SMILINGLY LEADING YOU TO HELL [Excerpts]

One of these is unlike the others: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, niceness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. According to Paul's letter to the church at Galatia, all but one of these is what he refers to as the fruit of the Spirit, which is to say, visible evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of a Christian. If you are a Christian, your life will necessarily be marked by this kind of character. But which one is foreign to the list? Niceness.

Humans seem to be naturally drawn to niceness. Niceness is comfortable. To be nice is to be pleasant in manner, to be agreeable, to adhere to social conventions. We like to be around people who are nice at least in large part because we are comforted by their pleasant words or deeds and by their adherence to whatever social custom dictates. It is an attractive quality, but it can also be a deceptive one. It is, after all, an external trait, and one that has no necessary correlation with what is going on at an internal, spiritual level.

Brian McLaren may well be the nicest guy around. He recently faced a good bit of criticism for leading a commitment ceremony following his son's same-sex wedding -- a ceremony that included "traditional Christian elements." In the aftermath, McLaren was as nice as he has ever been. On his blog he answered a former fan who now understood that he could no longer see McLaren as a mentor....McLaren's answer was nice; it had the appearance of humility and genuinely sorrowful affection. Yet it was radically opposed to the Bible. He rashly changed the way we interpret Scripture, denying what the Bible makes so clear. If you allow him to, Brian McLaren will "nice" you straight to hell.

And he is far from the only one. Both the history of the church and contemporary Evangelical church are replete with nice people who are in complete rebellion against God. Is there anyone nicer than Joel Osteen? Yet is there anyone whose message has less of the gospel and more anti-biblical nonsense? You can watch him [online], sitting with Oprah, receiving accolades, nicely, smilingly leading an eager crowd farther and farther from the cross. He is nice, but he, too, will nice you straight to the gates of hell, flashing that brilliant smile all the while.

Christians are called by God to stand firm on what the Bible says is true, no matter how counter-cultural, and no matter how odious to the spirit of the age....It may be impossible to be nice when we stand with firm conviction on what the Bible says about marriage, about the value of unborn children, or any other area where culture conflicts with Scripture. We need to be okay with that, as long as the fruit of the Spirit is present in its place. If we are to be nice at all, we must first be full of love, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, and the other character qualities that are genuinely reflective of the Spirit.

Niceness is not a bad trait. It is not wrong or sinful to be nice. But we vastly overestimate it and at the same time confuse it with those traits that matter so much more. It may be good to be nice, but it is so much better to be holy.

TIM CHALLIES

ROLL OF DAD AND MUM

This is interesting:

Proverbs 1:8 NKJV 'My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother...'

It seems that the role of dads and mums is laid down here. The dad teaches how to live and the mum lays down the law; sorta like laying the foundation which the dad builds on. Cool!

Any other thoughts on this?

WHO TEACHES WHO?

God's word is presented to all mankind. Never does the Bible suggest that a special rank of spiritual leaders must explain it to the rest of mankind; and that without such help ordinary people could not understand it. In fact, the opposite is taught in Scripture. Consider a few examples: "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God" (Deut 8:3, quoted by Jesus at Mat:4:4, Lk 4:4); "Blessed is the man...[whose] delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night" (Ps:1:1-2); "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word...(Ps:119:
9).

Notice that in each case an ordinary man (or woman), and even a young man/woman, meditates upon and obeys God's word. There is no hint that the persons mentioned needed to consult any special teacher concerning the scriptures. Therefore, we must conclude that to be the case for everyone.

Dave Hunt

WHY WON'T YOU LISTEN?

And what is the reason that men who profess and call themselves Christians do often find fault with the doctrines they hear preached, and say they must be wrong, they cannot be the truth of God, they are too humbling, too strict: and yet they will not take the trouble of looking at their Bibles, to see whether these things be really so.-"The Christian Race and Other Sermons"

CONTEND THE FAITH

Jude exhorts us to "earnestly contend for the faith once [for all time] delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). Jude's epistle makes it clear that the faith (i.e., God's revealed truth, the gospel, which every Christian is to believe, obey and teach) never changes, that any revision or compromise thereof must be vigorously opposed and that contending for the faith is the responsibility of every Christian.

Perhaps most shocking is Jude's implication that the enemies of the faith ("certain men") will be influential church leaders. The phrase "have crept in" can only mean within the church; and "unawares" indicates that their betrayal of the faith is, astonishingly, no deterrent to their wide acceptance as Christian leaders!

DO YOU HEAR ME?

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.   But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.   To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by  name and leads them out.   And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.   Yet they will by no means follow a  stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.  I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.   The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.  I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.   My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

John 10:1-5, 9-11, 27 NKJV

Bread or Cake?

