PART NINE OF POST
WOULD JESUS BE WELCOME IN YOUR CHURCH TODAY--- PART NINE(At 8:40 p.m. I added more to the bottom of this post.)
This will be the beginning of my fifth (and last) point in this message. If you are new to reading my blog I encourage you to go back to previous posts and begin with point number one.
As far as helping yourself in your personal walk with God, I believe my fourth point was the most important point in my message. And, as far as the idea to "train up a child in the way he should go..." (Proverbs 22:6) this last point will be the most important one.
I am also keenly aware that this point will cause the most anger among some who read it. Though, to be fair, that thought doesn't bother me: howbeit, getting someone angry is not the intention of this message. (Sometimes making people mad might be the reason behind a message, but it is not this one.) It is because anger is a motivating emotion which sometimes can be used to spur people toward salvation, or sometimes into better service toward God.
Whether any reader cares to believe it or not, I only have one reason to write what I do, and that is to hopefully be of a help to someone and to get all believers to actually practice what they purport to believe. That is if you say that you are a Bible believer, then prove it by actually following what the Bible states.
If you had the misfortune of sitting under bad preaching, teaching, parenting, etc. that will not be an acceptable excuse to God for what you practiced in this life.
The rich man in Hell pleaded for Abraham to send a sign to his brethren that they would not follow him to Hell. In this case he asked for Lazarus to be raised from the dead and to send him to them. Listen to Abraham's refusal as told by Jesus: "Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them." (Luke 16:29) Now, where do you suppose they were to hear what Moses and the prophets had to say? That's right... (the) B-I-B-L-E!!!
REGARDLESS what anyone else teaches, in the end, you and I will be judged on the content of the written record God left for man, i. e., the Bible. I hope you understand that is what is meant in Revelation 20:12: "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."
I am fully aware that this particular passage of Scripture is speaking to lost mankind, and not to the redeemed. My point is that the "books" which are opened in Heaven will be (at least) the "book" where God records physical birth, the "Lamb's book of Life," and both Testaments, the Old and the New Testament.
Though there are people who would want to dispute with me for making a distinction between the first two books I mentioned, it doesn't matter... because they are two very different books! Read Psalm 139:16 and you will see that God records in His "book" every human birth. Then, when the new-birth takes place that name is also recorded in the "Lamb's book of life." Only those people whose names are written in that book enters Heaven. (Revelation 21:27) If you do not accept that truth: of the two books being different, then you are a Calvinist and I can't help you very much anyway.
The main reason I brought that out is to show you the importance God puts on His written record. Jesus said that seeing someone raised from the dead, which is a notable miracle should not cause a doubter to believe any quicker than by simply reading His word, (the Bible) and accepting what is written. (Luke 16:29) And, God will judge all mankind based on His written record, again the Bible. (Revelation 21 and 22)
Have you ever tried taking candy from a baby... literally? What happened? The very same crying heard when that happens is what I expect from this point I am making. This point is a scared cow teaching that large percentages of every congregation in every fundamental church holds to in today's society. I will prove with Scripture they are wrong to do it, but to many people it will not matter.
I would first like to say that I make no pretense about being a "good Christian;" would to God it were otherwise. In truth I would like to do better for God in everything that I do. However, there is at least one thing I do that I believe I actually do better than most believers. Sadly, it might be the only thing I do better, but here it is. In a heartbeat, every single time... and instantly I am willing to change any belief I have to line up with clear Bible teaching, as Bible truth is revealed. I don't even have to understand the "why" behind God stating it, I simply accept it because it is recorded.
I have no pride that makes me feel bad, if in fact I have believed falsely: I simply change my belief to line up with God's teaching. I also accept no man's person in place of what the Bible says. (That last point has actually severed good friendships with other believers who decided to do it their way, or their church's way, because, after all, "That's how they have always done it.") I have even tried to shame such people. "Are you serving a deacon board or God?" "Who are we to follow, the Word of God or the dogma of man?"
Before I begin I would like to encourage every believer to try something. When you hear or read something that is different than what you have heard or practiced in the past, search the Scriptures and see if you have been in error. Then, by the grace of God... change!!! Why would any person want to continue in error if the Bible shows that they are in error? I can only think of two reasons, and one is pride.
