As we move into a more committed life in following the Lord
Jesus Christ, we should expect more resistance from those who have little or no
understanding of God and His Word. Jesus
warned us that we would be reviled and persecuted for His name’s sake. As we seek to submit our will to the will of
the Lord, our lives should begin to manifest a continual growth and change, and
what is known as the fruit of the Spirit.
As the old hymn says, He wants us to come to Him “Just as I Am,” but it
is not in His plan for us to stay “Just as I am.” From before the beginning of our life, God
already knew for what purpose we have been made, for it is He who has designed
us. All along, He has had a plan,
design, and process, a path for us to take by which we might become a light to
shine forth into the darkness of this world.
In the beginning, we may start out as just a tiny little flame, but over
time He works within our lives. He adds the richness of the oil of joy of the
Holy Spirit to brighten our flame. The
light is not of our own making, and does not depend upon our own abilities or
talents, but rather upon Him, as we become less of ourselves, our old nature,
and more of Him, our new nature in the process of being transformed into the
image of God. It is this process of
transformation, being made more and more into His image, which will necessarily
make the believer stand out as different and changed from the inside out. We should not be surprised when this change
does not gain approval in this increasingly secular and godless world. While professing tolerance as the key to
peace among men, the world will be increasingly more intolerant of those who
hold fast to, and abide in the truth of God and His Word.
It is popular today for even the “religious Christians,”
those who are generally Christians in name only, to join in with secularists to
promote the idea that mankind can, and should, put all differences aside and
just love one another. This belief is
based upon an erroneous assumption that man is basically good and that true
love is established and obtained through the brotherhood of mankind, with or
without faith in the God of the Bible.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Without the biblical God, love is only temporal at best, and void of
eternal value at worst.
There are those that are busily promoting the idea that all
religions should join together as one body, putting all differences aside, as
if that would remove all cause for conflict and division among men. Those within this group are the same ones
that are, knowingly or unknowingly, doing all they can to promote a one world
government and economic system, as well as a one world religious system,
believing that this would create an earthly utopia where mankind will exist in
peace and harmony with one another. They
ignore the lessons taught by past history, where people were under the tyrannical
control of such people as Stalin, Hitler, Mao Zedong, and Pol Pot (of Cambodia
The more our current seeker friendly churches preach the
feel good message to biblically illiterate congregations, the more we prepare
the way for the emerging church that has an appearance of godliness, but lacks
the power of God. In these apostate
churches, you will seldom see a cross, or hear the truth about sin, Hell, or
God’s judgment and wrath. Instead of
teaching obedience to the Lord, as in ‘Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on
earth as it is in Heaven,” they present Jesus as some genie whose sole purpose
it is to fulfill the purpose of creating “My Kingdom come, my will be done on
earth, and forget about any such thing as Heaven.” It is within these walls that one is more
likely to find what I would call replicas of Simon, as found in Acts 8. He was a man who was out to exalt himself,
not Christ. He was known to be a “big
man on campus.” Making himself great through the use of sorcery. He even made the pretense of being a
Christian, going so far as to be baptized.
I think he would probably be equal to the con man today that would seek
to be behind the pulpit, not to preach Jesus Christ, but rather to place
himself in a position of power in order to manipulate the people for his own
personal aggrandizement and gain. Like
Simon, they think the power of the Holy Spirit, and even Christ himself, is
something to be peddled and sold. When
Simon saw how the Holy Ghost was given to the believers in Samaria by the
apostles Peter and John, through the laying on of hands, he offered them money,
“saying, give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may
receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said
unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift
of God may be purchased with money. Thou
hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the
sight of God.” (Acts 8:19 -
21) Believe it or not, there are
multitudes of Simon con men types that are busily seeking to rewrap the good
news into a different gospel to make it into a more sellable commodity for
those who want the blessings of God without having to accept the personal
responsibility of submitting their will to the will of God.
In this politically correct world, the preaching of the
gospel of Jesus Christ, that there is no salvation on earth through any other
name than the Lord Jesus Christ, has been changed to a “new and more acceptable
gospel.”
This new gospel of pluralism
promotes the idea that true religion, for today’s more enlightened individual,
is rather like going to worship in a cafeteria style smorgasbord manner,
offering each ‘seeker’ a more equal, fair, and all inclusive menu from which to
choose – a little Buddhism, a little Islamism, a little Hinduism, Paganism, a
bit of ‘religious Christianity,’ Chrislamism, or even Noneism (Atheism).
However, none of these religions provide for forgiveness of sin; they are all
based on man’s ability to earn salvation through their own idea of good
works.
