God Hates The Workers Of Iniquity

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?

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

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.

Someday, every knee shall bow and confess Jesus Christ is Lord!

"Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. (23.) I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Isaiah 45:22-23

As we enter the Christmas season I would like to call your attention once again to the hatred toward Jesus Christ that worldly people have. Now please understand not every Christian is full of Christmas cheer but for a different reason than the haters in this world of Jesus Christ. Some Christians simply do not want to celebrate a Pagan holiday created on a false concept by the Catholic Church that focuses on lies and phoniness at best. Whether or not Christmas was created to celebrate the birth of Christ Jesus is to most Christians irrelevant, because we have seen what it has became and that is full of lies and at the least maybe a year long heartaches for so many who go into debt just to celebrate a Pagan holiday. Christmas is a time of lies and untruths in that it has been shown not to be a Church or Christian involved holiday. Now I do not want to be a party pooper, if you celebrate Christmas then that is your choice, because we all do to a point enjoy benefits of the holiday whether we like it or not. If you work you get a paid holiday, or maybe a Christmas bonus, or maybe something that is related to Christmas and I have not known anyone who wants to give those things up, however for the most part there are a lot of Christians that will not celebrate the season and that is their right after all it is not a biblical holiday, the birth of Christ Jesus is but not Christ-Mass. Is Christmas truly about the birth of Jesus Christ or is it about Santa Claus, is it truly about miracles as the movies proclaim, is it about the gift giving that put so many in debt, or is it about tree decorations that according to the book of Jeremiah this also is unscriptural Jeremiah 10:2 - 4 "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. (3.) For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. (4.) They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not." I believe to call Christmas a Christian holiday is very sad and this is why, so many Christians refuse to celebrate it. As for those who choose to celebrate it we still love you because we are all one in Christ Jesus.

Now with that being said let us get back to those who hate Christmas because they hate Jesus Christ. We are now seeing more and more schools and Governments bowing down to groups like the ACLU and other God hating groups that have refused Christmas displays and Christmas programs because they simply hate Jesus Christ. Our Schools and Government bow down to these groups because they fear them and their God hating lawyer and have been filled with a leadership that grew up in the downfall of America of the Sixties and Seventies, a time of war protest, the expanding of drugs, woman instead of being a help-mate wanting to control, and a time we all saw America forever change and churches empty for religions that do not fear God but rather attempt to control God. Beloved you add all of those ingredients and you have today’s America. But let us look to the future and these same God hating people will one day bow and confess Jesus Christ to be Lord and this glorious event will happen at the judgment of this lost world before the Great White Throne of Jesus Christ. Heed the warning because you will confess His name sooner or later. Romans 14:11 "For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God." 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;”

Salvation By Works Destroys Faith and Grace.

Romans 4:14 – 16a “For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: (15.) Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. (16.) Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed…”

Beloved as we continue to slowly march through the book of Romans we indeed find so many wonderful truths. This week we saw very clearly how the idea of salvation by works of the law totally destroys two very important ingredients of salvation; Grace, and Faith. Paul has went into great detail about how Abraham was justified in God’s sight and he has concluded it was by faith Romans 4:13 “For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” The main point here includes Abraham being justified through circumcision and the law, but Abraham was not circumcised until he was 99 years old after he was already justified and the promise made to him and his seed (his seed includes all of the elect of God not just Israel), and as far as the law is concerned it did not exist until some 400 years later as I understand it.

In Ephesians 2:8 - 9 we read “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.” Both grace and faith are involved in salvation and both are a gift from God. If grace is an unmerited favor then it is a gift and not earned and faith is a gift from Christ Jesus. With this all being said God said “For by grace are ye saved through faith...” and the fact that Paul spoke of in Romans chapter 4 is that both grace and faith are destroyed by the very thought of salvation by works. First let us look at grace Paul said in Romans 4:4 “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.” In other words, if salvation is by works, including circumcision or works of the law then grace is dead or a non-factor in salvation. How can anything be given as an unmerited favor if it is earned by any kind of work or effort on our part. The two simply make no sense together. Works for salvation not only destroys grace but the entire writings of Paul and the rest of the bible. Second let us look at faith, in Romans 4:14 “For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:” Not only is grace made of non-effect but so is faith. Faith is dead because if you believe in salvation by works than where is faith and what is faith? Faith is believing that the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin and how is that possible if we do not believe it. Faith is also believing that the payment Jesus made on Calvary’s cross was sufficient payment of our debt and by it God would count us as just and righteous people. Works for salvation also destroys Ephesians 2:8 - 9 and makes it worthless at best and a total lie at worse. How can God tell us works is not a part of salvation and then command us to earn it by works and how can God tell us salvation is of His unmerited favor and then command us to earn it? Is God that confused or is His word so confusing that man cannot understand the reality of salvation? How about the promise God made to Abraham? Isn’t it also destroyed? Paul said it was “…and the promise made of none effect:” verse 14. God promised Abraham that his faith was sufficient to be righteous and to all of them that would believe after him so isn’t that also destroyed? If Abraham was justified by his works then where was the law, and where was his circumcision? Neither was a reality until long after his salvation. Salvation is no more of works than it is of money because if you can earn it then why can’t it be purchased?

Greed!

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.”

Beloved, we live in a time when greed is the number one cause of our world’s problems. While this is not a new problem it is worse than ever and only getting even worse. It seems to me that the great economic crises we are in today came about as the results of greed. Companies wanting more and more and doing just about anything to everything to gain money until the piggy bank went broke and we now see the results. Churches are not exempt from this, greed as you can also see by looking at them and seeing the funds needed to support their programs. Pastors’ are being hired not as God has set them in place but rather to gain attendance and to bring in money to build their empires. Our government is not exempt either they continually tax and spend like they have unlimited resources. Greed is defined as “excessive or rapacious desire, esp. for wealth or possessions” and I believe this sums up what I have tried to say thus far.

The Lord said “For the love of money is the root of all evil…” not the money but rather the peoples love for it. How does a Pastor of a large church get a larger church? Bring in more money. How does a CEO get a larger company? Bring in more money. How does a Politician win re-election? Bring more money to their state. As unfortunate as it is, it is called greed, we never have enough. The Lord did not say that “some evil” is brought about for mans love of money but rather “all evil” has a money and a greed as its root. One source put it this way in describing greed “an all-consuming desire for more than one needs or deserves” and I agree. The Lord never planned for His churches to beg and plead for money nor did He ever plan for His churches to be greedy. The Lord never planned for His Under-Sheppard to beg and plead for money nor did He ever justify His Pastors to take more from His churches than they needed. 1 Timothy 3:3 "Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;" Those that do have failed to comply with their requirements as ordered by the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord also commanded Deacons to be like minded in this department. 1 Timothy 3:8 Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre;” Money and the love for it and the greediness for it has caused much havoc in a lot of churches today. I believe this is a greater problem today than we all are wiling to recognize. Beloved we as Christians are to be more like the Lord Jesus with no place to lay our head. How many times does God warn against the rich and the wealthy and speak about the blessings of the meek and poor. However I am convinced that some of us would be more like the young rich man and refuse to sell what we have and give it to the poor rather than be more like Jesus and give all we have for others even if they are undeserving.

