Not of God

 

Our God is a Consuming Fire

“See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ This phrase, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:25-29 ESV).

Although it does not say, it is generally accepted that Paul is the writer of Hebrews, so I will use his name. But regardless of who actually penned the book, God is the true author of the Scriptures. So, these are the words of God to the people of God, but yet it can’t be assumed that everyone professing faith in Jesus Christ is truly a child of God or that everyone is walking in fellowship with the Lord in holy living, in obedience to the Lord, and not in sin. 

And Jesus Christ said that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven but the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven (see Matthew 7:21-23).

In this chapter of Hebrews it speaks much about struggling against sin and God’s disciplines in our lives. “It is for discipline you have to endure” (v. 7). And “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (v. 11). “And make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed” (v. 13).

“See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no ‘root of bitterness’ springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears” (Hebrews 12:15-17 ESV).

So, the warning to us here is that we are not to refuse the Lord Jesus who is speaking to us through his word as the Jews did who rejected Jesus Christ as their Lord and Messiah and who chose their sins, instead. And Jesus told them plainly that God is not their Father, and that Abraham is not their father, but that the devil is their father and that they do the works of the devil because they refuse Jesus Christ as their Lord and Messiah. And if Abraham is not their father, they are not inheritors of God’s promise to him and to his seed (see Genesis 17:7-9; Genesis 18:19; John 8:18-19,38-47).

So, it is not enough to just make a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, just like it is not enough for a Jew to claim Abraham as his father, for all of God’s promises to us have conditions, mainly the condition of obedience to his commands. For his word teaches us that if we do not obey him, like so many did in the wilderness, we will not inherit eternal life with God. We will not receive his promises anymore than any Jew is a recipient of God’s promise to Abraham if they do not obey God by believing in Jesus Christ.

So, if we ignore the words of the Lord, and if we think that we can live however we want while we go through the motions of religious practice, then we have another thing coming. For he says in Romans 11 that we can be cut off, too, like he cut off all the non-believing Jews who refused Jesus as their Messiah, the Christ. For we are all going to be judged by God on the basis of our deeds. Those for whom sin is their practice, and not righteousness, and not obedience to the Lord, they will not inherit eternal life. And all Jews who do not believe in Jesus will not inherit the promise God made to Abraham.

And the Lord will judge his people. And he will shake the earth and the heavens in order to remove the things that have been made in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain, such as genuine walks of obedience to our Lord in holy and righteous living, to the glory and praise of God, in the power of God, by the grace of God. For Jesus died on that cross so that we will die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, not so that we will go on living in sin while claiming heaven as our eternal destiny. Heaven is not promised to all those who do not obey God.

And so the encouragement here is for all of us who profess the name of Jesus Christ to offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe. And that acceptable worship of God is for us to give our lives to God as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is our acceptable worship of God. And that also includes that we must no longer be conformed to the ways of this sinful world, but we must be transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God so that by how we live our lives we prove what is the acceptable and perfect will of God. So we must no longer walk in sin, for our God is a consuming fire to all who will not obey him.

[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] 

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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The Christmas Bells are Ringing

The Christmas bells are ringing

With people, carols singing

With gifts for others bringing

With groups of people mingling

It’s time for games and laughter

A time for lots of chatter

For people, others flatter

With many idols captor

They worship a god Santa

Who promises to grant a

Wish, which is propaganda

On people’s minds are planted

But he replaces Jesus

For he’s the one who treats us

The one who lives to please us

But also to deceive us

But Jesus lies in manger,

A helpless baby, stranger

While Santa’s his exchanger

And people’s entertainer

I hope you see the message

How Santa holds the leverage

How he gets all the coverage

Which covers all the acreage

For he is bright and jolly

Along with trees and holly

But he is just a dolly

A god who’s full of folly

So Santa do not worship

But faith in Jesus stir up

And time in God’s word curl up

And walk with Jesus perk up

An Original Work / November 25, 2023

We are Always of Good Courage

“So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Corinthians 5:6-10 ESV).