There is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of
blood. When the Holy Spirit came upon
the Virgin Mary, and Jesus was conceived in her womb, the contamination of sin
through the seed of man was removed from the person of Jesus Christ, who came
to this earth as all man and all God, that we might know God the Father through
Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Jesus, the
Son of God and only sinless man, is the Lamb of God. As such, He alone was able to die, taking all
our sins upon Himself, that our sin debt might be marked paid in full. He proved that He was who He said He was, the
Son of God, not only by His miraculous works on earth, but also by His
resurrection as witnessed by over five hundred throughout the period of forty
days after He arose from the dead.
Furthermore, His ascension back unto Heaven was also witnessed by
many. He offers the gift of salvation to
anyone who will choose to believe in and receive Him as personal Lord and
Savior. This personal relationship is
the basis for the difference between Christianity and all other religions of
the world. Jesus is the cornerstone of
our faith, and as such, has become a stumbling block, for there are many that
will not accept that He is the one and only path to God the Father. In truth, Christianity is not a religion, but
a personal relationship with God the Father through faith in Jesus, the Son of
God.
Jesus sends His Holy Spirit to live within the believer
when the believer invites Jesus to come into his heart to be his Lord and
Savior. The Holy Spirit leads and guides
the believer into understanding God’s truths, transforming him into the image
of God by the power of His word. There
is no transformation without true salvation.
The child of God does come to God just as he is, but not to stay as he
is. The good works that a Christian does
is the fruit of the Spirit, not done to earn salvation or glorify one’s self,
but rather done to give all glory and honor unto God. The manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit
in our lives is the evidence, proof, and reflection of the power and love of
God in our lives. Our lives are meant to
be lived to fulfill God’s purposes and desires, not those that emanate from our
own will, but those that emanate from the will of God as we submit our will to
His.
Jesus came to divide the sheep from the goats, the wheat
from the tares, which represent the difference and division of the believer
from the unbeliever. It is God’s desire
that all would choose to become
children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.
Unlike the false god of Islam, He never forces anyone to believe. He
beckons to all, but leaves it up to the personal choice of each individual to
believe and receive, or not believe and reject Him and His free offer of
salvation through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. God does not condemn anyone; by our own
choice of rejection, we condemn ourselves.
Jesus was and always will be a stumbling block and a
divider in this fallen world. Mankind is
forever trying to create his own path to God through a belief in his own
goodness, and collective salvation through our own good works and the
brotherhood of mankind. Once again, the
favorite mantra of the politically correct is that we can all get along and
have peace if we put our differences aside and just love one another. Man is forever trying to deny the existence
of the biblical God. Whether we choose
to believe in Him or not, He exists as all creation proves. He will allow us to choose to reject Him, to
be our own god, and believe that we have no need of Him or His forgiveness of
our sins.
No wonder the world continues to demand that we put our
differences aside and come together in the “love and brotherhood of mankind.” Under the assumption that mankind, and not
God, is the measure of all things, there is no need to “love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, mind, and strength.”
There is no need for the Cross, the blood of Jesus, or forgiveness of
sin. Man can then be free to make up any
standards for right and wrong, as he goes along, to suit himself, or even to
have no standards at all. This is
nothing more than a denial of the truth of the Triune God of the Bible: the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is the
spirit of antichrist which renounces the Cross, the deity of Jesus, and man’s
need for forgiveness of sin through faith in Jesus, the only possible Savior,
and often the existence of Heaven or Hell.
For all those who promote and accept the idea that there
are many paths to God, here is the inconvenient truth: there is no salvation, no forgiveness of sin,
without the shedding of blood. Have we
no understanding of the word remission?
Remission means cancellation of a debt, charge, or penalty. Can any of us honestly say that we have never
sinned? Can any of us assert that we can
ever do enough good deeds to clear our slate clean of our sin debt? If any of us thinks that we have not sinned, we
will have succeeded in living a life of sheer delusion. Has anyone, other than Jesus, lived a sinless
life, and given His life to pay our sin debt, and thus provided the free gift
of salvation through faith in His work on the cross? No, not one!
Jesus is a divider because He is exclusive; there is no salvation through
any other name in Heaven or earth through which one can be saved except through
the name of Jesus. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4: 12 ) Therefore, just as a woman can not be a
little bit pregnant, no one can be a little bit born again. Either you believe that Jesus is the way, the
truth, and the life, and that no man can come to the Father, except through
Him, and no other, or you don’t believe.
