A person without God can do good deeds on the outside but they cannot be good on the inside. Those who do good deeds on the outside without God, are doing them to self glorify. God wants the glory for our behavior and that can only happen if Christ is working in us.
Matthew 6:1-2 "1 Be careful not to perform your righteous acts before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be praised by men. Truly I tell you, they already have their reward.…"
It is the hypocrites who do their good deeds to be seen by others. Verse 2
Friday, October 21, 2016
Only One Hope For America
We don't see the public at large imitate the Lord's Supper as we do so many other holidays that were implemented and orchestrated by human institutions.
The Lord's Supper is completely Christ centered, ordained of God to recognize Christ as our propitiation for sin as well as our helper and mentor after we have become born again. This is the very reason the apostate church and the unsaved public have no interest in it. In fact, most churches today either ignore the Lord's Supper or do it so infrequently that it is hardly noticed.
Celebrating life is the focus of Christ, celebrating death is the focal point of Halloween. Every man made holiday is designed to foster pleasure seeking, the opposite of holiness, the antithesis of blessings for others. Pleasure seeking is always associated with personal fulfillment even to the exclusion and mocking of those who do not indulge in it.
Holidays in our culture concentrate on self and pleasure. Christ is concerned about holiness and blessing to others. Those who do not know Christ lack the understanding that brings great joy from obedience to the principles of Christ in His Word. Superficial fun is the desire of those who need these man made holidays, they have little tolerance for an expectation of selflessness.
Happiness that comes from self seeking pleasure is superficial, does not last and is somewhat like a sugar high. The temporary uplift from a sweet and tasty candy only lasts until the sugar is quickly absorbed, after which there is a let down, only to be satisfied with another dose of sugar.
Those who derive enjoyment from the use of cultic practices such as Halloween, horoscopes and necromancy, are only as thrilled as the duration of each event, in the same way hard drugs control the bodies of those that use them. There must be a continual supply to perpetuate the feeling of ecstasy during the use of external stimuli such as drugs and the occult.
Has anyone else noticed that the holidays have become increasingly intense and bizarre? From Christmas trees hanging upside down in the window to a tree that can double for both Christmas and Halloween depending on which topper is placed on the tree, either an angel or a witch.
If anyone really thinks that this country can come back from the brink of disaster, perhaps they are not thinking about all the practices that are prevalent in the culture as a whole, from ungodly holidays to the murder of the unborn and everything in between, pornography, couples living together without the benefit of marriage, children born out of wedlock at an astounding rate. Let's not forget the encouragement of the young people to treat their elders as equals without respect for them.
Anything that is holy and Christ centered in our culture is either ignored or disdained continually. Those that attend "Christian" gatherings are hardly indistinguishable from an unsaved heathen.
The only hope for this country is mass brokenness and confession of sin. The shame that comes from knowing we have offended the Holy God is what is necessary to take us to the place of brokenness and confession of sin.
Deuteronomy 18:10-12
"There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. "For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD; and because of these detestable things the LORD your God will drive them out before you.
Revelation 21:8
"But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
1 John 1:9
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
James 5:16
"Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."
Acts 19:18
"Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices."
James 4:17
"So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin."
We Never Know What God Will Do
Rodger and I have just returned from a trip that took us over 4,575 miles across the country and back again. There was a prophesy conference in Minnesota that we attended with a dear friend. We had the pleasure of staying with she and her husband for several days while there. It was such a blessing to spend time with other believers who were in agreement about many if not most things.
While on our way back from the trip we stopped to visit a small town called New Munich Minnesota, 320 people in residence. As we drove around the few and short streets of that flat country town we came across a man who was working in the yard. Stopping to visit with the man we discovered that he was the keeper of the key to the nearby Catholic church. By near by I mean within a block of this man's home. He had the keys to the church and was one of the keepers of the large clock that was displayed on the outside and top of the church. He had the job, along with one other man, of winding that clock twice a day.
Rodger was looking for the old church in that town in which his great grandfather had been married.
Our new friend who had the keys to the church building, took us up to see the clock and show us how it was to be wound. We went way up to the top of the building in the clock chamber to watch him wind it. It was as though we were watching the winding of Big Ben in London. Very large cables were wound around the drums that held them to keep that old clock running all these years more than 100 now. The church building was constructed in 1910.
It has been a long time since I saw a building so ornate and beautiful as this one was. However, I felt a sadness as we looked around at all the lavish stained glass windows and the idols that stood everywhere in it. I thought throughout the pleasant visit with this lovely unsaved Catholic man, that I wish we could share the gospel with him. Then it happened! Our conversation led us into why we were in Minnesota and the end times prophesy of Revelation. The man asked us what the "rapture and the tribulation" were; he had never heard of this.
We stood in the Catholic church for another half hour sharing the clear gospel as the man listened intently even excited about what he had heard. He told us when it was time to leave that he felt that our meeting was of God. As far as we know he had not trusted Christ then, but I believe he was right when he said he thought the chance meeting was not chance at all.
Please pray for Dan in New Munich Minnesota! I believe he will become born again and if he does, there is an entire town that will follow his lead.
We never know why God takes us where we go, but we can be sure He has a purpose and it will glorify Him.
Mark 16:15-16 "5 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.…"
While on our way back from the trip we stopped to visit a small town called New Munich Minnesota, 320 people in residence. As we drove around the few and short streets of that flat country town we came across a man who was working in the yard. Stopping to visit with the man we discovered that he was the keeper of the key to the nearby Catholic church. By near by I mean within a block of this man's home. He had the keys to the church and was one of the keepers of the large clock that was displayed on the outside and top of the church. He had the job, along with one other man, of winding that clock twice a day.
Rodger was looking for the old church in that town in which his great grandfather had been married.
Our new friend who had the keys to the church building, took us up to see the clock and show us how it was to be wound. We went way up to the top of the building in the clock chamber to watch him wind it. It was as though we were watching the winding of Big Ben in London. Very large cables were wound around the drums that held them to keep that old clock running all these years more than 100 now. The church building was constructed in 1910.
It has been a long time since I saw a building so ornate and beautiful as this one was. However, I felt a sadness as we looked around at all the lavish stained glass windows and the idols that stood everywhere in it. I thought throughout the pleasant visit with this lovely unsaved Catholic man, that I wish we could share the gospel with him. Then it happened! Our conversation led us into why we were in Minnesota and the end times prophesy of Revelation. The man asked us what the "rapture and the tribulation" were; he had never heard of this.
We stood in the Catholic church for another half hour sharing the clear gospel as the man listened intently even excited about what he had heard. He told us when it was time to leave that he felt that our meeting was of God. As far as we know he had not trusted Christ then, but I believe he was right when he said he thought the chance meeting was not chance at all.
Please pray for Dan in New Munich Minnesota! I believe he will become born again and if he does, there is an entire town that will follow his lead.
We never know why God takes us where we go, but we can be sure He has a purpose and it will glorify Him.
Mark 16:15-16 "5 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.…"
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