Looking Forward To Unity

“Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: (6.) That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 15:5-6

Looking forward to unity is one of our biggest blessings awaiting us in glory. As unfortunate as it is we as believers, the very ones God has elected to save, and the very ones Jesus The Christ came to sacrifice His glorious life for, cannot follow one simple command, to worship in unity. We cannot bring our old fleshly self’s to worship the Lord Jesus Christ in unity. It seems we have one major flaw, we allow our fleshly pride to keep us from following the command of the Lord. I once read an article that said there were some 50 different types of Baptist in America; however I would imagine that if we were to break down those 50 to them that separate themselves from others of like faith because of their fleshly pride then there would be more like several hundred. We have those that believe in this or that doctrine and will not fellowship with them over there because they don’t believe exactly as we do. I must confess here that I do not believe this is what the Lord was saying when He told us to “come out and be you separate” 2nd Cor. 6:17. The only reason the Lord gave us to separate ourselves from other believers is if they are excluded from another church. Chances are there are no two churches nor are there two Ministers that are totally identical in their belief. It is the Lord command we as believers come together and worship the One who gave His life for our justification and not only in a church but also as believers. However Satan has managed to use our flesh against us and has caused separation among the flock of Christ. Beloved I am afraid there are some “good ole boy” Ministers and Pastors that are going to suffer a great burden when they face Jesus Christ for judgment when the time comes. Let’s remember this scripture “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 those thoughts in mind I would like to call your attention to this.
I wrote an article a few weeks back titled “Marriage for life or not”. Last week I received an email from Pastor David Green the Pastor of Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Mansfield, Ohio. Brother Green shared a story with me that very much disturbed me. David told me of a church that is like faith to ours that allowed divorced men or men with divorced wives to speak and other Pastors (I must add disgraceful Pastors) called the church “a den of whoremongers” what a disgrace! This is a church of the Lord Jesus Christ and for any man who is a Christian to allow these words to fall from his lips is going to pay a great account to the Lord Jesus Christ. Again let’s read Matthew 12:36 “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” I knew some of the names of these men and they were wonderful men (while I will not repeat their names) I have a lesser respect for them today than I did yesterday. Beloved there are those we should separate ourselves from but they are not churches of like faith because we differ on an issue or two. Those who do will pay a great account to Jesus Christ. Beloved we as Sovereign Grace Baptist are far and few and how dare we allow this old fleshly thinking cause division among our Sister churches. We are to be in unity with the understanding that we are going to differ on some things. Treating fellow Sovereign Grace Baptist like heathers will not go unpunished. It is true our sins, ALL of them have been forgiven through the blood of Christ but sin against other Christians will be called into account in the Day of Judgment. Brother Green went on to say in a sermon he preached on the subject, these men are in heaven enjoying themselves in Christ but I would like to add, not before they answered to the great Judge. Beloved I do look forward when issues and flesh separate us no longer and we can enjoy unity with you all in a home prepared for us all that are in Christ.

Judgment

“For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” Matthew 7:2

Beloved we want to take a look at the word “judgment” because people today and mostly Christians are very bad about judging others. We need to understand that true judgment is only in the hands of Jesus Christ the Righteous Judge “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:” John 5:22. The reason that only Jesus Christ can judge is that He is the only one who can judge without question. Our judgments are not always true and proper because we do not always know the true facts. However when we look at Jesus we see Truth and in Him is no error or hidden facts. I believe the scriptures when they say: “Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.” Romans 14:13. As we look back to our text scripture the Lord tells us “For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged:” we will be judged by the same standards we judge others and therefore we must be very alert to our judging others and especially other believers. I am a firm believer some of our judgments can “put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.” This brings me to ask these questions; are you prepared to be judged by the same judgment you are judging others with by Jesus Christ, and could or did your judgment cause a brother in Christ to have stumbling block’s placed in his path making his work for the Lord harder and more difficult or even cause your brother in Christ to fall? If they did you will pay account to the Lord for your judgment and for doing damage to your Brother who was simply working for the Lord.