To all those who are greedy and refuse to reverse your thinking, you will face Jesus Christ someday and pay account for your greediness. To all of those companies who have lied, cheated, stole from you customers you will also pay account to Jesus Christ, and to our Governmental bodies you also will pay account to Jesus Christ. Pastors and churches do not think just because you do things in the name of Jesus and call it righteousness that it is; you too will not escape the judgment of Jesus Christ. I believe as Pastors and churches we may have learned too much from the secular world. Beloved all I ask is that you think about it.

The Biggest Lie in Religion

Romans 4:2 - 5 “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. (4.) Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. (5.) But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”

Last Wednesday night we looked into this passage of scripture (as we are going through the book of Romans on Wednesday nights). As I prepared for my lesson last week I was wondering how Paul, but much more God could be so pacific in the scripture on salvation and how it could be such a stumbling block to mankind in the world of religion. Most and almost all other denominations outside of Baptist teach some sort of works for salvation and after reading this passage of scripture one must wonder why. Why must their salvation include a work on their part, isn’t it possible that the blood of Jesus is enough to cover our sins? If you compare this passage of scripture to Ephesians 1 – 2, and Acts 16 among so many more God makes it certainly clear how one is saved and He never includes works on our part. I find it very necessary to say this even though it may unset so many, to believe that salvation is anything outside of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is to believe a lie. It is too important to miss on this point; it means eternal damnation in the eternal lake of fire. I do not say “lie” in order to boast of the gift that God has given to me and neither do I say it to insult anyone else, but rather to call a spade a spade and to call works for salvation what it is, a lie. Many people will stand before Jesus Christ at the great white throne and wonder what went wrong Matthew 7:21 - 23 “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. (22.) Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? (23.) And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” I would to God that person is not you.

Paul in Romans goes to great lengths and repeatedly confirms that works is absolute not a part of salvation. He has argued almost ever argument that the Jews cast his way, step by step he has proven his point to them. The Jews just could not understand how wrong they were on the law and salvation. Paul used there great leader Abraham and how as great as he was, he was not saved by his works or his greatness for God but rather his faith was counted for his righteousness before God. Paul said in verse 2 “For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.” Since our works are accounted to our goodness and sometimes even our greatness they belong to us; but salvation is by the grace of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ which is the gift of God Ephesians 2:8 – 9. Paul went on in verse 4 “Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.” The word “reckoned” means – concluded – meaning if salvation is of works it is not of grace but rather of a debt which is earned, as a paycheck is earned. Now my question is; is my paycheck I receive on Friday given to me from my boss because I earned it or because of his grace to me? Grace here means unmerited favor so if I earned my paycheck then it cannot be given as a gift because my boss gave me what I earned instead of an unmerited favor. 1 + 1 no more equals three than grace + works equal unmerited favor. The word “unmerited” means – undeserved or unearned – how could salvation be the gift from God if it is earned through works? You may ask could it not include works and faith. Paul gives you an answer in verse 5 “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” But to him who worketh NOT but has faith; it is that faith and not his works that is counted as rightiousness before God. And as Paul said this is “reckoned” or “concluded”.

All of Mankind Lives by God’s Calendar.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 - 2 "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;”

As we (mankind) live our days on this earth we must understand our days are numbered by the Jehovah God. Mankind does everything to extend their live because their greatest fear is death, and if I were lost it would also be my greatest fear because of eternal damnation in the lake of fire, however on the positive side saved people doesn’t have this fear because God has promised us eternal life. Most people today fail to understand this because most churches and pastors fail to preach about our Sovereign God that has so wonderfully made us and everything else in existence and controls His creation. Some are so much controlled by deceived minds that they think of God as small and truly irrelevant and insignificant in our lives, that God truly has no control at all, but I say search the scripture and you will see a whole different God. Some of these weak pastors say that God cannot change mans will and man must change his own will, but I say where is that scripture found? The scripture never tells anyone to choose Christ, The scripture never tells anyone to make a decision for Christ, and the scripture never tells anyone to pray to be saved. These are man made myths used by weak pastors interested in building numbers instead of preaching the true gospel. The bible leaves us no doubt; God saves sinners as He chooses, His will was predetermined before the world and man cannot change His mind nor His will. 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:” As it is with salvation so is it with death; it at God’s chosen time. We cannot change God’s mind or His will.

The writer of Ecclesiastes said “To every thing there is a season…” the word “season” means - an appointed occasion – therefore we see that to everything - the whole – there is an appointed time, a time to be born and a time to die and no matter what, we cannot over ride God’s chosen will. Job 14:4, 5 "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one. (5.) Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;” If God has set the course of mans life then what would convince man that he has to power to over ride God’s authority or will? I say it would be the great liar himself Satan. I have heard all of the arguments against this and they do not hold water. You cannot prove God’s determined will a lie by killing yourself because you do not know what God’s calendar has been set for your life, nor can it be proved wrong by young people dying or by abortion, who can prove these also were not God determined will.

With this understanding I trust the Lord and have faith in Him. The Psalmist wrote in Psalms 55:23 "But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee.” I know that when my days have expired my life on this earth will expire no matter what I do to extend it. Now please understand this is not an excuse not to take care of oneself or to abuse our life standards. Some will say “if God has set my life a limit then why should I care about exercising of etc. well beloved we do not want to live a life of sickness or pain because we failed to care for our health. God also gave us a mind to think with so please use it and work to stay healthy but with this in mind, God has set our limits and we cannot pass them.

Did God Die On The Cross?

Luke 24:7 “Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”

I was at a bible conference last weekend and had made mention in the sermon that “It was not God who died on the cross but rather the Son of man” and two men at the conference approached me with questions about my statement and had insisted that God indeed did die on the cross. So the question is did God die on the cross? I say no, God cannot die. This is a question that can be only answered by a proper understanding of the “Incarnation of Christ” The word “incarnation” is like the word “rapture” neither one are biblical terms but they are both well defined in the scriptures. When I say that God did not die on the cross I certainly do not want to belittle the death of Christ at all and I do not. God is an eternal being and because of that very fact He cannot die nor can any part of Him die or else He would not be an eternal God. The word incarnation put simple is two completely separate natures in one body i.e. the Son of God and the Son of man. With this understanding we have the eternal Son of God in a human body known as the Son of man with two separate natures; however the two natures are not mixed or confounded. The Son of God was not born but rather the Son of man because the Son of God is eternal, The Son of God did not grow and learn because the Son of God is omniscient, just as the Son of God did not die He is eternal. One of these two men asked me what I was going to do with the scripture that read “God died” but after an extensive bible search I cannot find such a scripture. Ever search showed me that Christ died, or the Son of man died, but never God died or the Son of God died. My question is this why did Christ cry on the cross “…My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46. The word forsaken comes from the Greek word egkataleipō and means to leave behind in some place or to desert and we certainly know that God would never desert the Son of Man while on the cross so we must take the idea that there was a separation which means the word here means to leave behind in some place. With that being said I believe just before death deity had separated from humanity leaving the Son of man to die on the cross.

Some will say that this belittles the sacrifice and makes it insignificant but I must ask why? In the temptation was Satan tempting the Son of God or the Son of man? Satan is a fallen angel and knows God and knows God cannot be tempted so therefore he must have been tempting the Son of man. It does seem that Satan did not fully understand this man was the Son of God “And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.” Luke 4:3. While it is true that in one you have the other however the fact remains there were two separate natures in this one body. The Son of man was no less a redeeming sacrifice for our sins than the Son of God. The Son of man was the perfect sacrifice because He had lived a perfect life and by that I mean a sin free life and that alone makes Him a sufficient sacrifice.

