Believers are people who live in exile from their Home; they're just on their way back Home! Hallelujah!
Monday, November 11, 2019
That Old Lawn Mower
We once had an old lawn mower that faltered and stopped every few feet. It leaked oil and just did not work right anymore. There was no fixing it because too much was wrong with it.
When we bought a brand new lawn mower it didn't do any of those things anymore, running smoothly all the time.
The same is true of the new person in Christ, they no longer have all those inclinations to sin. Even if they fall temporarily they continue to be convicted and saddened until they confess to be cleansed.
God says no child of God keeps on sinning, the conviction of the Holy Spirit becomes too loud to ignore. There is no peace or joy while in the sin for the born again believer.
The heathen does not have this conviction, they are not sorry and become angry if anyone tells them they should be sorry. Not so for the born again believer, they have no rest until they confess to be cleansed. 1 John 1:9
If someone is just as prideful after they were born again as they were before they have not been born again.
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 are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.…"
When we bought a brand new lawn mower it didn't do any of those things anymore, running smoothly all the time.
The same is true of the new person in Christ, they no longer have all those inclinations to sin. Even if they fall temporarily they continue to be convicted and saddened until they confess to be cleansed.
God says no child of God keeps on sinning, the conviction of the Holy Spirit becomes too loud to ignore. There is no peace or joy while in the sin for the born again believer.
The heathen does not have this conviction, they are not sorry and become angry if anyone tells them they should be sorry. Not so for the born again believer, they have no rest until they confess to be cleansed. 1 John 1:9
If someone is just as prideful after they were born again as they were before they have not been born again.
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 are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.…"
The Born Again Believer
When Christ changes us into a new creation after we confess our sinfulness and ask Him to change us, we no longer think the same way we did before. We are an entirely new creation.
The sins we used to enjoy become ugly to us, so much so that we run from them.
Those who hang onto the same pride they had before they decided to become a Christian, never were broken over their sin. They never confessed their sinfulness because they just made their own mind up to join a "Christian club", where they would have their "felt needs" met.
No one can become born again without weeping over their own sinfulness.
Matthew 5:3-5 "3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.…"
James 4:17
"So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin."
1 John 1:8-10
"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."
IF WE CONFESS!!! There is no forgiveness for those who do not believe they have sin.
Mark 7:20-23
"And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
The condition of the heart comes first while the actions flow out of what is already there in that heart.
When someone says to you, "God knows my heart" while indulging in sin, it might be good to say, "yes, God knows you love your sin and have a stubborn heart that will not turn from it."
Jesus Christ lives in the born again believer we have the ability to know the heart of a person by the leading of the Holy Spirit Who lives in us.
Matthew 7:15-20
A Tree and Its Fruit
"15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
16 You will [a]know them by their fruits. [b]Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will [c]know them by their fruits."
God has shown us how to discern the heart of a man. He also speaks to our heart as to who is born again and who is not.
1 Corinthians 2:14-16 "14 The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment. 16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.…"
Never be intimidated by those who throw out the manipulation that we cannot know a person's heart.
YES, their actions, lifestyle and other things show us what is in the heart of a man.
The sins we used to enjoy become ugly to us, so much so that we run from them.
Those who hang onto the same pride they had before they decided to become a Christian, never were broken over their sin. They never confessed their sinfulness because they just made their own mind up to join a "Christian club", where they would have their "felt needs" met.
No one can become born again without weeping over their own sinfulness.
Matthew 5:3-5 "3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.…"
James 4:17
"So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin."
1 John 1:8-10
"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us."
IF WE CONFESS!!! There is no forgiveness for those who do not believe they have sin.
Mark 7:20-23
"And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
The condition of the heart comes first while the actions flow out of what is already there in that heart.
When someone says to you, "God knows my heart" while indulging in sin, it might be good to say, "yes, God knows you love your sin and have a stubborn heart that will not turn from it."
Jesus Christ lives in the born again believer we have the ability to know the heart of a person by the leading of the Holy Spirit Who lives in us.
Matthew 7:15-20
A Tree and Its Fruit
"15 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
16 You will [a]know them by their fruits. [b]Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will [c]know them by their fruits."
God has shown us how to discern the heart of a man. He also speaks to our heart as to who is born again and who is not.
1 Corinthians 2:14-16 "14 The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment. 16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.…"
Never be intimidated by those who throw out the manipulation that we cannot know a person's heart.
YES, their actions, lifestyle and other things show us what is in the heart of a man.
Using the Worlds Methods is Sin
Would a prostitute who becomes born again remain a prostitute to witness to the other prostitutes?