Beloved we are commanded to cast out the leaven in the church and we certainly commanded to withdraw fellowship from those who walk disorderly among us, however to how much deeper are we to be judging other Brethren? I often see some who want to sit and judge others about what they believe and condemn their own Brethren in Christ simply because we may see the scriptures a little different however I must ask who among us are infallible? Is everything you believe without any possible doubt absolutely truth? Is there no possible doubt you could be wrong? Beloved we as loving Christians must be very careful when judging other Christians because we are going to be judged with the same harshness we judge out beloved brethren. Beloved our responsibility in this life is to be Christ-like and not to be harsh in our judgment of other. We function on the thought of love and forgiveness instead of looking for things to judge others and being too bold with them. The Lord commanded us in 1 John 3:14 “We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.” That love is the love of Christ in your heart, and believe me the Lord Jesus hates none of His own. He does not condemn them, He simply forgives them just as He will forgive what you are for what you are wrong on, please remember none of us are infallible.

Beloved we all must be very careful at how we handle other believers in judging them because the Lord warned us not to judge. There are things the scriptures are very clear on however there are those things for which stands on how we see it. Believe me (for the most part) if other believers knew for sure they were wrong on the doctrine they would repent of it. Beloved before judging others and putting up stumbling blocks or causing hurt to come to another believer make sure you are correct because causing pain to other believers is the same as causing pain to the Lord Jesus Himself and His judgment of you will be just as harsh as yours was to your fellow brother in Christ.

Looking with spiritual eyes

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2

The writer of the Hebrews speaks to us from a spiritual sense, and not a fleshly one. There are some things we see through our physical eye gate and some things we see with only our spiritual eyes. Jesus is one of those spiritual sights, because we have never physically seen Jesus Christ. Beloved there are some things we as believers must keep our eyes on and there is no doubt those “things” are in heaven. The first is Jesus Christ, because the scripture has concluded He is our everything, which is every thing needed in our spiritual and fleshly life. With Him all things are possible, we can climb mountains, and we can walk on water, however once our eyes are removed from Him we will roll back down the mountain or sink in the water like a 150 pound rock. Beloved I hope your eyes are on the Lord Jesus Christ just as God through the writer of the Hebrews has commanded, because if they are not, then just as Peter you will sink in the water that we are so blessed to walk on. Philippians 3:20 “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:”
“The author and finisher of our faith;” That is, Jesus Christ is the originator of our faith; it is not in man to have this faith except through Jesus Christ. Beloved it is with this faith we have the ability to keep our eyes on Him. As long as Peter had his eyes on Jesus he had faith, it is only after his eyes wondered he began to sink and once again his eyes went again to Jesus and he was saved from sinking. When the Hebrew writer says that Jesus is the finisher of our faith he means in Jesus our faith is complete. Beloved this is what is meant by keeping our eyes on Jesus, everything in life is complete in Him. We as believers need no one else; we need nothing else, just Jesus. This world is full of wants and wishes however every one of them moves our attention away from the One we need to be fixed upon. The Lord asked “For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?” Luke 9:25 to “be cast away” means to suffer loss, and that loss will be eternal happiness in glory. Our Lord tells us if we remain in faith and our eyes are continually on Jesus and the things above then we will gain crowns of righteousness, however once our eyes are removed from the author and finisher of faith then we suffer loss. There will be many who will suffer this loss and for many reasons, but all will be because their eyes were removed from Jesus Christ. Paul said to the church at Colossae, “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;” Colossians 1:10 being fruitful is walking in the world everyday with your eyes gazing at Jesus Christ and ignoring this world and the eye catching things of it. “Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” “Who for the joy” yes indeed joy it was for Jesus Christ to give His life in shame on that cross, because in doing so you and I could share this glorious faith He has given to us. This is the eye of faith, the faith of our Saviour that His horrible death would bring faith to us. The faith to believe, the faith to count on him, the faith to understand for us all is in Him and none other. It is because He has faith we are able to have faith and let us not waste the faith Jesus has so kindly given to us and make it a shame by looking through the wrong set of eyes.

