Believe Them Not!

Matthew 24:23 - 24 "Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. (24.) For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." Now that we have passed December 21, 2012 we all now know that this was another false prediction. This will not be the last prediction that will turn into a lie. The simple fact is; we simply do not know when Christ will return but only that He is going to return because God promised in Acts 1:11 that He would. "Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." However the exact time we do not know, in Matthew 24:25 – 27 we learn "Behold, I have told you before. (26.) Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. (27.) For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Therefore all we can do is to pray and look eastward. I personally am looking forward to the Lords return and I know if you are a believer in Christ and have oil in your lamps then you also are ready. I believe these false predictions are also a sign of the times and therefore must be fulfilled to produce doubt in the minds of the lost and unprepared believers. While we look at them as jokes and pure stupidity we must also treat them seriously. In both passages of scripture we have just used the Lord promised they would be made and assured that many would believe them. Therefore when these ignorant people make these predictions, look at them as ignorance but also look at them as proving that the Lords return is just a little closer. These predictions deliver much doubt. Doubt to the lost in that they can use them to mock the coming of the Lord, and doubt in the weak believer in that they will not concern themselves with it. But be assured beloved when we least expect it the Lord will return, and at a time that many believers in Christ are unprepared. Let us notice the Lord said in Matthew 24:24 “…insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." Not all the elect of God because there are a lot of believers who are ignorant to this very event, but the elect of God whom God has kept learned and pure in His truths. Just because one is saved does not mean he or she has been elected to be truthful follower of Gods word. The elect here are those who are learned and well taught in Gods Holy Script. These things may get so real that they have a chance in fooling these well learned ones. However the Lord warned us that no matter how real they may look, to believe them not. We must keep our minds on the scriptures and only on them, they are they that will teach you truth and keep you well learned. Mark warned us in Mark 13:22 "For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect." But it will not be possible if our hearts and minds are on what God is teaching. While the ignorant predictions continue, do not be surprised if they get more and more real, even enough so that the very well learned of God may have a hard time separating them. Folks, we are only as strong as the grace of God allows us to be. Therefore we must all be instant in prayer and very watchful or other wise we may be fooled by the fools.

Tis’ The Christmas Season!

“Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” John 5:19 We come upon another year in which the world will celebrate the Christmas Season. When the trees are cut down and decorated, the mythical creatures are once again a substitute for God. Another season when parents will once again lie to their children about this God-like person known as Santa Claus. He lives in his magical kingdom where all the little elves make all the toys all year and then on Christmas Eve he will distribute all the toys to all the children around the world. This is fine for the world and if they choose this path then so be it. My wife and I celebrated Christmas for years but we have come to the conclusion that Christmas is not a Christian holiday. Now I know that some will disagree with me on this since Christmas is all about Christ; but is it? If we take a deep look at the Christmas holiday we will find it in no way could be of God nor related to Christ in any way. Let’s look at a few examples; it is full of lies, God is true and there is no lying in him, all lies comes from Satan; It is really not about the birth of Christ, is it, isn’t it more about Santa, reindeers, toys, gifts; isn’t it more about “here comes Santa Claus” rather than “Joy to the world”, It is more about hurt and heartache than about joy and peace, people go into deep debt to buy things they cannot afford, people get hurt because they gave better gifts than they received, is this Gods way; no it isn’t and therefore it cannot be declared a Godly Holy Day. Now I’m not going to condemn those who celebrate it because we all do to a point. If you are alive Christmas affects you in some way. You get a paid holiday, a bonus at work, someone may give you a gift, family may get together, or Etc. Etc. However for some reason the folks that do not celebrate the Christmas Holiday are seen as bad and ugly people, but in the reality of it, they are right. See I like it as the “holiday season” more that the “Christmas Season” because I simply do not see it as a Christian Holiday, I just don’t see Christ in a season that is full of lies, deception, and so much hurt. Now please do not lump us (non Christmas supporters) in with the God haters who hate Christmas because it is suppose to be a Christian Holyday because we are not, you do not have to love a secular holiday to love God and Jesus Christ. Jesus said “…but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” In other words Jesus Christ was here not to do His own will but the will that the Father gave Him to do; and also to do it as His Father would. Now I must ask, would God celebrate Christmas as the world and most religion institutions would. I wonder this morning how many churches will have Santa Claus in their services, how many will sing songs like “Jingle Bells” and how many pastors will lie in some way celebrating a secular holiday. Folks while Christmas affects us all in some way, lets not look at it for more than what it is; it is a secular holiday with very little joy and no peace. I will be going to visit my mother and family on Monday because holidays are the only time I get to see my mother and my family really only get together one time of the year. Many of folks will be travailing this holiday season and whether you like the season or not, please pray that we all get through it safely. If you wonder why our church does not celebrate the season, it is not because we are mean people, we just believe as a church we should not celebrate such holidays. May God bless you all is our prayer!!

Thou Shalt Not Kill!

