Christmas tree
A Remnant
“Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.” (Isaiah 1:9)
The Apostle Paul tells us that among the fallen, depraved, lost, condemned ruins of humanity “there is a remnant according to the election of grace” (Romans 11:5). And he assures us that that “remnant shall be saved” (Romans 9:27).
With men a remnant is something leftover, waste material, material for which there is no plan, purpose, or intended use. With God it is exactly opposite. God’s remnant is the kernel; everything else is husk. God’s remnant is that for which all things were planned and purposed. Without that elect remnant, everything else would be useless.
It was true in Isaiah’s time and it is true today, that the Church and people of the living God are a poor, needy remnant, a remnant scattered among the nations, an elect remnant, a redeemed remnant, a protected remnant, but a remnant still. We are God’s remnant in Christ’s hands, under Christ’s care. The God of all grace deals with a remnant. He seeks a remnant. He builds his house with a remnant. His treasure is a remnant.
This remnant is Christ’s seed in the earth that shall serve him, the generation accounted to the Lord to serve him (Psalm 22:30), Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise. — The remnant is God’s elect, Continue reading
Servants of the Most High God
“These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation (Acts 16:17).”
The natural man is a terribly proud creature—selfish, self-confident, self-important, and self-sufficient. He lives in bondage to sin, Satan, and self; worships and serves the creature more than the Creator (Rom. 1:25). He cringes at the very thought of serving any master other than himself and finds the thought of serving God especially distasteful; however, there are some people in this world whom God delivers from the bondage of self-service. They, and they alone, have been, are being, and will be, delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. Speaking of the deliverance of God’s elect, the apostle Paul says, Continue reading
“If The Foundations Be Destroyed…?”
If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalms 11:3 KJV)
If the roof is blown off of your house in a tornado, it will cause you trouble, grief, and expense. But there is no cause for despair. If one of the walls of this building were to be torn off in a storm, it would require our time, labor, and money to replace it. But it could be replaced soon enough. Indeed, we once saw building collapse, like a pile of toothpicks, during a winter storm. It was a frustrating and costly ordeal. But soon the walls were again raised. However, if by some terrible earthquake, the foundations of the building were broken up and destroyed, then all would be hopelessly lost and ruined.
The Immovable Foundations of Our Faith Continue reading
Christmas and the Christian
Grant Swart
As the years have passed, the “festive” or holiday season, which includes Christmas day, has become a commercialized farce, along with other similar secular celebrations such as Mothers Day and Valentines Day. The original meaning and “reason for the season” has been replaced with lavish parties, extreme festivities, entertainment and expensive gifts. While there is nothing wrong with any of those things, they certainly do not represent Christmas. No longer is it “the thought that counts”, rather the value of the gift which apparently demonstrates the level of affection one has for the recipient. Rarely is the birth of our Saviour brought into the picture on Christmas.
There is a war being waged on the traditional Christmas by the secular world, atheists, legalists and followers of false religions. “Merry Christmas” is being replaced with “Seasons Greetings” or “Happy Holidays”. This, of course, is being done in an attempt to promote a religiously tolerant society with the will, values and rights of man as the central focus. All the while, the battle for your bucks in the countdown of shopping days to Christmas rages on.
It was Santa Claus did it!
Back to the controversial issue among many Christians, which is the partaking or avoidance of Christmas celebrations. Continue reading
The Religion of the Pharisees
“Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash theirhands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death: But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free. And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.”
Mark 7:1-13
As our Lord Jesus warns us elsewhere to “beware of false prophets,” he warns us here to beware of false religion. Nothing is more dangerous to the souls of men, and nothing more deadly than false prophets and false religion.
The Apostle Paul warns us that those who eat and drink the bread and wine of the Lord’s Table without faith in Christ eat and drink damnation to themselves. What he says about the Lord’s Table is true of and applicable to all other religious practices without faith in Christ. To profess faith without faith, to claim an interest in Christ without an interest in Christ, to be baptized without being born of God, to pretend to be a child of God while you are yet a child of the devil, all these things are eating and drinking damnation to yourself.