The world teaches pluralism (all gods are equal), inclusion
and universalism (all are going to Heaven regardless of what or who they do or
do not believe in.). Accordingly, all
gods are equal and acceptable, or even no god at all. Each person is free to create his own path to
his own source of “light.” Some even
believe that there is no such thing as good and evil; living by the mantra “Do
as you will as long as it does not bring harm to others.” Of course, under that concept, even what you
think does or does not bring harm to others, is left up to your own
opinion. This is in complete opposition
to the Bible which teaches that we are to Love the Lord with all our heart,
mind, and strength. That means to love
Him first, that all other love might then come into proper place in our
lives. We are not to have any other gods
in our lives- not anything or anyone.
This being His truth, set by Him, how on earth can we think that we can
join in the unity of faith with all other religions, when other religions
require that we become inclusive in acceptance of all other gods, including
paganism as in the Buddhist religion? To
be inclusive necessarily means that we must exclude the One True God; what do
we not understand about God’s commandment to have no other gods before Him?
(Exodus 20: 3; Deuteronomy 5: 7) To be a
Christian, one must accept that there is but one true God, and all others are
idols and false gods. Christians can not
have it both ways. God has said, if Baal
is god then worship him, but if God is God then worship Him. The person who thinks it is okay to believe
in a little bit of Jesus, Buddha, Allah, or any other gods is not only double
minded, but is the same as an adulterous wife who deserts faithfulness to her
husband and defiles her marriage relationship by going after other men, making
herself into a harlot.
People, who are in the world and of the world, will see no
problem in the belief that there are many paths to God. For them, being inclusive of all gods, or no
god at all, is the supreme evidence of being truly tolerant and good. They will define belief in the one and only
God of the Bible as being bigoted, intolerant, and evil. There you have it! The secular world, consciously or
unconsciously, has thus proved the truth of the bible, for they have fulfilled
the scriptures by creating a world for themselves in which evil is called good,
and good is called evil. Refusing to
believe the truth, they have believed the lie.
Christians are supposed to be in the world, but not of the
world. The deeper one goes in his walk
with the Lord, the wider becomes the gulf between the believer and the
unbeliever. The believer, because of his
faith in God, is enabled to still love the unbeliever because God loved him
first when he was still lost in his sins.
He understands that godly love exists only because of the grace and mercy
of God, who saves us from sin and death.
He understands that he has no righteousness of his own, but only that
which has been imparted to him as a gift of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He understands that he is no better than
others, but that His God who saves is better and above all else, both seen and
unseen. He understands that, except for
the grace of God, he also would still be lost in sin. He understands that all that he is, and all
that he has, was received from God. He
understands that this world is but a temporary home, and this life is a gift of
God during which we are going through the process of being refined in the
Refiner’s fire, to overcome sin by the word of our testimony, in Jesus our
Lord. Our focus is not meant to be upon
ourselves or this world, but upon God and His work in us, to make us fit for
our future eternal home with God in Heaven, being made totally new, eventually
receiving our glorified bodies.
People, who are still focused on the things of this world,
and man as the measure of all things, will live according to relativism,
refusing to believe the unchanging ways of godly right and wrong, absolutes set
by God in His word. Instead, tolerance
of all things worldly, and the changing morals and values that he makes up as
he goes along, are his only guidelines, made to suit his own opinions and that
which seems to be convenient to him at any time or place. His ways can not be trusted from generation
to generation as the unchanging ways of God can be trusted, for mankind’s ways,
without God, are continually being changed or redefined to suit himself, not
God. As long as we are on this earth, in
an earthly body, we need the help of the Holy Spirit in our struggle against
our old nature and the powers and principalities of the darkness of this world.
As we draw nearer to God, being transformed more into the
image of God is naturally going to make us the object of ridicule, persecution,
and hatred in the sight of the world.
The world will try to silence our voice and marginalize us in an effort
to reduce and even remove our influence in this “new world” which they think is
the making of their own hands. The world
persecuted, hated, and crucified Christ.
Why would we, who follow after Christ, think the world would treat us
any differently? For our boldness and
tenacity of holding fast to our faith in Christ and the truth of His word, we
can expect greater persecution as the world itself becomes more and more
contaminated by the spirit of doubt and unbelief, while it is increasingly preparing
the pathway for the arrival of the Antichrist.
Already anti-Semitism is on the rise, and Christians and
Jews are being persecuted and slaughtered by the hundreds and thousands, simply
for their faith. The world doesn’t mind
if we mention God, but mention the name of Jesus and all those who are of the
world will shout, “Offense, offense!” The
mention of Jesus, in some parts of the world, is already equated as a crime,
punishable by death. Pastors are already
being jailed for teaching the truth of the full gospel of Jesus Christ. God’s
standards for morality and absolute standards of right and wrong have been
deemed as unacceptable in the eyes of mankind.