These two men also quoted past theologians such as Calvin, Wesley, and etc. and I must say to a point all of these men all had some wonderful theology; however we must put in mind all of these were men of reformation meaning they were reformers of Catholicism and still carried a lot of Catholicism doctrine in their hearts and minds. As a Baptist I do not adhere to Catholicism in fact I do not find much that I do agree with them on, if anything. I also read and study a lot of these men but with a grain of salt. Let us remember they are just men, very smart men but not infallible. God was not born and God did not die, please do not allow ourselves to belittle God and make Him like ourselves.

We are His workmanship.

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.”

This is a very wonderful verse that is most often overshadowed by the two verses preceding it, and that is a shame. There are three wonderful points made in this one verse, (1.) For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, (2.) created in Christ Jesus unto good works, (3.) which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. All three of these points have a very glorious sovereign grace message to them that certainly should not be over looked but rather studied very deeply.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus” The two main words here are “workmanship” – which means thing that is made, and “created” – which means the idea of the proprietorship of the manufacturer. With this being said we could read this part of verse 10 this way “for we are His creation and we were manufactured by God through the redemption of Jesus Christ His beloved Son. The reason so many today choose to over look or improperly define this verse is because it gives God all credit in mans salvation, and that is where it belongs. God is the very one who caused us to come to know Jesus Christ as our Saviour and therefore as believers we are His creation and not a creation of our own. We did not choose or cause our salvation to come about because the scripture is clear that we are manufactured Christians by the power of God in His dear Son. Also we need to recognize that the old creature was not recycled but rather we were made new in Christ Jesus. 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” God could not use the old nature because it was totally depraved therefore He blessed us with a new one created by Him just for us.

“Created in Christ Jesus unto good works,” God not only made us anew in Christ Jesus but also manufactured us unto good works or for a purpose. God saved us all for a purpose to be used at His pleasure. Please remember by being the manufacture we are His to do as He pleases. It reminds us of a fabricator who takes a sheet of metal and makes something wonderful that he may use for his own pleasure or sell it and make more, God certainly does not want to sell His creation but rather chooses to use them as He wills. I think this is a good example; God saved a sinner and calls him into the ministry and then chooses to call him to pastor a church, God has just manufactured a Christian and a pastor at His own pleasure. He man use another sinner that has been manufactured as a song leader, prayer warrior, or maybe a Deacon, but whatever he is he is a creation of God for His own will. Isaiah 43:21 “This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise.”

“Which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” The word “ordained” means to fit up in advance or to prepare afore. The word afore allows us to understand this was all done before, but before what? John 15:16 “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” We were created before the foundation of the world to be whatever God had chosen us to be. Only in due time was God’s will brought about and also by Him and not by our choosing.

What is the Christian view of Global Warming?

Isaiah 44:6 - 8 "Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. (7.) And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them shew unto them.
(8.) Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.”

We hear so much about today global warming and even some Christians have come to believe that there is such a thing; so what about it; is global warming fact or fiction as far as the bible is concerned? I wanted to look at this issue from a Christian prospective because as Christians we need to do what we can to protect the earth that God has allowed us to care for. With this being said please allow me to give you my opinion on this global warming issue. I do not believe we as human beings are destroying the earth with global warming. I believe like so many false concepts of the past global warming is a money making hoax. If we believe in the God of the bible then we must also have confidence in His sovereign will to follow through with those things ordained before the earth was ever created, and to do this we must believe that man cannot interfere with the plan that God has foreordained. If we listen to those who push the idea of global warming then we are rapidly destroying the earth by causing the heat temperature to rise, however this conclusion is reached it must be like the false concept of “carbon dating” to reach the age of the earth and if it is then it must be just as wrong. Now please allow me to point you to the word of God.

If we look at the bible we know without a doubt that if Jesus Christ was to return today the earth is guaranteed to exist at least another one thousand and seven years. We do know that immediately after the return of Jesus Christ (known as the second coming) there will be seven years of tribulation and immediately following those seven years there will be one thousand years the Lord Jesus Christ will reign on this earth plus the short time after that that the final conflict between God, Satan and those on the earth do battle and they (Satan and the ones on the earth) meet their doom. Revelation 20:7-8 "And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, (8.) And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.” This is the plan of God and cannot be changed no matter what anyone may say or do; therefore if the earth is warming then it has at least one thousand and seven years left. However, let’s also look at it from this standpoint; those who believe in the global warming theory say that the earth has warmed one degree, so what, the earth is going to be melted with fervent heat after these one thousand and seven years any way so what is one degree? 2 Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”

It is my conclusion that global warming is a myth and we as Christians should treat it as such, because we need to depend on God and His sovereignty rather than a bunch of liberal ideas that separate us from trusting the Lord and His foreordained plan.

Where is God’s respect?

Malachi 1:6 "A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you..."

God is no doubt speaking to the whole Nation of Israel here, because Israel was God’s Chosen son. This is not to be confused with God’s chosen people which are the elect of God. I have many times used the Nation if Israel as an example of what not to do, because when you view the bible as a whole Israel just did not show any reverence, love, or fear of God. Today she still has none of these things for God and therefore God has chosen not to use her in order to proclaim His word. However bad as it was and is for Israel, we as the chosen people of God have not done a very good job ourselves in these departments. Just look around at the people that call themselves Christians, and what you see is more or less heathens attempting to be Christians. We have Pastors sleeping with boys and girls, we have Pastors having same sex relationships with other men, we have we have church members going to nightclubs on Saturday night and to church on Sunday morning, we have adulterous relationships everywhere and all most everyone else using God’s name in vain as regular speech. We have Pastors that supports the President as he was having an adulterous relationship. We have Christians (as they call themselves) voting for people who support Gay’s and Gay marriage, these same “Christian voters” support a political party that is bound and determined to murder the unborn in the womb. Excuse me but I could just go on and on, but let’s look at it this way these very people have no respect for God or His beloved word. These very people will talk about their love for God, but I must ask how can you love God and support these things. I have had several of these people to tell me “I don’t support those things but the other ideas they have” well, I say look at Washington and tell me what is going on? Look at the heathens you have help to elect! Please tell me how this mess in Washington today glorifies God? This is the truth; you do not reverence God or His word, you attend churches that the Pastors and other church members could careless because they have no respect for God neither. These people and so called “Christians” have helped elect to office haters God and everything He is, they only quote scripture when they want to take it out of context and attempt to benefit their hellish ideas. Hate crimes legislation is still making its way through Congress against Pastor and churches as we speak, and you call yourself a Christian. This is a Christian thought for you; wait until judgment day and explain it to Jesus Christ, the One you helped persecute through His churches and Pastors.

This is a fact, there simply is very little respect for God today and truly never has been very much at all. The Lord asked “where is my honor”? “Where is your fear of me”? Well the truth is there simply is not much today. Most church services today are designed to please man rather than God and this is a disgrace to those in attendance. Where is the fear of God? Well there is not much of that to go around either. There better be a revival among some churches and their membership before Jesus returns or death takes us because once death has come then comes the judgment. The Lord asked Israel “where my honor is, and where is your fear of Me” and I must ask the same question because it doesn’t seem to be among some of those calling themselves Christians today. We better all wake up and respect God for what He truly is and not for what the secular world has made Him.

Only By Grace!