Our Lord Jesus warns us again and again to, “beware of the leaven of the Pharisees.” The warning is repeated often because it is needed often. Here he explains exactly what he meant by the leaven of the Pharisees. When our Lord warns us to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, he is talking about the doctrine, or the religion of the Pharisees.
What a humbling picture we have before us of apostate, human religion. Continue reading
Never Distinguish Tares From Wheat
Mercy and love, kindness and encouragement, forgiveness and patience are things we all constantly want and need from others. Shall we not constantly bestow them upon others? Continue reading
The Lord’s Prayer
Photo by : VERNELLE IMAGING PHOTOGRAPHY
“These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.” (John 17:1-26)
In these 26 verses of Holy Scripture we have the high priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, as he was about to enter into the Holy of Holies in Heaven, with his own blood, to obtain eternal redemption for his people.
Our blessed Savior left us the full text of this prayer. He prayed frequently while he was here on the earth in our flesh; but this is the only prayer of our Lord Jesus that is recorded in its entirety. This is Christ our God-man Mediator, our great High Priest, praying to the heavenly Father on our behalf, interceding for us. He left us the full text of this prayer as an example of his intercession, which even now he carries on for his people at the Father’s right hand.
The Scripture says that when the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross and was buried and raised again that he ascended to Heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us. There he prays or makes intercession for his people. This prayer is the prayer of our High Priest, our Mediator, which he is praying for us at this moment, as he makes intercession for us in heaven (Romans 8:34).
In Hebrews 7:25, we read that, “He is able to save them to the uttermost that come to God by him; seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” So, this is the prayer of the great High Priest, the one Mediator between God and men. The Scripture says, “There is one God and one Mediator,” one who prays for us and only one. That is our Lord Jesus Christ. This is his effectual prayer of intercession.
It is the Lord Jesus himself who is praying here. The fact that he prayed, prayed often, and prayed earnestly ought to encourage us to pray (Hebrews 4:14-16). Prayer doesn’t change God or change the will of God. It finds the will of God. Prayer not only finds the will of God, it bows us to the will of God. Prayer rejoices in the will of God and changes us, causing us to know and to follow the will of God. If our Master prayed, his servants certainly ought to pray.
Three Statements Continue reading
The Errors of Lordship Salvation
Note: this is probably the longest article placed on our little blog, all of 83 pages long. Take your time to read and understand this serious error being taught today, a damnable heresy called Lordship Salvation. I have found this to be the most clear and explanatory article I have yet read about this serious error which is proving to be so popular in, so-called, Reformed circles. It is my prayer that this is of value to you, the reader, as it was for me.
The Errors of Lordship Salvation
By Pastor Kelly Sensenig
D L Moody told this story:
“An old man got up in one of our meetings and said, ‘I have been forty-two years learning three things.’ I pricked up my ears at that. I thought if I could find out in three minutes what a man had taken forty-two years to learn, I should like to do it. The first thing he said he had learned was that he could do nothing toward his own salvation. ‘Well,’ I said to myself, ‘that is worth learning.’ The second thing he found out was that God did not require him to do anything. Well, that was worth finding out, too. And the third thing was that the Lord Jesus Christ had done it all, that salvation was finished, and that all he had to do was to take it.”
Can it be true that God does not require the sinner to do anything in order to be saved? Can it be true that God only asks a poor lost sinner to take salvation as a free gift? Can it be true that salvation does not require any previous commitment to following Christ or obedience? It is true because eternal life is called “the gift of God” (Rom. 6:23). It is true because salvation is called “the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8) and a person receives this gift “through faith” (not following). It is true since a sinner is only asked to “come” (Rev. 22:17) and “take the water of life freely” (not follow). It is true since salvation is offered freely “without money and without price” (Isa. 55:1). However, not everyone in the evangelical community would agree with this conclusion.
