swallow than the teaching of election and preservation, because while the godly are kept in most part pure by God the non-elect are kept in their evil state also by the power of God. Please notice what the scripture says; “to reserve the unjust unto” the word “reserve” means - to guard by keeping the eye upon – That is God keeps them evil and therefore they will never change their evil ways. Please understand God does not cause them to be evil, that credit goes to Satan but without God’s grace they will never change their ways, and they will be evil until the day of judgment and they are cast into the lake of fire. God has no pity on them and never will, they reject God here today and will always reject God until the day in which they all bow before Him and give Him the credit due His name.