"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 complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work."  (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

I AM NOT ASHAMED

Charles Spurgeon,

A gospel which is after men will be welcomed by men; but the true gospel of the grace of God needs a divine operation upon the heart and mind to make a man willing to receive into his utmost soul such a distasteful truth.

My dear Brethren, do not try to make it tasteful to carnal minds. Hide not the offense of the cross, lest you make it of none effect. The angles and corners of the gospel are its strength: to pare them off is to deprive it of power. Toning down is not the increase of strength, but the death of it.

SALVATION FOR SALE

Most of Rome's wealth has been acquired through the sale of salvation. Untold billions of dollars have been paid to her by those who thought they were purchasing heaven on the installment plan for themselves or loved ones. The practice continues to this day—blatantly where Catholicism is in control, less obviously here in the United States where (for example) one pays the Church to have a Mass card placed on the altar in the name of the deceased during Mass to reduce time in purgatory. The wealthy often leave a fortune for masses to be said for their salvation after their death.

Dave Hunt

CATHOLICISM DENIES FINISHED WORK OF CHRIST

Dave Hunt

Catholicism's false gospel hasn't changed. It diametrically opposes the evangelical view of what Christ's crucifixion and forgiveness of sins mean. Let me quote from Vatican II, Flannery's Edition, Vol. 1 (the same teaching is affirmed by the new universal Catechism of the Catholic Church released by the Vatican). This is what Catholicism teaches and Catholics believe and practice today:</p>
<p> "Christ's death earned "satisfactions and merits" which have been deposited into a "Treasury" to which have been added "the prayers and good works of the Blessed Virgin Mary [and] the prayers and good works of all the saints [beyond what they needed for their own salvation].</p>
<p> From the most ancient times in the Church good works were also offered to God for the salvation of sinners.... Indeed, [by] the prayers and good works of holy people...the penitent was washed, cleansed and redeemed....Following in Christ's steps, those who believe in him have always...carried their crosses to make expiation for their own sins and the sins of others. They were convinced that they could [by such good works and sacrifices] help their brothers to obtain salvation from God..." (pp 64-66)</p>
<p> Out of this "treasury of the Church" salvation/redemption is dispensed in installments by the Catholic clergy through the seven sacraments. One never passes "from death to life" (Jn:5:24) but is always earning salvation with the Church's help. In fact, excommunication is the penalty for saying one is saved and knows he has eternal life through faith in Christ's finished work. The very heart of the gospel which evangelicals affirm is denied by Catholicism in all its creeds, catechisms, canons and decrees and dogmas, and those who dare to affirm it are anathematized.

SELF FOCUS

Oswald Chambers My Utmost for His Highest

The Ministry Of The Interior

“But ye are … a royal priesthood.”
1 Peter 2:9

     By what right do we become "a royal priesthood"? By the right of the Atonement. Are we prepared to leave ourselves resolutely alone and to launch out into the priestly work of prayer? The continual grubbing on the inside to see whether we are what we ought to be generates a self-centred, morbid type of Christianity, not the robust, simple life of the child of God. Until we get into a right relationship to God, it is a case of banging on by the skin of our teeth, and we say - What a wonderful victory I have got. There is nothing indicative of the miracle of Redemption in that. Launch out in reckless belief that the Redemption is complete, and then bother no more about yourself, but begin to do as Jesus Christ said - pray for the friend who comes to you at midnight, pray for the saints, pray for all men. Pray on the realization that you are only perfect in Christ Jesus, not on this plea - "O Lord, I have done my best, please hear me."

     How long is it going to take God to free us from the morbid habit of thinking about ourselves? We must get sick unto death of ourselves, until there is no longer any surprise at anything God can tell us about ourselves. We cannot touch the depths of meanness in ourselves. There is only one place where we are right, and that is in Christ Jesus. When we are there, then we have to pour out for all we are worth in this ministry of the interior.

ARE YOU FALLING APART?

BETH. How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.     Blessed [are] You, O LORD! Teach me Your statutes. With my lips I have declared All the judgments of Your mouth. I have     rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, As [much as] in all riches. I will meditate on Your precepts, And contemplate Your ways. I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.

Psalm 119:9-16

IT'S PERSONAL!