Therefore, be not surprised when even families are being divided,
because those who don’t believe find it easier not to love you, but reject you
because of your faith. These are
perilous times. If we are to stand
strong in our faith, we must stay rooted and grounded in His Word, that we may
not be deceived by the world, our flesh, or Satan. There already exists a great falling away
from the faith, just as the scriptures have prophesied. Becoming more and more different in the eyes
of the world will bring greater persecution to each and every believer, but we
are to count it all joy, and an honor to suffer for our faith in the Christ who
gave His very life for us. He counted
His sacrifice worth it that we might be saved and given eternal life through
Him. May we who have believed, stay
rooted and grounded in the word of God, and with the help of the Holy Spirit,
count Him worthy above all costs, even if it means our death, that we may
endure to the end, trusting in God and proclaiming forever our faith in the One True God - the Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost!
** It is my usual practice to
sight scriptures from the word in an effort to provide the reader, not just the
statement of my own words, but rather to direct the reader to the truth of the
word of God itself. However, in this
writing, I have not followed my usual practice.
As always, it is my intent that no one should take my word for anything,
for my words are still just my own words, though I make every effort to make
sure that what I write is in line with the truth of the word of God. It is always my intent and endeavor to encourage
the reader to study the Word that you may be “a workman that need not be
ashamed.”
I can tell you what I know about Jesus. I can even introduce you to Him, but then if
we stop there, you will have only gained some head knowledge about Him without
really knowing Him for yourself. Jesus
is a very unique and special kind of friend.
He has been there all along and has known you even before you were
born. He’s been waiting patiently for
you to want to get to know Him. To get
to know Him personally, you have to be willing to spend time with Him, that you
may know Him, instead of just knowing about Him.
Most of what I have written herein is found within the
Gospel of John. John, the Psalms, and
the Proverbs are excellent starting points for your study with a purpose to
draw nearer to God. As you dine upon the
word of God, you will find that it truly is the Bread of Heaven that satisfies
the soul. God’s word, the Bible, is not
just a book written by men, but was written by men as they were inspired to
write God’s truth under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. How else could the prophecies of the Bible,
such as the coming of Jesus in the form of a baby and the crucifixion of Jesus
be foretold hundreds of years before they occurred? (Isaiah 7: 14; Numbers 24:
17, Isaiah 53; Psalm 41: 9; Zechariah 11: 9, 12; just to site a few from the
Old Testament.) No mere men can prophecy
with such truth and accuracy. But then
there are those who still reject the truth of His word, even when confronted
with the truth of the prophets of old, who spoke and wrote the truth as the
Holy Spirit came upon them and directed them to say, “Thus saith the Lord.” All of God’s word is truth; sweeter than
honey and more precious than silver and gold.
In these perilous times, if you want to be a child of God and a part of
the Kingdom of God
If you truly want to know the Lord, experience His presence
and direction for your life, I implore you to set a time aside each day to come
into His presence through prayer and the reading of His word. Allow Him to write His word upon the tablets
of your heart and recreate you as a living epistle of God, for the entire world
to see, being read by others, to bring glory and honor to God who has loved you
first. I recommend that you use a study
Bible which is accompanied by commentary notes to enhance your
understanding. Personally, I have chosen
the King James Version of the “Life Application Study Bible.” You may choose the New King James version for
easier reading. I do not recommend the
newer versions of the Bible for many have become corrupted and even changed to
be more suitable in the eyes of the politically correct world. Do not be deceived; hopefully, you do not
want to be conformed to the world, but be transformed, by the renewing of your
mind by the washing of the water of the word, that you might have the “mind of
Christ,” being made more and more daily into the image of Christ. As you draw near to Him, He has promised to
draw near to you. This is your
opportunity to know the love of God, the greatest love that can ever be known
by man. Open you heart, invite Him in today,
and begin your journey in the joy of knowing Jesus as your personal Lord and
Savior. Remember, for any relationship
to grow and blossom into a true and deep love, it takes time, effort, and a
commitment to spend time together to really know one another. God has promised to never leave or forsake
you. He is always there, waiting for you
to come to Him. He’s waiting patiently
with His arms opened wide, a smile on His face, and a warmth in His voice,
calling out to you with compassion and love that is greater than any love you
have known or will ever know. How can
you resist so great a love? “Faith
cometh by hearing and hearing by the word.”
In the power of the Holy Spirit, through the truth of His word, heed the
call of His voice to believe more deeply, that you may receive understanding of
the Lord more abundantly, that you may know Him more dearly, and experience the
fullness of His love more completely.
