Remembering

Remembering those who gave their lives

To share the truth, and not the lies,

Who sacrificed their lives so we

From sin and self, we would be free.

They served us well, if truth be told.

They spoke the truth, and they were bold.

They were not liked, not by the many.

They were the few, and not the plenty.

They did not care much for their lives

That they not give such sacrifice.

But love us, love God, that they did.

They told the truth. They did not fib.

Now some of them, they were the hated,

Not the admired, not highly rated.

They did not look for man’s approval,

But hoped for man’s sins, for removal.

An Original Work / May 29, 2023

Encouragement for the Faithful

Philemon 1:4-7 ESV

“I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.”

Nice to be Encouraged

It is always nice to hear encouraging (uplifting, positive) words, isn’t it? For we all need encouragement. But, and I am not intending to put a damper on this, we must make certain that the encouragement applies to us. For if it doesn’t, then it isn’t truly encouragement, for then it becomes a lie. And lies are never kind nor are they true biblical encouragement, although they may feel good when we hear them.

Now the reason I am beginning this way is that, number one, these words were spoken specifically to Philemon, and so they only apply to us if the words are true about us. And the second reason is that many professing Christians are applying the promises of God and biblical words of encouragement to themselves when they do not apply to them. For the promises of God all have conditions that we must meet for those promises to be fulfilled in our lives (1).

And one other thing on this subject is that we live in a day and time in the culture of today’s modern market-driven “churches” (businesses) where it is being pushed on us that we should only speak positive and uplifting words to one another, and we should not be “negative,” i.e. we shouldn’t talk about sin, judgment, repentance, obedience, holiness, and submission to Christ as Lord. But we should only speak words which make people feel good. But that is not honest, and fundamentally it is selfish in nature.

So, let’s take a close look at Paul’s words to Philemon and then apply them to our lives only where they are true about us. And if what is being expressed here, in the way of encouragement, doesn’t apply to us, but biblically it is how we should be living, then we should submit to our Lord in this and obey him in doing what we are supposed to be doing for these words to be true about us, so that they can encourage us, in truth.

Biblical Love and Faith

Now, for us to have biblical love and faith, it means that we are walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands under the New Covenant, that we are walking in holiness and righteousness, and not in sin, and that we are doing for others what is godly and pure and righteous, and not what is impure and sinful and harmful to them, on purpose. It means we are fundamentally selfless, not selfish, and that we are putting God and the true needs of others above ourselves, and in place of selfish desires.

Now, if we are being effective in the sharing of our faith for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ, what should that look like? Well, the first thing that comes to my mind is how Paul said that he taught the whole counsel of God. In other words, he did not hold back the truth of the gospel in any way in order to not offend people with the truth of the gospel. He spoke the whole truth, and not these half-truths (lies) that so many are speaking today in the name of Jesus Christ.

The second thing that comes to mind is that we should not be teaching above what we are living, i.e. we should not be hypocrites who are encouraging others to live in ways in which we are not living in practice. Now, this doesn’t mean we are perfect people and that we never err in any way. For we are still human beings, and we still live in flesh bodies, and we are still capable of sinning, as well as we will continue to be tempted to sin. But not one of us should be walking in sin, making sin our practice, and not making righteousness and obedience to our Lord our practice.

And if we are truly loving God and our fellow Christians, we are not going to be filling their minds with false promises or with false compliments just to make them feel good so that we are being “positive” and not “negative.” For the love of God compels us to speak the truth in love to one another and to not lie to one another, but to exhort, urge, and provoke one another to walk in holiness and in righteousness, in obedience to our Lord, and to not walk in sin. And this, too, is encouragement!

So, refreshing the saints is not lying to them so that they feel good about themselves, which is what many are doing today. For so many are telling those who profess faith in Jesus Christ that, although they are deliberately and habitually sinning against the Lord, many in sexual addiction, that if they start to feel guilty about their sin that they should just “claim who you are in Christ.” But who we are in Christ is not a status. It is a reality in our lives in how we are living in walks of obedience and holiness and moral purity and faithfulness and honesty, and not in deliberate and habitual sin.

So, if we are going to give out true encouragement, and if we are going to sincerely and in truth refresh the hearts of the saints of God, i.e. those who are walking in obedience to the Lord, then we must speak the truth in love and not the lies. Yes, be kind, but lies are never kind. Yes, be encouraging, but be truthful. Don’t tell people just what they want to hear. Tell them what they need to hear. And if a fellow Christian is serving the Lord faithfully, then let that person know that you see that, and praise the Lord for that.

