God tells us to remove ourselves from those who hate Him and who will attempt to sway us to their ways. Intimidation is the best used method of wicked people, who are used of the devil, to manipulate our emotions, hoping us to fall into sin or leave God. They are too stupid to realize that sold out born again believers cannot be swayed and will run from the evil toward Christ Who lives in them.
Daniel never allowed wicked people to change him, he went to the lions den rather than be influenced by them.
Joseph did the same thing that Daniel did, running from the evil and toward God caused them both persecution but their stance toward God remained steady.
We can expect the pressure from the evil one to increase in these last days! Don't let it worry you, allow all those who hate God to go, never try to get them back unless they are completely repentant and the Holy Spirit is telling you they are sincere.
Hallelujah!!!!
Friday, May 4, 2018
Just Barely Saved
Matthew 7:21-23
"21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many [a]miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’"
Notice that God says that "not everyone who says", meaning just because someone says their saved or even lives as though they were doing good works, does not mean they are saved.
We need to resist the temptation to judge people as saved or unsaved based on our own understanding. We will know people by their fruit, not works, that is "fruit of the Spirit", it is spiritually discerned.
Galatians 5:22-23
"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
As human beings we can generally discern the fruit of the Spirit but not perfectly. When someone is a believer and lives in sin we must challenge them to ask if they are really saved because the fruit is bad, the character qualities of Christ are missing as mentioned in Galatians. However, we cannot know for sure if they are saved or not.
God says to leave the wheat and tares grow up together in the church because in the end times it will be hard to tell the difference between them, God will sort it all out later. Also in these last days there are more tares in the church than wheat, this is why we see so much sin in the church that is not dealt with.
When someone claims to be a Christian and lives sinful lives, we must discipline them, put them out so that God can deal with them without our enabling of them.
Whether or not they are saved will be evidenced in whether they return repentant or not.
1 John 3:8-10 "…8 The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil can be distinguished: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother."
Matthew 13:24-30
The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares
24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;
25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.
27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’
28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’
29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
Hebrews 12:5-7 "…5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, or lose heart when He rebukes you. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises everyone He receives as a son.” 7 Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?…"
Those who belong to Christ will be continually tormented with guilt by the Holy Spirit and return confessing their sin. Those who do not belong to Christ, who are pretenders, will not only not return when disciplined by the church but will become more hardened and remain in their sin, even growing worse as they become older.
We cannot always determine who is born again and who is not, but we can be discerning and obey God in disciplining those who continue in their sin, leaving them alone and out of our lives until they confess openly and stop the sin.
Sin does not lose one their salvation but it will bring the chastisement of the Lord until the sinning child confesses and returns in humility to be cleansed.
1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
We must confess to be cleansed, without confession there will be no change, even possibly a deepening of sin and a hardening of heart. Perhaps even removing a believer earlier from his life to stop the terrible influence he may have over others.
Some people will not have works even though they are born again, the will barely make it into heaven with few if any rewards. They trusted Christ for salvation but they do not trust Him for the rest of their life. They may have a little witness, but their lives are still steeped in the world and they remain self willed.
1 Corinthians 3:14-16
…14 If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as one being snatched from the fire. 16 Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?…
"21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many [a]miracles?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’"
Notice that God says that "not everyone who says", meaning just because someone says their saved or even lives as though they were doing good works, does not mean they are saved.
We need to resist the temptation to judge people as saved or unsaved based on our own understanding. We will know people by their fruit, not works, that is "fruit of the Spirit", it is spiritually discerned.
Galatians 5:22-23
"22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
As human beings we can generally discern the fruit of the Spirit but not perfectly. When someone is a believer and lives in sin we must challenge them to ask if they are really saved because the fruit is bad, the character qualities of Christ are missing as mentioned in Galatians. However, we cannot know for sure if they are saved or not.
God says to leave the wheat and tares grow up together in the church because in the end times it will be hard to tell the difference between them, God will sort it all out later. Also in these last days there are more tares in the church than wheat, this is why we see so much sin in the church that is not dealt with.
When someone claims to be a Christian and lives sinful lives, we must discipline them, put them out so that God can deal with them without our enabling of them.
Whether or not they are saved will be evidenced in whether they return repentant or not.
1 John 3:8-10 "…8 The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this the children of God and the children of the devil can be distinguished: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother."
Matthew 13:24-30
The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares
24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field;
25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.
26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared.
27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’
28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’
29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
Hebrews 12:5-7 "…5 And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, or lose heart when He rebukes you. 6 For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises everyone He receives as a son.” 7 Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?…"
Those who belong to Christ will be continually tormented with guilt by the Holy Spirit and return confessing their sin. Those who do not belong to Christ, who are pretenders, will not only not return when disciplined by the church but will become more hardened and remain in their sin, even growing worse as they become older.
We cannot always determine who is born again and who is not, but we can be discerning and obey God in disciplining those who continue in their sin, leaving them alone and out of our lives until they confess openly and stop the sin.
Sin does not lose one their salvation but it will bring the chastisement of the Lord until the sinning child confesses and returns in humility to be cleansed.
1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
We must confess to be cleansed, without confession there will be no change, even possibly a deepening of sin and a hardening of heart. Perhaps even removing a believer earlier from his life to stop the terrible influence he may have over others.
Some people will not have works even though they are born again, the will barely make it into heaven with few if any rewards. They trusted Christ for salvation but they do not trust Him for the rest of their life. They may have a little witness, but their lives are still steeped in the world and they remain self willed.
1 Corinthians 3:14-16
…14 If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as one being snatched from the fire. 16 Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?…
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