Apostle Paul

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The Lord’s Garden

Lords Garden

by J. C. Ryle

“A garden enclosed is My sister, My spouse.” Song of Solomon 4:12

The Lord Jesus Christ has a garden. It is the company of all who are true believers in Him. They are His garden.

Viewed in one light, believers are Jesus Christ’s SPOUSE. They are all joined to Him by an everlasting covenant that cannot be broken; wedded to Him by the marriage of faith—taken by Him to be His forever, with all their debts and liabilities, with all their faults and imperfections. Their old name is gone—they have no name but that of their Bridegroom. God the Father regards them as one with His dear Son. Satan can lay no charge against them. They are the Lamb’s wife—”My Beloved is mine, and I am His” (Song. 2:16).

Viewed in another light, believers are Christ’s SISTER. They are like Him in many things. They have His Spirit—they love what He loves, and hate what He hates—they count all His members brethren—through Him they have the spirit of adoption, and can say of God, “He is my Father.” Faint indeed is their resemblance to their elder Brother! And still they are like.

Viewed in a third light, believers are Christ’s GARDEN. Let us see how and in what way. Continue reading →

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A Marvelous Change

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         By Don Fortner

1 Corinthians 6:9-11

            After declaring that “the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God,” the inspired apostle writes, “And such were some of you.” If I understand the phrasing of Paul’s words correctly, he is saying, “And such were you.” He is not suggesting that some of the Corinthians were guilty of these sins and others were not. He is saying, “All are guilty. Some were adulterers, some extortioners, some drunkards, etc.; but all have been guilty.” What was true of the Corinthians is also true of us.

This is what we were and where we were when God saved us by his grace (Isa. 51:1; Eph. 2:1-3). We must never forget from whence we came. We must never forget where we were and what we were before the Lord saved us. Not only is 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 a description of what we were – This is what we all are by nature still (Matt. 15:19). There is no evil recorded here, or recorded in the annals of human history, the seed of which is not in each of our hearts by nature. Why does the Holy Spirit remind us so often of this painful fact? There are four reasons for this reminder:

1.      To humble us and keep us from pride and self-righteousness (1 Cor. 4:7).

2.      To honor, exalt, and magnify the grace of God in Christ (1 Cor. 26-30).

3.      To encourage sinners to come with all their sin to Christ, trusting him alone for salvation (Isa. 1:18).

4.      To inspire in our hearts the intense zeal and ardent love for Christ that our great Savior deserves (Lk. 7:47). Continue reading →

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Doctrinal Error and Damning Heresy

wolf in Sheep's clothing

Jesus said that “wolves” would “come in sheep’s clothing”. The Apostle Paul said, “Grievous wolves will enter in, not sparing the flock”. Paul wrote to Timothy and said as time goes on “evil men will get worse and worse, and deception will increase.” Paul again said, “there will be doctrines of demons that will lead people astray”. To put it mildly, there is a world of chaos and confusion in the church today.

We cannot, therefore, believe for a moment that everyone who claims to be “in Christ” and to “speak on behalf of Christ” is speaking the truth. Distinguishing truth and error has become vital to the 21st century Christian. (John MacArthur)  Continue reading →

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Heaven Sent Preachers and Man Made Preachers – There is a Difference

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Man Made Preachers today are licensed and ordained by “the church”; Heaven Sent men of old were ordained and sent by God.

Man Made Preachers today go forth armed with degrees and credentials; Heaven Sent men of old went forth anointed by the Holy Spirit.

Man made Preachers today are questioned by committees and hired to preach what the church believes; Heaven Sent men of old came preaching “Thus saith the Lord”.

Man Made Preachers today give themselves to programs, visitation, and church business; Heaven Sent men of old gave themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word.

Man Made Preachers today preach and men are persuaded to move their membership; Heaven Sent men of old preached and, “they were pricked in their hearts and cried, Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

Man Made Preachers today pray while the organ plays softly; Elijah prayed and the fire of God fell.