Exodus 20:13 "Thou shalt not kill." As we are still in tears about the tragedy in Connecticut where some 20 children and 6 adults were murdered; many are looking for answers. Please if I hear one more seminary educated Catholic Priest on T.V. giving us more worthless philosophy I am going to vomit. Folks this is indeed sad; and it is sad because one worthless human being took the life of 26 other souls with him as he left this world for his place in hell. It seems like every year we see several of these mass murders and it seems to be getting worse. This time he took children and not just children but 6 - 7 years old and older. Oh, how sad this is. But as always the liberal folks out there will use this sad occasion as they do with all the other tragedies every year to violate our second amendment and create more gun laws. How about we attempt to find the real cause which is sin! This young man did what he did because he was sin infested. God said "For the wages of sin is death..." Romans 6:23 not just eternal death but also physical death. God also said “…There is none righteous, no, not one:” Romans 3:10. We do not have to look far to find the cause here. The cause is a godless society and an America that basically hates God. America has tried to remove God from everything but when a tragedy like this happens we call on God for help. We cannot just cancel God from everything in our lives and call on Him when we need Him. We as a Nation must pay for our sins and of our failure to worship and serve God. I do not want to limit the sadness of this tragedy at all, but rather attempt to explain why these mass murders keep happening and are getting worse. God is not welcome in our schools but politicians go to churches in an attempt to get elected. As a nation we do not fear God but rather want to use Him when tragedy hit us. As a nation we only want God when He can give us something we need. James Madison, the chief architect of the Constitution once said: "We have staked the whole future of American civilization not on the power of government, far from it. We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God." So before those liberal “more gun law” people start using this tragedy in an unfortunate way to promote their agenda, let us look to the real law, the law of God. God commanded “Thou shalt not kill." Or thou shalt not murder; now if this young man had been taught Gods law then maybe this horrible act that hurt so many families for the rest of their days would not have happened. There is a price to pay for ripping the Ten Commandments out of our schools and teaching our children that God is not real. We do not need more laws; we need God back into our lives. Folks, we ask you all to pray for the families of this tragedy. I cannot empathize with these families at all, but I can none the less pray for them. I know that we have all cried at one point listening to the news accounts of these murders. We wonder why God would allow such a thing; folk’s God has a reason for everything and there is some reason for this tragedy. There is so much that we simply do not understand and while a hundred or so doctors may try to explain this young mans actions the true reason may never be known; that is why he chose to shoot-up a school of young children. Sin is a horrible thing and its power comes from Satan, this is why it is so hard to refuse. If America children were taught from Gods laws things would be different and this is the reason America is as troubled as it is, because America has pulled herself from the laws of God.

Grace and Mercy Are Leaving!

“That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thessalonians 2:12 There is coming a time that grace and mercy will not be here on this earth. I am a firm believer that when Jesus Christ returns in His cloud and calls His saints and His churches out of this world; grace and mercy stops. I believe there will be very few that will be saved in the tribulation period and they will be mostly if not all Jews that fill the 144,000 and others. God has to this point been overly gracious to mankind and has provided a way of salvation; but so many reject salvation and its truth. God is going to have enough one day and at that point grace on the people of this world will be no more. "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:" 2 Thessalonians 2:11 this world is quickly reaching the point of being almost universally anti-Jehovah God. It is now seeing such a hatred of God that even religious and pagan holiday such as Christmas is turning their stomachs. We live in a time when crosses, nativity set-up’s, and soon churches will turn their minds to hatred. Most already have no respect for church houses. Folks if we open our eye to the truth of our time we can clearly see the world setting up for the tribulation period. I believe when America falls the world will fall behind her. Israel cannot defend herself and without America she cannot go on. The world wants a ruler, a leader to allow Islam to become the world’s religion, it is ready for a one single leader, and it is ready for the Anti-Christ, False Prophet, and the Great Dragon – Satan himself. God has just said “God shall send them strong delusion… That they all might be damned” Who will send these strong delusion, God will. They will believe “a lie” or better translated “the lie” that is the liar himself Satan. "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 Lie has already began and the giving over of God has also already started and I say to Christians everywhere; make sure you lamps are trimmed with oil because the time is near that the bridegroom cometh for His beloved Bride the Lords churches. God promised in Romans 1:28 to "...gave them over to a reprobate mind..." that is defined as "a vain empty mind, worthless, good for nothing devoid of all true knowledge and judgment; incapable of approving what is truly good, or of disapproving that which is evil; a mind that has lost all conscience of things, and is disapproved of by God, and all good men:" – John Gill. What is good in a mind that cannot retain God of His truth? Folks, just look around, look at the way the world is leaning toward lies and wickedness, look at the destruction in the storms we are getting, look at the diseases in the world, these are all signs of things that will be in the last 3 ½ year of the tribulation period; when the seals are broken, the trumpets are blown, and the vials are poured out. Folks the day of mercy and grace are short, today is the day of salvation because it will not be offered in the days to come. "(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.)" 2 Corinthians 6:2

The Power Is In The Local Churches

Matthew 28:18-20 "And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. (19.) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (20.) Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen." Mission work is one of the greatest works a man can do in life. There is no work greater than working for God and the local churches. God said of a Pastor "This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work." 1 Timothy 3:1 not just work to say; but literally a work. Bring a Pastor of one of the Lords churches can be a tiresome and endless job. The pay is normally minimum but the rewards are eternal. This can also be said of Missionaries. It also is a work and for one to seek this work he will spend countless hours building a network of support and a work in a particular location. When God calls something a “work” He sure know, because He is right as He always is. God gave all power to Jesus Christ and He (Jesus Christ) gave this power to the churches. Everything done as a ministry must go through the local church or churches. A Pastor is called by a local church and a Missionary is sent by a local church. Therefore only church ordained men can work the fields as Missionaries. I believe it is also the churches responsibility to support every possible mission work whether the work is supported by their church or not. No local church can support a mission work alone, it takes a network of churches and much financial support to have a mission work. I believe that every church has the means and ability to support some mission work and I also believe for a church not to support at least some mission work is a sin. Christ’s command in the commission to the local churches could not be clearer. It is a true blessing to support a ministry of any kind but more so of getting the word of God to the world. Proverbs 11:30 “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.” Folks this power to win souls (That is, brings them to the knowledge of God.) by sending men around the world is every local churches responsibility, let us all do our part. A church can never have nor support too much mission work.