Oh, to Be Like Thee, Blessed Redeemer 

Lyrics by Thomas O. Chisholm, 1897

Music by W. J. Kirkpatrick, 1897

Oh, to be like Thee! blessèd Redeemer,

This is my constant longing and prayer;

Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures,

Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear.

Oh, to be like Thee! full of compassion,

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting,

Seeking the wandering sinner to find.

O to be like Thee! lowly in spirit,

Holy and harmless, patient and brave;

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches,

Willing to suffer others to save.

O to be like Thee! while I am pleading,

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love;

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling,

Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee,

Blessèd Redeemer, pure as Thou art;

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness;

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrYhiK2nQBg 

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(1) https://runwithit.blog/2023/05/29/his-benefits-have-conditions/ 

His Benefits Have Conditions

Psalms 103:1-5 ESV

“Bless the Lord, O my soul,

    and all that is within me,

    bless his holy name!

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

    and forget not all his benefits,

who forgives all your iniquity,

    who heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit,

    who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

who satisfies you with good

    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.”

Yes, we should be so thankful to the Lord Jesus for all that he did for us in dying on that cross, and in taking our sins upon himself, and in putting our sins to death with him so that we might die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, no longer living as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness, and for the glory and praise of God (1 Peter 2:24; Romans 6:1-23; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; 2 Corinthians 5:15,21). 

Nonetheless, we must know that this salvation, and this forgiveness of sins, and this promise of eternal life with God are conditional on us walking in obedience to our Lord in holy living, and on us not walking in sin.

Psalms 103:11-14,17-18 ESV

“For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

    so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,

    so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

As a father shows compassion to his children,

    so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

For he knows our frame;

    he remembers that we are dust.”

“But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,

    and his righteousness to children's children,

to those who keep his covenant

    and remember to do his commandments.”

Now the fear of the Lord is not just Old Testament teaching. The fear of the Lord is also New Testament teaching. And to fear God is to revere, respect, honor, worship, and obey him. To fear God involves believing that what he says he will do, that he will do it, whether promises of blessings or promises of judgments, and then to act accordingly in obedience to him. It means to do what is right and acceptable to him and to make it our goal to please him. And it involves acceptable worship of God and cleansing ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion. 

[Matt 10:28; Luke 1:50; Acts 9:31; Acts 10:34-35; Rom 3:10-18; Rom 12:1-2; 2 Co 5:6-11; 2 Co 7:1; Php 2:12-13; Heb 5:7; Heb 12:28-29; Rev 11:18; Rev 14:7; Rev 15:4] 

The New Testament also has much to say on the subject of obedience to our Lord Jesus. We must follow the Lord in obedience to his commands (New Covenant). If we love him, we will keep (obey) his commandments. And God will love us and they will make their home with us. And we will abide in God’s love. And we will have the hope of entering into the kingdom of heaven when we are doing the will of God the Father. But if we do not obey the Lord it will result in eternal condemnation and in the wrath of God. For if we claim to know him, but we are not doing what he says, then we are liars.

So, what we need to understand from all of this is that we are not saved from our sins and guaranteed heaven when we die based on giving lip service only to the Lord Jesus. We must be crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer living as slaves to sin but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. Sin must no longer have mastery over our lives, for if sin is what we obey it will end in death, not in life eternal. But if obedience to our Lord is what we obey, that will lead to righteousness and to sanctification, and its end is eternal life.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 8:51; Jn 10:27-30; Jn 14:15-24; Jn 15:10; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 10:1-22; Php 2:12-13; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 5:9; Jas 1:21-25; 1 Pet 1:1-2; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10,24; 1 Jn 5:2-3; 2 Jn 1:6]

So, when this passage of Scripture in Psalms 103 lets us know that God’s promise of forgiveness of sins and of removing our sins far from us is conditional on us walking in the fear of the Lord, we need to take that seriously, and we need to not write it off as Old Covenant teaching and thus as if it does not presently apply to us, for it does.

Therefore, contrary to popular belief, we don’t just “get saved” once in our lives and now all our sins are forgiven (past, present, and future) and now heaven is guaranteed us when we die. That is not what the New Testament Scriptures teach. That is the teaching of human beings who are teaching Scriptures out of their context and who are making them say what their tickling ears want to hear. We have to read all of the New Testament if we want to get an accurate picture of what it means to be saved from our sins and to have the hope of eternal life, for it has conditions for us to meet.