1 Corinthians 15:10 “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”

This has to be one of my most favorite verses in the scripture; it is certainly one I love to quote a lot. So many times I reference this to the type of person Saul of Tarsus was before God blessed him with salvation; however God’s grace with Paul was much deeper than that, Paul’s entire Christian life was by the grace of God even the pain he endured in his death. Paul was indeed one whom had a constant reminder of his past life and could not ever thank God enough for the grace He showered on him the last few years of his life. We also beloved need to constantly remind ourselves of what we were before God’s grace was showered upon us at the time we were saved. While the deeds of Saul of Tarsus were great against the church at Jerusalem they were not any greater than ours before we were saved. We also were an enmity of the Lord before we were saved and had great sins against God. However, now that grace has come let us all put that behind us, but not so far behind us we forget that they existed. Beloved we need to also like Paul remind ourselves of what we were so that the grace of God becomes more and more sweet everyday. It is when we forget what we were that we forget what grace truly means to us. Everyday we need to pray the prayer of the publican in the story of the Pharisee and the publican in Luke 18:13 “And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.” Why would the publican not lift his head to heaven? It was because he knew himself to be unworthy and ashamed to do so. You see so many today that are so much like the Pharisee who was arrogant in his prayer. Beloved what we need today is more humbled hearts among Christians just like the publican. Even though we have received the grace of God and He has given us the most glorious gift of salvation we have nothing to be proud of except the grace that God has given. The Lord reminds us in Psalms 34:18 “The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.” The word “contrite” means crushed which means we should have a crushed spirit in that we are all unworthy to lift our head to the Lord. Even in our justified state we still remain in sin and will until the day we are with the Lord. We still live in a state where there is nothing good in us except the grace of God and Jesus Christ. Beloved we have no right to be proud in our own right but rather continually thank God for His blessed Grace. We should never have the glorious honor of belonging to the family of God, we to as Paul proclaimed; are the chief of all sinners.

Paul also said “his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain”. Even though I may be the chief sinner I still am by the grace of God an Apostle and I will do every within the power God graciously gives me to advance His word and the gospel. Beloved I pray that the grace that God has given me also was not in vain. I pray that I pursue evil in this world with the word of God. I pray that the labor I do for the Lord is enough to show the Lord (as little as it maybe) that I am thankful for His grace, and that it was not in vain. Paul went on to say “but I laboured more abundantly than they all” not in an arrogant way but recognizing the short time he had to accomplish the task that God had given him to do. The rest of the Apostles had spent time with Jesus and learned from Him and labored with Him, but Paul had to learn quickly and that he did, but only as Paul put it “but the grace of God which was with me.” Everything about Paul’s Christian life was by the grace of God and so is it with us. Beloved we are only what we are by God’s amazing grace.

Be Ye Harmless As Doves!

Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”

I have over the last couple of weeks had an email exchange with a person known only as Dsa Dsa. I know nothing about this person, and sadly this person knows nothing about Baptist. Dsa first emailed me to let me know that Baptist do not read their bibles and due to that they know nothing about God and are basically ignorant. I emailed Dsa a reply to attempt to find out why he/she had such a hate for Baptist and witnessed to this person about salvation in Jesus Christ, because I was concerned about them going to hell. Dsa returned an email to me and said they did not believe in hell and if I would read my bible I would know that. I returned an email to Dsa and warned them hell is a real place and if they did not believe in Jesus Christ that would be their eternal home. Dsa returned my email with the following disturbing words, “why would god let people burn and have pain forever and ever when it says in the bible that he is the god of love? I just wonder if you realy understand the bible. becuse i have seen what you do to for example people that died in aids. a group of baptists standing beside their grave and have signs against people that have sex or something. that is just rong. you dont do something like that..” This is Dsa’s exact last email unedited. First this person knows nothing about Baptist, there are many different kinds of religious organizations that call themselves “Baptist” for example you have many different kinds of “Independent Baptist”, the “SBC”, the ABA, the BMA, and etc and none of them believe exactly the same. Baptist are not like most religious organizations i.e. the Catholics where we have one leader and the rest follow him i.e. the Pope. We are Independent Baptist and are not associated with any other church or organization. We make the bible our rule of law and no man on earth has control of the Lord’s church except Him. I have no idea who Dsa is referring to in their email except maybe the notorious radicals themselves the radical Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas whom are NOT Baptist. Just because a religious organization such as Westboro Baptist Church calls themselves Baptist does not make them Baptist. The only way to tell if a Baptist church is truly Baptist is to look at their doctrinal belief and church history because many who call themselves Baptist do not even know what real Baptist believe. It sickens me to drive down the street and see some of the pathetic signs in front of some of these so-called Baptist churches. Let’s get back to Dsa, We as real Baptist do read our bibles and hell does exist and if you would read your bible you would also understand that it is a real place. Next we as Baptist do not protest, we do not wish evil on the persons that are homosexual or anything else. We as Baptist trust the Lord to control all things and if God allows it to happen who are we to attempt to change it? Dsa, you said if God is a God of love then how can He allow someone to go to hell, this is an age old question and mostly asked by lost people. God is a God of love however God hates sin and God also hates the sinner because they rebel against Him and God told Adam if he ate of the forbidden fruit he would surly die. If you would read Revelations you could get a better understanding of God’s wrath on mankind in the future. The love of God is this, God loves those who trust in Jesus Christ as their Saviour, but not everyone who lives on the earth, and if you would read Romans (as well as other places in the bible) you would see sin put man against God and God punishes sin. As far as Aids and other disease we as Baptist do not enjoy a gay person contracting Aids or any other disease and a real Baptist would never go to a grave and carry signs condemning their life’s actions. We as Baptist are a loving people and try to be as “wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” We do not judge the actions of the world; we stand up for our own rights and the rights of God but not in judgment of this world. God will judge this world and their sinful actions. However Dsa in closing this article, we as Baptist will pray for you that God will have grace on you to give you a true understanding of his word.

Repentance and Faith

"Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." Acts 20:21

Paul was telling these folks that this was his main message, repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, as it should be with all Ministers today. These two words (repentance and faith) are two words that confuse a lot of folks in our time. We must understand repentance toward God is not salvation in itself, in other words repentance never saved one single soul, it is faith toward Jesus Christ that delivers salvation to the unworthy soul. The word repentance simply means “a turning around or a reversal” and there is nothing about a turning around or reversal that delivers salvation. Faith toward Jesus Christ is the point of salvation because it is faith in Him that can save; it is faith that His blood is strong enough to wash away all our sins. Since repentance is not the same as saving faith therefore it is not a saving factor. However when we look at the word repentance we do see a great significance to it. When Paul said “repentance toward God” we see that it is God who we owe repentance toward, it is God that we have so greatly sinned against and it is God that we must turn from the wickedness of this world and began to follow and worship. We have all offended God all of our life by living in iniquity and are guilty of crimes against Him. We repent toward God because it is He who can give a pardon for sin, since it is He who we have sinned against it is Him who we owe our repentance too. True repentance can only exist once we have an understanding of our sins against God, just to acknowledge repentance is not repentance in itself. We must ask why is there repentance, and the answer must be “because I have sinned against God and want forgiveness”. The Lord tells us that a true worship of Him is a spiritual thing between God’s Spirit and your heart, John 4:24 and therefore repentance must be a spiritual thing between you and God whom you have sinned against. A simply acknowledgement of repentance in your mind or through your mouth is not enough, just as a simple acknowledgement of saving faith is not enough. It must be from the heart or it is not real to God and therefore there is no pardon of sin.