Would someone caught up in the satanic church become born again and remain in that church to witness?
Would a Mormon who became born again remain in the Mormon church to witness to those around them.
NO! NO! NO! Anyone who becomes born again immediately sees the sin for what it is and the Holy Spirit in them hates that sin with such a passion that He causes them to run from it.
2 Corinthians 6:16-18 "…16 What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” 17 “Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” 18 And: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”…"
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 are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.…"
The abominations that occur in the mass of the Catholic church are so horrendous that anyone born again could never sit in the pew every week partaking of the "eucharist", the "confessional" or the lighting of candles and everything else that goes on there.
To sit in the pew week after week is an endorsement of those things. To participate in things that are abominations are no less abominations because someone uses the excuse that they are trying to be friends with the people to win them to Christ.
We do not win people to Christ by participating in their abominations with them. We win people to Christ with the truth. If they are not interested in truth unless we sin the way they sin then they are not authentically seeking Christ.
So many people use the excuse of joining sinners in their sin to win them as though God endorses that, He does not!!!!
Deuteronomy 12:3-5 "…3 Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place. 4 You shall not worship the LORD your God in this way. 5 Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.…"
God tells us to reject the evil gatherings, to preach against them and to speak truth.
When God said "do not touch what is unclean" this meant anything that is an abomination to the Lord. To attend mass is an abomination. To participate in the communion in which the priest has declared the elements as the actual body and blood of Christ is to partake in cannibalism, strictly forbidden by God. What we believe in our heart is counted by God as having done that thing.
Matthew 5:27-28 "27 You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
This is true of every sin, it all starts in the heart. If someone wishes to believe they are eating the body of Christ, then it is counted to them as cannibalism because they wish it to be so.
To participate every week in the "sacrifice of the mass" in which Catholics believe they are sacrificing christ every week over and over again is to deny the real Christ who said on the cross, "it is finished."
To participate in any part of the sacrifice of the mass is to validate the whole thing to all those who see you there.
To sit in the pew with people who believe they must work their way to heaven through the gathering of graces by the number of their works is to validate that belief system of works based salvation.
Christ told us to gather together with like minded believers for the purpose of worship and teaching. When the worship and teaching is rank abomination we violate God's mandate to meet with those who love Him.
Gathering together for worship and teaching is not for the unbelievers, its for those who are born again seeking Christ together as a body.
If someone is born again and uses the excuse that they remain in abominations to witness perhaps they love their ritual and the people that are there with them more than they love Christ.
Isaiah 63:10
"But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy and He Himself fought against them."
An emotional attachment to someone often blinds people to the truth, they accept the excuses of their friends in order to remain friends with them.
How could we continue doing what grieves God as an excuse to win people? Our example says far more than our words. When we remain in a wicked system it validates that system. "More is caught than taught." We can speak all the words in the world but people will seek to do what we do far more than what we say.
1 John 3:18
"Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."
Titus 1:16
"They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work."
James 1:22-25
"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing."
1 Corinthians 11:1
"Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ."
Who are we imitating when we practice the abominations of the mass, not Christ, but the heathens.
In the last days there will be great confusion because people will be more invested in being liked and appreciated than in truth. They will place the happiness of a friend over the truth of Christ.
Matthew 7:21-23
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Do not be fooled by the excuses of friends to remain in sin for the sake of evangelizing. Remember God cares about HOW we evangelize and we are never to endorse or validate sin by participation in it to entice people.
The Catholic church did this for many years, they incorporated pagan abominations into the church in order to bring in the pagans the same way the protestant church is doing in their rock music presentations and lavish light shows now.
Using the tools of the devil to win people is sin. We are to win people the way God told us to and that is to preach the truth of the gospel in the world only bring in to the church those who responded to the gospel becoming born again, then bring them in not as unbelievers but as brothers and sisters in Christ.
The lie that we should use all methods, even sinful ones to win people to Christ was a trick of the devil.
For born again believers it is God's way only!!!!! When we use the world's way we lack faith. To use God's way no matter what the results might appear is to be faithful even when we see no results.
You see, we are not responsible for results, we are only responsible to obey and the rest is up to Him.
1 Corinthians 3:6-8 "…6 I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one in purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor."
Just do what God says to do in His word, do not use the ways of the world to evangelize which only waters down the gospel and even brings a false one.
Seek the Holy Spirit and His Word and stop trying to think with your own mind, it will trip us up every time.
1 Corinthians 2:15-16 "…15 The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment. 16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ."
Would someone caught up in the satanic church become born again and remain in that church to witness?