Marriage for life or not?

Matthew 5:32 “But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.”

I would like to start this article by making a profound statement. There are biblical grounds for a right divorce and a biblical right to remarry after divorce. I know that there are some very righteous men who disagree with me but they must re-think and study their bible. Beloved if there is one thing every Minister and Pastor wants to, it be is right, and another thing we want to be is doctrinally correct. I say this, show me a man that is not wrong on something and I will show you a man that is wrong. Beloved we are not infallible! Not one of us. Sometimes we flare up our righteous tail feathers and condemn others only to find out we are not perfect.

I was told by a Brother in Christ last week that there is no biblical reason for a couple to divorce and re-marry however when I led him to this Matt. 5:32 he said that only single people can be charged with “fornication”, which I must ask where is proof of that? I have searched the Greek over and it is not even mentioned. I am a firm believer that there are some men in churches and in the Ministry that believe things simply because they were taught by other men and have failed to study thing’s out. My friend kept wanting to go to Matthew 19:9 “And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.” Like it over rode Matthew 5:32 but doesn’t the two scriptures basically make the very same statement? That fornication is grounds for a divorce? While fornication has a broad term it is also very narrow in that it limits biblical reasons for a divorce.

My friend went on to say when we are married we promise God that we will remain together until death and for this I agreed, however if we do not know what tomorrow is going to bring in life should we be making promises to God? Can you make a promise to God that you will be in church next Sunday? Can you make a promise to God that you will be at work on Monday? NO! We cannot, however we promise before God that we will remain married to one person for the rest of our lives when we cannot promise God that we will be at church next Sunday. James 4:14 “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” And also in Matthew 5:33 – 37 the Lord warns us not to swear at all. Beloved conditions and times change and I believe for us to promise God to remain married for the next 50 – 70 years is wrong. I have reached the conclusion that I am going to re-think the marriage vows I put in wedding ceremonies. I have concluded that for me to force two people to make a promise to God knowing that there is a great chance they will break that vow is sin on my part. I know we consider marriage vows to be sacred and a bond to hold a marriage together and I do agree that when a man and a woman bond in marriage it should be entered into with a promise between two people. Beloved there are no marriage vows written in the Holy Scripture and therefore all of these promises are man made. The Lord does tell us to Matthew 19:6 “Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” However my question is; what do we know for sure what God hath joined together? If two people want to get married how do we know God joined them together? Maybe it was a mistake on their part and God wanted them to be joined together with someone else later in life. Should these two people live the rest of their days joined to person of adultery or worse incest?

I am not making light of marriage, I believe when two people join together in marriage it should be a life long relationship, however to swear that before God may be a mistake. And to say that there are no grounds for divorce is also a mistake.

Thanksgiving

Psalms 26:7 “That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.”

Beloved we are approaching the most wonderful Holiday of the year. Thanksgiving is a time to thank God for His glorious gift and gifts to us. I know everyday is Thanksgiving but here we have a day, one single day that we call a day of giving thanks. Beloved as sad as it is to say I believe this may be the only time of the year some even think of giving thanks. I believe in this sad world we live in today two very important things escape peoples minds, going to church, and thanking God for everything. How sad of a world people have built for themselves. Some have made church a place to glorify themselves instead of God and others are so caught up in self satisfaction that they fail to thank God for what ever happens in everyday life whether good or bad. Here is the proof; how many of you were dissatisfied with the outcome of the November National elections have thanked God for the outcome? Beloved it is not who won or lost but rather that the will of God has been accomplished. Do you know why the Angels in heaven rejoice when a sinner comes to believe that Jesus Christ is their Saviour and is saved? It is because it is to the glory of God, He is the One who performed the miracle that delivered the sinned, this is why they rejoice, they rejoice just as we always will when we are at home in heaven every time God works a miracle. This is why we give daily thanks to God for our salvation, our family, our home, our church, and for the happenings of everyday life, because whether good or bad, whether we agree with it or not God has blessed us with another day that He has had total control of it and all of the days developments were by the GRACE of God. This is exactly why we give thanks to God for the outcome of the elections whether the outcome pleased us or not. Beloved God has a plan and that plan is this world is heading for a great tribulation period and God is simply allowing the world to set herself up for this time of great destruction. We do not know God’s step by step plan however we do know He is in control and His plan is being carried out, but beloved we do know a lot about the final results and this gives us reason and encouragement to praise God for every event and its outcome.

