Only Jesus Will Set You Free.

 “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32 

This scripture was brought to my attention this week as I was travailing. I heard a very educated, very will spoken, uneducated, unintelligent, PhD type preacher on the radio trying to preach on this scripture. As most people, he had no idea what God is saying in this scripture. He said, “truth is whatever truth is to you” and then failed to connect the saving grace of God thru Jesus Christ to this scripture. He spoke about 10 minutes proving he had no idea what he was talking about and then started to talk about how to buy his book. This preacher is exactly what is wrong with what is called Christianity in America. Folks, truth is NOT what you think truth is to you, truth is whatever God says. God said of mankind, “…let God be true, but every man a liar…”.  Romans 3:4 And God went on to say in that same scripture “…That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings…”, what a difference from what the radio preacher said. I see why the radio preacher said what he said, it is the very same reason most non-church preachers say what they do, they do not want to hurt the sensitive feeling of those self-righteous, very tender-feeling, I-will-leave if you hurt my feeling members of his church. Most people in these non-church assemblies cannot stand to hear the truth of the scriptures, therefore their Pastors are bound to preaching a watered-down version of the bible. You know, there is another saying here in America, “the truth hurts” and if the bible does not hurt you sometimes, then you are not hearing truth. God said as He was speaking to Pastors, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”  2 Timothy 4:2. The word “reprove” means - convict of their errors – and the word rebuke means - to tax upon – which means to charge them, charge on pain of, and to charge on pain of penalty for disobedience. – So what God is saying here is, Pastors that are really true to the word are to preach the word of God, and in being true to the word you will convict the membership of their errors in life, any that truth will convict them of their sins and cause them pain to want to change their ways. That is the “truth setting you free” of sin. Most people in the non-churches are so self-righteous that they cannot handle the truth. That could be they do not know the truth, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6 The scriptures goes on to say, “…the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”  John 14:17 So here is truth, The Father is truth, The Son is truth, and the Holy Spirit is truth and He also delivers truth to the believer. This scripture right here tells us why people, especially  people in the non-church assemblies cannot “handle the truth” it is because “…whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” This is also why so many people visit churches of truth and leave because they cannot handle the truth, it hurts their feelings. I cannot count the amount of times my feelings have been hurt by the scriptures, but if your feeling does not get hurt by studying God’s word, then you have not been set free by the truth. As a Pastor I preach the Word, if it hurts someone’s feelings and they leave, I let them walk. If they are a believer in Jesus Christ and a lover of truth, then they will want to talk about it, and be set free of their anger. Folks, this is the truth, God The Father, Jesus The Son, The Holy Spirit, and The Word of God. Listen to the truth and it will make you free or else you are bound to sin and lies. “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” John 17:17 Have you been sanctified by the truth, has your thinking been sanctified by the truth, are you offended by the truth? If not then maybe you need to know the truth (Jesus Christ) and be set free by the Truth.  

The birth of a Saviour.

“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 

Not all Christians celebrate Christmas, it does not make them weird, or strange, or even hateful, nor does it make them non-Christian. See, Christmas is a pagan holiday it is not a “holyday”. Christmas is not really about Jesus, His birth, nor is it about Jesus period, it is a secular holiday that the world make-believe it to be about Jesus. If Christmas was about Jesus, it would all be about Him and nothing else. It certainly would not be about a fictional man named Santa Clause that people lie to their children about being real. No, I am not rude, I am not a scrooge, I am a Christian and a Pastor that believes it is a sin to lie, even to lie for fun is still a sin. So, you do what you want, it is you that will one day account to Jesus Christ (the real giver of gifts) for your sinfulness of lies. I will not argue about it, because God said, “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:” Exodus 34:14 I know what people say, “I don’t worship Santa Clause” well maybe you do not, but you are teaching your children to do so by lying to them.

However, with all that said, let us look at the birth of our Saviour Jesus The Christ. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, He had no human Father. The bible says “And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. Matthew 1:16, it does not say Joseph begat Jesus, it says Jesus was born of Mary. But Jesus was a person, a real person, He was born of a woman that carried Him for nine months. Listen to this scripture very carefully, “And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” Luke 1:35 I believe that when Luke wrote “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee” it means that the Holy Spirit put the seed of God in Mary to cause her to be pregnant, because we all know it takes a male seed to make a woman with child. The words “shall come” means – to influence – and the word “upon” means - as a relation of distribution – then the scripture goes on to say “the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee” meaning - to invest with preternatural influence – and if you look in the Greek you will find two of these definitions comes from the Greek word “epi” which is the third one “upon” which means - as a relation of distribution – which tells me the Holy Spirit delivered the seed of God into Mary’s womb creating “that holy thing” in her womb “which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God”. This is why Mary was surprised that she was pregnant because of verse 34 “Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” I believe Jesus was more than the Incarnate Son of God, but that humanly speaking He was God’s Son humanly as well as deity. Jesus never loses His sonship, and fleshly He was and is still the fleshly Son of God as well as Incarnate. As God’s Son in the human body He was born without sin, lived without sin, and died only with our sins. This is how He could be born, grow, learn, weep, suffer pain, and die. God cannot because God is immutable, even the second part of the Godhead the Son. We know that the Holy Spirt raised Him from the grave, “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.” Luke 23:46 The things Jesus went through God could not have gone through because of His deity and immutability only the human Son of God could do these things. So, God the Father gave Him a name above all other names, He gave Him all glory, and He gave Him His rightful place in heaven, the throne on the Father right.