And one of those conditions is that we must obey the commands of the Lord under the New Covenant, in practice, not necessarily in absolute perfection. But lack of perfection is never to be used as an excuse for deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord and against other humans who we are supposed to love and care about. And the other main condition is that we must not walk in sin. Sin must not be what we practice. 

So we must walk in obedience to our Lord and not in sin, and we must live holy lives, too. And then we must remain steadfast in those walks of faith until the very end.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

My Jesus, I Love Thee

Hymn lyrics by William R. Featherstone, 1864

Music by Adoniram J. Gordon, 1876

My Jesus, I love thee, I know thou art mine;

For thee all the follies of sin I resign.

My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art thou;

If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

I love thee because thou hast first loved me,

And purchased my pardon on Calvary's tree;

I love thee for wearing the thorns on thy brow;

If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,

And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;

And say, when the death-dew lies cold on my brow,

If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

In mansions of glory and endless delight;

I'll ever adore thee in heaven so bright;

I'll sing with the glittering crown on my brow;

If ever I loved thee, my Jesus, 'tis now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHrF4_1r-qA 

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Just Keep Praying

Acts 28:25-28 ESV

And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:

“‘Go to this people, and say,

“You will indeed hear but never understand,

    and you will indeed see but never perceive.”

For this people's heart has grown dull,

    and with their ears they can barely hear,

    and their eyes they have closed;

lest they should see with their eyes

    and hear with their ears

and understand with their heart

    and turn, and I would heal them.’

Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”

If you are at all in tune with what is happening in today’s institutional church, you are probably aware that the truth that Jesus taught, and the truth that Paul taught is largely not what is being taught as the gospel here in America, not in its fulness. For so many people are now diluting and altering the gospel message and the character of God/Christ to make them more acceptable and appealing to human flesh and to the ungodly.

For so many who profess faith in Jesus Christ are stopping up their ears, and they are closing their eyes to the truth, and they are refusing to listen. For they want to hear that nothing is required of them other than some obscure faith in Christ that is of their own creation, or that is created in the minds of other humans who also do not want to hear the truth of the gospel. They don’t want to hear that they must repent and submit and obey the Lord.

They like the messages which tell them that they can just believe (not usually biblically defined) in Jesus Christ once in their lives and now all their sins are forgiven (past, present, and future), and now heaven is guaranteed them when they die regardless of how they live. And so they reject the messages which teach the necessity of dying to sin daily and of walking daily in holiness and in righteousness, in obedience to the Lord Jesus.

So, this isn’t exactly what Paul was generally faced with, although he was to some degree, for he wrote much on this subject of how we need to die to our old lives of sin and how we need to now walk in holiness and in obedience to our Lord. But he generally was up against the Jews who refused to believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Messiah, and so that is why the Lord sent Paul to the Gentiles (non-Jews), for they would listen, though not all did.

So, it isn’t that we are being faced much with non-believers who are refusing to believe in Jesus, but what we are up against are many nominal Christians who profess faith in the Lord but who try to find wiggle room around his commands so that they don’t have to obey them. So, in this sense, we are faced with the same situation as Paul, for the Jews had been God’s chosen people, and the promise of the Messiah was given to them first, but the Jewish nation, as a whole, but not every single Jew, has denied Jesus Christ.

So, we should be in prayer for our countries, wherever we live, that God will open the blinded eyes and that he will turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God so that they will receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those sanctified by faith in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKiG4fil-Sk

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Constantly Abiding 

By Anne S. Murphy, 1908 

There’s a peace in my heart that the world never gave,

A peace it cannot take away;

Though the trials of life may surround like a cloud,

I’ve a peace that has come here to stay!

All the world seemed to sing of a Savior and King,

When peace sweetly came to my heart;

Troubles all fled away and my night turned to day,

Blessèd Jesus, how glorious Thou art!

This treasure I have in a temple of clay,

While here on His footstool I roam;

But He’s coming to take me some glorious day,

Over there to my heavenly home!

Constantly abiding, Jesus is mine;

Constantly abiding, rapture divine;

He never leaves me lonely, whispers, O so kind:

“I will never leave thee,” Jesus is mine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opnmojpwHb0

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Shake Off the Creature

Acts 28:1-6 ESV

“After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta. The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, ‘No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.’ He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.”

Paul was a prisoner, and he was being taken by ship to come before Caesar, to whom he had appealed. The ship had run into some very strong winds, and eventually they ended up sort of crash landing on this island called Malta. And this was their experience once they got on the island.