Those who embrace the teaching of Lordship Salvation would disagree and convey that a person must promise to follow Christ, obey Him, and make Christ Lord over area of his life before he can be saved. Lordship Salvation teaches there is a price or cost that is attached to salvation. In short, a person must meet the requirements for discipleship, become a follower of Christ, commit himself totally to Christ, step out to obey His commands, make Jesus Lord over area of his life, take the initiative to serve Christ, and comply with the conditions that Jesus requires for salvation, if he wants to be saved.
Lordship Salvation is a serious departure from the historic and Biblical teachings regarding the content of the Gospel message, old-fashion repentance, and simple faith in Christ. When this teaching is analyzed in the light of God’s Word it is found to be spurious and misleading. Lordship Salvation pertains to the area of a person’s salvation and specifically how a person is saved. For this reason it becomes a serious issue in relationship to what a person must do in order to be saved. It strikes at the very heart of the orthodox Christian faith. Continue reading
The Strong Man Armed — Bound and Cast Out
“When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out. And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.” (Luke 11:21-26)
From the beginning of time the prince of darkness has been at war with the Son of God, and the Son of God has been at war with him (Genesis 3; Isaiah 14; Revelation 12). It is a mutual conflict, a mutual enmity. It is ever the purpose of that fiend of hell and the myriads of demons ruled by him to topple the throne of God, usurp his authority, and destroy the souls of men. His principle weapon of warfare is religion — self-righteousness and will worship (2 Corinthians 11; Galatians 1:6-9).
But the fiend of hell, that old serpent, the devil shall accomplish nothing. He is God’s devil. He is by the omnipotent power of Christ forced into servitude. And soon he shall be cast into hell, crushed beneath our Savior’s feet and ours. Yes, he shall be crushed beneath the feet of us, poor, weak mortals he seeks to destroy (Romans 16:20). Continue reading
The Sheep
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.”
(John 10:1-6)
There are some people among the fallen sons of Adam whom God almighty has purposed to save. They are called “his own sheep.” These sheep are sinners loved of God with an everlasting love, chosen by him unto salvation, and redeemed by Christ the Good Shepherd. They shall, each of them, be called to life and faith in Christ by the power of God’s irresistible grace at his appointed time and preserved in him unto everlasting glory.
Sheep and Goats
According to the Word of God, the whole human race is divided into two categories: sheep and goats. Sheep never become goats; and goats never become sheep. Our Lord plainly tells us that some men and women are his sheep; and some are not his sheep. Some are goats (Matthew 25:31-33; John 10:16, 26). This division of the human race was made in eternity in God’s sovereign purpose of grace in eternal election. He chose some to salvation and passed by others.
This division is made manifest in time, at the time of love, when the sheep are called by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the gospel to life and faith in Christ. The call of the Spirit and our resulting faith in Christ do not make the division or make us sheep; but the call of God and the gift of faith in Christ make the division manifest, and make it manifest that we are Christ’s sheep, chosen, redeemed, and called by grace.
This division of the human race is a permanent, immutable division. — Sheep never become goats; and goats never become sheep.
Lost and Found Continue reading
Who are the Hebrews? The Israel of God
Every promise of God in Holy Scripture, every covenant blessing is made to one race, only one. Every prophecy in the Book of God concerns the welfare of one nation, only one. And I assure you that few people in this world have a clue who that race and that nation is. This will come as a shock to many, but it needs to be shouted from the housetop: — God is not a Jew, an American, a Democrat, or even a Republican.
There is only one nation in which the God of Glory is interested, only one nations whose interests are his interests, and that nation is “The Israel of God” (Gal. 6:14), “the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). Read 1 Peter 1:9-10. Here the Holy Spirit clearly identifies that race and nation upon which the very heart of the triune God is fixed and has been fixed from eternity.
(1 Peter 2:9-10) “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: (10) Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.”
Let’s read Exodus 3:15-18 together. Continue reading
He Shall Not Fail……
False Prophets Exposed And Condemned
There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. (Proverbs 14:12 KJV)
Listen to the sermon while you read.