God did all this because He loved us, and He sent Jesus to die for us, therefore Jesus is our Saviour. Santa Clause has nothing to do with Jesus because he is fictional, and how dare people belittle our Glorious Saviour with a lie. The same goes for anything else for salvation, it belittles Jesus, his birth, life, sacrifice, and the entire meaning of Saviour. Folks, we had a Saviour born of a virgin woman, by the seed of God, sent from God to wash our sins by His blood, please do not belittle our Saviour. “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted…But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:4 - 5 

Worse Than Before, Warning!

2 Peter 2:20 “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.”

The greatest knowledge of God we have is our fear of Him. God is righteous in every possible way, but He is also judgmental in everything. God is great with love, before we loved Him, He loved us, and it is because of His love that we love Him. However, let us not mis-understand words like love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness, let us always remember the word fear.  God listed fear as one of the downfalls of mankind, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Romans 3:18 When people have no fear in their hearts then they will not mind the rule of law. God went on to say, “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.” Ephesians 5:21 It is our fear of God that causes us to be good Christians. Now let us look at our knowledge, our knowledge is given by the Holy Spirit and we should use much care with that knowledge. It is by our knowledge of God, His word, and fear that keeps us in God’s word. It is by God’s grace that we “have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ”. But with this grace of knowledge comes responsibility, and that responsibility is on our part to keep Gods Holy Word in our life as a guide. Jesus knowing this great challenge in the Christians life prayed for us about this, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” John 17:17 Making one holy or pure in this life is only accomplished by the power and work of God. Only in the washing of the blood of Jesus can a soul ever be cleansed and made pure. But keeping ourselves pure is a work on our part, we must walk in the Holy Spirit. “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16 It is true that God will keep us, and we cannot fall from the salvation that He has given to us thru His Glorious Son, but we must walk in the word to keep holy. God told us to “… keep thyself pure.” 1 Timothy 5:22 This is the challenge of every believer, to learn the word, walk in the Spirit, and to keep ourselves pure in this life. Folks, it is only through our fear of god that we can continue to do this. I fear that the words “chastisement, and chastening” are not used enough in this age. But there is something else that will keep the Christian pure in life, that is respect and honor. We owe God our respect and honor for the grace and mercy He has shown to us in saving our unworthy souls. After God has brought us up out of the sewage pit of this most evil world, why would we even want to return. Why would we not want to walk in the word of God every moment of our life, why would we not want to show God our gratitude for what He has given un in Jesus Christ.

However, not all that claim Christianity are Christians. If you are a Christian and a true Christian, then you must know your responsibility to God and Jesus who saved you. If you cannot do this then here is a thought, maybe you are not saved. Maybe this is why you cannot follow Jesus and God’s Word in this life. “But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.” 2 Peter 2:22 It is sad that so many that call themselves Christians are nothing more than lost, religious, and hell bound. The lost sinner will always return to the pit of the sewage and when they do it will be worse than if they had not known the truth, “latter end is worse with them than the beginning.” Professing to know Jesus Christ and not actually knowing Him is going to be painful, devastating, their end will be worse. Folks, salvation is not a game, it is real, and it is only thru Jesus Christ, if you are saved any other way then you are lost and a “fake Christian”, your end is only going to be worse. Read these words very carefully, “And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape…And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not…Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me…And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” John 5:37 - 40

Man Has Nothing To Glory Of!

Galatians 6:12 - 15 “As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ…For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh…But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world…For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.”