Repentance is not real unless there is a true turning from sin, Job 36:10 “He openeth also their ear to discipline, and commandeth that they return from iniquity.” What good is there in repentance if there is no turning from sin? Doesn’t the word by definition mean a turning around? It is our faith in Jesus Christ that makes repentance possible. The sinner on his own will never repent to God because the sinner has nothing inside of him to cause this repentance.

Isn’t Our Saviour Indeed Wonderful?

Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. John 5:8

Isn’t our Saviour so wonderful? He is so full of grace and mercy that our feeble minds simply cannot contain the full knowledge of just how wonderfully full of grace and mercy He is. Here in John 5:5 – 9 we see a man that had suffered a great sickness for thirty – eight years and until he met our Saviour he must have been in great misery for those thirty – eight years. Here we see Jesus come to him and knowing his illness and suffering Jesus asked him “Wilt thou be made whole?” what a question for the Lord Jesus to ask, not in doubt of the mans answer but in demand that this man was going to rise and walk. This is the very grace and mercy our Saviour has, never asking in doubt. Grace and mercy is making someone whole in their greatest time of need just as our Lord did with this man and as He also did for you. I did not ask Jesus to die for my sins, because I was not alive just over two thousand years ago when He gave His life on that cross for my redemption. It was by grace and mercy that brought salvation to me just as it was grace and mercy that made this man whole. Jesus did not die in hope we would come to know Him but already knowing that in due time I would be saved. I know that it is because of this grace and mercy that I was delivered at all from sin and I know in this life and the life to come I will never be able to thank the Lord enough or praise His name enough for what He has done for me in making me whole. We see this man in out text in verse 15 telling what Jesus had done for him “The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.” He was not ashamed of Jesus nor did he refuse to give Jesus the credit for what Jesus had done. Jesus told this man in verse 14 “Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.” Beloved this is the very same thing Jesus told us after saving our souls, sin no more. We are not allowed to sin and if we do then great sickness can also come upon us. However the truth being we are sinners by nature and because of that we will sin, does not excuse the sins we purposely do. If you have sin in your life bring an end to it or else you may suffer great sickness because of it.

What is up with the quoting of the scriptures in Washington?

“The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.” 2 Samuel 23:2

I must ask, what is up with the politicians in Washington all of a sudden quoting the scriptures. Have changed their way of thinking? Has the Lord our God converted them? Do they truly care what God has to say about current events? Well they will have to answer those questions for themselves, but by in my humbled opinion the answer is no. James told us in God’s word (James 2:18) that “faith without works is dead”, so we can’t we also believe that works without faith is also dead? People seem to have a great desire to quote the word of God only when it can benefit them or their cause and so is the case in Washington these days. However I do have a question for President Obama and the Democrats in Washington, now that you all are quoting the word of God does this mean that prayer is once again allowed in our schools? Does this mean that the schools may now have religious programs? Since you all are quoting God’s word does this mean that our teachers may now quote them? Well this is also another question they will have to answer, but once again I believe the answer is no. It is only when they use a passage in an attempt to benefit themselves or a program that it is allowed, but remember it is only for them to do this and not out teachers.

Beloved Jesus was not a socialist in any fashion of the word. I have a fellow co-worker a few weeks back to tell me Jesus was a socialist because He cared or people, He loved people, He believed in sharing with others, and He believed in a government tax to help others. Well while some of this is true it comes a way short of calling Jesus a socialist. Jesus did care for people but only for those that were saved or for those who were going to be saved. Jesus did love people because He gave His own life that some may be saved from eternal damnation, and it is true that Jesus said we should pay our taxes to the government however He never gave the government the right to just take whatever they please from out paychecks. There were those He saved and those He did not, there were those He healed and those He did not, so as one can clearly see Jesus was not a socialist. Jesus did tell us to help those in need and it our Christian duty to do so, however let’s not forget the word of God also says “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. Should we as Christians support an infidel?

Was Jesus a socialist in that He supported the murder of the unborn child, did He support homosexuality, did He support robbing the rich to give to the poor who are too lazy to work and earn their own way? These very same people who want to quote Jesus deep in their hearts cannot stand His beloved name being mentioned. The folk in Washington are having trouble passing their health care bill so they have now allowed themselves to select a very few scriptures (out of context) in order to plead to the Christians to help them pass this bill. We as Christians are passionate in that we believe in helping those who cannot provide for themselves, however this excludes those who are simply to lazy to work, and those who are to cheep to provide healthcare for their families. Please do not use the glorious words of Jesus to feed your passion for controlling the American people. Here are some scriptures for you to quote and if you quote them then maybe myself and many other Christians will not mind if you quote our blessed Saviour. Romans 1:25 - 27 “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. (26.) For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: (27.) And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet".

What is this unpardonable sin?

Matthew 12:31 “Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.”

There have been some questions and much debate on this subject for many years. What does this verse really mean? I think one most important question must be answered before I attempt to explain this verse and that is; “can one that is saved ever commit a sin that could never be forgiven?” The answer is without a doubt NO! Anyone who is saved cannot commit any sin that is unforgivable, period. How could God ever tell us that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from ALL sin if there was any sin that was unforgivable? “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 John1:7 The word “all” means – all forms of sin or all matter of sin or sin in whole. Therefore it would be blasphemy against God and an insult to Jesus Christ to declare that there were any sin that was unforgivable for any one who believes in Jesus Christ as their Saviour. John did say in 1 John 5:16 “If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.” The death spoken of here must be referring to the death of the body because according to Romans 8:35 – 39 nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, therefore if there were an “unforgivable sin” or a sin unto spiritual death it would contradict God’s word and therefore we could have no faith in it. Please let us not forget two important facts when reading God’s word, the entire bible is in context and there is no contradiction. However, I must add right here this fact, there is one single sin unto spiritual death and that is the sin of unbelief, the sin of not believing that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of mankind and every single person that is not saved has committed this sin and will spend eternity in hell. 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.” As for our text scripture this is my understanding. The context here is the questioning of whose power that the Lord Jesus Christ was using to perform miracles. We clearly see in verse 24 they told Jesus He cast out these devils by the power of “Beelzebub the prince of the devils.” The name Beelzebub is Chaldee in origin and it means – a dung god or a name of Satan, therefore these folks were telling Jesus He was casting out devils in the name of Satan and not by the power of the Holy Spirit, therefore denying the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore it was a direct insult to the Holy Spirit. How can one be saved if they refuse to believe in the power of the Holy Spirit? It is also a direct insult against the Holy Spirit to claim that He is not involved in salvation. Beloved we as Christians are saved, we move, and have our being by the power of the Holy Spirit, therefore everything a Christian does that is good and right is done by His power and what a disgrace it is not to give Him His due.

I shall Not Be Moved

Psalms 30:6 “And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.”