A very famous, and in my opinion a wonderful evangelist, wrote to me and said that I was right... in fact the Bible did hold up my position of what we were discussing. Yet... he ended by saying that he was still going to preach and teach what he always had on the subject. His human mind rationalized his decision to teach other than what the Bible taught, and in fact he was only trying to "help people." In essence he felt that if the true teaching on this subject was brought forward that it might cause many to fall into sin.
(His reasoning reminded me of the history I read of a few of the men who translated the KJV from Greek manuscript. There were some who sat on the board and they did not want to fully translate what transpired between Christ and the woman caught in the act of adultery. (John chapter eight)
With their human reasoning they thought the woman got off too easily and the quick act of forgiveness would cause others to follow her into sinful acts. Thankfully, the demagogues in the group were outnumbered by the Bible believers and the passage was faithfully translated.)
I kept the evangelist's letter: not for the purpose of ever showing it to anyone. In fact, I have had it, along with other letters I think of as important, for at least 20 years and no one besides myself have ever read it. I only keep it to remind myself that there are only two reasons known to myself why people accept supposed "truth" over what the Bible teaches. One is pride and the other is unsound reasoning. With the finite mind of man they are trying to out-think the infinite mind of God... it can't be done!
Later in this message I will tell you who I got this next quote from, and he was right then and sadly it is still true 20 years later. "Most Christian's are humanists in their thinking." It is off of that quote that I will later introduce the main point that I am writing about.
(I will add more to this later but my dogs need to be walked just now.)
8:40 p.m.
I want to explain the main difference between the plan of God for His children, and the plan that the devil has for his children. From the time God called Abraham into a far country to Moses being told to lead God's children out of Egypt, and keep in mind that Egypt always represents worldliness in Scripture: God's plan has always been to have a separate and separated people.
However, the devil's plan is the polar-opposite of the Lord's plan. Satan tries to infiltrate his children (tares) with God's children which are the wheat. All throughout Scripture we see the symbols that God used to remind His people that they were to remain separate from the unsaved. Example: two different types of animals could not be yoked (harnessed) together when they were pulling a cart or used to plow in the field. A person was not permitted to wear a garment with two different types of material in it. God was constantly re-enforcing this idea of complete separation between His people and the children of the devil.
The devil though, has a totally different idea: he wants his followers to be closely associated with God's children. Read carefully Jude and verse 4a "For there are certain men crept in unawares..." Keep that thought in mind and read Matthew 13: 24-30 as Jesus is teaching about the kingdom of Heaven. Notice that when the "good seed" was sown that the "enemy" came in the night and sowed "tares" among the good seed. Again, the devil delights in the fact that his children and God's children are yoked together in any way at all.
God's command is always the same and crystal clear: "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." (II Corinthians 6:17-18) Notice the words... "Wherefore come out from among them..." Who do you think God is speaking about in these verses? The... "them" ... is the lost that God wants His people to remain separate from.
Even the word, "ekklesia" (church) means "... called out of ..." Ekklesia is used 115 times in the Greek New Testament and never once does it mean a building. It is always a "called out and separated" body of believers.
I am explaining all of this for a very important teaching. Christians are always to leave and separate from unbelievers in every area and walk of life: except for the three institutions that God ordained. Except for these three, believers and unbelievers are not supposed to be in any type of "yoke." Remember though, that is God's plan. The devil loves that type of unequal "yoke."
The only three institutions where God does not want His children to totally separate from unbelievers are: (in the order He set them up) marriage... human government... and the church. I will speak about them in the same order He gave them.
Never, under any circumstances are a saved and an unsaved person supposed to marry. However, if two lost people get married and during the course of the marriage one partner gets saved, they are commanded to remain in that unequal yoke. It is because God was the One who ordained marriage and He wants the presence of His children in that institution. Read II Corinthians 7:12-16. Verse 12b ..."If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away." Read those several verses (12-16) and you will see that it is spelled out for both the man and the woman. It is the first of three, and only three institutions that believers and unbelievers are to "grow together" in an unequal yoke. Again though it is because there are only three God ordained institutions given in the entire Bible. And God will never be without a witness in those institutions.
(My wife is calling me for a "Honey do" list and I am going to call it quits for the night. I will try and type more: perhaps tomorrow.)
posted by Robin Johnson @ 10:03 AM
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