Psalm 56:1-7 ESV
Be gracious to me, O
God, for man tramples on me;
all day long an attacker oppresses me;
my enemies trample on
me all day long,
for many attack me proudly.
When I am afraid,
I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I
praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?
All day long they
injure my cause;
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
They stir up strife,
they lurk;
they watch my steps,
as they have waited for my life.
For their crime will
they escape?
In wrath cast down the peoples, O God!
They injure my cause
The beloved of God, His saints and His messengers, are under
attack from the enemy of our souls, Satan, and from his messengers and his
servants. But, in actuality, it is God (Jesus Christ) who Satan is persecuting,
and it is the gospel of our salvation which our enemy is fiercely coming
against.
Satan, via his false shepherds, who disguise themselves as
servants of righteousness, is on an all-out attack against the character of God
(of Jesus), and of his gospel. And, he is out to destroy the Lord’s servants,
too. For his goal is to stop the spreading of the gospel, as taught by Jesus
and his NT apostles. And, so he is attacking the truth of the gospel, and he is
trying to discredit it, and then he is replacing it with a cheap substitute.
Yet, this cheap grace substitute for the truth of the gospel
is a lie from hell. And, it is a difficult and perplexing situation. For, it is
a way of salvation that is void of the truth as to the true way for us to be
saved from our sins and to have eternal life with God. So, it is laden with
deception, malice, filth, immorality, and slander. And, it is a secret plot to
destroy people’s lives and their character, and to promise them heaven, while
sending many to hell.
And, the sad reality of it all is that so many professers of
faith in Jesus Christ are far away from God (from Jesus) in their hearts
because they have bought into the lies, and because they have accepted this
alternate gospel message.
A secret slanderer
For, this cheap grace gospel is a secret slanderer that is
deceiving the minds and hearts of people by the masses, i.e. this is an
onslaught against the truth. And, this alternative gospel has no room, no
availability for the true biblical Jesus or for his true gospel, which is a
gospel of repentance.
This cheap grace substitute for the true gospel of grace
also has no allowance for the full gospel message, the whole counsel of God.
For, what they teach is a half-truth gospel, and they leave out the second
half.
They are perfectly okay with the idea of Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, dying on a cross to save us from our sins. They are fine with the
fact that he was resurrected from the dead, too, to give us new life in him.
But, what they don’t allow for is that his gospel demands that all who would
come to faith in Jesus Christ must die with Christ to sin, and must be
resurrected with Christ to newness of life in him, which is to be lived to Christ
and to his righteousness (Rom. 6:1-23; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24; 1 Jn. 1:5-9).
So, Satan’s false shepherds and teachers are taking up a
position against those who defend the truth of the gospel; against those who
uphold the truth, who are champions and advocates for the truth of the gospel.
And, so they are not only trying to discredit the gospel
itself, but they are coming against its defenders, too, to try to destroy them,
or to try to persuade them to abandon the way of holiness and to follow the way
of the flesh once more, which is also a way to destroy them.
Where we are headed
And, this is the direction that the state church (church +
government) is headed here in America, away from the truth of the gospel and
toward adopting this cheap grace substitute, instead.
And, the church itself is headed for some severe persecution
against those who are still defending the true gospel message. And, this
onslaught against these defenders of the faith is going to include slander,
malice, backstabbing and what is low-down dirty in order to attempt to
discredit them so that the gospel will come into disrepute. For, this was
foretold in scripture.
It is already here in America, and across the globe, but in
America and in the world, as a whole, it is going to get even more severe. And,
a lot of this is going to take place via internet censorship of whatever these
wolves in sheep’s clothing deem is not “unifying” with the whole world.
Our leaders in the church and in the government have been
talking about this for many years. The Pope in the Catholic church is
particularly a strong and persuasive voice against the true gospel and for the
cheap grace gospel, for he is also for the unity of all religions into one,
i.e. the one world religion.