If you look at the zeal of a lot of people who call themselves Christians it is a great zeal. Paul wrote, “Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved…For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.” Romans 10:1 - 2 Paul loved his fellow Jews, I believe he prayed for them often, that they would come to know Christ as their Saviour. I often find myself praying for the lost and I hope you do also. However, Paul like a lot of us understood salvation and we know that God saves sinners and regardless what or do, God saves sinners. While these Jews had “a zeal of God” or for God, they refused to receive Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Most people who call themselves “Christians” are nothing but zealous people trying to serve God by serving themselves. Paul wrote in Verse 12 of our text “As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh…” This means that these folks wanted to do something to saved lost sinners, we have so many today and they are called “charismatics” in today religion. These people are energized in themselves, and these are the ones who Paul calls “Zealous” but “…but not according to knowledge.” This means while they have a lot of energy for saving sinners and causing people to make decisions or choices for Christ, they do it for self-glory and not for God. Paul went on to say in our text scripture “…they constrain you to be circumcised…” v. 12 they insist that you do some kind of self-glory work to call yourself a Christian. You must make some sort of decision, pray a prayer, be baptized, join a church, or do some sort of works to be saved. Here they were holding to the old Jewish custom of being circumcised before they could be saved. The problem was that circumcision like works today do nothing for salvation, “For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law…” because the circumcision is not a part of salvation no more than works are, because if you do not keep the entire law then you are guilty of all. “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” James 2:10 Salvation has nothing to do with works, nor zeal because salvation is in Jesus Christ. Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised but declared righteous long before that. Salvation is in Jesus Christ, we as Christians have no reason to glory because we did nothing to be saved. Paul wrote “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…” because He and He alone is Saviour. It matters not how much “zeal” a person has, it matters whether or not they believe in Jesus Christ and His action upon the cross, the finished work. Paul finished-up with these words “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing…” if salvation is in Christ then zeal, decisions, choices, prayers, baptisms, church memberships, or anything else will not do you any good in salvation. People can bend or twist the scriptures to make them say or prove any false doctrine, but the truth is Jesus Christ is Saviour!  And then there’s this conclusion “…neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.” It’s not about a work, it is about being born again as a New Creature. “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.” John 3:3 and “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 Hear the scriptures, they will teach you the truth about salvation, and it about Jesus Christ and not about us. “Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:9 Do not be fooled by foolish, zealous lost people.

A Needed Revival For Us All.

I selected the article below this week and allowed it to take-up most of the room in our newsletter because I thought it was that beneficial to us as church members and Christians. I am a firmly believer that we live in an era where Christians and churches are not living properly in the Lord. I think Brother DeMoss has really pinpointed the needs of Christians and churches of today. I believe we all need a revival, not a revival service but a real revival from the Lord. The word “revival” means - an improvement in the condition or strength of something. That “something” is our Christian hearts to better serve the Lord, the bible, and the church. I believe we could all use a good dose of chastisement from the Lord with much grace and mercy to change our hearts on His word, our love to each other as Christians, to our prayer life, and to our churches. Church is a seminary of biblical studies for believers to learn how to serve the Lord our God who saved us by His grace and mercy to honor Him in this world for as long as we live in it. Sometimes Christians grows weak and we are the last to know. Please take the time to read and study this list for improvements in your Christian life. Please study it with an open, honest, and prayerful heart. Sometimes we fail to recognize our downside or where we are lacking, but today is a good day for a Christian REVIVAL. I will also be studding it for reviving some of my lacking in the Lord. Let us pray for one another and we spiritually exercise in the word of God to strengthen our spiritual understanding.         

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

WE NEED REVIVAL:
By: N. L. DeMoss

. . . when we do not love Him as we once did.

. . . when earthly interests and occupations are more important to us than eternal ones.

. . . when we would rather watch TV and read secular books and magazines than read the Bible and pray.
. . . when church dinners are better attended than prayer meetings.
. . . when concerts draw bigger crowds than prayer meetings.

. . . when we have little or no desire for prayer.

. . . when we would rather make money than give money.

. . . when we put people into leadership positions in our churches who do not meet scriptural qualifications.

. . . when our Christianity is joyless and passionless.

. . . when we know truth in our heads that we are not practicing in our lives.

. . . when we make little effort to witness to the lost.

. . . when we have time for sports, recreation, and entertainment, but not for Bible study and prayer.

. . . when we do not tremble at the Word of God.

. . . when preaching lacks conviction, confrontation, and divine fire and anointing.

. . . when we seldom think thoughts of eternity.

. . . when God’s people are more concerned about their jobs and their careers, than about the Kingdom

      of Christ and the salvation of the lost.

. . . when God’s people get together with other believers and the conversation is primarily about the

      news, weather, and sports, rather than the Lord.

. . . when church services are predictable and "business as usual."

. . . when Christian husbands and wives are not praying together.

. . . when our marriages are co-existing rather than full of the love of Christ.

. . . when our children are growing up to adopt worldly values, secular philosophies, and ungodly lifestyles.