The Lord told us in Psalms 26:7 “That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving” the word “publish” means to shout with a loud voice the wondrous works of God. Beloved if you are saved you have reason to shout from on high the grace of God everyday without miss. And if you truly believe that God is in charge of all things then you have reason to bless your own hearts by shouting praise be to God in everything. Our history is filled with believers that were killed by the thousands that died praising the Lord’s blessed name and for the opportunity to die for His name. And here we are some 1200 years later crying and failing to thank God because we are living in bad economic times. Beloved money is nothing, Satan simply uses it to sway our minds from God and His glory, please do not allow him to do this to you. Beloved there is one who will have the economic solution for our horrible financial dilemma and he is called the Anti-Christ. He is on the way beloved and for this we need to thank God for because this means Jesus is soon to return. Let ignorance run through this greedy world and just praise God and keep looking up “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21:28
AMEN!!

So beloved thank God not only Thursday but everyday and for everything whether good or bad it does not matter. Please do not allow things of evil from Satan and worldly things to cause you to fail in this area. And Thursday spend the day in thanksgiving shouting the marvelous works of God. Philippians 4:6 “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” 1 Timothy 4:4 “For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:”

Moral Issues or Social Issues

“Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5

The evils of this world are growing stronger and stronger as time goes forward. I am not one that believes this world will ever get better or ever convert to following the scriptures. Our schools are staffed and Government are so full of people who believe and teach so deeply in evilness and that good is bad and this is no surprise to anyone who reads the word of God, for God said times would come to this point. I heard two black Pastors interviewed on the Mike Huckabee show that is aired on the Fox news channel and one was in support of Mr. Obama and the other in support of Mr. McCain. It was to my great surprise as to why these two Pastors gave the reasons to why they supported each of the Presidential Canadates. The Pastor that supported Mr. McCain cited Moral Issues as to why he could not support Mr. Obama which is a very good reason to give a Presidential Candidate your support, however the other Pastor cited that Social Issues were the reason he was supporting Mr. Obama. He went on to say that while Moral Issues were important that to him Social Issues were more important and over rode the Moral Issues. Beloved this is my thoughts, nothing over rides the Moral Issues of God’s Holy Word. I understand that we as people have reached hard time, however our hard times never justifies the murder of unborn children. I believe for the Pastor of a church to say on public nationwide television that he believes Social Issues were superior to that of unborn children needs to study his bible much more after he resigns his work as a Pastor. I believe any Christian that believes that Social Issues over rides Moral Issues needs to read their bible a whole lot more. Beloved in out day there are no more important issues than Moral Issues! This is what is wrong with our Nation, we have (as a Nation) put God under our footstool and allowed this world and it’s evils to take priority in our lives. It befuddles me when Christians can support a Presidential Candidate that supports and will select judges that demand a woman has a constitutional right to murder an unborn child.

We see here this unborn child named Jeremiah was sanctified and ordained a prophet before he ever exited the womb, how horrible it would have been if his mother had chosen to have aborted him. I understand that God had predestinated this and it was going to take place and could not be changed, however the example is still not lessened. As a Nation we have chosen to belittle God and have chosen that children are punishment instead of precious jewels from the Lord. We worry more about if people have money, houses, cars, or etc. than we do about the murder of our unborn children. As a Nation we have reached the point that we even allow the unborn to die even if they exit the womb in a botched abortion. One Presidential Candidate called this type of murder “an out of the womb fetus”, and others calls it “partial-birth abortion” but I call it murder! Beloved I simply must ask this question, what is America thinking?