FIVE WOES or FALSE PROPHETS EXPOSED AND CONDEMNED
Text: Habakkuk 2:4-20
Subject: False Prophets and False Religion
Date: Tuesday Evening—February 15, 2011
Tape # Habakkuk #20
Readings: Darin Duff and Allen Kibby
Introduction:
ALLEGORICAL EVENTS
When we read about the many events of history recorded in the Old Testament, we miss the intent of the Inspired Record if we do not read and interpret those events allegorically. Yes, the Scriptures must be understood literally; but a literal understanding alone misses the intent of Inspiration altogether. The historical record of Sarah and Hager is historically factual and true as recorded in the Book of Genesis. And God the Holy Spirit who inspired the Book of Genesis tells us in the Book of Galatians that Sarah and Hager and their sons Isaac and Ishmael are an allegory, a spiritual picture.
If we would understand the Old Testament Scriptures we must always remember that Christ crucified is the message of the Old Testament, just as Christ crucified is the message of the New Testament (Luke 24:27, 44-45). Everything in the Book of God speaks of Christ and the salvation of God’s elect by His obedience, His blood, and His grace.
- This is not a book about history. This is the Book about Christ.
- This is not a book about science. This is the Book about the Savior.
- This is not a book about prophecy. This is the Book about Propitiation.
- This is not a book about religion. This is the Book about Righteousness and Redemption.
- This is not a book about morality. This is the Book about mercy, and grace, and salvation in Christ!
Everything in this Book is about Christ. The written Word of God is all about Him who is the Living Word.
- Every prophecy is about Christ.
- Every ceremony of the law typified our Savior.
- Every commandment of the law pointed to Christ, shows us our need of Christ, and shuts us up to the Lord Jesus Christ as our only Hope, our Savior, our only Salvation!
And every event recorded in Old Testament history was brought to pass by God’s providence that it might serve as an allegory, type, picture of God’s great grace and of the salvation of our souls by Christ Jesus (Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:11).
(Romans 15:4) “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.”
(1 Corinthians 10:11) “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.”
Tonight, I want you to open your Bibles to Habakkuk chapter 2. The title of my message is — FIVE WOES orFALSE PROPHETS EXPOSED AND CONDEMNED. Here is a prophecy of an historic event, Israel’s Babylonian Captivity. It literally came to pass, exactly as it was prophesied. But the whole thing is a portrayal of God’s grace and the salvation His elect in overthrowing mystical Babylon, the Great Whore; and that Great Whore, Babylon, represents all false religion in the world. Remember, there are just two religions in the whole world(Proverbs 14:12; 16:25).
- Free-will and Free-grace
- Works and Grace
- Self-salvation and God Salvation
- Jerusalem and Babylon
MIGHT GOD YET GRANT REVIVAL?
“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.” (Proverbs 29:2)
There is no question that our nation, along with the rest of the world, is a nation under the judgment of God. As far as I know, throughout the world, in every nation under the sun, the wicked rule. Perhaps you think that is a strong statement. Politicians in every democratic society of which I am aware…
- Openly promote homosexuality, asserting that any objection to that deviant perversity is bigotry.
- Do everything possible to promote fornication and unwed women giving birth to children, or even worse murdering unwanted, inconvenient children.
- Use every means possible to eradicate any mention or thought of the Lord Jehovah, our God, and our Savior Christ Jesus as God the Lord, while rushing to pass laws protecting Islam, Hinduism and atheism.
Yes, the wicked rule everywhere; and when the wicked rule the people mourn.
(Proverbs 29:2) “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.”
When the wicked rule, the people they oppress “mourn,” the people moan, and groan, and sigh before God under the tyranny of the wicked. The people mourn, groan and sigh, as John Gill wrote more than 250 years ago, “under their tyranny and oppression, and because of the sad state of things; the number of good men is lessened, being cut off, or obliged to flee; wicked men and wickedness are encouraged and promoted; heavy taxes are laid upon them, and exorbitant demands made and cruelty, injustice, and arbitrary power exercised; and no man’s person and property are safe.” Continue reading
For the Love of His Truth 