. . . when we are more concerned about our children’s education and their athletic activities than about

      the condition of their souls.

. . . when sin in the church is pushed under the carpet.

. . . when known sin is not dealt with through the biblical process of discipline and restoration.

. . . when we tolerate "little" sins of gossip, a critical spirit, and lack of love.

. . . when we will watch things on television and movies that are not holy.

. . . when our singing is half-hearted and our worship lifeless.

. . . when our prayers are empty words designed to impress others.

. . . when our prayers lack fervency.

. . . when our hearts are cold and our eyes are dry.

. . . when we aren’t seeing regular evidence of the supernatural power of God.

. . . when we have ceased to weep and mourn and grieve over our own sin and the sin of others.

. . . when we are content to live with explainable, ordinary Christianity and church services.

. . . when we are bored with worship.

. . . when people have to be entertained to be drawn to church.

. . . when our music and dress become patterned after the world.

. . . when we start fitting into and adapting to the world, rather than calling the world to adapt to God’s

      standards of holiness.

. . . when we don’t long for the company and fellowship of God’s people.

. . . when people have to be begged to give and to serve in the church.

. . . when our giving is measured and calculated, rather than extravagant and sacrificial.

. . . when we aren’t exercising faith and believing God for the impossible.

. . . when we are more concerned about what others think about us than what God thinks about us.

. . . when we are unmoved by the fact that 2.5 billion people in this world have never heard the
       name of Jesus
. . . when we are unmoved by the thought of neighbors, business associates, and acquaintances who are

      lost and without Christ.

. . . when we are making little or no difference in the secular world around us.

. . . when the fire has gone out in our hearts, our marriages, and the church.

A Needed Revival

WE NEED REVIVAL: By: N. L. DeMoss . . . when we do not love Him as we once did. . . . when earthly interests and occupations are more important to us than eternal ones. . . . when we would rather watch TV and read secular books and magazines than read the Bible and pray. . . . when church dinners are better attended than prayer meetings. . . . when concerts draw bigger crowds than prayer meetings. . . . when we have little or no desire for prayer. . . . when we would rather make money than give money. . . . when we put people into leadership positions in our churches who do not meet scriptural qualifications. . . . when our Christianity is joyless and passionless. . . . when we know truth in our heads that we are not practicing in our lives. . . . when we make little effort to witness to the lost. . . . when we have time for sports, recreation, and entertainment, but not for Bible study and prayer. . . . when we do not tremble at the Word of God. . . . when preaching lacks conviction, confrontation, and divine fire and anointing. . . . when we seldom think thoughts of eternity. . . . when God’s people are more concerned about their jobs and their careers, than about the Kingdom       of Christ and the salvation of the lost. . . . when God’s people get together with other believers and the conversation is primarily about the       news, weather, and sports, rather than the Lord. . . . when church services are predictable and "business as usual." . . . when Christian husbands and wives are not praying together. . . . when our marriages are co-existing rather than full of the love of Christ. . . . when our children are growing up to adopt worldly values, secular philosophies, and ungodly lifestyles. . . . when we are more concerned about our children’s education and their athletic activities than about       the condition of their souls. . . . when sin in the church is pushed under the carpet. . . . when known sin is not dealt with through the biblical process of discipline and restoration. . . . when we tolerate "little" sins of gossip, a critical spirit, and lack of love. . . . when we will watch things on television and movies that are not holy. . . . when our singing is half-hearted and our worship lifeless. . . . when our prayers are empty words designed to impress others. . . . when our prayers lack fervency. . . . when our hearts are cold and our eyes are dry. . . . when we aren’t seeing regular evidence of the supernatural power of God. . . . when we have ceased to weep and mourn and grieve over our own sin and the sin of others. . . . when we are content to live with explainable, ordinary Christianity and church services. . . . when we are bored with worship. . . . when people have to be entertained to be drawn to church. . . . when our music and dress become patterned after the world. . . . when we start fitting into and adapting to the world, rather than calling the world to adapt to God’s       standards of holiness. . . . when we don’t long for the company and fellowship of God’s people. . . . when people have to be begged to give and to serve in the church. . . . when our giving is measured and calculated, rather than extravagant and sacrificial. . . . when we aren’t exercising faith and believing God for the impossible. . . . when we are more concerned about what others think about us than what God thinks about us. . . . when we are unmoved by the fact that 2.5 billion people in this world have never heard the        name of Jesus . . . when we are unmoved by the thought of neighbors, business associates, and acquaintances who are       lost and without Christ. . . . when we are making little or no difference in the secular world around us. . . . when the fire has gone out in our hearts, our marriages, and the church. . . . when we are blind to the extent of our need and don’t think we need revival.