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
 
The Personal Element

If we neglect the personal element in the Christian faith, we will go wrong all along the line.  It is personal in the matter of our original salvation.  You are not saved in crowds; you are saved individually.  We come to a personal knowledge of God; we have personal dealings with God.  It was a sad and sorry day in the history of the Christian church when the Emperor Constantine took the Roman Empire into the Christian church.  She has never really recovered from that.  You cannot be saved in families; you cannot be saved in countries; you cannot be saved in whole churches.  Conversion may happen to a number of people in the same service, but it is always intensely personal and individual.  So conforming to a certain moral or ethical pattern does not make you a Christian.  There must be a personal encounter with Jesus Christ, personal dealing, personal knowledge.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones (The Possibilities of the Christian Life)

HOW TO BEHAVE

Gospel Expositions by J.C. Ryle

Believers, do not forget how full the Epistles are of instruction about the particulars of Christian life. The apostles seem to take nothing for granted. They do not think it sufficient to say, “be holy,”—they take care to specify and name the things in which holiness is shown. See how they dwell on the duties of husbands and wives, masters and servants, parents and children, rulers and subjects, old people and young. See how they single out and urge upon us industry in business, kindness in temper, forgiveness in disposition, honesty, truthfulness, temperance, meekness, gentleness, humility, charity, patience, courtesy. See how they exhort us to honor all men, to govern our tongues, to season our speech with grace, to abstain from foolish talking and jesting, not to please ourselves only, to redeem the time, to be content with such things as we have, and whether we eat or drink to do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.

FEELING POWERLESS?

Gospel Expositions by J.C. Ryle

...if you want your spiritual life to be more healthy and vigorous, you must just come more boldly to the throne of grace. You must give up this hanging back spirit,—this hesitation about taking the Lord at His own word. Doubtless you are a poor sinner, and nothing at all. The Lord knows it, and has provided a store of strength for you. But you do not draw upon the store He has provided; you have not, because you ask not. The secret of your weakness is your little faith, and little prayer. The fountain is unsealed, but you only sip a few drops. The bread of life is before you, yet you only eat a few crumbs. The treasury of heaven is open, but you only take a few pence. O man of little faith, wherefore do you doubt?

PSYCHOTHERAPY

A variety of psychotherapies masquerading under Christian terminology are devastating the church by turning Christians from God to self. Among the most deadly are regressive therapies designed to probe the unconscious for buried memories which are allegedly causing everything from depression to fits of anger and sexual misconduct and must be uncovered and "healed." These offshoots of Freudian and Jungian theories rooted in the occult and which have destructively impacted society for decades are taking their toll within the church.

One popular variety of regression therapy is called "inner healing" and was brought into the church by occultist Agnes Sanford (see The Seduction of Christianity ). It was carried on after her death by those she influenced, such as lay therapists Ruth Carter Stapleton, Rosalind Rinker, John and Paula Sandford, William Vaswig, Rita Bennett and others. At first most prevalent among charismatics and liberal churches, inner healing has spread widely in evangelical circles. There it is practiced in a more sophisticated form by psychologists such as David Seamands, H. Norman Wright and James G. Friesen as well as a number of lay therapists like Fred and Florence Littauer. The Littauers' extreme insistence that rare is the person "who can say he truly had a happy childhood" would seem to condition their counselees to recover unhappy and traumatic memories.

Even if it were safely and accurately possible, should one probe into the past in order to dredge up forgotten memories? Memory is notoriously deceitful and self-serving. One is easily talked into "remembering" something which may never have happened. Inner healing, like other forms of psychotherapy, creates, by its very nature, false memories. Furthermore, why must one uncover memories of past abuse in order to have a right relationship with God? Where does the Bible say so? And if parts of the past must be "remembered," why not every detail? That task would be hopeless. Yet once the theory is accepted one can never be certain that some trauma is not still hidden in the unconscious—a trauma holding the key to emotional and spiritual well-being!

In contrast, Paul forgot the past and pressed on toward the prize (Philippians 3:13-14) promised to all those who love Christ's appearing (2 Tim:4:7-8). The past is of little consequence if Christians truly are new creations for whom "old things are passed away [and] all things are become new" (2 Cor:5:17). Searching the past in order to find an "explanation" for one's present behavior conflicts with the entire teaching of Scripture. Though it may seem to help for a time, it actually robs one of the biblical solution through Christ. What matters is not the past, but one's personal relationship to Christ now.
(From the February 1993 Berean Call Newsletter)

BY DAVE HUNT

Some of Gods Names

The Joseph Company by David Wilkerson

Let me show you the Joseph Company—a body of last-day believers wholly given
to the Lord. They commune with God daily and are led by the Spirit in every
detail of their lives. At this moment they are coming out of great trials to
enter a place of revelation, wisdom and fruitfulness. God is working in them,
giving them his truth and knowledge, and very soon he is going to call upon
them as he did Joseph!
For the most part, the church today is experiencing widespread spiritual
famine: shallow sermons, dead hearers, "lively" worship that is not backed up
by righteous living.
God has always worked far in advance of every spiritual famine in his church.
In every generation he has moved ahead to prepare a way out for his people!
The seventy-five members of Jacob's clan would have died in the great worldwide
famine (and the promise of Israel would have been destroyed) had God not been
working ahead of it all. In fact, some twenty years before the famine hit, God
was already setting in motion a plan to save his people from destruction.
God sent Joseph ahead to Egypt! For twenty years God worked on this
man—isolating him, trying him, preparing him for a place of
authority—because Joseph was to become the life-saver of God's chosen. He
kept Joseph from the limelight in order that he might be ready for a coming day
of chaos and death!
Beloved, just as surely as God isolated Joseph, he has a Joseph Company today
that is hidden from all eyes. These are in the furnace of affliction, prisons
of testing, battlegrounds of trials and temptations. They are dying to this
world, wanting nothing of its fame, honor, money or pleasure. And they are
growing hungry to become more intimate with Christ, to know his heart and his
voice.
 