Now, I am going to be relating this in a spiritual context to our lives, to our world, and to the church today, so I will be sharing the spiritual application I believe the Lord Jesus is giving me through this passage of Scripture. And so I am going to begin by saying that sometimes we have experiences in our lives which seem to begin well, and where the people are friendly and welcoming, and then something happens, and a “snake” of sorts comes out of seemingly nowhere and bites (attacks) the deeds that we are doing.

I have experienced this multiple times in my life, and if you are one who is serving the Lord Jesus with your life, you have most likely come up against some situations such as this, too. For Satan doesn’t like it when we are being successful in ministry, and when people are listening to us, and when what we are sharing with them is making a difference in their lives. And so he, the snake, will send one of his servant snakes to attack us in order to try to stop us from doing the will of God for our lives.

Now this next part reminds me of the story of Job, for Satan attacked Job first by killing off his children, his servants, and his livestock, and then by afflicting Job with sores all over his body. At first, Job’s friends were sympathetic, but then as Job began to speak, they began to falsely accuse him of sinning against the Lord and to assume that was the reason why he was being afflicted. But that is a false presumption, for the Scriptures teach that those of us who follow Jesus will be afflicted of the enemy of our souls.

But going back to Paul, he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. And Job defended himself against the attacks of his friends who were accusing him of wrongdoing when he had not sinned against the Lord, for the Lord had considered Job a righteous man. And there were many times that Paul had to come to his own defense when he was being attacked by people because of the works of God that he was doing. And so it will be with us, and particularly at times, perhaps, when it seems that all is well.

For that is one of the ways in which Satan works, for he attacks us when things are going well in hopes to defeat us, like in some of my own personal experiences that I have been led of the Lord to share in recent writings, and more. For it can throw us off balance, and it can defeat us if we are not prepared that these things are bound to happen to us, especially when things are going well and when we least expect these kinds of things to take place. So it is good for us to prepare our minds in advance for such things.

But this isn’t just about coming to our own defense. This is about emotionally, mentally, and spiritually shaking off these attacks against our minds and hearts and emotions, and giving them back to the Lord, casting our anxieties on him, for he cares for us who are his by genuine faith in him. When Satan attacks us via other humans, especially when we least expect it, we need to immediately take it to the Lord in prayer and cast it off so that it does not discourage and dishearten us, and so we continue to walk by faith.

Now, in our case, it is Satan and it is our physical enemies who are being used of Satan in our lives who are standing there watching, waiting for us to give up and die (literally or not). And when we do not die, and we do not give up, but we are victorious over the devil and his evil schemes against us, there are not people standing there declaring that we are gods, at least not in my experience. And we may not even have people there encouraging us, either. But we can take courage that, in the strength of the Lord, we were victorious over the enemy and he was not able to harm us. Glory to God!

Have Thine Own Way, Lord 

Words by Adelaide A. Pollard, 1907 

Music by George C. Stebbins, 1907

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way! 

Thou art the potter, I am the clay. 

Mold me and make me after Thy will, 

While I am waiting, yielded and still. 

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way! 

Search me and try me, Master, today! 

Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now, 

As in Thy presence humbly I bow. 

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way! 

Wounded and weary, help me I pray! 

Power, all power, surely is Thine! 

Touch me and heal me, Savior divine! 

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way! 

Hold o'er my being absolute sway. 

Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see 

Christ only, always, living in me! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z11avpKNLsA 

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The Church Under Fire Book

I have been reading in the book of Acts for a little while now, and I have been reading about the persecutions of Paul, and the Lord has been reminding me of some of the difficult experiences I have had in my life, in the way of persecutions, and of how many of those parallel the persecutions of Paul in some way, and so the Lord had me write several devotions on that subject which he then combined into one book. So I will share the link here to the book:

 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rdiWU1NyvWMGWPB4l8aHPLjs9r3cVewOxr1Z9gMmtsk/edit?usp=sharing

Majority Versus Minority

The Church Under Fire

Chapter Seven

Majority Versus Minority

May 28, 2023

I am still reading in the book of Acts. And Paul had just finished giving his defense to King Agrippa. Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.” (see Acts 26:30-32)

Paul then set sail for Italy, still as a prisoner, but the winds were against their ship. So Paul advised those who were in charge of his concern that the voyage would be with injury and much loss. But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said. So, the majority decided to put out to sea. But then they came up against a northeaster, and so the ship was driven along by the wind. So they began to throw some of the ship’s cargo overboard. And all hope of them being saved was at last abandoned (see Acts 27:1-20).