When I was a child and just saved from eternal damnation my most favorite hymn of all was a song titled “I Shall Not Be Moved”. I did not at the time totally understand why it was but over the years since I have come to understand why. Here is some of the lyrics to the song “Jesus is my Savior, I shall not be moved; In His love and favor, I shall not be moved, In my Christ abiding, I shall not be moved; In His love I'm hiding, I shall not be moved, If I trust Him ever, I shall not be moved; He will fail me never, I shall not be moved, On His word I'm feeding, I shall not be moved; He's the One that's leading, I shall not be moved, Just like a tree that's planted by the waters, Lord, I shall not be moved.” This verse of scripture brought that song back to mind and praise God I shall never be moved. Oh, how sad it must be for those who believe that works are a part of salvation. They have no blessed hope, but beloved I do, I am standing in the faith of Jesus Christ and nothing can take that away from me for all eternity. I shall not be moved from being a child of the Holy God by adoption, what a blessing it is.
The Psalmist said in what he would not be moved from “…in my prosperity…” The word “prosperity” means – security – but comes from the Greek word shalah shalav which means - secure or successful: - be happy, prosper, be in safety. From this I shall never be moved. I shall not be moved from happiness because in Christ Jesus how could one ever be sad, eternal salvation is the greatest gift of all time. I shall not be moved because I am in Christ I can study, learn, and grow firm in God’s word and from what I gain from it I have firm ground to stand on my two feet. And third, I shall not be moved from safety, in safety there is hope and in hope there is security and in Christ that’s what I am secure. Though this world may hate me and all other Christians we will always beloved by Jesus Christ. His love is eternal and cannot be moved no matter what. So beloved I stand firm this day in great happiness because in Christ Jesus I am secure and cannot be moved.
Beloved only in Christ Jesus can we be secure, there is none other. Job told us “At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth. Job 5:22” I know we live in troublesome time and this world is going deeper and deeper in sin against the Lord and His beloved but remember one simple but most secure fact, we cannot be moved from the love of God we have in Christ Jesus. Thank God for His grace of security.
Jeremiah 5:11-14 “For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD. (12.) They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: (13.) And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them. (14.) Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them.

The Measure of Grace

Ephesians 4:7 “But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.”

Paul said - Christ gave each one of us a measure of grace – the word “measure” means limited portion, so each child of God has a limited portion of grace. First, we must remember the grace God gave to each one who is saved, because without grace Jesus Christ does not make Himself lower than His creation and give His life on the cross and shed the blood that it took to cleanse our sins. Second, everyday of our life is by God’s grace, and we as Christians should cherish each day given. We know that Christ builds the church and by grace allowed you to be a member of His church, so this would be another measure of grace. If you have the talent to serve in the Lord’s church that would be another measure of grace, and if you can sing we find another measure of grace. When we look deep enough in our everyday life we find an abundant measure of grace. When the Lord said in Philippians 4:11 “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” He wanted us to learn to be grateful for whatever measure of grace He has give to us. The Lord also told us not to covet, Exodus 20:17 “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.” The word “covet” means to desire or lust after, because if we do then we are not satisfied with the measure of grace God has given to us. God has given to us all the measure of grace He has elected for us to have and to our neighbor the measure of grace he has and etc, etc. We often find Christians not being satisfied with what measure of grace God has given them and therefore laboring in vain to expand what God has desired for them and causing a divide between them self and God. For example one may not be happy with the finances God has given to them so they will seek a job to make more money which causes them to miss church and beloved that is a divide between that person and God. Another example would be one who God gave a talent to sing and make a beautiful noise unto the Lord and that person may want to advance out and become an entertainer for money which could cause them to leave the church to go on the road singing, again causing a divide between them and God. We could go on and on with examples but I think the picture is sufficient. We find so many Christians seeking to have something more, therefore we no longer find so many enjoying the measure of grace that God has elected to give them.

Beloved we need to learn to be content with the measure of Grace God has chosen for us and not to covet what other have. Judges 19:8 “…Comfort thine heart, I pray thee...” God knows everything we need and He will supply all of our needs as He sees fit. I think our biggest enemy is our own sense of competition by nature and this is the reason for so much coveting among the Christians today which has caused such a divide between us and God. This is the reason so many mock and make fun of the one’s with less than they have and think themselves to be better than others. Children are most horrible at this but let’s not forget children learn from their parents. The Lord commands us to help those less fortunate than us and to love them, so mocking them is mocking the measure of grace God has given to them, and bragging on the measure of grace God has given to you, is this God’s way? We need to understand, little things and even things out of ignorance can cause a divide between us and God so we need to correct those little things and be content with the measure of grace God has given us no matter what other think of it.

Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb

1 Peter 1:18-19 "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; (19.) But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:”

Of all of the ways you can hear about being saved, there truly is only one single way and that is through Jesus Christ. The word “redeemed” means “ransom” which in the Greek is compared to the word “lutron” which means a redemption price. The idea here is that a price must have been paid for salvation and it was paid in full at Calvary. One simply cannot be saved without the blood of Jesus Christ washing their sins. It is proven here that water, gold, silver, works, or etc cannot be a saving factor because none of these have cleansing power. The Religionist work every day to to prove this wrong however you cannot destroy truth. Every sort of works we can do on this earth are corruptible things and the Lord stated we are not saved by corruptible things. The price has been paid by the only incorruptible thing there is in the death of the “...Lamb without blemish and without spot:”
Let us notice what other things they miss in this chapter; First, in verse 2 “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father...” that is we were not only redeemed by he blood of the Lamb but also chosen in Christ by God the Father before the foundation of the world. Some will say that God looked into the future and saw those who would believe and chose them to salvation but what they forget to think about is with God there is no future, every thing and time is present to Him. There is no tomorrow with God or heaven, only here on earth. God is Omniscient and He cannot be Omniscient if He did not know everything before the creation of the world because He did not and cannot change. Secondly, in verse 5 we see “Who are kept by the power of God through faith...” The word “kept” means to be a watcher in advance that is this same God Who elected us, and Who paid for our redemption, watches over us to make sure His chosen will come real in time. We also need to look closely at the Greek definition of the word “kept” - to be a watcher in advance not just a watcher after we are saved but rather one in advance. God could not elect someone to be saved and not carry it through from start to finish. This is the only way the will of God can be an absolute is for Him to entirely control every detail of it. So by definition of the word “kept” God is our watcher or preserver before the foundation of the world, to make sure we were not murdered by our mother and some doctor in the womb before we were born, He also watched over us to make sure we do not die before we are saved, and a watcher to make sure we reach the bounds set for us before the world began by God.
This brings us to verse 9 “Receiving the end of your faith...” The word “receiving” means to take care of, that is God will take care of His elected until the end of their faith, that includes salvation and beyond. This is more deeply described by Paul in Romans 8:35 – 39 when the Lord tells us that nothing in existence (including our oneself or own actions) cannot separate us from the gift of salvation He has so graciously given to us. God is going to take care of us and see us through until we are setting in our proper place in His kingdom as His children.
This is the sum of salvation, we are chosen by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and preserved by God to insure He did not choose in vain. Jude 1:24 "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,"

Guilt By Association

Psalms 50:18 “When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.”

As Christians we have very strong limits from the Lord our God, we are not allowed to dwell among the lost and those Christians that are out of step with the Lord. I understand some will think this to be strong language; however it is God’s law and not mine. We need to look to what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 6:17 and we get a better understanding of what God is talking about in Psalms 50:18 “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,” The Lord told us in our text scripture “thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker”. The Lord did not warn us to watch our step with them but to stay away from them. The Lord said if we “run with a thief” that is to join him or agree with him then we are guilty of the same, not that we were active in the act but rather just associating ourselves with them. As Christians we are to exclude those who are not saved or are acting outside of God’s will and truth from our life or fall into the judgment of sinful acts. I understand some Christians truly believe they can be their own person and we as minister or their church or pastor has no right to judge their actions but they are wrong. If you are a member of a church then your life is of interest to the church membership because the Lord told the churches to weed out the leaven from among them. In 1 Cor. 5:6 the Lord said “…Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” that is your sinful actions as a church member without discipline from the church can cause the entire church to be partakers of your sins. In 1 Cor. 5:7 the Lord went farther to say “Purge out therefore the old leaven…” the words “purge out” means to cleanse thoroughly that is to cleans the one with the leaven from the church or exclude them or else the entire church is guilty by association. And the Lord ends with verse 8 of 1 Cor. 5 “Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” That is to keep ourselves and our churches pure even if it means expulsion. One of my church members informed me of a woman who attended another denomination that told him she would not be a part of a church that believed in expulsion; well I could not be a part of one that did not purge out the leaven. Let’s not forget the Lord said we become partakers in their sinful acts.