 

Paul was having a discourse about the subject of trials and tribulations and persecutions. And here he was talking about how, while we are still in these flesh bodies, that we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling (see verses 1-5). And I do a lot of that kind of groaning, too, especially the older that I get. I long for the day when I can be out of this flesh body and I can be forever with my Lord – no more pain, no more sorrow.

 

So, even though we go through hardships and persecutions and trials and tribulations which test our faith, we are to be of good courage knowing that God has allowed these things in our lives for a purpose, and that through them we should grow stronger in our walks of faith and in our commitments to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And they should help us to mature in our relationships with the Lord and in our understanding of his word, too.

 

So, we walk by faith and not by sight. We believe God. We believe his words. And we follow him even in times when it seems as though everything else is fighting against us. And even though we long to be with Jesus and to no longer have to suffer, we are of good courage knowing that God is working all things out for good in our lives if we are his followers, and if we are obeying him with our lives, and if we are not walking in sin.

 

But, regardless of what we are going through, we make it our aim to please the Lord in all that we do and say and are in our being, because we love him. And this is not optional. We are all to be living our lives to please our Lord in walks of obedience to his commands and in holy living. And we are to no longer be living to please our sinful flesh, doing what our flesh desires in contradiction to our Lord and to his commands.

 

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. So, do you see what that is saying? All of us who believe in the Lord Jesus, or who make professions of faith in Christ, are going to stand before God one day and we are going to be judged according to our works. And if we sowed to please the flesh, we will reap destruction, not eternal life.

 

For the Scriptures are quite clear on this subject. If we walk according to the flesh, and not according to the Spirit, and if sin is our practice, and not walks of obedience to our Lord, we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what faith we have professed in Jesus Christ with our lips. For we are to be those who are dying daily to sin and to self and who are following our Lord in obedience in holy living, who are no longer walking in sin.

 

“Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others… For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised” (2 Corinthians 5:11,14-15 ESV).

 

Amen! Jesus Christ did not die that horrible death on a cross just to forgive us our sins and to promise us heaven when we die, but regardless of how we live. He died that we might die to sin and live to his righteousness, and for our Lord, and no longer for self. And he shed his blood for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of slavery to sin so we will now honor God with our bodies in walks of obedience to his commands.

 

[1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 6:1-23]

 

So, this is how we are to be living, as servants of the Lord Jesus, in walks of obedience to his commands (New Covenant) and in holy living, and no longer in sin. And this is what we are to teach to others in order to persuade them to obey the Lord and to live holy lives pleasing to him. For if we make sin our practice, and if obedience and righteous living are not what we practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God, God’s word teaches.

 

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 8:51; Jn 14:15-24; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:16; Rom 8:8; 1 Co 10:1-22; 1 Co 15:58; 2 Co 5:9; 2 Co 9:8; Gal 5:6,16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 5:10; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:9-14; 1 Thes 2:4; 1 Thes 4:1; 2 Thess 1:11-12; 2 Tim 2:4,21; Tit 2:11-14; Tit 3:8; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 5:9; Heb 11:6; Heb 13:6; Jas 1:21-25; Jas 2:17; 1 Pet 1:1-2; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10,22-24; 1 Jn 5:2-3; 2 Jn 1:6]  

 

Just a Closer Walk with Thee  

 

Hymn lyrics by Anonymous/Unknown

Music by American Melody

 

“For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you” (2 Co. 13:4 NASB).

 

I am weak, but Thou art strong;

Jesus, keep me from all wrong;

I’ll be satisfied as long

As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

 

Through this world of toil and snares,

If I falter, Lord, who cares?

Who with me my burden shares?

None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.

 

When my feeble life is o’er,

Time for me will be no more;

Guide me gently, safely o’er

To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.

 

Just a closer walk with Thee,

Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,

Daily walking close to Thee,

Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6Ks49apflE

 

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We Do Not Lose Heart

Paul had just finished talking about his ministry, including the ministry of Timothy. He spoke of how they had renounced disgraceful and underhanded ways, and how they refused to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but they spoke the truth of God’s word to the people. But he also spoke of how so many people were blinded to the truth of the teachings of the Scriptures and to the truth of the gospel, for the god of this world had blinded them from seeing the light of the gospel. Still true today.