I know I am just another radical Pastor to most Americans however I often wonder how people can call themselves a Christian and go to church and call themselves worshiping God and vote for a man/woman that supports this sort of crimes against God. Is Social Issues more important than Moral Issues, NEVER! Abortion is the evils of our Nation and God will judge her on this issue and His punishment will be great. We wonder why so much bad happens in America and in the world, maybe it is our evil being punished. We ask God to bless our Nation but I must ask does our Nation deserve to be blessed of God? You have a vote coming on November 4th and I ask everyone to vote but when you do what means more to you Moral Issues or Social Issues? God being blessed by a Nation or God being ignored by a Nation. Let us Christians be in one accord and vote to bless God.

These thought are those of Pastor Randy Johnson. The Sovereign Grace Missionary Baptist Church does not endorse Political Canadates.

The Holy Script: Literally God’s Word or Man’s?

2 Timothy 3:15-16 “And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. (16.) All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”


Beloved there are those today that have saw fit to declare that the Holy Bible (66 books) are not literally God’s own words; I say these folks are wrong and are sadly deceived by Satan. We as Christians have two things we can without any doubt believe in, the first is that Jesus Christ is God and the Saviour of man-kind and second that the 66 books of the King James Bible is literally God’s words. There are some that go to great measures to disprove this very fact and have failed at every turn. They seek to find contradictions in it, then they seek to prove that certain events could never have happened by attempting to reenact them, and then there is the human part of it – how can we trust the writings of man. However after examining their attempt to disprove the inspiration of the Holy Script we find just how ignorant they are. We sometimes watch the discovery channel and the history channel on T.V. only to be amazed at the ignorance one will go in attempting to disprove the bible is truly God’s word. Beloved I will once again declare and prove that without a doubt the entire bible is God’s words. First of all they cannot reenact or explain the events in the bible nor can they disprove in any way that these events did not happen exactly as God said they did because they are not God! Matthew 19:26 “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” If God wants to part the Red Sea then He will, if God wants to create a big fish to swallow Jonah then He will, and etc. but let’s look at these facts, there are 66 books in the bible 40 plus writers over 1500 years and not one single contradiction, there are things and events that has happened that were spoken of long before they ever happened. The greatest of examples is 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:” This scripture was written about 600 – 700 B.C. however it was only proven when Columbus sailed to the new world. Another one would be the Apostasy 2 Thessalonians 2:3 “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;” It is today that man does not endure sound doctrine however this verse was written around 51 – 52 A. D.

Other facts is this, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God” meaning it was divinely breathed which is proof that the Holy Script is verbally inspired. Let’s notice 2 Peter 1:20-21 “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. (21.) For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” The bible was not man’s words as they spoke their will, but holy men of God, as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. John had no real idea what he was seeing as God took him to heaven, but wrote as God commanded him and because of this we have the book of Revelations. John who lived and died before 100 A.D. saw the tribulation period which included weapons of mass destruction, computers, car’s, jet planes, and etc. he had no idea what he was looking at but believed and wrote this book of the bible. The prophet Daniel gives us great proof of this fact Daniel 12:7-9 “And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. (8.) And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? (9.) And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” Beloved be not deceived by those who are deceived by Satan, every word of the scripture are God’s very words and every event truly happened just as the scripture has declared.

Soul Winning Of Today Is Phony

Psalms 49:7 “None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:”

There is a place and time for everything in life. Beloved let me tell you as the Lord did in Psalms 49:1 “Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world:” There is such a thing as soul winning in bible but it is nothing like what the religious world has made it. We can in no way cause the lost to choose Christ and win their souls as the religionist think! I saw a young man yesterday with a T-shirt that had in big letters that read “CHOOSE” and then Joshua 24:15 “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve;” Beloved this verse has nothing to do with choosing Christ as your Saviour but rather choosing to serve Jehovah God rather than other gods. Anyone who refers to this scripture as a salvation scripture is disrespecting the word of God. The reason these religionist go to this verse in the Old Testament is because there is not one in the New Testament they can use and the reason there is not one is because we do not choose Christ for salvation. Notice our text scripture “None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him” We are only flesh and salvation is the work of God, it takes great power to convert a sinner just as it did with Paul and as it did with you and I. We cannot “by any means redeem his brother” because we are not God. It takes the glorious power of God to change a person’s “will” to stop serving Satan and start serving God. We make no choices for salvation however we do everyday make choices to serve God just as Joshua chose to do in Joshua 24:15.