Man Made Preachers today are afraid that they will offend someone; Paul was afraid that he wouldn’t. If there is no offence, the cross has not been preached. Continue reading →

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THREE RELIGIOUS FABLES

To argue that God is “trying His best” to save all mankind, but that the majority of men will not let Him save them, is to insist that the will of the Creator is impotent, and that the will of the creature is omnipotent.” -A.W. Pink

Pastor Don Fortner

The prophecy made by the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 4:1-5 has come to pass in our day. All over the world men, and women, and boys, and girls gather in religious assemblies. Some are very solemn. Others can barely be distinguished from dance hall revelry. But they gather in the name of Christ to worship God. They read the Bible, say their prayers, invoke God’s blessing, and give their money. They are devoted. They are sincere. But they are lost! They have faith; but theirs is a false faith. They have hope; but their hope is a delusion. Having been led and taught by blind and ignorant men, “They will not endure sought doctrine; but after their own lusts…they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears…They turn away their ears from the truth and (have been) turned into fables.”

I am not talking about Hindus, Buddhist, and Muslims. I am talking about men and women who profess to know, worship, trust, and serve the living God by faith in his Son Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit. I am talking about our friends, relatives, and neighbors. I am talking about many of you. You have turned away from the truth have been turned unto fables. Do I have your attention? If you will pay attention to the Word of God, God just might teach you something. Continue reading →

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The Bomb Was Bound To Burst About Kay Arthur From Precept Ministries International

1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Hosea 14:9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the LORD are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them.

Proverbs 3:5-7 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. (6) In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (7) Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.

It has been a concern I have had for a while now.  Many of my lady and male friends on social media such as Facebook, and churches I know in the reformed circles have placed their trust in Kay Arthur as teacher and mentor.  I have been in many conversations over the last couple of years, about Kay Arthur and many times , I was assured, by Christian woman and men,  that she is the one of the best woman’s and children’s teachers out there and can be  and should be fully trusted. We must learn to trust no one , and most important of all test them as Scripture tells us, we cannot place teachers on pedestals as they are all human and bound to fall some or other time. We as mere humans are all fallible. My fears for some time now has been confirmed by the articles below.

Kay Arthur has appeared preaching on the pulpit to men and women.  As we all know the place of a woman is not to usurp authority over men in the church. Yet many have chosen to ignore this.

See my article The BIBLICAL Role Of A Woman

The Apostle Paul makes very clear , what our duty as woman are in the church:

1 Timothy 2:10-15 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness–with good works. (11) Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. (12) I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. (13) For Adam was formed first, then Eve; (14) and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. (15) Yet she will be saved through childbearing–if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

Kay Arthur from precept ministries , further  signed the Manhattan Declaration a couple of years ago , and when I was made aware of this some time ago , it put me on guard.  The Manhattan Declaration is a movement of Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Christians for life, marriage, and religious liberty. This movement is nothing but Ecumenical.  Continue reading →

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The (Im)Morality of Tattoos

Grant Swart

(with sincere appreciation to Lorne Zelyck)

The (Im)Morality of Tattoos was originally an assignment for a Contemporary Moral Issues class offered at Phoenix Seminary. After the original writing, it was modified to also address the ethicality of body piercings. The modified version was published as “Under the Needle: An Ethical Evaluation of Tattoos and Body Piercings” in The Christian Research Journal (Vol. 28/ No. 06/ 2005) available at http://www.equip.org. The author (Lorne Zelyck) reserves all editorial rights and privileges of this paper.

The (Im)Morality of Tattoos

 

I. A Brief Historical Timeline of Tattoos

In October 1991, a five thousand year old corpse was found frozen in a glacier between Italy and Austria. The body of this man (later called Otzi) is considered the best preserved corpse of the Bronze Age every found, and dates to around 3300 B.C. The skin of Otzi has become of great interest because it bears several tattoos: a cross, six straight lines fifteen centimeters long, and numerous parallel lines.1 Continue reading →

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Grace: Glorifying God, saving sinners

Grant Swart

These are two excerpts which I borrowed from Charles Spurgeon’s address to the inaugural ceremony of the opening of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London. Spurgeon presided over the ceremony in which he had invited other prominent pastors to expound on the Doctrines of Grace.

The record of the entire proceedings of that day are a lengthy read, but well worth the time. From these and other similar expositions it is clear that those who deny or adapt the Doctrines of Grace, also then deny or adapt the Word of God, the essence of the Christian Faith and the perfection of the sacrifice of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Excerpt 1, on the origin of the Doctrines of Grace and the reason why different understandings of biblical doctrine cannot all be accepted by the true church: !

Continue reading →