Would a Mormon who became born again remain in the Mormon church to witness to those around them.
NO! NO! NO! Anyone who becomes born again immediately sees the sin for what it is and the Holy Spirit in them hates that sin with such a passion that He causes them to run from it.
2 Corinthians 6:16-18 "…16 What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.” 17 “Therefore come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” 18 And: “I will be a Father to you, and you will be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”…"
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 are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.…"
The abominations that occur in the mass of the Catholic church are so horrendous that anyone born again could never sit in the pew every week partaking of the "eucharist", the "confessional" or the lighting of candles and everything else that goes on there.
To sit in the pew week after week is an endorsement of those things. To participate in things that are abominations are no less abominations because someone uses the excuse that they are trying to be friends with the people to win them to Christ.
We do not win people to Christ by participating in their abominations with them. We win people to Christ with the truth. If they are not interested in truth unless we sin the way they sin then they are not authentically seeking Christ.
So many people use the excuse of joining sinners in their sin to win them as though God endorses that, He does not!!!!
Deuteronomy 12:3-5 "…3 Tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, burn up their Asherah poles, cut down the idols of their gods, and wipe out their names from every place. 4 You shall not worship the LORD your God in this way. 5 Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.…"
God tells us to reject the evil gatherings, to preach against them and to speak truth.
When God said "do not touch what is unclean" this meant anything that is an abomination to the Lord. To attend mass is an abomination. To participate in the communion in which the priest has declared the elements as the actual body and blood of Christ is to partake in cannibalism, strictly forbidden by God. What we believe in our heart is counted by God as having done that thing.
Matthew 5:27-28 "27 You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
This is true of every sin, it all starts in the heart. If someone wishes to believe they are eating the body of Christ, then it is counted to them as cannibalism because they wish it to be so.
To participate every week in the "sacrifice of the mass" in which Catholics believe they are sacrificing christ every week over and over again is to deny the real Christ who said on the cross, "it is finished."
To participate in any part of the sacrifice of the mass is to validate the whole thing to all those who see you there.
To sit in the pew with people who believe they must work their way to heaven through the gathering of graces by the number of their works is to validate that belief system of works based salvation.
Christ told us to gather together with like minded believers for the purpose of worship and teaching. When the worship and teaching is rank abomination we violate God's mandate to meet with those who love Him.
Gathering together for worship and teaching is not for the unbelievers, its for those who are born again seeking Christ together as a body.
If someone is born again and uses the excuse that they remain in abominations to witness perhaps they love their ritual and the people that are there with them more than they love Christ.
Isaiah 63:10
"But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit. So He turned and became their enemy and He Himself fought against them."
An emotional attachment to someone often blinds people to the truth, they accept the excuses of their friends in order to remain friends with them.
How could we continue doing what grieves God as an excuse to win people? Our example says far more than our words. When we remain in a wicked system it validates that system. "More is caught than taught." We can speak all the words in the world but people will seek to do what we do far more than what we say.
1 John 3:18
"Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."
Titus 1:16
"They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work."
James 1:22-25
"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing."
1 Corinthians 11:1
"Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ."
Who are we imitating when we practice the abominations of the mass, not Christ, but the heathens.
In the last days there will be great confusion because people will be more invested in being liked and appreciated than in truth. They will place the happiness of a friend over the truth of Christ.
Matthew 7:21-23
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Do not be fooled by the excuses of friends to remain in sin for the sake of evangelizing. Remember God cares about HOW we evangelize and we are never to endorse or validate sin by participation in it to entice people.
The Catholic church did this for many years, they incorporated pagan abominations into the church in order to bring in the pagans the same way the protestant church is doing in their rock music presentations and lavish light shows now.
Using the tools of the devil to win people is sin. We are to win people the way God told us to and that is to preach the truth of the gospel in the world only bring in to the church those who responded to the gospel becoming born again, then bring them in not as unbelievers but as brothers and sisters in Christ.
The lie that we should use all methods, even sinful ones to win people to Christ was a trick of the devil.
For born again believers it is God's way only!!!!! When we use the world's way we lack faith. To use God's way no matter what the results might appear is to be faithful even when we see no results.
You see, we are not responsible for results, we are only responsible to obey and the rest is up to Him.
1 Corinthians 3:6-8 "…6 I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one in purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor."
Just do what God says to do in His word, do not use the ways of the world to evangelize which only waters down the gospel and even brings a false one.
Seek the Holy Spirit and His Word and stop trying to think with your own mind, it will trip us up every time.
1 Corinthians 2:15-16 "…15 The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment. 16 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ."
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