Then he went on to speak of the afflictions that he and Timothy were facing as those who were bringing to the people the truth of the gospel. For since so many had been blinded from seeing the light of the gospel, they were opposing the apostles, thinking them to be false, and not of God, as Paul had once himself accused Christians of being, and that is why he had persecuted and been responsible for the deaths of many followers of Christ. But in Paul’s and Timothy’s persecution, they were relying on the Lord Jesus.

“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ESV).

All of us who are following Jesus Christ with our lives, who are obeying his commands, in practice, and who are walking in his ways and in his truth and righteousness, are going to have afflictions, persecutions, trials and tribulations. We are going to have people who will hate us or just ignore us, who will reject us and falsely accuse us of wrongs we did not do. And a lot of those are going to be professers of faith in Jesus Christ, including pastors, who are blinded to the truth by the god of this world.

But when we go through unfair treatment, we are not to lose heart. Although when we are going through it, the pain is very real, and if we are tenderhearted, we might cry a lot, we must get our strength from the Lord to endure false accusations and unjust treatment and people treating us with hate and not with love and kindness. And we must keep on keeping on in the strength of the Lord Jesus and not falter just because some people are “throwing us under the bus.”

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” Amen!

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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The Body of Christ

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us” (2 Corinthians 4:7 ESV). 

Nineteen years ago the Lord Jesus Christ called me to the ministry of writing down what he teaches me from his word each day and to post it on the internet, so I have been doing that ever since then. I believe he guides me in what to write about and in what to say, although I can’t say that I get everything perfect (I am clay). But I am dedicated to rightly handling the word of truth and to making certain that what I am saying is truth, that it is indeed the truth. And if I see I made a mistake, I will go back and correct it.

Now, I do nothing but just listen to the Lord and to what his word teaches, and then I write out what I am being taught from his word, as best as I understand it. And then I post these writings on various internet sites, and then the Lord takes it from there. I have no control over where these go or who reads these writings. And I believe I am being led of the Spirit in what to write, so I take no credit for any of this. I just want to make that perfectly clear. This is a God-thing from beginning to end, so all glory goes to God.

“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you” (2 Corinthians 4:7-12 ESV).

But before the Lord ever called me to this ministry, I had a life of suffering, first at the hand of an abusive father, then at the hand of an addicted husband, but also at the hands of pastors of “churches.” I have had pastors judge me by themselves and accuse me of what I did not do and refuse me ministry opportunities because of their own misperceptions. And I have had pastors either hit on me themselves or allow someone in their “church” to treat me wrongly in that way because the man gave money to the “church.”

I have been banned from a “church” property for giving biblical counsel to a group of women regarding blatant immorality within the church which was apparently being allowed by the pastor. When confronting another pastor with his non-denial denials, I was called to a meeting of the elders, but they required me to first say that I lied about the pastor. I did not. So I could not go to their meeting, and so I was put on church discipline for not telling a lie. And another pastor told me I was to let him be God’s voice to me.

I have been told by a pastor that he was warned about people like me, people with strong convictions, and so he invited me to go someplace else where I would be a “better fit.” Another church’s head deacon invited our entire college ministry out of their “church” because the staff just didn’t like us. And I was rejected by church denominational leaders because I spoke the truth of what the Scriptures teach regarding “and my daughters will prophesy” (preach), prophesied by the prophet Joel and repeated by Peter.

By now you may be assuming that for all this bad stuff to happen to me that I must have been doing something wrong. Well, that is like what Job’s friends did to him, or people do when they hear that a woman has been taken advantage of. They assume that she must have done something to provoke it. We can’t assume that. For, in reality, I was being submissive to leadership in all these situations unless it involved them trying to get me to do something that is evil or to back down from doing what is biblical.