Now, as I read through this passage of Scripture, which I have summarized in the paragraph above, I could not help but be drawn to other Scriptures and to more of a spiritual application of this lesson rather than to discuss it more on a physical level. For certain words and key phrases were standing out at me for certain. So this ends up being a perfect parable, as well as a historical account of Paul’s journeys. For I see many parallels here to Ephesians 4:11-16, which I will explain.

Tossed To and Fro

The first word that stood out to me in this passage in Acts 27 was “winds.” And that took me to Ephesians 4:14-15 ESV:

…“so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ”… 

 

And it was Paul who penned these words, as he was carried along by the Holy Spirit. And if you read all of the book of Acts, and all of the books of the Bible penned by Paul, you should soon realize that Paul regularly warned against such “winds,” that they would result in the spiritual injury and loss of many lives. But these are not Paul’s words in reality, for he was given these words by God, and now they are regarded as Scripture. And truly many people in charge (pastors, elders) are ignoring these warnings. And so they are indeed leading their flocks to death, not to life eternal.

In fact, so many pastors these days have become these men who are spreading these winds of doctrines via human cunning and by craftiness in deceitful scheming. And many of them are being taught to use cunning and craftiness and deceitful scheming and mind manipulation in order to get their people to go in the direction they want them to go. But that is not the way that the Lord wants us to go, for it is not the way of the cross of Jesus Christ, but the way of humans who are diluting and altering the character of God, of Christ, and of the gospel, to appease and to attract human flesh.

For they are telling them that all they have to do is to make a one-time profession of faith in Jesus Christ and now all their sins are forgiven (past, present, and future), and heaven is now guaranteed them when they die, but regardless of how they live. And many of them are not teaching repentance, submission to Christ, holy living, and walks of obedience to the Lord. And some (or many) are literally teaching that we do not have to repent of our sins, and we do not have to obey the Lord and live holy lives. And so they are sending their recipients to hell on the promise of heaven.

And So the Majority

So, the words and phrases “winds,” “advised,” “those who were in charge,” “injury and loss,” didn’t “pay attention,” and “so the majority” were all standing out to me at this point, and now I want to focus on “so the majority.” And I am going to relay to you a small encounter I had a few years back with a friend of mine and of my husband’s. For I had been writing on Facebook at this time, and I was examining (testing) two main writings against the teachings of the Scriptures. 

The first was some of the writings of John Eldredge. The second was the writings of the Missional Movement in their book, “The Tangible Kingdom Primer.” And this friend of ours was a follower of John Eldredge, and he and his wife were in a home Bible study group with us at the time, and we were all going through this book, “The Tangible Kingdom Primer,” which was passed off as discipleship training. And, as a disciple of Christ who has learned to test what I hear, I was looking into these writings and sharing my findings on Facebook, and this was upsetting this man friend of ours.

Then he (and his wife, I think) came over to our house, and he took me to task, and he screamed at me, and he tried to convince me that, since I was in the minority, I must be wrong, and that I needed to get with the majority, because, according to his estimation, the majority was right. So, since I was testing these people’s writings against the Scriptures, in his estimation I was wrong, but if I just accepted their teachings without question, then according to him, I would be right. But that way of thinking is so anti-biblical!

For it isn’t the majority who are in the right, for they are the ones following the broad road which leads to destruction and not the narrow road leading to life eternal with God (see Matthew 7:13-14). For those who are following the truth, who are walking in holiness and in righteousness and in obedience to the Lord, are not the majority. We are the minority, which seems to be shrinking by the day. For so many people today are buying into these various “winds of doctrine” via the cunning, craftiness, and deceitful scheming of many men (and some women) calling themselves “pastors.” And it is leading them to destruction.

So, the majority decided to put out to sea, and then they came up against a northeaster, and then the ship was driven along by the wind. And all hope of them being saved was at last abandoned. And sadly, this is where much of “the church” (the ship) is situated right now in America, being driven by these winds of doctrine via these men in their deceitful scheming, and so all hope of them being saved from their sins and having eternal life with God is being abandoned because they will not listen to godly counsel, but they are following the majority and the counsel of these “wolves in sheep’s clothing” disguised as servants of righteousness. So, don’t be fooled by them!

Jesus Christ said that if anyone would come after him he must deny self and take up his cross daily and follow him. And when Jesus took up his cross he definitely denied self and he put sin to death with him on that cross. So, we must deny self and die daily to sin and follow our Lord in obedience. For, if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of Christ we die with him to sin and we live to him and to his righteousness, then we have eternal life in him (see Luke 9:23-26). So, please take this seriously, for your eternity depends on it.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

As the Deer 

By Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water

 So my soul longeth after You

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield

 To You alone may my spirit yield

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70

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