The Lord tells us man is blinded by Satan 2 Cor. 4:4a “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not,” and we cannot ask a blind man to choose to see. The lost are blinded by Satan and we do not have the power on to defeat Satan and therefore only God can make one blinded by Satan see. The Lord said in Psalms 49:7 we cannot by any means redeem them and this includes all of the begging, trickery, or scare tactics man might invent. When the Lord said “by any means” I am certain He included what we see in today’s religionist churches. Pastors of these churches wonder why it is that so many do not act like Christians, why it is so hard to get them to attend services, or why some “just does not take” well it is because these Pastors are falsely making them think they are saved when they are not.

Soul winning is simply the planting and watering of the seed (the gospel) we cannot ask the sinner on his own to make the seed grow because it is “God that giveth the seed the increase” 1 Corinthians 3:7 “So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.”

Beloved since we cannot by any means cause a sinner to repent then why not trust God to do His work His own way. Pastors need to stop falsely attempting to do God’s work and simply focus on the preaching of the word and God will do what we cannot and cause the lost sinner who is happy serving Satan change his will and server Christ. Serving Satan is something the lost enjoys doing and they will never leave what they do unless the Holy Spirit visits them and changes their hearts and gives them the power to choose to serve Christ and this will never happen until God changes their will to trust Jesus Christ as their Saviour.

Beware Of Dogs

Philippians 3:2-3 “Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision.
(3.) For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”

Beloved, Paul had in verse 1 told us to “rejoice in the Lord.” Beloved it is only in the Lord Jesus Christ that we as Christians can rejoice. It is when we step outside of Christ, (that is outside of our fellowship with Christ) that we become miserable. There is no happiness in the flesh outside of Christ. Beloved in this flesh nothing is good, therefore how could a Christian ever think we can enjoy being a Christian and enjoy living in the flesh? Paul said he was hung between staying here and being with Christ not because he enjoyed the flesh but rather of the work he had to do here. Paul loved his life here because of his work and his fellowship with his beloved brethren and no other reason. However with that all said he was also miserable because of the “dogs”, “evil workers”, and “the concision” Dogs were never referred to in the scriptures as a good thing. In fact to call someone a dog in the Old Testament was a very harsh name Isaiah 56:10 “His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.” and this was a name often given to the Gentiles from the Jews. However as it has turned out over time the Jews (as people in general) are the ones who never knew the Saviour. They are the ones who rejected Jesus the most because He was one of them. A dog (as thought of in the east) is a very ignorant, lazy, and dumb animal because they have no master to lead them. However the tables have turned because at present the Jews have no master to lead them. If we remember in the Old Testament times the Master lead them and they rejected Him on every turn and bit His gracious hand. This is a Christian who refuses to follow his Master. They are as dumb as dogs, lazy, and love to slumber. We refer to Jews as dogs now because the refuse to accept a Master and follow Him, we refer to some Christians as dogs because they are lazy in refusing to work for the Lord and to serve Him in any way they can, they love to sleep and love to slumber. They are dumb because they follow evil workers instead of men of truth. Beloved Paul gave us so many warnings and signs and some are just as bad as the Jews were in the Old Testament and bite the hand of grace and refuse to follow their Master. These evil workers want to tell us what this world has to offer when it truly has no good in it. The “concision” were those that followed the old customs of circumcision or as we would recognize them today as those who follow acts of works or customs. Beloved works are not for salvation, but rather a result of salvation. We work because this is what the Lord commands of us. We work because we love the Lord and not because we require a reward for it. A true worker for the Lord is one who Loves the Lord and has a great desire that the Lord will use him/her in some way and desiring nothing in return. Evil workers are those who simply seek rewards and riches. They are not concerned about you or the Lord they only want you to reward their effort with your money. Beloved Paul said to beware of them! And worship the Lord in spirit not with outside acts. Let’s remember the Lord told us to go into a closet and pray because He wants to hear our hearts and not words to satisfy fleshly ears, this is the same with works, do them, but do them because of your faith and not so man can see them. Beloved I am living proof that God reward His faithful. Not because I am rich or am very prosperous but because when a need arises brethren rush to the rescue. I once heard a story of a young lady who while singing “if you are saved and you know it say Amen) and she could not sing it because she was not saved, however the Lord used that song to bring her to Christ. I wonder how many can sing “we’ll work till Jesus comes” and mean it.