So, why am I telling you all of this? Why did Paul tell us about all of his persecutions? For one, he needed prayer and he needed spiritual support. And he also knew that they, if they followed the Lord as he did, would go through similar trials and persecutions. And so he shared with them the persecutions that he faced to let them know what to expect if their lives are dedicated to the Lord and to his service, and to encourage them that God will see them through every one of them, and that they serve his purposes.

So, what purpose would God possibly have in taking me through all he has taken me through? And there is much more. I can tell you one thing for certain. I can write about what the Scriptures teach because I have been there. I can encourage those who are being mistreated and persecuted for righteousness’ sake because I have walked that path, and I still am walking that path. And I will say right here that I also had a time when I fell into sin and I failed God miserably, so I know what it is like to be on that end, too.

But the Lord also took me through all of that to give me a good picture of the spiritual condition of today’s “church.” And why do I put “church” in quotation marks? Usually because I am indicating that this is something called “church” but is not the true church, the body of Christ. Many of these institutions of men are unequally yoked together with the government and with the ungodly of this world in marketing their “churches” to the people of the world and they are following the ways of man and not of God and they are altering the gospel and the character of God to appease human flesh.

And the Lord is calling his true church to come out from among them so that we do not share in their sins and in their punishment. For they have forsaken the Lord and they are following after men, instead, and they are altering the divine character and will and gospel of God/Christ in order to draw in large crowds of people from the world to their gatherings. And so they are not the biblical church, the body of Christ, functioning like the body is supposed to function, but they are businesses being marketed to the world.

So, the Lord called me to come out from among them at some point after he called me to this ministry. It took me a while to understand what he was trying to show me, and then I kept hoping that there was an exception to the rule, but there never was. But I have not left the church, because the church is the body of Christ, and I will always be part of that body as long as I remain faithful to my Lord. I meet with the church daily on the internet, and I minister to her and she ministers to me, as we ought to do.

And even though I am daily sending out devotions, and the Lord is taking them to people all across the world in many different countries, and they are being viewed by the hundreds of thousands on multiple websites, and thus the gospel of Christ is going out to thousands of people daily all across the world, and not just in devotions, but in songs, poems, memes, and video talks, too, I get criticized because I am not sitting in a pew on a Sunday morning listening to songs and a sermon which often do not honor God.

The purpose of the body of Christ is not for us to go to an institutional “church” on a Sunday morning and to sit and listen to the same man preach Sunday after Sunday, especially if he is not teaching the truth of God’s word, and then to go home and live however we want. All of us in the body of Christ are to be ministering to one another. We are all to teach and encourage and exhort and urge and warn one another. We are all to be sharing the gospel of Christ with the world. And that is what I am doing. 

So, be careful that you don’t judge people falsely on the basis of lies.

‘Til The Storm Passes By

By Thomas Mosie Lister

In the dark of the midnight have I oft hid my face

While the storm howls above me, and there's no hiding place

'Mid the crash of the thunder, Precious Lord, hear my cry

Keep me safe till the storm passes by

Many times Satan whispered

There is no use to try

For there's no end of sorrow, there's no hope by and by

But I know Thou art with me, and tomorrow I'll rise

Where the storms never darken the skies

Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more

Till the clouds roll forever from the sky

Hold me fast, let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand

Keep me safe till the storm passes by

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

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Marketing and Conditioning

“Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:1-6 ESV).

All of us who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and as Savior of our lives are to be ministers of the Lord in sharing the truth of the gospel with the people of the world, including with the worldly “church.” We are all part of his body, the church, and we are all to be ministers also to our fellow Christians in encouraging, exhorting, speaking the truth in love, comforting, showing compassion, helping, urging (with a holy urging), teaching, admonishing, and in singing psalms hymns and spiritual songs to one another, etc.