We also need to consider what the Lord said in Psalms 50:22 “Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.” If the Lord is angry with us and brings punishment on us because of our actions then who will deliver us from His anger? God is our shield, He is our protector, and He is the One whom delivers us, so if He refuses or if He is tearing us to pieces, who else do we look to for deliverance? We as Christians must be very careful in this life in what we do because God sees every action and He knows every thought. Be careful at whom you associate yourself with and do not become guilty by association because the eyes of God are everywhere. Do not make the sad mistake of saying it is none of my pastor’s business or it is none of the churches business because it is and they also can become guilty by association. I understand there are churches that do not believe in expulsion and will allow their membership to do as they please but remember this, a church without order is not a church and if it was then the Lord Jesus has removed the candlestick and it is no more. This is a serious matter and God is serious and His punishment is serious and real. God has not changed, man has changed who God is and will greatly suffer because of it.

Already Condemned!

John 3:18-19 “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. (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.

There is something funny about mankind and the bible; it seems that the simplest scriptures are the hardest for man to grasp an understanding of. Let’s look closely at what exactly the scripture says;
“He that believeth on him is not condemned…” – Now in the most simplest terms the Lord Jesus said if we believe on Him as our Saviour then that person is not condemned.
“…but he that believeth not is condemned already…” - But he that refuses to believe in Jesus as their Saviour is already condemned; not going to be but already is condemned.
“…because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” – Now the Lord gives us the reason for this condemnation, because they have refused to believe on Jesus Christ as their Saviour. The Lord continues in verse 19 with this reason “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world…” The Saviour of mankind has come into the world and the world has refused Him as their Saviour.
“…and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” Man in his evil heart would rather dwell in the darkness of his depraved heart rather than accept Jesus Christ as his Saviour and therefore man is already condemned.
There is certainly more here than I can possibly cover in this short article however there is one main point I want to draw your attention to, and that is “…but he that believeth not is condemned already…” The word “already” means – now or by this time, however it actually means “from the beginning” because man has been condemned since Adam eat of the forbidden fruit. Therefore, the condemnation or the punishment in eternal hell is a sentence cast upon all and this is why mankind is already condemned. Some seem to think damnation is coming but Jesus said man is already condemned and that it is not something to wait for, if you do not believe Jesus Christ and He alone can save you then you are already condemned. There is no wait and see what judgment holds; you have already been judged.

The second point here is this; the Lord Jesus said if you do not believe in Him as your Saviour that you are already condemned. For all of those who believe in other things such as works, baptism, church membership - association, or etc you are sadly mistaken and have been grossly misled. The only condemnation in the bible is for not believing in Jesus Christ as Saviour. This cannot be accomplished if anything is attached to Him as Saviour. No where else in the entire bible does it say that we are condemned for not believing or doing anything else, only for not believing in Jesus Christ. You cannot find one place where the scriptures say you are condemned for not being baptized, for not working enough, for not for joining or being associated with a church or religious origination, or etc. Many will lift their eye after death only to find that they are in the eternal lake of fire and wonder why. In Revelations 20:11 – 15 we see the lost stand before the Lord Jesus Christ in judgment and they are judged by there works (just as man desires to be) only to find their works could not save them and all (100%) of them are cast into the eternal lake of fire forever. Just read the bible, Jesus would not lie to us, Satan is the liar and has your heart blinded.

“O nation not desired”

Zephaniah 2:1-2 “Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; (2.) 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.”

We had the privilege a few weeks back to study this passage of scripture and it was an eye opening study. The Lord is speaking to His beloved Nation Israel here, the only nation on earth that had God’s love, and God’s grace, but also a nation that dishonored God on every action. It has to make one wonder why God had such a love for Israel and why God blessed them so and why God continues to bless them and even promises to bless them in the Tribulation period. Although we do now know in hindsight that because of their unruliness toward God, and His word that God has stopped using them as a ministry of His word, and has started to use the Gentile churches to minister His word. The Lord told the first church at Jerusalem to “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” Matthew 28:19 and when they failed to do as Christ Jesus had directed them, then God allowed persecution to drive them out “And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.” Acts 9:1, 4 only once they were forced out, did they do as Christ Jesus had directed them in Matthew 28:19.

It seems we as Americans have learned nothing by the sufferings of the Israelites. We have a nation that God has over and over blessed; we have accomplished more in 200 plus years than the rest of the world combined and we like Israel continue to spit in God’s Holy face. God has given us warning after waning through the example of Israel of what happens to a nation that is blessed of God and then shoves Him aside as though we do not need Him or His blessings. We have reached the conclusion that God is now worthless to us and we know more and better than Him. Only when a national disaster hits us do we seek God’s compassion and help i.e. 911. Well beloved that is not good enough! The Lord called Israel “…O nation not desired...” meaning they were no longer desired of God and no longer a leader in the world. We, the greatest nation on the earth are no longer a desired nation to the Lord. We were blessed (as a nation) to be a protector of Israel and now we are turning our backs on them. Now we are at a point (as a nation) where laws are being written that will mute pastors in the pulpit about moral wrong. Beloved we as churches and members in particular better get on our faces in churches everywhere and pray to God for our nation’s forgiveness. The Lord said “Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together…” that is come together and cry to God for mercy, grace, and forgiveness. And this must be done today “Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff…” that is before the day passes suddenly away and “…before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD'S anger come upon you.” Beloved we are there; it is time for God’s anger because the last great and blessed nation has failed God just as Israel did. The Tribulation period is at hand, there is no other place for God to take this world. Israel failed God, England failed God and now the United States has failed God. When we read the account of the flood in Genesis chapter 5 we see that God was very angry with man that they had associated themselves with wickedness and wickedness had taken over and He destroyed mankind. Well beloved we are again at that point and the flood of tribulation is on the way. Oh how we as believers can truly thank God that He has not appointed us to wrath as believers in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:9 “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,”

God Is A Shield To Them That Trust In Him

2 Samuel 22:31 “As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.”

This verse of scripture is a very powerful one; we see it quoted word for word by the Psalmist in Psalms 18:30. “As for God, his way is perfect…” the word “perfect” means that God’s words are entire, truth, or without spot, any of these wonderful terms can fit into it’s place because God’s word are all of them. I know we are a people of little faith because we more times than not find ourselves in doubt whether we know it or not. Beloved in this flesh we will never have total faith in God or in His word; there will always be some doubt somewhere in our lives. We indeed find a number of Christians with more faith than others; however in this flesh we will never have perfect faith in God. The bible tells us to have total faith in Him and in His word and that is certainly our goal. This is the bottom line, that we as Christians can trust God’s word as written because He cannot lie. Titus 1:2 “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;” God’s word is complete because nothing can be nor needs to be added to it. This is why the scripture warns against this. If God is all knowledgeable, then what could anyone (especially one with limited knowledge such as His creation) add to His word. God knows the beginning from the end therefore He knows what will happen tomorrow and this is why we can have complete faith in Him. Acts 15:18 “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.”