Walking The Wrong Walk

"Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world," Ephesians 2:2a

Beloved the key to this passage of scripture is found in verse 2 "in time past" which means "to walk in times past" or "aforetime" which is speaking of the time before the Lord showed His grace in you and "And you hath he quickened" verse 1a. The thought here is, something of the past, and if it is then it should not be something of the present or future. The Lord speaks much of putting the past behind us because it does not coincide out new nature that has been given to us through Jesus Christ. We are changed and this change is not the same as the old or else it would not be "in time past". Some who the Lord has saved seem to want to live in the past, in a state of activity that coincides with the Lord that had so much grace and mercy to save their unworthy souls. Let look at the past and see if it is something we desire in our new state.

V. 2 "according to the prince of the power of the air," The lost do not walk in life according to God they walk according to Satan. Nothing they do in life pleases the Lord, in fact their hearts are turned against God and all of their thinking and all of their works are worthless to the Lord even though they imagine them serving the Lord. Their lives are controlled by Satan therefore what they think and do are controlled by Satan. This is the reason they desire not the truth of His word and would rather believe a lie than truth, however to them it is truth because Satan has made them believe the lie.

V. 2 "the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:" Most people will say this part of V. 2 is speaking of bad people however if you define the word "disobedience" it simply means "disobedience or unbelief." So it is truly speaking of the Lost in general. The spirit that works in their hearts is Satan and not God’s. People can be morally good in mans eyes and very evil in God’s eyes. Nothing good comes from Satan and his spirits and this is the controlling spirit inside of the lost.

V. 3 "Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh," We that are saved have (or should have) put in the past our evil behaviors. The word "conversation" means "behave self" so it is speaking of ones conduct. Have you put the ways of the world behind you? You should have because here the Lord said it is something of the past for Christians. Too many Christians continue to desire the worldly lust folks this should be a desire of the past, so why are you still living in the past?

V. 3 "fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind;" The lost fulfilling the desires of the flesh, beloved if you as a Christian are fulfilling these desire’s then you need to stop it today. This is a thing of the past. Satan will continue to flood our hearts and minds with evil hoping his temptations will cause us to fall away from fellowship with the Lord. Satan is a great power and the Christian can over come his influence but only if he or she seeks to, and rejects them. Paul went on to say "were by nature the children of wrath, even as others."

V. V. 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 it was the grace of God that brought us out of this evil life and it is the grace of God that will keep us walking the correct walk, however it does take an effort on our part so I must ask, which influence are you following?

Ye Must Be Born Again!

John 3:3 “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

This is the question everyone who attends church services knows, do I need to be born again? And the answer, almost all Pastors will give you is yes! The problem is, how? How does one become a true born again Christian? Well this is the problem, you ask ten different Pastors and you may very well get ten different answers. Some Pastors are as dumb as Nicodemus was on this subject. The only way to understand God’s plan of salvation is to read and study His word. However some men seem to follow customs and traditions rather than God’s word to arrive at an answer. If we search the true meaning of words it really gets pretty simple. The two words “born again” come from two Greek words that mean “to be delivered of” and “from above” so therefore if you put these two words together “born again” they simply means to be delivered from above and folks it is truly that simple. While there is a lot that goes into it from man on earth i.e. the planting and watering of the seed (the gospel) the actual new birth comes from above and that is from God. Jesus goes on to tell Nicodemus in 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 water here refers to the natural birth process and this is proven in verse 6 “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” And to be born of the Spirit is the Holy Spirit. Anyone who makes it mean anything else is simply misunderstood of God’s word and has not properly studied God’s word. We want to go back to verse five to where Jesus said you must be born of the Spirit. Now add this statement with the statement in verse 3 to be delivered from above and here is your answer you must be born from above by the Holy Spirit of God and the conclusion is that God saves sinners. The only thing man has to do with salvation is we plant and water the seed there is no way possible we can breath life into the seed. Life in any form comes from God, He breathed life into Adam and He breathed life into every born again believer who has ever or will ever be saved.