[Matt 5:13-16; Matt 28:18-20; Jn 4:31-38; Jn 13:13-17; Jn 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 2:14-18; Acts 26:18; Rom 10:14-15; Rom 12:1-8; Rom 15:14; 1 Co 12:1-31; 1 Co 14:1-5; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Php 2:1-8; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13; Heb 10:23-25; 1 Pet 2:9,21; 1 Jn 2:6]  

And if we are truly serving Jesus Christ with our lives, in truth and in righteousness, and if we are spreading the truth of the gospel, and not the lies that so many people are spreading and believing today, and if we are refuting the lies of the enemy, as Paul did, then we are going to face opposition. We are going to be hated and rejected. We are going to be persecuted and thought of as evil because what we are teaching is not what is popularly being taught today, even though it is biblical.

And it will be because we have renounced disgraceful and underhanded ways, especially which are going on in the name of “church,” and in the name of “Christianity.” And if we refuse to participate in these fleshly market-driven “churches” incorporated under the state (the government) who are marketing the church to the world as though it is any other business, and thus they alter the truth of the gospel and the character of God/Christ and the nature of what is church, then we are marginalized.

But it is beyond just being marginalized. We are treated as though we are the evil one, as though we are out of the will of God, as though we are walking in disobedience to the Lord Jesus because we will not submit ourselves to people who are teaching lies, who are altering the gospel to make it more palatable for human flesh, and who are turning the church, the body of Christ, into a marketplace in order to attract the world to their gatherings, and who are telling us to let them be God’s voice to us.

That is not the church that Jesus Christ is the head of, his body. It is of human origin, and it is a conglomeration of the ungodly and the lukewarm and the worldly who are following after the ways of man and not of God, and including some who are righteous, in the eyes of God, in their gatherings, too. And they are businesses of men, and they are not functioning like Christ’s body biblically is to be functioning. So the Lord is telling his true church, his bride, to come out from among them and to not participate in their ungodliness and in their rebellion and in their ignoring of the Lord.

And, yes, we refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but we are committed to teaching the truth of the gospel of Christ and of his word even if it goes against what is largely being accepted and taught. We will be that single fish that swims against the stream (against the flow) even if we are hated and rejected and lied about and falsely accused of what we did not do. And we will do so because we are following Jesus Christ with our lives, and we are obeying what his word teaches.

And, yes, many eyes are blinded to the truth, and I understand if they have not been taught the truth that they would be blinded. But what grieves me is that so many people who profess faith in Jesus Christ are following after the lies of Satan, and even if you show them the truth from God’s word, they will refuse to even look at it. And that is because so many people today have been brainwashed and manipulated into accepting the lies over the truth, and into rejecting the truth as though they are lies. It is called conditioning.

So, what is the truth of the gospel? Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, and for him, and no longer for ourselves. He gave his life up for us on that cross to buy us back for God (to redeem us) out of our lives of slavery to sin so we will now be servants of righteousness in walks of obedience to our Lord. And so sin is no longer to have reign over our mortal bodies. For if sin is what we obey, and not God, then we do not have eternal life with God regardless of what our lips profess.

[1 Peter 2:24; 2 Corinthians 5:15; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 6:1-23]

And Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. 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 Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, then we have the hope of eternal life. For not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one doing the will of God the Father in heaven (Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

So, please take this to heart. And if you are someone who is facing much rejection and persecution because you stand on the truth of God’s word, as is taught in the Scriptures, in context, and if you are following the Lord in obedience to his ways, and if you are living a holy life, pleasing to the Lord, in a day and time when immorality, especially sexually immorality, and lies, and misimpressions, and deceptions and the manipulation of human minds is rampant, in and out of the institutional churches, then know God is with you.

I Know Who Holds Tomorrow

By Ira F. Stanphill

I don't know about tomorrow,

I just live from day to day.

I don't borrow from its sunshine,

For its skies may turn to gray.

I don't worry o'er the future,

For I know what Jesus said,

And today I'll walk beside Him,

For He knows what is ahead.

Many things about tomorrow,

I don't seem to understand;

But I know who holds tomorrow,

And I know who holds my hand.

I don't know about tomorrow,

It may bring me poverty;

But the one who feeds the sparrow,

Is the one who stands by me.

And the path that is my portion,

May be through the flame or flood,

But His presence goes before me,

And I'm covered with His blood. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1puNvGPFiM

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