“the word of the LORD is tried” The word “tried” means tested with fire as though you would melt a silver ring to refine the silver out of it and once finished you have only the pure silver left, beloved this is God’s word, pure as pure can be. Psalms 12:6 “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.” Beloved you cannot say this about pastor, father, mother, child, or etc. Only God’s words are pure and can be totally trusted. As a pastor I have a great desire never to tell a lie, never to mislead anyone, or etc. however it does happen because I am not God. My words have not been tried with fire, I do not know every possible thing, and I certainly do not know what will happen in the next 5 seconds much less what is on tomorrow. I have taught heresy in my life, because I was biblically wrong on some issues; however I have trusted God’s word and have since been brought to truth. Is every single thing I believe today perfect with God’s word? I simply cannot answer an absolute yes because I am still in the flesh however I have dedicated my life to study to find out. Beloved no man is 100% correct in God’s word but that is no reason not to strive for that perfection. The word of God has been tried and believe one thing it is pure.

“…he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.” The word “buckler” means shield that’s right He is our protector. The word “trust” means those that flee to Him, so look at it this way God’s word is a protecting shield to everyone who flee to Him for protection. We do not know where our nation’s economic woes are going but to those who trust in the Lord and His word will be just fine. Let us not forget we are citizens of this nation both the just and the unjust and when it rains on one it rains on us all. Matthew 5:45 “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” We will all suffer the same economic woes and we as churches will also suffer, but one thing we have that the lost does not have is a God that has promised to continually love us and to continually protect us because He is our buckler and will be as long as our faith is in Him and His word.

What Must I Do To Be Saved?

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.”

This is a question very rarely asked today, because we are now living in the last days and the Lord has elected not to save many in these last times. I know if you go to an Arminian type of church they will strongly disagree with me, however they will disagree with me on pretty much everything else we teach. Salvation is “The Gift of God” (Eph. 2:8 – 10) and can only be made possible if the Holy Spirit convicts one’s heart (Romans 8:14) and the bottom line is a lot of people’s hearts are simply not being pricked by the Holy Spirit in these last days. People who teach Arminian type of religion are teaching deceit and have convinced people they are saved when they are not. Salvation is not something we as Ministers sell and it is certainly not something we can give away. Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…” The offering or giving of salvation is the right belonging only to Christ Jesus because of His sacrifice on the cross. Salvation was bought and paid for by Him and therefore to give it to as many as He chooses. Hebrews 5:9 “And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;” We as ministers, pastors, or witnesses are to simply proclaim the gospel message (plant and water) and trust the Lord to do the rest. 1 Corinthians 3:6, 7 “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. (7.) So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.” Oh how I would to God more ministers and pastors would adhere to this scripture when attempting to give something away that they have not any scriptural right to give away.

The Philippian jailer had just a few moments before hated and despised Paul and Silas, however something changed his deprived heart and that was the Holy Spirit and because his heart was pricked by the Holy Spirit he asked this question; “what must I do to be saved?” he wanted to be saved and I must add what a glorious thing it is for a lost sinner to want to be saved, Paul and Silas told him to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved”. There was no sinners prayer, no talk about joining a church, no talk about baptism, and nothing at all mentioned about working his way to heaven. It was a simple question and a simply answer, and because of the simplicity of it all the Philippian jailer was saved. This is the reason we find good sovereign grace churches so small today, it is because we have not filled them with lost people who think they are saved when they are not. We teach the bible as it is written and not a watered down religion to satisfy the lost membership. Some people today refuse to attend the services of sovereign grace Baptist churches because we are simply too strict, but the truth is we still simply adhere to the Holy Scriptures as they are written. If you are ashamed to attend a sovereign grace Baptist church then maybe you need to concern yourself with what God thinks? Maybe it is not the church but maybe it is you, and maybe this is the reason you attend a watered down version of a church. Maybe you are not saved, and just simply think you are because some Arminian type of church or pastor has told you that you are. I was talking with our adult Sunday school teacher yesterday on this subject and we had discussed truly how tough God is, and what He truly expects of our lives on this earth and how so many today fail to satisfy God in their lives. God is not the simple watered down God that the Arminian type of churches have made Him out to be, He is strong and solid in His ways, and He is no push over. He has strict rules and many will find out one day God is nothing like what they believed or thought. If you have never asked in your heart “what must I do to be saved?” then you are most likely lost and need to be saved and I will simply tell you what Paul and Silas did, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved”.

Murder Is Unjustifiable

Exodus 20:13 “Thou shalt not kill.”

Let me please be open and honest right up front, the murder of partial birth abortionist doctor George Tiller was absolutely an unjust act and the murderer that done this horrible act should be judged, convicted, and the verdict should be to the fullest extent of the law. The only people that irritate me personally more than the pro-abortionist people are the religionist who protests against abortion. Murder is an unjust act and is a violation of God’s law. However bad it seems to be that Mr. Tiller was murdered does not seem to me to be near as bad as the thousands of unborn babies he murdered during his life on this earth. I personally have never protested because God is sovereign and He has never instructed His people to protest anything. 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:” Beloved if God wanted abortion stopped He would stop it, if God wanted every soul saved He would save them, if God wanted every Christian to be healthy – wealthy – and wise then they would be, and etc. I am not going to shed any tears over Mr. Tiller’s death because he was a horrible person for his profession. Mr. Tiller also spit in the eye of every Christian that disagreed with him on abortion, and he enjoyed his work and made millions of dollars at it. I am not going to say he got what he disserved because no one has the right to murder another human being and both of these people will pay account to Jesus Christ before the Great White Throne for their unjust acts. Beloved this world is what it is and it is controlled by Satan. 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.” The people (not all but most) on both sides of this issue are lost and controlled by Satan and we have radicals on both sides of this issue. However the one’s that believe there is a right to murder unborn children will use Mr. Tiller’s death forever as a sacrificial tool for many years to come. They will also ignore the murder of Pvt. William Long who was gunned down at an Army-Navy recruiting office in Little Rock, Arkansas just as President Obama did last week.

Beloved, Baptist ever since the Church that Jesus started has never been a violent people. As we read in the history of the Baptist church we never were we a violent people, in fact it was Baptist who suffered the worst violence from the people of religion. Fifty million Baptist and other Christians murdered from about 300a.d. until around 1500a.d. and most of this came from the Catholic Church as wall as other religionist Protestants out of the Catholicism. It is incumbent upon us as Baptist and Christians to live in this world, we may not agree with what they do but God is in command and nothing is done without His allowing it to come to pass. Luke 19:13 “…Occupy till I come.” The word “Occupy” means to carry on with trade until I come. We as Baptist and Christians cannot allow Satan to control our ministries, worship, and witnessing by happenings in the world. We must ignore them, trust the Lord, and let them go their evil way and we go our way bringing praise to the Lord Jesus Christ. Beloved these people are going to make Christians look horrible in the next years to come using Mr. Tiller and any other event they can to make Christians look like hate mongers. I expect it from them so it to no surprise to me. They are blindly walking into the tribulation period and during that time they will hate God even more, so let’s all just pray together that Jesus comes very soon and occupy until He does.