Jesus goes on to say in verse 15 “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” There are a lot of men confused about this subject also. Paul tells us in Romans 10:10 “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” While Jesus tells us to believe, Paul goes on to tell us that believing is in our heart and our heart is the inner-man which is the inner-spirit that resides in us all. This is why it takes God to breath life in our spirit before we can believe Ephesians 2:1 “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;” Folks man can create all various way for you to be saved however there is only one way and that is God’s way. All of their various ways will not produce one single believer, only non-believers and they are convinced they are believers, but their faith is only a false hope. If you have not been born from above by the Holy Spirit then you are not saved no matter how much faith you have. Folks, now is the time for a faith check, do not trust your salvation to the hands of man but to the word of God. John 5:39 “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” Remember what Jesus told Nicodemus “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Have you been born of the Spirit of God or has someone told you that you have? Your answer will let you know whether or not you pass the faith check.

Pleasing God or Man?

Galatians 1:10-11 "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. [11.] But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man."

Beloved this week we would like to draw your attention to an area so many today have failed in, they are seeking to please man rather than God. I often wonder why there are so many Preachers and Christians that have fallen away from the truth of God’s word. There has to be a reason why, doesn’t there? I believe the answer is simple, God’s word tells us; in fact God said it is not a matter of "if", but "when". 2 Timothy 4:3-4 "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; [4.] And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." Paul said they "shall be turned unto fables." That is myths or fiction or non-existent teachings. Non-existent as in there is no truth in their teachings. They teach about a mythical salvation, a mythical church, a mythical Jesus, and etc. It is not that these teachings do not exist, oh no they all do, however not in the way they teach them. They teach mythical teachings because truth no longer appeals to the people they preach too. These men are simply teaching to please men rather then God. Paul has a very strong warning to the men teaching mythical doctrine "for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." Vs. 10b Paul just said these men are not servants of Christ which means they are not being used by the Lord.
People tend to measure a Minister on his ability to collect hears and on his ability to collect money. I must admit both of these are wonderful but not a measuring stick in which to measure a servant of Christ. The true measuring stick to measure a servant of Christ is how much truth he teaches. 1 Timothy 5:17-18 "Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. [18.] For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward." The word honor means money, and the Lord said he is worth double money. This is fact my beloved brethren a man that teaches truth is a man that teaches to small assemblies and small assemblies have small bank accounts and that equals small pay checks. However with all that math being done it does not eliminate the churches responsibility to give their pastor all the support they can. If you have a Pastor that speaks truth after the Lord Jesus Christ then you are indeed a blessed church.
Paul goes on to say in Vs. 11b "that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man." Paul is saying, what I preach is not from man but from God. I do not seek to please man nor did my education come from man but rather the Holy Spirit. This is why Paul said "Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn." Vs. 18 of 1 Tim. The ox is used here for his strength to tread down the corn and the reason they were not muzzled is so they could eat while they worked and they would work harder and longer. So Paul went on to say in Vs. 18 of 1 Tim. "The labourer is worthy of his reward." The powerful ox did such a wonderful job he was worth all that he can eat and it was never too much. Folks the man that preaches truth is worthy of all a church can afford to give him. In order for this man to be so strong in teaching truth countless hours goes into study time and as Paul compared him to an ox, please do not under feed you ox. Just as a Pastor must continually ask himself "am I pleasing God or man" a church must also ask themselves the same question when they pay their Pastor.