Walls and bridges
The Pope’s central message is that division of any kind is
bad, for it builds walls instead of bridges, and that we need to be those who
build bridges, not walls. For, he says, division builds walls which divide
people, and it sows fear, and it is of the devil, the father of lies, that it
is not Christian and it is not promoting the gospel, either (1).
But, Jesus was a wall builder, for he said he is the only
way to God the Father, and he is the only truth, and the only life. He says if
anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily and
follow (obey) him. He said that if we hold on to our old lives (of living for
sin and self), we will lose them for eternity. But, if we lose our lives for
the sake of Jesus (die with Christ to sin), then we will have eternal life with
God (Lu. 9:23-25).
Jesus said he didn’t come to bring peace to the earth, but a
sword, and to turn even our own family members against us, because we follow
what Jesus taught us, and so they will hate us.
So, he came to divide us, to call a holy people out from the
world separate unto him, and unified with him and not with the world. But, he
built a bridge, too, a way for us to be delivered out of our slavery to sin and
to have eternal life with him, but he restricted the way to this salvation to
those who would leave their lives of sin behind them to follow him in obedience
to his commands (Lu. 9:23-25; Rom. 8:1-17; Eph. 4:17-24).
Psalm 56:8-11 ESV
You have kept count of
my tossings;
put my tears in your bottle.
Are they not in your book?
Then my enemies will
turn back
in the day when I call.
This I know, that God is for me.
In God, whose word I
praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I
shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
Yes, we do not need to fear the plots of the enemy against us.
God is still on the throne. Amen! He is still in control. He is absolutely
sovereign over all powers and authorities. Nothing, absolutely nothing can
thwart God’s plans for us. He is going to work all things for good for those
who love him, who are called according to his purpose, so we need to trust him
(Rom. 8:28).
Psalm 56:12-13 ESV
I must perform my vows
to you, O God;
I will render thank offerings to you.
For you have delivered
my soul from death,
yes, my feet from falling,
that I may walk before
God
in the light of life.
We must hold fast to the truth of the gospel, too, and not
give way to the intimidations of the enemy of our souls. For, it is only the
truth which will set us free. And, it is only the truth which will lead us to
salvation from our sin and to eternal life with God.
And, the truth is that Jesus died that we might die to sin
and live to righteousness; that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for
him who gave his life up for us. The truth is that faith in Jesus Christ means
we die with Christ to sin and we are resurrected to new life in him, to be
lived to him and to his righteousness, for we were created in Christ to be like
God in true righteousness and holiness (1 Pet. 2:24; 2 Co. 5:15; Rom. 6:1-23;
Eph. 4:17-24).
His grace, which brings salvation, instructs us to say “NO!”
to ungodliness and fleshly lusts (worldly passions and desires) and to live
self-controlled, upright and godly lives while we wait for Christ’s return
(Tit. 2:11-14).
And, we are all going to reap what we sow. If we sow to
please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction (decay, death). But,
if we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap eternal life (Gal.
6:7-8).
So, know the truth, and live the truth, for only the truth
is going deliver you out of your bondage of sin and to put you on a path of
righteousness.
Rejoice
in the Lord Always!
An
Original Work / January 26, 2013
Based
off Phil. 4 & Col. 3
Rejoice in our Lord God always.
I say again: “Rejoice always!”
Let your love and kindness show forth.
Our Lord Christ will soon appear.
Do not let yourself be troubled.
Do not fear your circumstances.
In all of life’s complications,
Pray to God with thankfulness.
God will give you peace and rest.
Set your minds on things of heaven:
What is true and right and lovely.
Do not focus your attention
On the things that pass away.
Therefore, put to death your old self.
Clothe yourselves with God’s compassion.
Put the word of Christ in practice.
Let God’s peace rule in your hearts.
Sing songs of praise unto God.
In all of life’s circumstances
I’ll learn to trust; be contented.
Whether I have none or plenty,
I will give thanks unto God.
I can live my life to please Him,
Because Jesus gives me His strength.
My God will meet all of my needs,
From his treasure chest in Christ.
Glory, praise be unto God.
Thursday, May 30, 2019
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