The Bible foretold that, in the latter days, times would be
perilous and there would be a great falling away from true biblical faith. Well, brothers and sisters in Christ, I
believe that those days are not coming, but are already upon us. You can not be prepared to stand against the
deception and doctrines of demons that are already in the world, and even within
the Christian church itself, unless you are diligent to study the word of God
for yourself. You can not assume that
all preachers or all believers are rooted and grounded in the truth, the whole
truth, and nothing but the truth of God.
You can not trust that all knowledge is godly knowledge, or that all
knowledge leads to truth. Not all of
what man has decreed to be knowledge leads to truth, for it is not always based
on what God has decreed to be truth. The
only way to guard against being deceived is to study the word of God that you
may be rooted and grounded in the word of God, not easily led astray by the
manipulation and intimidation of the world at large.
Below are just a few scriptures to encourage you to
continue to study
The word of God:
John 3: 3
“Jesus answered and said unto
him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see
the kingdom of God
John 3: 16 - 18
“For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life. For
God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world
through him might be saved. 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.”
John 6: 28, 29
“Then said they unto
him,[Jesus] What shall we do, that we might do the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is
the work of God, that ye believe on him who he hath sent.”
John 6: 40
(Jesus said unto them)
“And this is the will of him
that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may
have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
I Tim 4:1
“Now the Spirit speaketh
expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving
heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;”
II Tim. 2: 15
“Study to show thyself
approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing
the word of truth.”
II Tim, 3:
15 - 17
“And that from a child thou
hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation
through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That
the man of God may be perfect, and thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”
Hebrews 12:2
“Looking unto Jesus the
author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him
endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of
the throne of God.”
All religions have teachers, preachers, profits, and
philosophies. Christianity, which includes Messianic Jews, is singled out as
different, having no other religion equal to it, because it is the only
religion that provides a Savior, Jesus Christ.
Though He taught, preached, and prophesied magnificently, He came not
for that purpose. Instead, He came to
die on the cross to pay our sin debt, and be the Savior of all who would choose to believe in Him. If all you want is good teaching, preaching
or philosophy, you can find that in any other religion. However, if you are seeking forgiveness of
sins, reconciliation with God the Father, salvation, and eternal life in Heaven,
that can only be found through a personal relationship and faith in Jesus
Christ as Savior and Lord. There is no
forgiveness of sins except through faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ on
the cross and His resurrection. Without
His resurrection our faith is all in vain.
Yes, Christianity can have no equal, for there is no other Savior than
Jesus Christ. All other religions are in
vain for they offer only teachings and dependence upon good works which are insufficient
to enable mankind to reach God’s standards for perfection. All men fall short of the mark; no man can
lead a sinless life to earn his own
salvation. Therein lies the key; we are
saved by the grace of God through faith, and even that is a gift of God, lest
any man should think he has a right to boast concerning himself. Jesus himself has informed us that there is
no other philosophy or religion that is equal to or acceptable in the eyes of
God. Exclusiveness, not inclusiveness,
is commanded, not suggested, by the God
of the Bible:
Matt. 22: 37
“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the
Lord Thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”
Deut. 5: 7
“Thou shalt have none other
gods before me.”
John 14: 6
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life;
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” [It does not say ‘a way,’ ‘a truth,’
or ‘a life’. He made it clear, with no
ambiguousness, that He is not one of
many paths or options; He is the only choice,
path, or option.]
Acts 4: 12
“Neither is there salvation
in any other: for there is none other
name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
I Cor. 15: 14
“and if Christ be not risen,
then is our preaching vain, and our faith is also vain.”
I Cor. 1: 17 -
19
“For Christ sent me [Paul]
not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words; lest the
cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish [die in their sins, not born again of the spirit]
foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it
is written I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the
understanding of the prudent.
The choice is yours and mine to make: “And Elijah came
unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal,
follow him. And the people answered him
not a word.” (I Kings 18: 21 ) Will you choose to follow Baal, or any other god?
Or will you choose to believe in Jesus Christ, the one and only Savior? Be not double minded for “if a house is
divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” (Mark 3: 25 )
Serve the Lord thy God with a joyful and grateful
heart. Praise Him with all your heart,
and rejoice in Him at all times.
Titus 3: 4-
“But after that the kindness
and love of God our Savior toward men appeared, Not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the
Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.”
Romans 12: 2
“And be not conformed to this
world: but be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable,
and perfect, will of God.”
May the Lord bless and keep
you, and make His face to shine upon you, and grant you His peace. In Jesus name I pray. Amen
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE >>