You may not understand all the mysterious testings, trials and troubles in your
life. But if your heart is fully set on following Christ, you can rest assured
God has purpose in it all: He wants to bring you into his Joseph Company!

SALVATION! COPIED FROM DAVE HUNTS FACEBOOK PAGE

The salvation Christ purchased with His blood must be received directly from Him ("come unto me ") as a free gift of God's grace (Rom:3:24), "not of works, lest any man should boast" (Eph:2:9). Acceptance of this gracious gift is by faith: "It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe" (1 Cor:1:21). Believe what? The gospel. It is "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth" (Rom:1:16) that "Christ died for our sins... was buried, and...rose again" (1 Cor:15:1-4). Sin's penalty could not be set aside. God's love cannot compromise His justice. Christ had to suffer the full punishment we deserved, so that God "might be the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Rom:3:26). This "gospel of God" has been declared "by his prophets in the holy scriptures" (Rom:1:1-2 ). It must either be accepted on God's terms or rejected. It cannot be changed.

DAVE HUNTS FACEBOOK PAGE

The Flesh and the Spirit

I would often quote from Romans 8:1 ([There is] therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit)  saying that to quote only half of it is to miss the point, of the scripture because you have to read the whole verse to get a complete understanding of what it takes to have no condemnation in Jesus, namely to "not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit".  I used to say, you can't quote half a verse as a way to allow yourself to live how you want because it says you can't be condemned if you are a Christian!  The first half of the verse on its own does just that, it allows for all kinds of licentiousness.  Once I had got used to the idea that it takes a lot more than just being a Christian to not stand condemned, which is a very challenging thought indeed, I started to wonder, well how does one live according to the spirit?  What on earth does that mean and how can I apply it to my life, if indeed I do not want to stand condemned?  Quite a challenge!


As I started to look into this over a period of time, which in fact is still ongoing, I started to discover that to live spiritually is to make good choices as you go through life, day to day, hour by hour almost minute by minute by choosing to act according to what we see in the word and of Jesus actions and example.  For example I felt myself making a deliberate choice while driving the other day to instead of leaving a motorist stuck out beside me because he had attempted to overtake me when there was no room in front of me to pull in while we waited at a set of lights, I conceded and waved them on.  A little thing perhaps but an example of how I made the choice not to follow my carnal nature but to follow Gods spirit at His prompting.  The thought actually went through my head about what would Jesus have done had he been driving my bus! I must confess that it doesn't always go that way. (I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.Romans 7:15)


Recently I rediscovered Galatians 5.  I was thinking about how often we are taught about the fruits of the spirit as though we have to work hard at attaining them.  What I had never thought was that Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control were the product, the fruit of something; that is the fruit of the spirit.  To have this fruit you need the spirit.  That is not to say that once you have been baptised by the spirit you have it, they have to be worked at by concentrating on living by the spirit.  If we live by the spirit we cannot obey the things of the flesh. If we live by the flesh we cannot live by the spirit! (I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the law.  Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleaness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I told you in the past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:16-21).  When you look carefully at this list you can see what a tough job we have to live a holy and righteous life; a spiritual life.  (You don't have to look far in many churches to see much of the above behaviour carrying on unchecked).  But if we do live by the Spirit then we are not under the law because it says that against such things there is no law.  If we live by the Spirit we cannot break the law because all our choices are good ones. (But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those [who are] Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. Galatians 5:22-26).


Did you notice the warning at the end to not think of yourself as 'holier than thou' as the saying goes? It would be easy to do this but then of course we would cease to be living in the spirit would we not? Becoming a Christian is not an easy option by any means.  Its the right one, but not the easy one, but then making the right choice seldom is! It breaks my heart to hear churches preaching that if you come to Jesus all your problems will be solved!  In many senses if you wish to live a holy, that is a separate and wholly different life from those around you, expect life to become harder, not easier!  The great thing is that we have the hope of Jesus return and of eventual eternity with Him. And he also said, He would never leave nor forsake us. And, He left His spirit to guide and counsel us.  What a God we serve!


The journey continues................