Sunday, December 24, 2023
Thursday, December 21, 2023
We Can Know!
There are so many "Christians" who have not been born again, we know them by their fruit.
Matthew 7:15-20
You Will Know Them by Their Fruits
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them."
The Fruit of the Holy Spirit of God:
Galatians 5:22-23 "22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.…"
Those who walk in the Spirit, are led by the Spirit and indwelt by the Spirit, they live a lifestyle of the fruit of the Spirit. They do not have to try to be these things, it is a part of their very nature, it comes as naturally as breathing. If a believer falls for a moment against their fruitful nature they hate it, agonize over it, and remain tormented until they make it right through confession.
1 John 3:9-10 "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."
1 John 1:8-10 "…8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us."
Those who cannot admit their failings, even defending them to save face, cannot have the Spirit of Christ. This is the evidence that they are pretenders.
When we confess our sin to God He will cleanse us of that sin and we will no longer live in bondage to that sin.
Those who remain in bondage to their sin of pride are not born again. As long as they have self on the throne, maintaining their perceived dignity of pretending to be sin free, will not grow emotionally but will regress as they age.
The only authentic believer walks in the Spirit, confesses to be cleansed and move forward in holiness.
There has been a lie moving through the Christian community that says only god knows the heart and we cannot judge whether someone is saved or not. We know this is a lie because God said clearly; "you shall know them by their fruit." The Holy Spirit lives in born-again believers and they can know who is their brother and sister and who belongs to God.
While it is only God who knows a persons heart we know that He lives in us and imparts to us what He knows. This is why there are so many warnings in the Word of God that we should avoid certain kinds of people as well as discerning the heart of another person through the knowledge of His Word.
1 Corinthians 2:13-15 "…13 And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 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."
Those who say "don't judge" the loudest are those who judge the most. They use this mantra of "not judging" to control people silencing them from speaking the truth.
John 14:17
"the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you do know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you."
God said this also very clearly;
John 16:13-14 "13 However, when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on His own, but He will speak what He hears, and He will declare to you what is to come. 14 He will glorify Me by taking from what is Mine and disclosing it to you.…"
We cannot rightly judge others without Christ, but with Christ, we can see what He sees and know what He knows because He lives in us, He is our guide.
Isaiah 11:2
"The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him--the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and fear of the LORD."
John 14:17
"the Spirit of truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you do know Him, for He abides with you and will be in you."
John 14:26
"But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you."
Those who walk in the Spirit of God will have discernment that others cannot understand. They will notice things, evaluate them according to the Bible and be able to understand what they see.
Wednesday, December 20, 2023
Larry Jones: Imaginary "Pastor"
An imaginary sermon by an imaginary repentant pastor to an imaginary congregation....
“It was not the Lord Jesus Christ who authorized me to be the pastor of this assembly; it was flesh-and-blood that appointed me. If you find that hard to absorb, try to find me in the Bible. The New Testament teaches 'one another' ministry, not a salaried one-man overseer. (To verify, simply type in 'one another' in a searchable online Bible, i.e. Bible Gateway). No christian should have the degree of influence over you that I had. You assimilated my untruths, which were many, as well as truth. I want you to see that, as leader, I had a vile leverage over you. For example....
“If you did not call me pastor you would have paid a hefty price. I have learned over the years to efficiently deal with dissention. I have subtly intimated from this very powerful pulpit that the only way you can publicly serve God is through this assembly, or one similar, and you correctly sensed that to do so my approval is paramount. Also, you know your friends within this congregation will withdraw much of their warmth if they sense any dissention between me and you. Harmony is everyone's friend; tension is everyone's enemy. And so everybody was careful not to cross me. Not only is that the reason you called me pastor but it's why you submit to many other 'commandments of men' that I have imposed.”
An Imaginary Sermon by Larry Jones
An imaginary sermon by an imaginary repentant pastor to an imaginary congregation....
“I REMIND YOU THAT the Bible, not contemporary christianity, is God's standard. 2 Timothy 3:16: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” I repeat that Scripture is God's standard. And I repeat that contemporary christianity is not God's standard.
“Under my oversight, and that of other evangelical controllers, you have adopted many practices that have gained you acceptance with me and each other, but are contrary to God's Bible. One example of many....
“Why did you call me pastor? Can you find one precedent in the Bible of one christian calling another christian pastor? The Bible declares “the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church” and yet many wives consider me, not their husbands, their pastor. Does anyone think Lord Jesus wants you to call someone other than Himself pastor? When you called me pastor you were implying that I was your spiritual shepherd (pastor means shepherd); isn't Jesus alone your Shepherd, your Pastor? Don't you think it's an insult to Jesus, “that great shepherd of the sheep”, to call a brother by that title?”
Tuesday, December 19, 2023
Adding to or Detracting From Scripture is Sin
Ephesians 4:2-3
"2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
Unity in the Spirit can only happen when believers are more interested in learning the truth of God's Word than they are in their version of Christianity.
Ecclesiastes 7:8
"The end of a matter is better than the beginning, and a patient spirit is better than a proud one."
We can only defer to Scripture when we are humble enough to admit we don't know everything and desire God's truth more than our own thinking or the thinking of the culture.
Colossians 1:11
"being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfully"
Colossians 3:12
"Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with hearts of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience."
Where there is pride there is a lack of humility and kindness. Those who possess arrogance do not defer to others, rather they attempt to dominate and control.
There is only unity in the Spirit when there is a desire to please God more than we care about being seen as right or superior.
Proverbs 18:2
"A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion."
Proverbs 1:7
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction."
Proverbs 29:9
"If a wise man has an argument with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs, and there is no quiet."
When we see that we cannot have a rational conversation with someone in honesty and authentic concern for one another then is time to walk away and avoid these people.
Proverbs 10:23
"Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool, but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding."
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